We got a little ABMA – that’s Ask B-Mitch Anything – on Friday’s BMitch and Finlay Show, and beyond the weird, wild, and wacky, Jeff in Waldorf had an interesting question pertaining to his NFL career.
The setup: Commanders head coach Ron Rivera said earlier this week that Antonio Gibson may get some time as a returner, which may or may not put one or more receivers with return skills on the bubble, so Jeff wanted to know what the difference is in skill set between a kick returner and a punt returner.
Mitchell was one who excelled at both skills – he returned 463 kickoffs and 609 punts in his 14-year career – but there is a big difference right off the bat.
“The punt returner is a guy who has better hand skills,” B-Mitch said. “If one punter kicked 10 punts, they may all come differently – but if 10 different kickers kicked 10 kickoffs, they all come the same way, so it’s an easier job per se. Its more about the hand skills with the punt returner; you want him to be damn good about catching the ball, being secure with it, and making the right decision.”
That said, it also takes a different skill set in terms of athleticism, because within that need to be secure with the ball and make quick decisions, a punt returner has to be “shifty.”
“Once you get the ball, the punt returner has to be a little more shifty, because guys are closer to you,” Mitchell said, “and the kick returner has to be a little more sturdy; he’s running and then all of a sudden he gets to the crew, and they have some of the crazies on kickoff coverage.”
So it’s brains vs. brawn, in a way?
“The punt returner has to make decisions; the kick returner catches the ball with so much space, or at least they did before when they were kicking from the 30,” Mitchell said. “Back then, you just had to come out full speed. But that punt, you have to make up your mind if you want to fair catch it or not.”
If you ask a non-player outsider, JP gives more dap to the punt returners.
“I think returning punts is one of the hardest things to do in the NFL, and I think it’s wildly underrated for how important it is to the game,” Finlay said.
“Oh yeah, you think about the momentum swing – your defense gets fourth down and they punt it to you,” Brian replied. “Now if you muff it, that swings all the momentum back to the other side, but if you can take one back a long way or take one to the house, that throws the extra swing to you.”