Tag: Kick Return

Bills’ Brandon Codrington proving to be a weapon in return game

Bills’ Brandon Codrington proving to be a weapon in return game

The Buffalo Bills made a trade at the end of August, sending a sixth-round pick to the New York Jets in exchange for Brandon Codrington. Although it’s rare to trade in the division, the Bills needed immediate help with kick and punt returns.

So far, the undrafted rookie out of NC Central has delivered.

On only four touches on special teams through three weeks, he has one kick return for 53 yards and punt returns of 22 yards and 19 yards. Pro Football Focus has Codrington as the fifth-best return man in the league, with a return grade of 69.3.

Not only is the 23-year-old cornerback racking up return yards but he’s making smart decisions. Head coach Sean McDermott was asked how Codrington has handled things so far on special teams, and McDermott sounded confident.

“For a rookie to make those plays… I thought the decision-making was really good in those moments because one, in particular, was not an easy decision to make, especially for a rookie. And I believe that comes from his work leading up to the game.”

In his three-year career at NC Central, Codrington racked up a combined 1,365 yards between kick and punt returns. He averaged 18.2 yards per kick return and 14.2 yards per punt return. He scored three punt return touchdowns.

Kene Nwangwu signs with the New York Jets practice squad

After failing the New Orleans Saints’ entry physical, former All-Pro kick returner Kene Nwangwu signed with the New York Jets practice squad:

Kene Nwangwu has found a new home with the New York Jets as a member of their practice squad, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. This means he passed their physical which was not the case in New Orleans.

The New Orleans Saints initially claimed Nwangwu in August after he was waived by the Minnesota Vikings. The vision was that he could pair with Rashid Shaheed to give the Saints two All-Pro returners. With the NFL looking to increase the amount of kickoff returns, this combination could have paid dividends for the squad.

Unfortunately, we were never able to see this as the Saints failed Nwangwu’s physical. It wasn’t revealed what exactly led to the failed test, but it has been a week and a half since then. It was either something minor or this is an example of how all team physicals aren’t the same.

For the Jets, this is their second attempt at adding a dynamic kick returner. New York now adds Nwangwu to the practice squad. Expect him to be called up to the active game-day roster at least once. If he’s productive, he has a skillset that creates an easy path to the 53-man roster.

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Kene Nwangwu waived due to failed physical a day after signing

Kene Nwangwu offered a potentially exciting kick return duo with Rashid Shaheed, but a failed physical stopped that thought in its tracks.

There was immediate excitement when the New Orleans Saints claimed running back Kene Nwangwu off waivers Wednesday. Unfortunately, Nwangwu failed his physical on Wednesday which led to him hitting waivers again.

Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak was familiar with Nwangwu from his time in Minnesota. Nwangwu offered explosion that would have made a slightly bigger sample size an interesting possibility in New Orleans. His primary role would be as a returner, though.

Nwangwu was an All-Pro returner in 2022 and could have paired with fellow All-Pro returner, Rashid Shaheed, to give the Saints a dangerous tandem under the new return rules.

Prior to signing Nwangwu, Mason Tipton, Taysom Hill and Alontae Taylor joined Shaheed in taking kick return reps at practice.

Saints claim former All-Pro return man Kene Nwangwu off waivers

The Saints claimed a former All-Pro return man in Vikings running back Kene Nwangwu, adding more options for the new kickoff format:

The New Orleans Saints utilized their waivers position at No. 14 to make a claim Wednesday, bringing in 2022 All-Pro returner Kene Nwangwu per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill. This move was also officially confirmed via the NFL waiver system transaction report, shared  by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

First off, this move will require a respective move to be made, whether that be another player to injured reserve or someone being released or waived.

As for Nwangwu, he has been an exceptional kick return man throughout his career, leading the league in 2022 with 35 kick returns, and in 2021 with two kick return touchdowns (three of them in his career). His most notable of the three was a 99-yard return touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers in 2021, which conveniently came when Klint Kubiak was with the Vikings as well. Nwangwu only ran the ball sparingly for Kubiak that season but he averaged 4.7 yards per carry.

With the new kickoff format coming to the NFL this season, the Saints will now have two All-Pro returners on the team in Nwangwu and Rashid Shaheed, which should help their chances at being one of the first teams to really get accustomed to it quickly.

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Samson Nacua disappointed after almost making the play of the day

Samson Nacua isn’t eager to check the family group chat after his almost-kick six. ‘I am going to be sick, because I know I’m faster than Puka’

It’s not often you get to say you almost made the play of the day. Samson Nacua was as blown away by his big kick return against the Tennessee Titans as everyone watching in the stands and at home. The New Orleans Saints wide receiver fielded a too-short field goal try just before halftime and returned it, officially, 106 yards before being thrown out of bounds around the 3-yard line.

“Going sideways made it feel like an extra sixty yards. Because I got to that fifty yard line and I was like, ‘My legs are gone,'” Nacua laughed to reporters after the game. He said he could hear his teammates on the sideline cheering him on and that energy helped him keep going. He’s still frustrated he came up short of the goal line: “Oh a hundred percent I’m disappointed. Coach said too, like, ‘It’s the end of the half, no matter what get it in, don’t get tackled with the ball.’ And what did I do? I got freaking tackled with the ball and I let the guys down. I should’ve pitched it to the homeboy that was right there, let him walk it in for me.”

He’s taking this one on the chin. Nacua didn’t expect the kick to fall to him in the end zone, at first; but when the first try barely cleared the crossbar, he realized he had a chance. So he adjusted his positioning and trusted the practice reps that special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi had given him to set him up for success. It’s just a shame he couldn’t go the distance.

Now he’s getting razzed by his famous brother Puka Nacua, the Los Angeles Rams star, in the family group chat: “They’re probably going to tell me I’m the slower brother, and I am going to be sick, because I know I’m faster than Puka.” For the record, Puka Nacua timed the 40-yard dash in 4.57 seconds at his BYU pro day. Samson Nacua timed a 4.52 on the same track a year earlier.

And did he keep the football? No, and Nacua says he wouldn’t have accepted it if it were offered. His big regret about this play is that he let his teammates blocking for him down by not punching into the end zone. All he can do now is hope he gets another opportunity to make good on it. It almost seems like he feels he owes them one.

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Rashid Shaheed is excited for NFL’s new kickoff format

Rashid Shaheed is a fan of the NFL’s new kickoff rules. He believes it’ll ultimately lead to better field position and more points for the Saints:

Rashid Shaheed signed a one-year extension this offseason with the New Orleans Saints, and his impact on the team will only grow with the new kickoff rule changes. He’s definitely a fan of the change and the possibilities that come from it. He isn’t the first Saints player to speak in favor of the new format.

Shaheed was a first-team All-Pro punt returner in 2023 and has been the Saints’ primary kick returner, as well, since his rookie year. He’s averaged over 20 yards per return each season.

The rules changes developed by his coach Darren Rizzi are meant to bring kick returns back into the game and generate excitement for the fans. Shaheed believes this will happen. He believes “the league wants to see big plays” and this is a good way to make those happen.

From a purely utility standpoint, Shaheed sees this as an opportunity to get better field position which in turn will lead to more points. So often, you’d watch a kickoff and expect a touchback. Beginning most drives at the 25-yard line felt like a formality. That feeling is washed away with the rule. The Saints offense could start at the 39-yard line or maybe the 21-yard line.

The risk of winning or losing the field position is a constant battle. Having a Rashid Shaheed on your side makes you feel more confident in these situations.

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WATCH: Taysom Hill recovers a fumble, returns a kick, scores 2 TD’s in first half vs. Seahawks

WATCH: Taysom Hill recovers a fumble, returns a kick, scores 2 TD’s in first half vs. Seahawks

Not much went the New Orleans Saints’ way in the first half with the Seattle Seahawks, but it seemed like almost every bright moment surrounded Taysom Hill. The do-it-all tight end/quarterback/special teams ace helped rally his team in the first two quarters against Seattle, recovering a fumble on special teams and scoring a couple of touchdown runs, and he even returned a kickoff. Let’s check out his highlight reel:

Cowboys rookie Lamb takes heat for kick return TD: ‘It was too open’

The Dallas wide receiver sealed a win with the team’s first kick return touchdown since 2008, but was reminded that he shouldn’t have.

The Cowboys had not returned a kickoff for a touchdown since 2008. It’s odd, then, to think that rookie CeeDee Lamb would get barked at by his coaching staff and teammates for finally taking one to the house in the waning moments of Sunday’s meeting with the visiting 49ers.

But that’s exactly what happened. After one of the most electrifying plays of Dallas’s disappointing 2020 season, the promising young rookie found himself apologizing.

“Honestly, it all happened so fast. It was just a split-second decision,” Lamb told reporters in a postgame interview.

San Francisco had just scored a field goal to draw within seven points of the Cowboys. With 40 seconds on the clock, the 49ers’ best chance of a miracle finish would be to recover an onside kick. It was strangely familiar to the situation that Dallas found themselves in back in Week 2 against Atlanta.

That last-gasp play ended in a highlight-reel moment for the Cowboys. This one did, too.

The danger, of course, is that Lamb’s decision to return the awkwardly-bouncing ball exposed him and the team to several risks. Lamb could have fumbled, giving San Francisco the ball with time for another offensive series. Worse yet, a 49ers special teamer could have scooped up Lamb’s muff and taken it the other way for a game-tying touchdown.

These were the scenarios that the rookie’s teammates reminded him of after his return ended- luckily for him- in the end zone.

“You know, I heard it from the defensive guys after, knowing I should have taken a knee. But it was too open, know what I’m saying?”

He laughed when he said it. But it was funny only because nothing bad happened. And only because the Cowboys won.

Even head coach Mike McCarthy had a chuckle as he recalled the play by the first-round pick from Oklahoma. He was nine yards away when Lamb fielded the kick, and still better positioned to tackle Lamb than any member of the 49ers coverage team.

“I’ll tell you, I was standing right there. It’s almost like you can’t blame him,” McCarthy said in his virtual press conference after the win. “When he caught it on the high bounce, you could see that he was going to go down. But he just saw this huge hole in front of him, so it was more of a natural reaction.”

Expect Lamb to get a quick briefing this week on when it’s best to just fall on the ball.

Doing so would have allowed the Dallas offensive line to do a single Landry Shift and Andy Dalton to perform one quick kneeldown to run out the clock. Instead, the Cowboys had to kick the ball back to San Francisco. Backup passer C.J. Beathard was able to squeeze off three more plays, the last one being a 49-yard Hail Mary that wound up in the end zone in the hands of wideout Kendrick Bourne.

Thankfully, Lamb’s touchdown had made that final San Francisco score irrelevant. But it was a bit more excitement than McCarthy wanted to see after a closely-contested game.

“Those are great corrections to have in your team meetings on Wednesdays, when things like that happen. I clearly saw what he saw. But yeah, you want to put the game away, that’s for sure.”

So in that particular situation, yes, McCarthy would have preferred that his talented rookie let the Cowboys’ streak of games without a kick return for a touchdown purposely extend to 205.

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WATCH: Big-time Pollard return leads to Gallup TD and Cowboys lead

Michael Gallup and the Cowboys capitalize on a short field after a long kick return from Tony Pollard.

Earlier in the season, Tony Pollard was absolutely murdering the Dallas Cowboys kick return game. His first attempt of the night was much of the same, a 15-yard return that set the team up with poor field position. The second one was much, much better.

After the defense allowed Lamar Jackson to rip through their soft teeth for an untouched touchdown, Pollard took the ensuing kick 67 yards to set the Cowboys up with a short field for the second time on the night.

This time the offense was able to capitalize. Michael Gallup got loose in the end zone for the second time on the night, but this time Andy Dalton didn’t miss.

Pollard’s play marks the third 60-plus yard kick return for the Cowboys on the season, a significant improvement from previous years’ iterations of the special teams unit. For Gallup that’s his first taste of pay dirt since back in Week 3.

Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle’s first kick return shouldn’t be forgotten

The undrafted rookie returned his first kick of the season 64 yards, an effort that didn’t go unnoticed by his coach and teammates.

Among the plays from Sunday that should give Cowboys fans the promise of better things to come, don’t forget about Rico Dowdle’s 64-yard kick return early in the fourth quarter.

Dowdle, an undrafted rookie running back out of South Carolina, has seen just three offensive snaps this season. The rest of his game action has come on special teams, where he’s been averaging about a dozen plays per contest.

But none so far has been bigger than his tightrope-act kick return to flip the field against Pittsburgh.

Dowdle’s return was the second-longest of the season for Dallas; Tony Pollard had a 67-yarder versus Washington in Week 7. The Cowboys haven’t returned a kick for a touchdown since Felix Jones did it in 2008.

Week 9’s barnburner against Pittsburgh may end up being remembered as Garrett Gilbert’s coming-out party, but the journeyman quarterback wasn’t the only unsung hero to grab a piece of the spotlight in the Cowboys’ most complete game of the season.

The 22-year-old rusher is peaking at the right time for head coach Mike McCarthy.

“He’s a good young player that’s earning his opportunity today,” McCarthy said of Dowdle in his postgame press conference. “You love that. To me, when you hit November, you want to see those younger players. They’ve got to be ready to play. They’ve got to be ready to contribute, because history will tell you your young players will be contributing in November and December. Just the fact that he was ready; you love it when you see a young guy get an opportunity and make a play like that.”

Dowdle’s opportunity may have come, in part, due to the hamstring issue that hampered starting running back Ezekiel Elliott for much of the week and even cast his status for Sunday’s game in doubt. Elliott’s uncertainty- and a need to keep him healthy with plenty of breaks- led to backup Pollard having a larger role in the offensive game plan, which, in turn, likely put third-stringer Dowdle on the field for kick returns.

Whether he was the direct beneficiary of Zeke’s leg tweak or just the right guy in the right place at the right time, the rookie’s first kick return of the season provided a huge boost at a critical moment, just as the Steelers reduced the Dallas lead on Sunday to single digits.

The Cowboys were unable to convert Dowdle’s big play into points, though. Six plays after his runback, Gilbert’s would-be touchdown heave toward the end zone was intercepted by Pittsburgh’s Minkah Fitzpatrick to kill the drive and further fuel the Steelers’ comeback effort.

Elliott knows it was a big missed opportunity that could have swung the outcome of the game.

“Those were definitely big momentum boosters. When you flip the field that way, the way they did on special teams, it definitely helps this offense out, and we’ve got to figure out how to capitalize on those plays,” Elliott told media members. “And Rico, I’m proud of him. He doesn’t get many opportunities, but he got an opportunity today, and he made the most of it.”

It may have been Dowdle’s first kick return, but it probably won’t be his last.

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