Special Teams Coordinator Byron Storer
Three punters in camp. Is that just as much to kind of get a look at the younger guys, but, you know, also kind of keep Corey’s (Bojorquez) leg a little rested?
“Yeah, I mean, now’s the time to look at the legs, at punter. So, the one thing special about Nik – I’m gonna screw up his name now, Constantinou – or he told me before I came out here, but I apologize. Nik, he’s an IPP (International Pathway Player), so he doesn’t necessarily count against the roster. I had that same thing in Green Bay for the last couple years. We had a kicker or multiple kickers really in Green Bay, but, really it’s Corey’s job to lose. At the end of the day, Corey’s handled this whole situation with utmost class and professionalism. Having multiple punters in here, he hasn’t blinked an eye one time. And for us, we’re trying to win the net punt game. So, we’re trying to give up the fewest amount of yards possible. And last year, our net punt average just wasn’t where it should be. And so that’s the reason why we’re getting a hard look at some of these young guys. But at the end of the day, it’s Corey’s job to lose.”
I wanted to ask about KC (Concepcion) because I know after the Draft Andrew (Berry) said that they felt like he was maybe the strongest punt returner in that draft class. What have you seen from him so far in some of these return?
“Oh, well, first of all, I am so excited to have KC. I agree with AB 100% that he was the best punt returner in this year’s draft class. What I see from KC is an ultimate competitor. He’s tough, he’s strong, he makes good decisions. I trust him back there catching it clean, very natural ball catcher. And I’m really excited to see him go out there and play real football. I think he’s got an elite acceleration. I think the one special thing about him is that he returns the ball with supreme effort and strain. You don’t see that a lot. Like, there’s some guys are finesse, he gets straight up the field and he runs extremely hard. So, he does – everything that he does kind of fits what I see our pump returner doing.”
You guys, this off season, you had multiple acquisitions, Tylan (Wallace), Daniel (Thomas), guys, where the special teams was their biggest primary background. Was that by design that, hey, we need to get some veterans, we need to get some older guys to kind of establish the culture or whatever you want to call it at those spots?
“Well, first of all, I had no prior experience with Tylan or Daniel at all, but I have known about them for a long time just playing against them. Daniel was in Detroit and Tylan was in Baltimore. So, what we really focused on in that free agency, later in free agency, was trying to get some gunner competition, and that was where those two guys come into play. And the cool thing about Tylan, too is he is versatile. He’s kick returned, he’s punt returned. He’s really done it all. So Tylan was a really cool addition from my perspective. We had him rated really high in free agency in terms of special teams value.”
What about a guy like Justin Jefferson you guys added on day three, like his best way onto the roster is probably special teams. So how has he kind of handled that?
“I think run and hit. That’s what Justin Jefferson does really, really well. And I just think the learning curve for him is going to be picking up the little details of playing on punt. And that’s really normal for rookies. You know, punt is the hardest thing for them to make the adjustment because in college they’re just releasing at the line of scrimmage. So now he’s got to learn how to punt set. So, once he gets that mastered and the kickoff return and kickoff is different, so he’s just learning like a normal rookie is. But in terms of the athlete and the man, I’m really excited to have him. I think he’s going to become a really good pro for us, a good special teams contributor this year.”
At practice last week, I think I counted like eight or nine guys that you guys were trying in various return spots. For you looking at those spots, it’s been something I know we asked you about that this team has struggled with and finding consistency there. Like, what are you looking for at this stage as all of those guys are getting reps?
“First of all, I’m treating everybody as if they’re going to make the team. You know what I’m saying? I am not going to assume that I know what’s going to happen. So, if anybody has any punt return experience, I want them to get catches during practice or after practice. And when we get into the preseason, late in the game, who’s going to go out there? So, they all need to get catches. And we got a lot of interesting guys. We talk about Kole Wilson, Aaron Anderson, Luke Floriea, those guys, even Davon (Booth), the running back – but he’s also got some kick return experience. So really, in my mind, the kick returner spot is wide open. I think Malachi Corley and Dylan Sampson are two, like guys in the front of the pack, but that’s a way for a young guy to carve out a role for us.”
What about punt returner?
“Gage Larvadain…he has a full season under his belt, but we also got KC (Concepcion) in the draft, so those two guys are 1A, 1B – pick and choose right now. So really punt returner, in my mind, it’s Gage and KC competing for that job.”
Going back to Justin. Kalen DeBoer has talked about even after he became a starter his last year at Alabama, he loved playing special teams. When you see how much value do you put in that in the evaluation process of, hey, this guy takes pride in that even when he had established himself as a collegiate starter?
“So sometimes when you’re watching college guys, they don’t necessarily play a lot of special teams. So what you have to do is kind of project in your mind based on the way they play defense or offense or whether they block or they pass protect or whatever it may be. So, when you see a guy who goes out there and actually does it at a high level in college, that just pushes him up the board for you. And so, in my mind, I want to stand on the table for a guy like Justin Jefferson and say that’s a guy we need to go get because of his special teams value. I know if he doesn’t play on defense, we have a role for him on special teams.”
Just have to ask for my own information, why wouldn’t you complete the field goal in that situation period? Is it just too early and came up to kick the field goal?
“Yeah, that was a mistake. So, we had the two field goal unit out there. It was a hurricane situation. So, a hurry up field goal situation and we failed to get the snap off in that situation.”
But I mean to complete the kick on all of the reps?
“Oh, oh, okay. So, Dre (Andre Szmyt) kicked yesterday. Dre kicked yesterday and he’s going to kick again tomorrow. So, we only have one kicker. We don’t want to kick him every single day.”
What’s your early opinion on Denzel Boston and what’s the appeal of a 6’3-6’4 receiver who can potentially be a gunner?
“I mean, Denzel, he’s an incredible athlete and he’s also wired extremely well. In terms of he’s a very serious-minded guy and he’s tough and he goes out there and competes at everything he does. So, he actually punt returns too. I haven’t got him out there to punt return. He’s the one guy I haven’t got out there to punt return. But I really want to see how he does like in the box or outside, at playing in the vice or in gunner or at kick return, being the off returner, those types of things. Because of his body type, you put him in different spots. I don’t really want to put him back there at returner right now to see where he can, how he can progress as a core special teamer.”
You got excited about that UC Davis punt returner yet, I take it?
“Yeah, yeah.”
A few months in here, what kind of tone has Todd set in the building?
“Oh, I think the thing that goes with Coach Monken is that he told me and this really stuck with me. And I think about this every day is like, ‘Confront anything that gets in the way of winning.’ And so for me, that’s a guiding principle right there. Confront anything that gets in the way of winning. So that tells me right there I got to be honest with my guys, I gotta be serious about my job. I gotta do everything the right way so that I put us in the best position to win. You know what I’m saying at the end of the day.”
I imagine Todd as a new head coach came in with certain ideas of how he wanted to run practice and what he wanted to kind of see. But how much does he lean on you guys as his assistants to sort of give some input on things that you kind of want to see on a daily basis?
“Coach Monken’s been awesome with me. He’s included me in every step of the process in terms of meeting times, practice times, and he (says) ‘Byron, what do you need?’ And I say, ‘This is what I’ve done, this is what I’d like.’ And he either gives me what I want or we’ll compromise. And at the end of the day, you know, whatever Coach Monken wants is what he’ll get. But I really appreciate the fact that he’s been really accommodating to me, and he’s really put a priority on special teams, in my opinion.”
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