Kansas State and the NFL: The Art of the Return Game

Other than weak nonconference schedules, there are few things Bill Snyder’s Kansas State Wildcats have been better at than special teams.

Snyder was one of the first to put first-teamers on his special teams units, because, well, it turns out those guys are generally the best at running and tackling.

As a result, Kansas State has been better than anyone besides perhaps Frank Beamer’s Hokies at special teams.

For the fans, “block that punt” chants get answered on a regular basis, and every returner hears his name chanted on almost every punt return. From David Allen to Jordy Nelson, K-State has had some of the best, and it’s probably the skill that has translated the best to the NFL.

Allen, Yamon Figurs, Jordy Nelson, Terence Newman, Darren Sproles, Frank Murphy, and even Rock Cartwright (a fullback who never returned kicks at K-State) have all found themselves catching highly kicked footballs and attempting to work their way around 11 NFL players and into the end zone.

None have been spectacular, but I would wager that few schools can say their alums have received as many kicks and punts as the former Wildcats, and they have scored a few times.

Like kicking, kick returning is a highly specialized position in the NFL, and requires a different set of skills.

The best returners have a combination of four basic talents: speed (something Rock Cartwright does NOT have), vision (think Jeremy Bloom and the skiing comparison), good hands (few things are more infuriating than watching a return man drop a kick and give the ball right back), and elusiveness (this is the toughest to define, and probably why Cartwright got the job).

Note two things missing from that list that apply to almost every other position: strength and size.

That’s where Brandon Banks comes. No GM or coach is going to take a chance on a 5'7", 150-pound wide receiver, no matter how good he was the Big 12 (Banks was good, but not great).

This probably didn’t help.

Banks himself would likely tell you that he had no illusions of immediately becoming a great receiver, although he may believe he can get there down the road.

But how useful could a 5'7" speedster be returning kicks? He could just hide behind his blockers, until the opportunity came to speed past unsuspecting defenders.

Plus, he’d done this before.

Even though two of them came against Tennessee Tech, Banks did score five times this season, including a Big 12 record four kickoff returns for TDs. He also ran a 4.25 40, which is almost Terence Newman-like wheels.

I would imagine returners aren’t demanding a whole lot of money since they’re only on the field seven to 10 times per game (or one to two if you play for the Chiefs), so what do you have to lose?

In fact, it appears Banks is in the midst of a tryout with the Washington Redskins, which would be great, because they’re going to have several open spots when all of the veterans they signed retire in two to three years.

As for the 2010 Wildcats, I would say Tysyn Hartman and Daniel Thomas might be good candidates for returners, although I’m not sure I want Thomas out there risking injury when he’s going to be needed for 25-30 carries a game. Aubrey Quarles might also be a possibility.

Good news for fans: All of those names perfectly fit the four-syllable cadence for a name chant.

Thie article originally appeared on: Ahearn Alley

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