I am not impressed with this guy as a punt returner, he seems rather tentative and doesn't hit the hole with power. The fair catch he made at the 9 yard line was ridiculous he had at least 2 - 3 seconds before the defender arrived thus putting the offense in poor position. Is it me or he doesn't look that fast, even when he tried to blitz he tried tippy toeing through the blockers, you have to be forceful, ferocious to get there. That is what the Raven do quite well.
Leonhard was one of the better punt returners in the league last season and averaged more than Leon per return.
How many did he have for the night? 3 or 4? Do you want him to break 30+ yards on every return? If that's the case you need to lower your expectations a bit.
I hear what you're saying but that fair catch was just crazy, let it bounce through the endzone or run and pick up a couple of yards
He made a mistake on the fair catch but other than that he looked good returning punts. he's a better PUNT returner than leon is.
Eh, easy for us to second guess while we are watching from afar- maybe there was a reason re: blocking or something else that just didn't look right to him. I'm willing to cut some slack right now, especially given the fact that it's only our 2nd preseason game. He did show some nice explosion and cuts...
The only problem I got with him fielding the punts is, that I?d rather see a backup do that, instead of a starter.
I actually thought I heard a whistle being blown or a flag being thrown. I think that's why he didn't return that punt he fair-catched. I would re-watch that series, because something looked to be off about that play.
I liked that one return he had, but I have to agree about the fair catch. He reminded me of Dedric Ward on that one. There was no one around him.
Leonard averaged 11.6 Last year, good for 6th in the NFL. Less than 5 Yards per puts you out of the top 25.
Looked worlds better than Lowery. I thought he looked fine. If anything, I'm worried about risking a starting Safety to injury by having him return punts. Not every PR can be Dante Hall or Jermaine Lewis.
Let hope he adds something here! I never liked these kinds of pick ups. They usually tend to be not what the were billed to be!
I'd rather see Leon get more touches on offense and still return kickoffs anyway. He's tough but no need to get him killed on punt returns, you usually don't get much out of them whatever you do.
And increasing the chance of Leon getting hurt? no thanks Leonard will do just fine, it's only a pre season game.
Yeah, I was glad Leon got a couple good ones in, almost broke the one if he kept his balance, but I was also glad to see #88 doing it after a while. I know it's Leon's job and he needs some live reps, but I always think of the Jason Sehorn thing. Of course Sehorn was new to it and maybe not used to the job, but still.
