Smoke Signals: Rock Cartwright needs to get over it edition

1st point: I'm not sure why that would be? Rocks RB skills are no better then the TTB. In other words he has no skills on offense as a RB. All of his knowledge and ability is on ST's which Mason sucks at. He should not feel threatened cause no one has proven they can actually challenge him for the job. I think we can all agree that Portis, Betts, and Cartwright are not the future. Only cause they all are almost 30y/o. They will not be on this team much longer. If your only good at one thing then you better be damn good at the one thing. He should be happy he is. He's never going to be the #1 back of any team. Move on Rock.
Rock will survive. He's the special teams cockroach only more likeable

2nd point: Yes he has been steady for several yrs now....like 6 to be exact. He steadily gets us to the 20 or 30yrd line every KR. No further. Unless the other team has a crappy Kicker. I also think it's partly the scheme or blocking. He consistently makes good decisions, and keeps us away from the goal line.

3rd point: I think it all depends on what list your looking at? Yes he was 6th or 7th in total yrds, but if you look at yrds per carry he's tied at 22nd with 25.6 yrds per carry.
I think it was pointed out before, that when you sort the list and get him as 22nd, you are including people with less then a minimum number of returns, like #4 on the list-Reuben Droughns, 1 return, 34 yds. Not really accurate for this discussion. But I would encourage you to sort that list by 40+ yard returns, and then compare his spot, and if you want to look further, look at where his 20+ returns put him with those who are tied for his spot when you sort that way. You might be surprised.

Paraphrasing MattyK Rock has griped before, but when he steps on the field he will give you everything he's got.



NFL Stats: by Player Position (http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?archive=true&conference=null&statisticPositionCategory=KICK_RETURNER&season=2008&seasonType=REG&experience=null&tabSeq=1&qualified=true&Submit=Go)

one other stat, if you sort the list by number of KR's 20+yds, Rock is number 4. Number 1 has 3 fumbles, Number 2 and 3 have 1 fumble, and you guessed it Rock has 0 fumbles.

one other stat, if you sort the list by number of KR's 20+yds, Rock is number 4. Number 1 has 3 fumbles, Number 2 and 3 have 1 fumble, and you guessed it Rock has 0 fumbles.

So....of the returners with 20+ returns last year, where does his average rank? And yeah, fumbles are pretty important....ask Alridge, lol.

So....of the returners with 20+ returns last year, where does his average rank? And yeah, fumbles are pretty important....ask Alridge, lol.

If I count right, he is 9th. There are 2 guys, one with 13, and one with 16 who are also above him, so I think it is safe to say he is in the top 3rd of the kickoff returners. I think that along with; with his #4 ranking in kickoff returns over 20yds, and no fumbles, and he is tied for the 10th spot in kickoff returns over 40 yds, and 7 of those guys (note 15 total including ties) did not have a TD return either - shows he is a top notch ST baller.

one other stat, if you sort the list by number of KR's 20+yds, Rock is number 4. Number 1 has 3 fumbles, Number 2 and 3 have 1 fumble, and you guessed it Rock has 0 fumbles.

Excellent points.

Rock will survive. He's the special teams cockroach only more likeable

He consistently makes good decisions, and keeps us away from the goal line.


I think it was pointed out before, that when you sort the list and get him as 22nd, you are including people with less then a minimum number of returns, like #4 on the list-Reuben Droughns, 1 return, 34 yds. Not really accurate for this discussion. But I would encourage you to sort that list by 40+ yard returns, and then compare his spot, and if you want to look further, look at where his 20+ returns put him with those who are tied for his spot when you sort that way. You might be surprised.



Paraphrasing MattyK Rock has griped before, but when he steps on the field he will give you everything he's got.

Totally agree with you. My point of putting the list up was to show that you can't always throw up stats unless you know what the stats are showing. I knew he was better then 22nd, but I would also say he doesn't get 40 yrds per carry. If you are looking at that stat there probably are only a few who have gotten 40yrds on one carry a yr. I would probably look at his average which is more to what he can do for you. Eliminate the others that only had one carry or two and keep the KR's that worked all season. Those numbers would be closer to his abilities.

If I count right, he is 9th. There are 2 guys, one with 13, and one with 16 who are also above him, so I think it is safe to say he is in the top 3rd of the kickoff returners. I think that along with; with his #4 ranking in kickoff returns over 20yds, and no fumbles, and he is tied for the 10th spot in kickoff returns over 40 yds, and 7 of those guys (note 15 total including ties) did not have a TD return either - shows he is a top notch ST baller.

Thanks for the stats, and Id have to agree, although I still dont like his sudden attitude. He has definetely earned his spot, but he acts like someone has cheated him, and I think thats way off. He is a 5'7 guy who started as a fullback, he has carved a nice niche for himself, but he needs to keep quiet and keep ballin!

If you look at the list and start with #8 cause that is where the KR's start having a good number of carries and go down the list eliminating all the single digit runs Rock is 12th. Thats where I would put him only cause I think D.Smith's scheme sucks.

Maybe if he even stepped up his game and started PRing he would get more carries.

If you look at the list and start with #8 cause that is where the KR's start having a good number of carries and go down the list eliminating all the single digit runs Rock is 12th. Thats where I would put him only cause I think D.Smith's scheme sucks.

Well you are kinda playing numbers (i used 20+ carries, because that was the question, you used >9, which only adds 2 but drops him from top 10 to 11Tied, then you ignore the tie and just say he is 12th, even though with in the tie the stats aren't sorted by a secondary column),

Of the 4 guys who are tied for 11th:
1 guy has a 94 yd run, 28 20+ yard runs, 6 40+ yard runs
1 guy has a 93yd TD run, 27 20+ yard runs, 3 40+ yard runs
1 guy has a long of 88, 20 20+ yard runs, 3 40+ yard runs
1 guy has a long of 87, 38 20+ yard runs, 4 40+ yard runs

Which guy would you most want on your team based on these stats alone? play without peaking if you dare