Gerry H and CJ, this may be worth the discussion.

 

That’s right up my alley! Haha

I have long had a gripe with gunners, especially at the college level. But credit to Jeff Banks and the Texas ST staff. It was clear Keilan Robinson and Kitan Crawford understood their roles and were pretty darn close to perfect last season. 

To me, the gunners play just as big a role in down balls inside the 20 as punters do. 

Basketball use to use a saying, “Offense sells tickets, defense wins games, and free throws win championships”. 
 

Football should be, “Offense sells tickets, defense wins games, and special teams wins championships”. At least in my opinion. I love UT’s decision to put our beat athletes, even starters, on special teams. 
 

My Freshman year at Donna (go Redskins) we lost the district title due to a punt return for a TD by Mercedes. For the next three years we spent time every day covering punt returns and kick returns. We did not give a TD to either at any level those three years. Anecdotal to be sure but we all know how a blocked kick or a return for a TD can change a game.  

great chart.  i'm wondering who are going to be our 2 best gunners next year... wisner, mcdonald?  or is mcdonald too much in the 2 deep at safety?  

Wisner, I would think, is one. The other is up for grabs.

16 hours ago, CJ Vogel said:

I have long had a gripe with gunners, especially at the college level. But credit to Jeff Banks and the Texas ST staff. It was clear Keilan Robinson and Kitan Crawford understood their roles and were pretty darn close to perfect last season. 

To me, the gunners play just as big a role in down balls inside the 20 as punters do. 

Wisner will be a great gunner, wouldn’t be surprised Ryan Niblett kills it as gunner 

I have enjoyed the decline in punts in college and pro football over the last few years.

No longer is it considered gospel that you "have to punt" if it's fourth down.