Colquitt about to be the 4th most prolific ever at placing inside the 20.

[Direckshun]

MAN do I want to hold onto this guy somehow. We are just too strapped for cap space to keep Colquitt on board, though.

What a phenomenal punter he's been for us. Reliable field-switcher for a decade and a half. Wow.

http://www.chiefs.com/news/article-2...3-8b156cae4fb4

Chiefs Punter Dustin Colquitt Closing in on Historic Milestone
He’s among the best to ever do it
BJ Kissel Chiefs Reporter Chiefs.com
Posted 4 hours ago

It’s a skill and play that probably doesn’t get enough credit, but it definitely helps win games, and the Kansas City Chiefs have one of the best to ever do it.

If Dustin Colquitt places four more punts inside an opponents’ 20-yard line, he’ll move into fourth place on the NFL’s all-time list and have 400 for his career. He’s currently ranked fifth with 396.

Colquitt, who was drafted by the Chiefs in the third round (No. 99) out of Tennessee in 2005, ranks fourth in franchise history with 191 games played.

If he’s able to hit the 400-milestone, it’s going to mean something to Colquitt, who spoke about it Thursday afternoon.

“It’s been special that it’s all come from the same place, same club, and a lot of them at Arrowhead,” he explained. “It goes to show you that we’ve had a lot of great gunners that are downing balls, guys that are protecting and running down and getting guys inside the 20.”

“It’s almost like we just assume it’s going to happen, and that’s a good thing,” Chiefs’ special team’s coordinator Dave Toub added. “It’s hard enough to just take a ball and throw it and try to keep it in bounds. But he’s doing it with his foot.

“He does it just like how a quarterback would drop it in there with his foot. It’s amazing.”

There are a handful of ways a punter can affect a game, and outside of bombing one from deep in your own territory to flip field position, another way is backing up an opposing offense near the goal line.

It’s an area Colquitt obviously has mastered, and he explained that it was his father, Craig, who won two Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers during a seven-year NFL career, that first got him thinking about how this could have a huge effect on a game.

“It closes the offense’s playbook,” Colquitt recalls his dad telling him. “And once the rugby punt came in with Darren Bennett, Mike Scifres, and then Shane Lechler, it basically killed the rule of a return guy sitting on the 10-yard-line and not going back because now you have balls that are hitting at the seven and stopping inside the goal line.”

The “rugby” punt is an end-over-end kick that looks like the punter is kicking the pointed end of the football, and it makes it easier for the ball to stop once it hits the ground, or at least not kick into the end zone like a traditional kick that spirals and turns over.

The difference is an offensive drive starting at the 7-yard line instead of the 20.

Consequently, it’s tough for an offense to feel comfortable about their play calls when the quarterbacks’ drop has him standing in the end zone on a passing play. The ability to back up offenses affects drives, and ultimately, can change games.

“I started doing it—or practicing—in 2007 and 2008, and didn’t do it in a game until halfway through the ’08 season,” Colquitt explained. “I wanted to get it right before I put it up.”

Colquitt said it was actually Scifres, who played 13 years with the Chargers and was one of the first to use this “rugby” style, who helped Colquitt know when he was ready to use this weapon that’s come to define much of his career.

“He was very honest with me during pre-game’s,” Colquitt explained of Scifres and the two times they’d play the Chargers each year. “He would say it’s not ready yet, and I appreciated it. I wanted that. He was really good at it, so I was like, ‘OK, I’m putting it up.’”

With the potential of Colquitt achieving that milestone this Sunday against the Chargers, he said he has a few keepsakes in his home, including a pair of the cleats former Chiefs’ center Casey Wiegmann wore during his 11,000-plus consecutive-snaps streak, but that he’ll hopefully add another one soon—No. 400.

“This will be a cool deal,” he said. “I’ll definitely keep it."

[Hydrae]

There is a reason we have called him the MVP for the last few years (mostly due to the crap elsewhere but a lot on Dustin and his skills).

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by 58-4ever

It's been pretty bad this year...

How so?

5 punts inside the 20 in 2 games. 44.5 yard average. 39.2 net. 2 touchbacks. 18 return yards.

Yeah, that's on pace for more touchbacks than usual, but how far off from his usual numbers do you THINK this is?

I have no idea what you guys are talking about.

Except about the high cap. That's a lot for a punter. We all know that.

[tmax63]

I would ask all those who feel that he's not worth $4M to tell me where else on the team can you get a better return on investment. That's about 1/4 of an edge rusher, 1/3 of a good CB, 1/2 of a tackle. I don't see where you can have a bigger impact on a game for that price anywhere else on the team.

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by Halfcan

He has had a couple of close misses where the runners could not quit down it before bouncing into the endzone. I think he will be fine.

Hopefully, he won't see the field much the rest of the year since we will be scoring more.

His numbers are literally right in line with his past 6.

I'm surprised anyone is saying he's playing badly. After taking two shots to the leg against the pats, we're lucky he's not hurt.

[TimBone]

Originally Posted by tmax63

I would ask all those who feel that he's not worth $4M to tell me where else on the team can you get a better return on investment. That's about 1/4 of an edge rusher, 1/3 of a good CB, 1/2 of a tackle. I don't see where you can have a bigger impact on a game for that price anywhere else on the team.

You certainly can't go out and get a playmaker solely for the $4mil that we'd save by letting Colquitt go, but it can be the extra money the team might need to seal a deal with that playmaker.

[nceagle_11]

Originally Posted by ModBone

You certainly can't go out and get a playmaker solely for the $4mil that we'd save by letting Colquitt go, but it can be the extra money the team might need to seal a deal with that playmaker.

4mil is chump change. Sign him to a long term extension, backload his deal with a good bonus and be done with it.

[Rasputin]

He won't be needed when Patrick Mahomes II takes over.

[tmax63]

I'm a firm believer that part of the reason behind the Chiefs success is the third part of the trinity, special teams. Toub is excellent at coaching them up and punters/kickers are important part of that. Just ask the Chargers. The Chiefs almost always have the edge in special teams and that has won quite a few games for them down through the years.

[TigeRRUppeRRcut]

Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy

Get rid of the albatross that is Alex's contract and maybe something can be worked out.

You keep derailing every thread with your hate for Smith and you're headed to the Romper Room you **** stain

[TigeRRUppeRRcut]

He's off his game so far this year but if he closes strong you can give him* a 2 year contract, with 1 year guaranteed. Or just draft his replacement if the talent is there. Not worried about this position one bit.

[-King-]

What are you guys talking about? I keep seeing people say he's not good this year. I don't see it
Posted via Mobile Device

[|Zach|]

Good player and seems to be a really nice guy.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

Good player and seems to be a really nice guy.

He's been a overpaid piece of shit for 2 years that has hampered the Chiefs salary cap.

Good call, Zachy soccer.

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

He's been a overpaid piece of shit for 2 years that has hampered the Chiefs salary cap.

Good call, Zachy soccer.

Did....I do something to offend you?

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

Did....I do something to offend you?

You? No.

Colquitt?

Yes.

He's stolen money for years.