Is Hixon Scared?

[FantomForce]

He looked like a scared little kid returning those kicks? Noth that this takes anything that happend to Everett away God bless him. But Hixon looked scared to be out on that field! Let's cut him and pick up Jermey Bloom!

[cousinal11]

I don't know if he was scared, he definitely looked very hesitant.

[Ratboy]

I'd be scared too, our special teams suck and couldn't make blocks.

[Smiling Assassin27]

Two words: Tim Dwight--get him a uni.

[FantomForce]

Two words: Tim Dwight--get him a uni.

I would be all for Tim Dwight he' s been awsome ever since his Iowa days!

[sixtimeseight]

Hixon's not scared, he just sucks.

[cmhargrove]

He looked like a scared little kid returning those kicks? Noth that this takes anything that happend to Everett away God bless him. But Hixon looked scared to be out on that field! Let's cut him and pick up Jermey Bloom!

Give me a break on Bloom, the guy will never make it in the big leagues. Interesting thought, but not worth the roster space.

Can't blame only Hixon on this one. First, the Bills are better than us at ST. Second, our wedge seems to have very little effect. It gets broken down very easily, and leaves Hixon no good choices. It wouldn't surprise me to see some back and forth between Hixon and Clark (mainly so they could activate Clark as a receiving option).

I still think Selvin Young could be our best KR - he has better vision than Hixon and has shown he can take a lick and lay one.

[Smiling Assassin27]

Some returners just have 'it'. They are fearless and can hit the holes at full speed every time. Dwight was the best i've seen at it.

[FantomForce]

Give me a break on Bloom, the guy will never make it in the big leagues. Interesting thought, but not worth the roster space.

Can't blame only Hixon on this one. First, the Bills are better than us at ST. Second, our wedge seems to have very little effect. It gets broken down very easily, and leaves Hixon no good choices. It wouldn't surprise me to see some back and forth between Hixon and Clark (mainly so they could activate Clark as a receiving option).

I still think Selvin Young could be our best KR - he has better vision than Hixon and has shown he can take a lick and lay one.

Are you serious? Our wedge can't hold up forever if he would quit running like a pu**y and get up to the wedge maybe it could be effective!

[2KBack]

Some returners just have 'it'. They are fearless and can hit the holes at full speed every time. Dwight was the best i've seen at it.

there have to be holes, in order to hit them. If the Special teams start to pick up their blocking, Denvers returners will start to look a lot better. Look at the coverage teams, those aren't hixon's fault, but they directly reflect on the return team.

[cabronco]

I will give him a few more games to find his comfort zone. Its not like hes had any lanes to run through. Plus the Mane has put alot of expectations on him...:~ohyah!:

Special teams have to get better, they cant get much worse. So Hixon please take one to the house against the Faid !!

[FantomForce]

Give me a break on Bloom, the guy will never make it in the big leagues. Interesting thought, but not worth the roster space.

Can't blame only Hixon on this one. First, the Bills are better than us at ST. Second, our wedge seems to have very little effect. It gets broken down very easily, and leaves Hixon no good choices. It wouldn't surprise me to see some back and forth between Hixon and Clark (mainly so they could activate Clark as a receiving option).

I still think Selvin Young could be our best KR - he has better vision than Hixon and has shown he can take a lick and lay one.

Are you serious? Our wedge can't hold up forever if he would quit running like a pu**y and get up to the wedge maybe it could be effective!

[theAPAOps5]

It was weird he is crazy fast but he looked crazy slow when starting to run. Of course watching your blockers whiff on the gunners isn't very encouraging either.

[SonOfLe-loLang]

I'd give him a few more games as well. Brian Clark ran like a pussy last year too, so lets not throw him back there either. But honestly, i like our offense, as long as he doesn't fumble, i'm ok with him. I think he did a decent job returning punts though.

[Smiling Assassin27]

there have to be holes, in order to hit them. If the Special teams start to pick up their blocking, Denvers returners will start to look a lot better. Look at the coverage teams, those aren't hixon's fault, but they directly reflect on the return team.

on every return, there's a window. the great ones find the window no matter where it is and they manipulate the coverage to create a window based on the pursuit.

[telluride]

Blasphemy!

Hixon is never scared. He was worried about ripping the space-time continuum with his blazing speed.

[Houshyamama]

It was weird he is crazy fast but he looked crazy slow when starting to run. Of course watching your blockers whiff on the gunners isn't very encouraging either.

I know exactly what you mean. It looked like he was in slow motion compared to everyone else.

[Kaylore]

He's more nervous than scared. This was his very first NFL game ever. I think we forget that. He's going to look raw until he plays a few games and settles down. Also, they're the best special teams in the NFL next to the Bears so it was a tough week one.

[bdv]

It reminded me of #27 last year: catch a punt, stand there and think about what to do next. From now on #12, do your thinking while your running. Run immediately after the catch! And run forward - with few exceptions. Wait until you've established yourself to run a little backward and to side - but as I said, rarely.

Maybe the return game needs to "slow down" for him. Too early to judge how he'll turn out.

As for our ST blocking, it's difficult for me to tell, since the camera is always so tight on the main player...

[chadta]

i dunno if hes scared, but he sure scared me, everytime he caught the ball and ran around not taking any steps forward, i do admire his guts tho, did he take a fair catch all game ?

[broncosteven]

He's more nervous than scared. This was his very first NFL game ever. I think we forget that. He's going to look raw until he plays a few games and settles down. Also, they're the best special teams in the NFL next to the Bears so it was a tough week one.

I thought he was fine as a PR. He made positive yards on all but one PR. He could have Fair caught the 1st punt but thanks to the option play we got out of that hole.

[footstepsfrom#27]

One game...let's throw him under the bus...makes perfect sense for this place. :thumbs:

[worm]

I thought it was ironic on a day that the ST did so well for the Bills....Steve Tasker was inducted into the Wall of Fame.

[FantomForce]

One game...let's throw him under the bus...makes perfect sense for this place. :thumbs:

I'm not throwing anyone under the bus! Futhermore the man has been preparing for this game for how long now??? All this hype about "I'll be ready when my oppourtunity comes". Now what? He will get another chance and I would love to be proved wrong. But that doesn't change the fact, that he finally was healthy enough to get on the field and pretty much lost control of his bowel movements every time he touched the ball!

[worm]

I'm not throwing anyone under the bus! Futhermore the man has been preparing for this game for how long now??? All this hype about "I'll be ready when my oppourtunity comes". Now what? He will get another chance and I would love to be proved wrong. But that doesn't change the fact, that he finally was healthy enough to get on the field and pretty much lost control of his bowel movements every time he touched the ball!

Yet in your vast knowledge you think we would be better off signing Bloom who has even less experience and was cut in his first training camp.

:homer:

[SleepingTiger]

I was sitting at a bar watching the game with a fellow Broncos fan. He asked me who Hixon was, I told him Hixon was one of our fastest players. After several returns by Hixon, the guy asked me if i was sure Hixon was fast because he though Hixon was slow.

I just thought Hixon was very nervous and couldn't figure out his blockers or what hole to hit. I say, give him one more game before we throw him under the bus.

Also, the Bills is excellent at special team as noted by Shanahan. They are a big reason why we struggled at special teams.

[sixtimeseight]

I thought it was ironic on a day that the ST did so well for the Bills....Steve Tasker was inducted into the Wall of Fame.

Not ironic at all. In fact, that is just about the opposite of irony, which would be something completely expected.

[cmhargrove]

Are you serious? Our wedge can't hold up forever if he would quit running like a pu**y and get up to the wedge maybe it could be effective!

I'm serious.....twice.

What I mean is that I didn't see any big places for him to break runs against the Bills. If you expect him to break the first 2 tackles, then hit open space, he definitely isn't there yet.

It doesn't look like we have tried a "directional" return yet where he has the chance to cut it back across the grain for a big gain. I think we need to give our st, and O'Brien a little more time to work out the kinks. I think Hixon should be an average KR, and as long as he holds on to the ball, we will be OK. But, he had guys in his face all day - I didn't see much daylight for him to take advantage of.

And, I am serious about Selvin Young, I think he could be a good KR (not PR) for our team. His vision and quick burst could flip some great returns.

[worm]

Not ironic at all. In fact, that is just about the opposite of irony, which would be something completely expected.

Wasn't expected for me. I had high hopes that O'Brien would make a difference. I did not expect for the Bills to score a ST touchdown. I expected Hixon to do better than he did.

[Houshyamama]

I thought it was ironic on a day that the ST did so well for the Bills....Steve Tasker was inducted into the Wall of Fame.

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[cambrad8085]

He looked like a scared little kid returning those kicks? Noth that this takes anything that happend to Everett away God bless him. But Hixon looked scared to be out on that field! Let's cut him and pick up Jermey Bloom!

What has Bloom done to belong on an NFL team?

[Hulamau]

Nah he just needs to shave that pussy 'Peppy Le Pew' chin whiskers he's got goin' ... that will straighten him up ... Looks like one of these French 'limp wristers' :-) pan handling on Champs Elysees!

[footstepsfrom#27]

I'm not throwing anyone under the bus! Futhermore the man has been preparing for this game for how long now??? All this hype about "I'll be ready when my oppourtunity comes". Now what? He will get another chance and I would love to be proved wrong. But that doesn't change the fact, that he finally was healthy enough to get on the field and pretty much lost control of his bowel movements every time he touched the ball!
Hixon had a 33 yard KO return to open the game, an 8 yard punt return and another punt return for -2 yards before his KO return to open the 2nd half that put Kevin Everett in the hospital. That's FOUR RETURNS before he got to spend the rest of the day thinking about possibly paralyzing some guy who tried to tackle him. Following this tragedy, he got 4 more opportunites, one of which the Bills interfered with him on a fair catch, so that makes 3 actual chances after that point.

Do you think it's bartely possible he was tenative over what happened on the opening 2nd half kickoff? Clearly it seemed to impact him. Let's wait to see how he plays this week AND the next few weeks...this guy was the only player in the NCAA to rank top 20 in both KOR's and PR's the year we drafted him and it's crazy to talk about dumping him after one game, especially one with these circumstances.

[footstepsfrom#27]

What has Bloom done to belong on an NFL team?
He's a good skier? ???

[Rock Chalk]

He's more nervous than scared. This was his very first NFL game ever. I think we forget that. He's going to look raw until he plays a few games and settles down. Also, they're the best special teams in the NFL next to the Bears so it was a tough week one.

Personally, I think Hixon is fast but not a football player. The guy has not impressed me at all.

Darius Watts Jr.

[vancejohnson82]

yeah we should cut him after Week 1

let's cut Elam too

and Marshall

and Selvin Young...he didnt get enough yards in this game

and Bly...No interceptions??? What the hell is that about

we should go get Bloom, Mel Gray and Glyn Milburn to return kicks

[NFLBRONCO]

98% of all our returners have done this nothing new here. I'd take Tim D. in a sec. Denver felt we needed rice I think we need Tim just as much.

[footstepsfrom#27]

yeah we should cut him after Week 1

let's cut Elam too

and Marshall

and Selvin Young...he didnt get enough yards in this game

and Bly...No interceptions??? What the hell is that about

we should go get Bloom, Mel Gray and Glyn Milburn to return kicks
Yeah...I nominate this for the dumb idea of the year award. The coaches have had an entire training camp and 4 preseason games to evaluate this guy and they think he deserves to be here...so let's cut him after one game in which a guy who tried to tackle him winds up paralyzed and he has 7 chances.

Like I said...it makes perfect sense for this place.

[lazarus4444]

I'm with you #27. We need to give Hixon a whole season and see how he turns out. He was really good in college, spent a year recovering from injury and now he's back out there. lets give it some time, he's not worse than the other stiff's we've put out there. Hixon has upside.

[Rock Chalk]

Cut him now. If footsteps wants him around you can take it to the bank the guy will be out of football in 3 years or less.

[footstepsfrom#27]

Cut him now. If footsteps wants him around you can take it to the bank the guy will be out of football in 3 years or less.
Right...cause I know nothing about the game huh? :wave:

http://www.orangemane.com/BB/showthread.php?p=721476&highlight=Clarett#post721476

I doubt Clarett clears waivers.

He may not live up to snuff in Denver's loaded backfield, but he could make pretty much any other team in the NFL.
You were saying? ;D

[vancejohnson82]

footsteps,

is it like this every week? Because if so we should just start a thread where people vote on who the broncos should cut given that week's performance

then when that player makes some big plays for us the next week we can trace back the dimwits who jumped the gun and have them explain themselves

there has to be some sort of accountability with the way people start witch hunts on this board

[broncosteven]

yeah we should cut him after Week 1

let's cut Elam too

and Marshall

and Selvin Young...he didnt get enough yards in this game

and Bly...No interceptions??? What the hell is that about

we should go get Bloom, Mel Gray and Glyn Milburn to return kicks

I want Billy White Shoes Johnson myself, I think he is free these days...

[broncosteven]

footsteps,

is it like this every week? Because if so we should just start a thread where people vote on who the broncos should cut given that week's performance

then when that player makes some big plays for us the next week we can trace back the dimwits who jumped the gun and have them explain themselves

there has to be some sort of accountability with the way people start witch hunts on this board

Why should fans be accountable when the players are not? I think we should start a Ron Mexico Dog fighting forum!








BTW I am joking for those of you that cannot figure that out...

[footstepsfrom#27]

footsteps,

is it like this every week?
Sadly...yes.

[SnowGoose77]

I want Billy White Shoes Johnson myself, I think he is free these days...

White Shoes Johnson? Where's the hometown love for a guy named Upchurch? Hixon looked extremely tentative in my opinion. Even Darian Gordon would go upfield and hit holes quick. Well, at least if they were there. :)

[azbroncfan]

It was weird he is crazy fast but he looked crazy slow when starting to run. Of course watching your blockers whiff on the gunners isn't very encouraging either.

I agree. I think he is like Tatum Bell in that aspect which is fast top speed but not too quick starting and stopping. He looks like he lacks explosiveness.

[footstepsfrom#27]

I agree. I think he is like Tatum Bell in that aspect which is fast top speed but not too quick starting and stopping. He looks like he lacks explosiveness.
Funny...the coaches say the exact opposite.

[RunSilentRunDeep]

I walked down to the first row pregame while the Broncos were warming up and was about 15 feet away from them. A couple of observations:

1. Jarvis Moss looked terrified. I obviously don't know his mannerisms but other people besides me thought he was freaking out. I wonder if the remarks about him needing to get in better shape come from all his energy being sapped from anxiety. I was surprised that Moss played as well as he did.

2. Brandon Marshall is a fricking beast. Even looks bigger in person. Both he and Javon looked like they were ready to beat the snot out of someone (matter of fact, Marshall did beat the snot out of Mario Haggans).

3. Simeon Rice is about as loose and confident as it gets. While everyone else had their game face on, Simeon was laughing and jawing with fans. He was still all business when his turn in line came.

4. Domenik Hixon was uncomfortable. Hopefully, it was just first-game jitters on a wet field away from home. He looked like he had the shakes counting yards trying to figure out where to plant himself. He doesn't carry any of the "now you're about to see something!" swagger that good returners have.

[footstepsfrom#27]

I walked down to the first row pregame while the Broncos were warming up and was about 15 feet away from them. A couple of observations:

1. Jarvis Moss looked terrified. I obviously don't know his mannerisms but other people besides me thought he was freaking out. I wonder if the remarks about him needing to get in better shape come from all his energy being sapped from anxiety. I was surprised that Moss played as well as he did.

2. Brandon Marshall is a fricking beast. Even looks bigger in person. Both he and Javon looked like they were ready to beat the snot out of someone (matter of fact, Marshall did beat the snot out of Mario Haggans).

3. Simeon Rice is about as loose and confident as it gets. While everyone else had their game face on, Simeon was laughing and jawing with fans. He was still all business when his turn in line came.

4. Domenik Hixon was uncomfortable. Hopefully, it was just first-game jitters on a wet field away from home. He looked like he had the shakes counting yards trying to figure out where to plant himself. He doesn't carry any of the "now you're about to see something!" swagger that good returners have.
I saw Elway line up behind the guard in his first start. We should have cut him. :welcome:

These rookies are ALL scared...THEY'RE ROOKIES! You'll see the rooks get adjusted and improve as the year goes on.

[UboBronco]

I cannot believe anyone could say Hixon is not any good. We do not know yet.... If after game 6, he still is nervous, then maybe. I know I would have been nervous in the rain, first punt is at the ten yard line, with a crowd around me. I thought he should have been further away from the ball, so it would not possibly bounce off of him. I bet the last words to him from the coaches were, "if you are inside of the 10-yard line, let it go".
I actually like the way he goes right up the field after he catches the punt. He had several 8-10 yard gains on returns when nothing was there..

Give him a few games PLEASE.......

[RunSilentRunDeep]

I saw Elway line up behind the guard in his first start. We should have cut him. :welcome:

These rookies are ALL scared...THEY'RE ROOKIES! You'll see the rooks get adjusted and improve as the year goes on.

Agreed, I'm not giving up on them. I was just passing on what I saw. Didn't Rookie Elway get benched soon after lining up at guard and watch a few games until he was ready to return? I'll say this, if we can risk Champ on ST coverage, we can risk Bly handling punts until Hixon is comfortable. Let Domenik cut his teeth on kickoffs where he's got time and space.

The Eagles lost due to muffed punts. The AFC is competitive for Denver to give games away in that manner.

[footstepsfrom#27]

Agreed, I'm not giving up on them. I was just passing on what I saw. Didn't Rookie Elway get benched soon after lining up at guard and watch a few games until he was ready to return? I'll say this, if we can risk Champ on ST coverage, we can risk Bly handling punts until Hixon is comfortable. Let Domenik cut his teeth on kickoffs where he's got time and space.

The Eagles lost due to muffed punts. The AFC is competitive for Denver to give games away in that manner.
After watching Bly shut down Lee Evans, there's no way I'd risk him on punt returns. Hixon didn't DROP anything...which is the most important thing. He was also playing on the road, in his first game, in a hostile environment. Shanny will stick with the kid.

Once again...why is nobody factoring in the tragic events that he was involved in here? That had to be on his mind.

[DomCasual]

Okay, I'm starting to think there's something to this. He just looks tentative, like he's tensing his body up in anticipation of the hit. Not only does that make it almost impossible to pick up much on the return, it also makes him pretty vulnerable to a fumble. And what's ironic is that it makes him far more likely to get hurt.

Does Quincy Morgan return punts, or is he strictly a kickoff guy. We just can't have Hixon doing it, if he's going to be a wuss all year.

[bdv]

Don't just stand there...

Run Hixon, run!!!

[Popps]

We'll go in another direction soon. Trust me.

[Popps]

Nice fair catch at the 5, Dominique.

Sit this schmuck down.

[DomCasual]

Good Lord. He's not only scared, he's stupid.

Hey, Dominik, news flash. If you're going to fair catch it at the 5, there's not much downside in just letting it go. They teach you that in Pop Warner, dumbass.

[Billy Clyde Puckett]

He looked like a scared little kid returning those kicks? Noth that this takes anything that happend to Everett away God bless him. But Hixon looked scared to be out on that field! Let's cut him and pick up Jermey Bloom!

WTF do you expect him to do when he has two defenders in his face on every punt and every kickoff is out of the end zone. The trouble this year as in years past is no on knocks down the opponents gunners during the punt returns. I think he did very well just catching the punts with those guys in his face.

[Billy Clyde Puckett]

Good Lord. He's not only scared, he's stupid.

Hey, Dominik, news flash. If you're going to fair catch it at the 5, there's not much downside in just letting it go. They teach you that in Pop Warner, dumbass.

Dom - you usually have pretty good takes but it is obvious he was told by the coaches to catch those punts or he wouldn't have been congratulated by the coaches as he came off the field and he wouldn't have done it a second time. With the coverage Oakland was getting, the ball at the 8 is much better than teh ball at the 1.

[Garcia Bronco]

Dom - you usually have pretty good takes but it is obvious he was told by the coaches to catch those punts or he wouldn't have been congratulated by the coaches as he came off the field and he wouldn't have done it a second time. With the coverage Oakland was getting, the ball at the 8 is much better than teh ball at the 1.

That's really what is going on....he didn't have many opportunities today. Having said that, he's hasn't adapted to the speed of the game yet. He better get it quick.