Singletary's Strange Approach To The Return Game

I honestly don't understand what Singletary is thinking when it comes to choosing our punt and kickoff returners. We got three guys in the offseason to compete for the job, and then he doesn't use any of them in the pre-season game. Phil Barber had a good article on this yesterday. Punt returners and kick returners need game reps to get ready for the regular season. So why is Guillory (a guy who has almost no chance of making the team) taking all the punt and kickoff returns? His performance on punts reminded me of last year's nightmare, and this team can't afford to have that lack of production again. Ginn, Williams and Vann were signed to compete for return duties. Obviously Williams is hurt, but why cut Vann (the all time leading kick returner in college) before you even give him a chance in a pre-season game? And Ginn was quoted as saying that he needs reps to feel prepared. What really bothers me is Singletary's comments about Guillory's performance. He said he thought the kid did "pretty decent". That was pretty decent? You've got to be kidding me? I only hope that he stops playing this game of musical chairs with the returners, and gets more decisive about selecting someone who has the skills to do the job. You're asking for trouble to stick someone in there catching punts in the regular season if they haven't been doing it in pre-season games.

It does seem confusing at this point. My guess is that he was very impressed with Williams and he has already decided that is his guy. It is just a matter of getting him healthy at this point. As for Ginn, he must be worried about getting him injured.

Originally posted by 49erfanatic:
I honestly don't understand what Singletary is thinking when it comes to choosing our punt and kickoff returners. We got three guys in the offseason to compete for the job, and then he doesn't use any of them in the pre-season game. Phil Barber had a good article on this yesterday. Punt returners and kick returners need game reps to get ready for the regular season. So why is Guillory (a guy who has almost no chance of making the team) taking all the punt and kickoff returns? His performance on punts reminded me of last year's nightmare, and this team can't afford to have that lack of production again. Ginn, Williams and Vann were signed to compete for return duties. Obviously Williams is hurt, but why cut Vann (the all time leading kick returner in college) before you even give him a chance in a pre-season game? And Ginn was quoted as saying that he needs reps to feel prepared. What really bothers me is Singletary's comments about Guillory's performance. He said he thought the kid did "pretty decent". That was pretty decent? You've got to be kidding me? I only hope that he stops playing this game of musical chairs with the returners, and gets more decisive about selecting someone who has the skills to do the job. You're asking for trouble to stick someone in there catching punts in the regular season if they haven't been doing it in pre-season games.

Sing talks up all his players in the media, even guys they cut/trade away. On the RARE occasions that he doesn't it's usually calculated to motivate a guy...

Man, I love Singletary, but I agree with you. You would think he would have at least let Vann make it to the first preseason game, to see what he had.
I'm all for Williams as the punt and KO return guy, but if his injury is going to linger then maybe we let Ziggy take over.

Yeah, figuring out his method foe a returner is hard to understand.

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:
It does seem confusing at this point. My guess is that he was very impressed with Williams and he has already decided that is his guy. It is just a matter of getting him healthy at this point. As for Ginn, he must be worried about getting him injured.

I agree. I think Singletary already know Kyle Williams is the guy and he's just seeing if this Guillory kid can prove him wrong. Williams looked so smooth in that first game.

Originally posted by chico49erfan:

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:
It does seem confusing at this point. My guess is that he was very impressed with Williams and he has already decided that is his guy. It is just a matter of getting him healthy at this point. As for Ginn, he must be worried about getting him injured.

I agree. I think Singletary already know Kyle Williams is the guy and he's just seeing if this Guillory kid can prove him wrong. Williams looked so smooth in that first game.

I think you're partially right: I believe Singletary not only believes Kyle Williams IS the man, but he also believes that Ted Ginn and Leroy Vann ARE NOT!

So he took a flyer on a guy who has shown some potential in practice (Guillory). Though he has said good things, we all saw how bad he actually looked. That's why, I think, he is auditioning players like Phillip Adams and Dominique Ziegler. If a guy who is probably going to be on the 53-man roster can handle the chores in an emergency, then a roster space can be used on another player who is on the bubble (Hill? Britt Miller? etc.)

Originally posted by chico49erfan:

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:
It does seem confusing at this point. My guess is that he was very impressed with Williams and he has already decided that is his guy. It is just a matter of getting him healthy at this point. As for Ginn, he must be worried about getting him injured.

I agree. I think Singletary already know Kyle Williams is the guy and he's just seeing if this Guillory kid can prove him wrong. Williams looked so smooth in that first game.

Smooth and electric! I see a few TD returns off of kickoffs and punts this year!

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:

Originally posted by chico49erfan:

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:
It does seem confusing at this point. My guess is that he was very impressed with Williams and he has already decided that is his guy. It is just a matter of getting him healthy at this point. As for Ginn, he must be worried about getting him injured.

I agree. I think Singletary already know Kyle Williams is the guy and he's just seeing if this Guillory kid can prove him wrong. Williams looked so smooth in that first game.

Smooth and electric! I see a few TD returns off of kickoffs and punts this year!

Agree. I would really like to see what Adams can do on punt returns.

Yeah this whole "tactic" seems very nolanish of Singletary which makes me want to . On the flip side, like many of you have said, I think we are all sold on Williams as PR AND KR as is Singletary.. I believe he wants to develop Ginns receiver skills and knows he can do well in KR and PR if need be but doesnt want him getting hurt like Williams.. So he went with Guilliroy, we will see if Ginn gets some Saturday vs DA RAIIDAASS

Phillips Adams is the "Complete Package"!

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:
It does seem confusing at this point. My guess is that he was very impressed with Williams and he has already decided that is his guy. It is just a matter of getting him healthy at this point. As for Ginn, he must be worried about getting him injured.

this sounds reasonable

I was thinking about this today.

Personally, I think Vann either had a bad work ethic, he dropped s**tload of balls, or both. It smells like an Allen Rossum situation, only in this case Rossum was a vet return master and Vann was an undrafted free agent.

Add to this the fact that Vann might have not been a great option at CB beyond his return abilities. The 49ers seem to not want to carry JUST a return specialist on this roster, and that makes sense.

Originally posted by NickSh49:
I was thinking about this today.

Personally, I think Vann either had a bad work ethic, he dropped s**tload of balls, or both. It smells like an Allen Rossum situation, only in this case Rossum was a vet return master and Vann was an undrafted free agent.

Add to this the fact that Vann might have not been a great option at CB beyond his return abilities. The 49ers seem to not want to carry JUST a return specialist on this roster, and that makes sense.

Spurlock and Rossum were both misused. The more I think about this, the more I think Singletary might be a tiny bit incompetent in terms of making decisions with regards to the return game. Hopefully he'll improve, I have no reason to doubt that he will.

Read somewhere that Vann wasn't cleanly fielding enough punts in practice. I believe that Guillory is being sacrificed back there to avoid injuring somebody more important during pre-season (ie. preserving Ginn and the already injured Williams). I think Guillory's chance of making the team are slim to none.

Originally posted by SoCal9er:
Read somewhere that Vann wasn't cleanly fielding enough punts in practice. I believe that Guillory is being sacrificed back there to avoid injuring somebody more important during pre-season (ie. preserving Ginn and the already injured Williams). I think Guillory's chance of making the team are slim to none.

So he's going to get more reps in Game 3 to protect DZ and Adams? If improving the return game is a focus, why are we giving so many returns to someone who can't make the team?

I understand doing it in Game 2: it was a make-or-break effort for Guillory. He broke. Let's move on.