Oakland Raiders: S&BP Raiders 2008 Player Achievement Awards - Part V: Special Teams Player of the Year

by TheRaiderWay on Apr 8, 2009 3:49 AM PDT Comment 19 comments

The Silver & Black Pride 2008 Player Achievement Awards continues its series as we move to part V - Special Teams Player of the Year.

The S&BP Community decided overwhelmingly its choice for the 2008 Offensive Player of the Year with 65% of the vote you chose: Zach Miller.

You have already voted Darren McFadden as your Rookie of the Year, while choosing Johnnie Lee Higgins as your Most Improved Player of the Year and Nnamdi Asomugha as your Defensive Player of the Year.

In the 3 different units of a football team, it can be easily stated the on the 2008 Raiders their Special Teams unit was by far the strength of the team. Certainly, the Raiders 2008 Special Teams kept them in most games, if not outright winning some of them.

The candidates are:

Sebastian Janikowski

Sebastian Janikowski, better known as SeaBass kicked his way to 97 points, while the entire rest of the Raiders team scored just 228 points. Janikowski's cannon leg allowed him to kick a Raider record 57 yard field goal this season as well as many clutch kicks. While his kickoffs would often eliminate the opposing teams return game as Jano would kick the ball out of the end zone or put such a hang time on the ball that the Raiders coverage unit would be in place to pin the returner deep.

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
2008 - Sebastian Janikowski	15	0 - 0	11 - 11	8 - 8	2 - 4	3 - 7	24	30	80.0%	25	26	100.0%	97

Shane Lechler

All-Pro Shane Lechler has proven to be a "special" weapon for his team, not just a punter, but someone who effects the game with his incredible skills. Lechler's booming punts, hang time and coffin corner kicks has allowed an amazing 33 of his 90 punts to be downed inside the 20 yard line. Without question, the Raiders Special Teams would not be special with Mr. Lechler.

	Punting
	G	Punts	Yds	AVG	Lng	In20	TB
2008 - Shane Lechler	16	90	4391	48.8	70	33	13

Johnnie Lee Higgins

In 2008, JLH started the season handling duties as both kick and punt returner as he and the team looked for his true niche. Johnnie was more tentative as a kick returner and eventually relinquished his role there, but as a punt returner, he took to that role and shined averaging 13 yards a return and 3 touchdowns. JLH is a star in the making and soon teams will have no choice but to punt far away from him.

							Kickoff Returns					Punt Returns
							KR	YDS	AVG	Lng	TD	PR	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD
							36	842	23.4	69	0	44	570	13.0	93	3

Justin Miller

Justin Miller came to the Raiders in mid-season as a waiver claim after being let go by the Jets. Miller immediately invigorated the kick return game as he was a threat every time he touched the ball. With his unique way of fielding the ball with his two hands over his head, his elite speed, fearlessness and elusiveness, Miller averaged 24.8 yards a return and two touch downs and gave the Raiders an impact player in the return game that they have lacked for years.

Kick Return
Year	Team	G	Ret	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD	20+	40+	FC	FUM
2008	Oakland Raiders	7	32	794	24.8	92T	2	19	4	0	1

Silver & Black Pride Community, it's time to choose your 2008 Special Teams Player of the Year.

Up next: Most Valuable Player

Poll

Raiders Special Teams Player of the Year for 2008 is:

Sebastian Janikowski

51 votes

Shane Lechler

222 votes

Johnnie Lee Higgins

190 votes

Justin Miller

24 votes

Other (write in choice in the comment section)

2 votes

489 votes | Poll has closed

1 recs | Comment 19 comments | Share

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Comments

Seabass

no matter how bad the offense was, we could always count on him to get us points.

Plus he had a record-breaking kick this year.

V- "I'm not questioning your powers of observation. I'm merely remarking on the paradox of asking a masked man who he is."

by KA1Z3R on Apr 8, 2009 3:58 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

All of the choices...

were pretty convincing…which shows how “special” those units played. I voted for Shane in 2008 because..when things got bogged down, especially deep in our territory, he would come through with a bomb of a punt- to change field position in a big way. I don’t expect a huge year for him this year because he won’t have quite as many opportunities as in 08. However, when he does get his chances, he will shine through as usual.

Go Raiders!

by blazersrock on Apr 8, 2009 6:51 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Shane Lechler

I really hope with all that he has done so far for the Raiders by the time he is retired, both he and Ray Guy are in the Hall of Fame. 90 punts this past season. Here’s also hoping the offense gives him a break and he only has to kick about 45 next year

looking forward to the next 30 years of this team

by 30yearR8RFan on Apr 8, 2009 9:09 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

WOW

He kicked 90 punts last year even I could be good if I had to do it that many times.

"We want to Win. The Raider fans deserve it. The Raider players deserve it,even my organization deserves it. You have to Win and Win with a vision of the Super Bowl. That's our passion here"- Mr. Davis

by nishal26 on Apr 8, 2009 2:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

...how would punting

90 times make you good?? i’m pretty sure most punt statistics are in averages, meaning you’d have to be really fuckin consistent to get good stats after punting so much

Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up!!

by naq92 on Apr 9, 2009 9:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

JLH

No doubt about it. He was so fierce and so dominant with his game. I believe he was tied for the best punt returner in the league with 3 TDs. He was the most exciting player for the Raiders this year and had a wondrous year. He deserves my vote.

Police Fucking Hate Me, Trying To Relocate Me To LA, But Like The Raiders, I' ma Bring It Back To The Bay! - Nump

by Rayder K on Apr 8, 2009 12:37 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Jonnie Lee is the easy pick

I would go with Justin Miller we got him off The Patriots and he had back to back games with a Kickoff retured for a TD. Chargers and Patriots.

by nishal26 on Apr 8, 2009 1:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

My bad "Johnnie Lee"

by nishal26 on Apr 8, 2009 1:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Justin Miller

came from the Jets.

Your team is your child...You love it no matter what.

by TheRaiderWay on Apr 8, 2009 1:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yea He Did

Nishal, you are behind my bro.

Police Fucking Hate Me, Trying To Relocate Me To LA, But Like The Raiders, I' ma Bring It Back To The Bay! - Nump

by Rayder K on Apr 8, 2009 1:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Dam It

I don’t know what is up with me I just fet like we got him from Patriots it must be beacuse I haven’t seen a Raider game for about 4 months.

by nishal26 on Apr 8, 2009 2:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Very Close, But Higgins

It was a difficult choice between Shane Lechler an Johnnie Lee Higgins, but in the end I had to go with Higgins. I’m not being fair to Lechler, and I’ll admit it, but his impact on special teams was partially negated by the defense’s inability to stop certain teams. As such, no matter how awesome one of his punts were, there were times that it didn’t produce the desired result of keeping an opposing team from scoring.

Higgins on the other hand made a pretty significant impact despite having limited opportunities with the Raiders defense not forcing a lot of punts. The Raiders won 2 of the 3 games where Higgins returned a punt for a TD, and that makes him the special teams player of the year.

Most Likely Draft: Brian Orakpo, Ramses Barden, Chip Vaughn, etc.

by LiveAdam on Apr 8, 2009 2:54 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I had to go with

Shane for the simple fact that he has been the consistent bright spot on the special teams unit since he started his career in ‘The Town’, he is a fan favorite and bleeds silver and black- also he had a remarkable probowl season this year. I give my vote to Shane.

I like to believe my best HITS border on Felonious ASSAULT
-Jack Tatum

by DarksideJU08 on Apr 8, 2009 3:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Kudos, TRW

I have enjoyed reading these. Keep it up.

I'm here to talk about the past.

by 67MARQUEZ on Apr 8, 2009 5:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Tough but Lechler

All of these guys played exceptionally well this year. SeaBass and Lechler I think always hold it down for the Raiders and I had to make the decision between the two. Shane I think consistently gets over looked and I think he is the best the NFL has ever seen. If it weren’t for Shane then the Defense would have had a tougher job.

Props to JLH and Miller for getting us those rare TD’s though.

Just HIT somebody.

by SBcitizen on Apr 8, 2009 6:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Off Topic

But the regular season schedule is to be released on April 14 Tuesday on NFL.Com.

by nishal26 on Apr 9, 2009 2:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks

I was wondering when.

Police Fucking Hate Me, Trying To Relocate Me To LA, But Like The Raiders, I' ma Bring It Back To The Bay! - Nump

by Rayder K on Apr 9, 2009 3:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tough Choice

I chose Higgins because he was the most electrifying of the bunch. Justin Miller came alive there at the end too, and of course Lechler is the All Pro of the bunch.

by RaiderTexas on Apr 11, 2009 12:05 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

The question here is....

Which one would you be ok paying $4 Mill a year for?

Lechler is the clear choice (if you only factor JLH in as a returner, since this is the special teams unit)

Holy crap, 90 punts though? What a leg.

Kings fan? A's Fan?! Al Davis Run Raiders Fan?!!?!! ANNNND you're sacrificing 2 years of your life because you're LDS?!!?!?!?!?! Yeah, Masochist is the new sexy.

by killerking on Apr 14, 2009 1:13 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs