As the season approaches, I’m taking a look going into training camp at the Saints position by position.Below are our special teams starters.
K: Garrett Hartley (pictured) has put his 4 game suspension and bad game winning miss opportunity against Tampa Bay behind him with a spectacular performance in the playoffs, including the kick that sent the Saints to the SuperBowl and three solid field goals in the SuperBowl. The Saints haven’t brought in any competition for Hartley, so unlike last year when Hartley had John Carney looking over his shoulder the job is his to keep.
P: Not only is Thomas Morstead a fantastic punter, he’s also a terrific kick off man. His boots have terrific hang time, and like Hartley there’s no competition being brought in for him. The job is his and that won’t change for a very long time. It’s nice that the Saints have such good young specialists. Hopefully they won’t need to worry about upgrading either position for a long time.
KR: Courtney Roby comes back as the main return man. He’s also a terrific gunner, and he was pretty spectacular last year. Don’t expect anyone to unseat him.
PR: Reggie Bush was very shaky last year returning punts, but having him as the punt returner is another way to give his breakaway speed another chance to score. Bush sees limited reps in the offense with Pierre Thomas and Lynell Hamilton also splitting the carries, so you want to get him on the field more. I expect the job to be his again, but don’t forget Rod Harper who was electrifying on punt returns last preseason.
LS: Don’t forget Kevin House appeared to be a lock after having the position to himself for about 7 years last year. So, while Jason Kyle appears to be the clear favorite to long snap for the Saints again this year after doing a solid job last season, don’t count out rookie free agent Clint Gresham, who is apparently pretty good in his own right.
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