KU FOOTBALL OPEN PRACTICE REPORT #4
The last area I have to cover from last Friday's practice is the special teams:
Okay, I've never seen the little yellow "lidz" they were wearing on their helmets before. It has to be hard to feel tough when you are wearing a yellow helmet.
Didn't get to see the placekickers as they worked out on the new practice fields. I won't be able to attend Friday's practice so maybe someone else can get a look this week and report in the forum or here.
I already pretty much laid out my thoughts on the punting battle between Alonso Rojas and Kerry Meier in my initial report. Basically, Meier seemed to be kicking 45-50 yards in the air while Rojas was getting 50-58 yards on some booming kicks with lots of hang time. Meier did snag a really high snap and still got off a 50-yard punt. We'll probably feel better after we see him during the FIU game, but I think KU fans are going to be just fine with Rojas. Punting could be a strength again this year and we'll see if maybe he can be more consistent than Kyle Tucker who could also really boom it at times.
There were four guys out there as punt returners -- Isiah Barfield, Daymond Patterson, Chris Harris and Dexton Fields. I don't remember Fields actually taking a turn. Harris muffed one and didn't make me feel real secure. I thought Barfield looked the most comfortable and showed some moves and speed. He also muffed one that he tried to catch on the run. Oddly, he hesitated before covering. Patterson looked good as well, but I still give Barfield the edge. Anyway, I'm thinking it's narrowing down to a two-man race between those two.
DJ Goodwin
Reader Comments (2)
Man, I wish I could go to the open practices!
1) By my count, it seemed that Barfield actually received a few more reps than Patterson. So part of that is that I'm thinking they consider Barfield to be leading at the moment (last Friday).
2) Although there was no tackling it seemed that Barfield would have had a higher net on his returns. That's probably up for debate plus you have to factor in how good both the coverage and kick were for each rep. It's really difficult to do an apples to apples comparison. That was just my feel and as long as they both can field cleanly we are going to improve here.
I would actually expect Patterson to earn the job as I know it is his specialty and they would probably like to focus Barfield on his corner duties. Would love to watch these guys again on Friday, but I'll be out of town.