Hekker to the pro bowl as the most dominant punter ever?

[SierraRam]

Keep in mind that Johnny is working in conjunction with his ST coach, John Fassel. Fassel wanted Johnny angling kicks toward the sidelines in order to "corner" opposing returners, employing the sidelines as Horns ST "defenders." He also planned for Johnny to maintain a long enough hang time so the coverage arrived just as the opposing returner was getting the ball. Fassel tends to have his coverage teams clogging as many lanes as possible to minimize lengthy returns, thereby keeping Johnny's net punting average relatively close to his already impressive gross punting average.

However, they have really specialized in getting the rock inside the opponents' 20-yard-line in order give the opposing offense as difficult a time as possible. There are only so many plays OC's tend to be willing to call when they are backed up that deep on the gridiron. So Fassel and Johnny effectively work to limit the opposing offense's playbook.

Yeah. Hecker's a bad ass - no doubt about it! I'm not negative toward Johnny, but I was hoping our second best player behind. AD would be Gurley... or maybe TJ, GRob, Tavon...

 

[jap]

Yeah. Hecker's a bad ass - no doubt about it! I'm not negative toward Johnny, but I was hoping our second best player behind. AD would be Gurley... or maybe TJ, GRob, Tavon...

That still could very well happen. Todd & Tavon were definitely not schemed right this year, although some of the blame probably falls on them.

I have speculated before on whether Todd actually worked with the Horns' own trainers in this weight loss program he undertook last year. It seems to me that NFL trainers always tended to try to establish the optimal balance to maximize strength & weight without compromising speed, quickness, & overall agility. I personally thought Todd must have done a lot of this on his own, possibly employing non-NFL savvy trainers who steered him wrong. Maybe I am way off-base, but I have never seen an elite RB plummet in effectiveness between two consecutive seasons so drastically. Todd has Eric Dickerson and Marshall Faulk to lean on as mentors, especially Eric who seems to be willing to practically adapt him as a pupil.

Tavon already possesses the electric speed & quickness; so his main issue is synchronizing his mental 'speed & quickness' to his physical attributes. Who better to take advantage of than Isaac. Bruce had that rare ability, like Gale Sayers or Barry Sanders, to make 90-degree cuts at full speed, thereby gaining instant separation. This is one of the things I believed Torry Holt alluded to when he once stated that Isaac could do things he could not do. Tavon has that same rare gift physically, but does he actually think his way through his route running mentally with similar cognitive 'agility?' Can Tavon learn to sell his routes the way Isaac used to, fooling DBs into thinking he is getting the rock, thereby drawing two or more DBs with him and allowing easier match-ups for his teammates? Tavon is a willing blocker. However, is he (or any other Horns' WRs) willing to master blocking to the point where he can regularly achieve multiple pancake blocks in the same game as Isaac used to . . . with a staggering personal best of 14 pancakes blocks in a single game!!! (Remember, weight--wise, Isaac was not much bigger than Tavon at 188 pounds.) Tavon has collected the money, will he put in some serious quality time into mastering his craft so he could approach being as complete a receiver as Isaac was?

I want our 2015 Thunder (Todd) & Lightning (Tavon) dynamic duo back in tip-top form for 2017 & beyond, dammit!!!

GRob was a known project coming in, and I do not know how badly the restrictive NFLPA rules governing coach-player contact time affected his development. I wonder if any coaches pushed him towards seeking outside expert help from early on. You can't draft a player that raw and with so much prodigious potential and essentially leave that player on his own. GRob did not receive good fundamentals at the collegiate level and that would have had to be accounted for in any reasonable development program.