THE FIVE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS OF 2007: #5 -- JONATHAN HEFNEY'S SENIOR SEASON

by Joel on Jan 9, 2008 6:19 AM EST in Tennessee Volunteer Football Comment 1 comment

Stealing yet another great idea from Burnt Orange Nation (hey, it's not like I'm the first), presenting the Five Biggest Disappointments of 2007. We'll try to get these out of the way and get on to something more positive -- the Five Biggest Surprises of 2007 -- quickly. These are off the top of my head, by the way, so chime in with yours in the comments.

Me (and you), last season and this summer: Woo, Jonathan Hefney! Woo, I say, woo:

And again, I say woo:

So we were looking for good things from Mr. Hefney in 2007. He would surely be the sole bright spot of a secondary so dim even Smeagol's discerning eyes couldn't make out its shape.

But . . .


	Int. Ret.			Punt Ret.			Kickoff Ret.			Tackles					Passes Defended
	No	Yds	TD	No	Yds	TD	No	Yds	TD	Ast	Solo	Asst Loss	Solo Loss	Loss Yds
2007	1	0	0	14	89	0	1	15	0	36	60	0	2	8	6
2006	5	75	0	17	206	0	2	32	0	28	68	0	3	6	3

Hefney had almost as many opportunities to return punts in 2007 as he did in 2006, but he didn't do nearly as much with them, and he lost the job to true freshman Dennis Rogan after the South Carolina game. Still, Hef was third-best on the team in total tackles this season with 96, coincidentally the same number he had the season before. Looking at his stats as a whole, he didn't have a bad year, he just didn't live up to the expectations he had created for himself.

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Common thread to both punt returns

Low line-drive punts. The Alabama punt was airborne for less than 4 seconds, and the South Carolina punt was about half a second shorter. That's often lethal to the coverage unit. Most returners would get good returns under those conditions. Kudos to Hefney to maximizing the return, but the fault was in the punts.

by Hooper on Jan 9, 2008 6:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs