Donnie Jones

[Maddict5]

All the talk on special teams has been about holliday but is it just me that thinks Donnie Jones end up winning a game or two for us this season. Nobody seems to be able to catch his punts! Whatever kind of knuckleball hes able to get off it, its caused returners to totally misjudge his kicks and just by pure luck not fumble them for 2 weeks running now.

dont ever remember having a punter (even a healthy hartmann last yr) that could do that before. i think hes def a keeper and the hitman is going to have to find employment elsewhere when he comes back

[FosterGreatness]

I respectfully disagree. I think Donnie Jones is just a temporary fill in for the Hitman. I don't even see him on our team after Hartmann gets back.

[Lucky]

Originally Posted by Maddict5

All the talk on special teams has been about holliday but is it just me that thinks Donnie Jones end up winning a game or two for us this season. Nobody seems to be able to catch his punts! Whatever kind of knuckleball hes able to get off it, its caused returners to totally misjudge his kicks and just by pure luck not fumble them for 2 weeks running now.

So Jones is trying to knuckleball these punts? I thought he was just missing them? I'd still like to see more hangtime. Someone does catch his line drives, they might take it to the house.

[Playoffs]

Originally Posted by Lucky

So Jones is trying to knuckleball these punts? I thought he was just missing them? I'd still like to see more hangtime. Someone does catch his line drives, they might take it to the house.

Yeah, I'm not too impressed by Jones.

[Rey]

I read or heard something about jones intentionally kicking that way.

[ckhouston]

Jones is gone when Hartmann gets back.

[Maddict5]

Originally Posted by Lucky

So Jones is trying to knuckleball these punts? I thought he was just missing them? I'd still like to see more hangtime. Someone does catch his line drives, they might take it to the house.

they're far from line drives. They have nice hangtime generally but whatever way hes kicking it, its moving on the way down so that it gives PR'ers real trouble judging the catch. just something ive noticed last 2 games.

i think alot of ppl are underrating him and overrating hartmann. jones has had a stellar career with 1 bad yr for some reason. still has a career 41 yd net- last yr hartmanns was 38 (which is more or less the same as jones' bad yr)... plus knee surgery etc for hartmann. think jones has a much better chance of being kept around than ppl assume

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by Maddict5

they're far from line drives. They have nice hangtime generally but whatever way hes kicking it, its moving on the way down so that it gives PR'ers real trouble judging the catch. just something ive noticed last 2 games.

i think alot of ppl are underrating him and overrating hartmann. jones has had a stellar career with 1 bad yr for some reason. still has a career 41 yd net- last yr hartmanns was 38 (which is more or less the same as jones' bad yr)... plus knee surgery etc for hartmann. think jones has a much better chance of being kept around than ppl assume

In 2008, he was the first player in NFL history to have a punt gross average over 50 yds and a net average over 40 yds. And his punting style has allowed only a total of 3 blocks in 648 punts.

[CloakNNNdagger]

From Texans special teams coordinator Joe Marciano:

On P Donnie Jones: “Donnie brings a lot of experience. I remember studying Donnie out of LSU. I think I gave him a fifth-round grade. Has had a good career. Probably seen it all – different kind of conditions, game conditions, philosophies. What he also brings to the table, he’s also a good holder. He’s a really, really good holder, which is important, because we’ve got a young kicker and an experienced kicker, and he’d be good for the young kicker. But we’re going to do whatever Donnie does best. He’s a vet. He’s going to call the game, not me, because he’s the guy with the ball. So if he wants to hang that ball high down the middle, let’s go. If he hits it right or left, he can directional punt. He could hang the punt. We’re trying to teach him the Aussie punt inside the 10, kind of a knuckle ball to keep the ball out of the end zone, because he does have a strong leg and that Aussie punt, you can hit it hard and it just won’t travel as far, won’t go anywhere. He’s never done that, and he’s going to try to master that.”

Looks like Jones is being taught the "knuckle ball" and catching on well.

[Lucky]

Originally Posted by CloakNNNdagger

Looks like Jones is being taught the "knuckle ball" and catching on well.

Preseason is the time for experimentation.

Originally Posted by Maddict5

they're far from line drives. They have nice hangtime generally but whatever way hes kicking it, its moving on the way down so that it gives PR'ers real trouble judging the catch. just something ive noticed last 2 games.

Well they're not far from line drives, because they were. They didn't get far in the air (from my vantage point in the 600 section), and they would have been returnable. Had the returner been able to field the punt. I get what he's trying to do. The downside is that the coverage isn't able to get to the returner before he can turn upfield. We'll see how it works out once the season starts.

[Texanmike02]

Originally Posted by Lucky

Preseason is the time for experimentation.


Well they're not far from line drives, because they were. They didn't get far in the air (from my vantage point in the 600 section), and they would have been returnable. Had the returner been able to field the punt. I get what he's trying to do. The downside is that the coverage isn't able to get to the returner before he can turn upfield. We'll see how it works out once the season starts.

I heard Shane Lechler talking about the Aussie Rules FB punt. He said that he uses it a lot. It is done mostly when trying to kick the ball into the redzone and kill it inside of the 20. Supposedly it doesn't bounce as far and gives you a chance to down it.

Mike

[Craig.]

Originally Posted by ckhouston

Jones is gone when Hartmann gets back.

I think Donnie is going to be the man

[417Texan]

Jones was a pretty solid punter with Rams.

[Craig.]

Originally Posted by Craig.

I think Donnie is going to be the man

^ This guy got it, lol.