[Lotus]

Originally Posted by GMScud

Returning punts is a very different animal than returning kickoffs. With kickoffs, Rock has plenty of room to get behind his wall of blockers and get up to full speed. He's not a much of a cutter, and can't stop on a dime and re-accelerate like successful punt return guys. He just picks a lane and runs full speed in a straight line until someone tackles him. Granted he's very good at doing so, but you won't ever see him take one to the house.

Often times when you're returning punts you have guys flying in your face, and you need to be able to get up to top speed right away. That's probably why Rock has never returned a punt for us despite behind so solid of KOs.

Excellent analysis. I would add that returning punts requires better hands than returning kickoffs. With a kickoff you have time and unopposed space to settle under the ball to catch it. On the other hand, with a punt you may have someone in your face while you are trying to catch the ball. A punt returner thus must be unflappable and glue-fingered in a way that a kickoff returner need not be.