Quote Originally Posted by Lurker64 View Post
Well, think about it for a minute. Brett Swain was on the roster as a WR, but he really only played on special teams (he was thrown to 9 times and caught 6 balls, counting playoffs). Would it really be that different if we were to draft one of these guys (who were WRs in college) and have them take Swain's job, except instead of covering kicks he returns them?

So I think what Thompson is saying that anybody we draft, they will have another position, and they'd learn that position and they would work out with those guys, but it's not as though we don't keep people around whose primary contributions and roles are on special teams.
Jarrett Bush is the poster boy of that. He's exceptionally valuable as a Special Teams gunner, but he is also a defensive back. Without him on the field, we don't win that Super Bowl. He was great on Special Teams and ended up seeing a lot of work on defense with Shields and Woodson going down, including a crucial INT.

Special Teamers are the perfect backups, because they are used to real game action, and are ready to go. Grab your helmet and go do your secondary responsibility the best you can. With luck some of them mature into good starters at a primary offensive or defensive position with time, like Donald Driver did.