DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns 2019 training camp preview: Analyzing the special teams

Colquitt held every FG attempt

Gillan handled every punt 6-287 47.8 3 inside the 20

Jaime is known for his distance, but he also has incredible hang time. There was at least one where the defenders were almost on top of the returner before it dropped.

I have been saying since going to TC that I am worried about Jaime holding simply because he is new to the game and he never held at APB. I was able to watch when there in early August and I saw them missing when he was holding, but I haven't been as on top of it since my visit. I do wonder how many of the misses in practice and games has come down to Jaime holding. Is there a stat out there or am I the only one worried about this? AND, when did it become standard for the punter to hold? Maybe I am showing my age, but it used to be the job of the back-up QB.

It used to always be the b/u QB. I think the change (which seems to be gradual over the last 15 years) is just a product of the punters and kickers practicing together. I remember the Cowboys always being a threat to fake FGs with Danny White holding.

His hang-time is generally great, it was pretty solid last night. Dude has an incredible leg. A couple this preseason have reminded me of great hitters in baseball... the ball actually sounds different coming off his foot.

I just watched this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxJxHjdJ4S4
Nothing where you'll walk away with a bunch of advanced analytics. A lot of "get to know Jaime" fluff.
It's mostly him speniding time at "The Punt Factory", working on situational kicking.

From the beginning question he made it clear that the NFL is a different animal and it's not just "bombs away". He spends most of his time training on direction and kicking to an exact spot on the field. He's passionate about his craft, has been kicking balls since the age of six. He prides himself on hang time as much as distance and generally has a goal of 5 seconds.

He and Colquitt have a solid relationship and nothing but great things to say about each other. This would be a very tough decision for me if I were GM. The one that gets away - you'll only ever see again from across the field. Bank on the prospect of generational talent or stick with the consummate professional who is among the best in the game already? This, like many other things, may come down to economics. Colquitt is the 7th highest paid punter in the NFL at 2.8 per... Gillan weighs in at 588,000

In my eyes, because these guys are so close and neither of them suck, the most important factor is holding, as trivial as it may sound to some. I would love to see the numbers per holder from this preseason and TC. I feel like we're still walking on thin ice in the kicking game. Those games that come down to a FG this year can mean the difference between playoffs and no playoffs, division winner or wild card, bye week or fly week, Superbowl or first round exit. It IS that important. It's almost like the choice as kicker will decide your punter, depending on his comfort lever with the holder.

Agreed 100%

Yes I believe this is correct ... I saw him punt once IIRC

6. Hammer time: Jamie Gillan, aka Scottish Hammer, handled all the punting and showcased his booming left leg – and his willingness to tackle. The former Scottish rugby player averaged 47.8 on six punts. He also made the tackle when returner Bobo Wilson eluded the first wave of the Browns’ coverage unit for a 14-yard return. Gillan did not hold on any place-kicks, however.

https://www.espn.com/blog/cleveland/post...ss-to-tampa-bay

J/c

If we are going to roll with Gilliam, I do worry about the holding part of it ... unless we want to give Colquitt a break and just let the Hammer punt (but wanted Colquitt/Seibert to get chemistry down on FGs)

I have never done it, but surely holding for the placekicker is a learned skill. If the scot can outpunt our current kicker he should get the job and spend 2 hours per day for the next two weeks doing hold after hold with snapper and placekicker.

I think the fact that cop quit is 34 or 35 I think is also a factor. The scot could give us great punting for the next 10 years. If our young placekicker works out , kicking is not an issue for the next decade.

I'd agree with this. Colquitt is older and costs significantly more. They're certainly factors.

The Scottish Hammer has impressed me. And i think the guy should be able to figure out how to hold for a kick (which is certainly vital).


I wish we could stash him on IR for next year or something.

Figured so ... congrats Seibert, now don’t screw us

Charley Hughlett stories you should know, now that he’s a Browns captain

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2019/09...ns-captain.html


By Scott Patsko, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – I have two stories about Browns long snapper Charley Hughlett.

One is about perseverance.

It goes like this:

Of the 24 NFL players designated as special teams captains this season, three are long snappers. One is Don Muhlbach, who has been with the Lions since his rookie season in 2004. One is Zak DeOssie, who was a fourth-round draft pick of the Giants in 2007 and has played in two Pro Bowls.

The other guy is Charley Hughlett. And he’s been around.

“I think I’ve signed nine or 10 contracts,” Hughlett said. “It was a lot. I lost count.”

I checked. It was 10, the last of which – in 2017 – temporarily made Hughlett the highest-paid long snapper in the NFL. Before that, his cap hits were a lot more modest.

So when Hughlett was named one of three Browns team captains for the 2019 season – his first with the honor – it became one more achievement that didn’t seem likely back in 2014.

That was Hughlett’s third year in the NFL. He had yet to play in a game at that point, but had been with the Cowboys, Patriots, Jaguars, Patriots (again), Browns, Patriots (yet again) and Chiefs.

Hughlett wasn’t sure if the NFL was in his future. He had originally signed with the Cowboys in 2012 as an undrafted free agent out of UCF. But the Cowboys waived him in 2012, and then again in 2013.

That second team left him out of football for 10 months. He took a job as a personal trainer in Tampa.

“The best thing I ever did was become a trainer, because I had the opportunity to make a little bit of money on the side,” Hughlett said. “And on my off time, I got to life weights and run and stay in shape. And the place I trained at was for athletes, so we had turf I could snap on. Luckily I had a boss who was cool whenever I’d fly out for a workout on short notice.”

As 2014 came to a close, he was on the Chiefs’ practice squad, and time was running out.

“I gave it three years,” he said of his commitment to the grind. “And right at the end of three years is when I made it.”

That’s when the Browns signed him off the Chiefs’ practice squad, five days before the final game of the regular season, which he didn’t play in. But the Browns brought him back the next season, and he has been the team’s long snapper ever since.

Pro Football Focus gave him the fifth-best special teams grade among long snappers last season.

“We call the jug machine little Charles,” said Mike Priefer, special teams coordinator. “He is kind of like the human JUGS machine,”

Anyway, that’s Hughlett’s perseverance story.

Cleveland Browns long snapper Charley Hughlett snaps the ball to punter Jamie Gillan during training camp. (John Kuntz, cleveland.com)
cleveland.com

Cleveland Browns long snapper Charley Hughlett snaps the ball to punter Jamie Gillan during training camp. (John Kuntz, cleveland.com)

The other story is about opportunity.

It goes like this:

Charley Hughlett wasn’t always a long snapper. He used to be a tight end. He was a second-team all-conference tight end his junior season at Hillsboro High School in Tampa. As a senior he was first-team all-conference as a center.

Then he walked on at UCF as a tight end.

“I thought I was decent,” Hughlett said. “I was probably more of a blocking tight end. I probably would’ve ended up putting on weight and being a guard or a tackle.”

But he never got the chance.

When Hughlett was a freshman, the starting long snapper quit the team. UCF knew Hughlett could snap, but he wasn’t in line to be a starting snapper. “I was kind of there for depth,” he said. Hughlett had been going to tight end meetings for a couple months and was focused on that position as the season neared.

“(The coaches) just sat me down and were like, ‘We’re gonna have you go out for the starting job along with a couple other guys,’” Hughlett recalled. “And winner would get a scholarship.”

Hughlett won. But he didn’t realize exactly what he had won.

“I didn’t know guys played in the NFL and just snapped. I didn’t know in college there were guys that just snapped,” he said. “I thought it was just something that a tight end or a linebacker did, you know, on the side. So that was definitely a bit of a surprise for me.”

Hughlett didn’t go to a tight end meeting ever again, instead he started hanging around with kickers and punters. He was second-team All-Conference USA as a junior and senior. NFL scouts took notice, which led to his first opportunity with the Cowboys.

When Hughlett walks to midfield Sunday for the coin toss, it will be one of the rare times he has been on a football field to do something other than snap. He hasn’t been involved in a non-special teams play since high school.

All because a long snapper quit.

If he hadn’t, Hughlett might be known today as Charley the personal trainer from Tampa.

“Yeah, possibly,” Hughlett said. “Who knows? I don’t know if I’d still be training, but I definitely would be doing something else.”

"Fear us, for we have Hughlett" - prp