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While the punter is not a primary position that warrants attention in the NFL, Dustin Colquitt has been a 'very valuable' member of the Chiefs for quite some time. Romeo Crennel used those words to describe Colquitt on Wednesday in his Q&A session with reporters, and it's a statement that could have been made about Colquitt since he entered the league in 2005.
Colquitt is now 30-years-old and in his eighth year with the Chiefs, which might surprise some of you given how quickly time passes. I know I was definitely taken back. In 2012, Colquitt is averaging 45.9 yards per punt, the same exact total as 2011. There's something to be said for veteran consistency.
Here's Crennel's back and forth with the media about Colquitt, in which Crennel also makes up a word (downings?):
How valuable is Dustin Colquitt to this team?
He's very valuable. I mean I can't say he is this number percentage valuable or that number percentage. But having a punter who can get you field position in the plus-50 area and then backed up can hit some balls that can get you out of trouble, and not only just by hitting long balls, but by hitting balls that have hang time to give your coverage a chance to get down the field to make the play on a returner. Those are pretty valuable guys.
He can affect strategy, he can give you more options when you're trying to figure out what you're going to do?
I think that offensively, we never want to say that we're going to depend on the punter to get field position for us. Offensively we want to get field position ourselves. But when he does go into the game, then he has to do what he does and part of what he does is hang the ball with distance when necessary and get plus-10 downings and he's been able to be really effective in that plus-10 area the last couple games.
Colquitt said that Coach Tom McMahon has helped him a lot. Has that been your observation?
I think it is. Tom is a very fine football coach. He's detailed. He coaches technique. He motivates them, and I think him working one-on-one with the specialists, I think that helps them.