LS tackle efficiency

perhaps falling into the category of things nobody but me finds interesting...

last season, the Phins' special teams (much like the rest of the team) had to overcome a churning of lower tier talent to field a cohesive unit. Taybor Pepper replaced longtime long snapper John Denney. And Pepper himself has since been replaced by Blake Ferguson. at the time, one of the reasons i had heard was the Phins felt Ferguson had a higher snap speed thus giving the punter and kicker an extra millisecond before the rush is on top of them.

but perhaps an even more significant reason for Pepper's release...

...last year’s long snapper, Taybor Pepper, was released after missing eight tackles on returns — a high number for a long snapper.

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article242469136.html

kudos to the staff for recognizing (no matter how seemingly small) an issue and acting to address it.

It's not a sexy pick at all but getting that guy for a 6th round pick and if he is elite at what he does, then it's a great pick.

I definitely find it interesting. The Phins have placed a MAJOR emphasis on special teams this offseason, both in free agency and the draft.  They have added a bunch of special teams captains and other players that are in the NFL largely because of their work on STs.

I really like the addition of Ferguson over Pepper for the reason you highlighted, merc: we, as fans, may not notice those missed tackles on STs, but they could greatly impact field position and really change the outcome of a game.

The attention to detail that Flores and his staff are showing is really refreshing.  They don't ignore anything.  Love it!

I have to agree. I think that Flores and Grier saw a lot of potential out of the players that they already have and added some more depth in special teams because that is the first line of defense/offense.

Killah Sith wrote:It's not a sexy pick at all but getting that guy for a 6th round pick and if he is elite at what he does, then it's a great pick.

I agree 100 percent. Specialists that are great at what they do are NOT a dime a dozen.