Re: Why Cartwright over ARE?
 

[quote=Mattyk72;345554]It's simple, in Pittsburgh he was mainly a #3 WR, they could afford to turn him loose on kickoffs.

I'm not sure if many teams around the league put their #2 WRs in on kickoffs regularly.[/quote]

The Steelers ironically are doing just that. Santonio Holmes.

Re: Why Cartwright over ARE?
 

It has alot to do with coaching philosophy. I can see why Gibbs likes Rock....
[LIST][*]1) He doesn't fumble kickoffs. (I can't find any stats, so correct me if I'm wrong)[/LIST][LIST][*]2) He's consistent (I think he's right along the middle of the pack in return yard average)[/LIST][LIST][*]3) He's expendable.[/LIST]
I'm sure Saunders doesn't want his gadget guy lost on a kickoff. ARE can do a lot of damage on offense with his versatility, and I'm sure he'll be used for PR.

Rock is a mediocre kick returner who's completely expendable. Why risk your #2 WR when you've got Rock... it just doesn't seem like it would make any sense.

To cap it off, Rock is a better kick returner anyways. (Keep in mind, punt returns and kick returns are two totally different things)
[B]
Antwaan Randel El - 22.3 yds / return
Rock Cartwright - 22.7 yds / return
[/B]

Re: Why Cartwright over ARE?
 

[quote=ArtMonkDrillz;345547]Couldn't that be attributed to the fact that the D also set team records for futility? I'd like to see his average compared to a guy like Brian Mitchell or Mike Nelms (who I had to look up, he averaged 29.7 yards per kick return in '81).[/quote]

cartwright had like 24.0 last year if i remember correctly. he's a good kick return guy.

Re: Why Cartwright over ARE?
 

you saw we lost a kick returner in the game on thursday, right?

that's why his exposure is limited.

Re: Why Cartwright over ARE?
 

First off punt returning is a lot different than kick returning. In punting u generally end up being just 1 on 1 or 1 on 2. Lots of space to make a move, therefore you don't need to plow people over, which I can't imagine ARE being too good at. Kick returning is different, you build up a head of steam and just basically throw your body into the defender and hope he gets knocked over, that's why Cartright gets the honors.