Has a real knack for blocking kicks Brad Biggs
If there is something that has not been accounted for yet in the $91.5 million, six-year contract Julius Peppers received from the Chicago Bears, and pretty much every angle has been explored, it might be the value he brings to special teams.
Peppers has nine blocked kicks since entering the league in 2002, the second-most behind only Shaun Rogers of the Cleveland Browns, reports Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune.
Peppers’ knack at 6-6 to get in a seam and get his long arms up gives Bears special teams coordinator Dave Toub an extra player to work with on kick blocks. He already has a good one in Israel Idonije, who is third in blocks since 2002 with six. The Carolina Panthers didn’t use Peppers all the time on their kick block unit this past season as he logged 46 snaps on special teams.
It remains to be seen if Toub will use him all of the time or if he’ll primarily focus on field goals. The Bears have consistently had one of the league’s better special teams units since 2004 under Toub. The focus on Peppers will be sacks and how he improves the front seven. Maybe he’ll block a kick or two along the way.
"In terms of defensive ends, he's the best at it," Lions special teams coach Danny Crossman, who previously coached him on the Panthers' special teams, told Pompei. "He'll get you a couple every year. You can write it down."
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For that price, he'd better be able to play WR and OT.
I usually don't take a die-hard fan boy stance; however, I wouldn't say that the Bears have had one of the best special teams units in the NFL under Toub, I'd say that they have had THE best. Under his tenure, they've sent 4 separate players to the Pro Bowl (Hester, Gould, Ayanbadejo, Knox) and a fifth (Manning) led the NFL in kickoff returns. Given the Bears lack of consistency on both sides of the ball during this span, the Special Teams unit has been staggeringly efficient. Generally, when teams lose their top players, particularly the returners, the unit suffers considerable setbacks. Under Toub's leadership, however, they've managed to field top performers year after year and, while the season statistics don't always highlight this fact, it's been one of the few areas upon which Bears fans can continue to count. For these reasons, and the longevity of his program, I'd have to give Toub top honors hands down. Whatever the Bears coaching situation ends up being at the end of 2010, I hope they have the sense to retain Dave Toub.
MLB did nothing to honor the Yankees playing their last game in historic Yankee stadium, so I don't see why the NFL will do anything here. They will just let the computer set the schedule and whoever gets the first home game gets it. Goodell can claim it was just chance and steer clear of the controversy.
Mar 14, 2010
11:11 PM
Well besides being a deadly combination on blocking kicks Izzy & Julius Would be a welcome combination side by side as a DE & DT combo.