The new kick return rules have revolutionized one of the most electric plays in football. With the evolution of kickers, the rules needed an update. Kickoffs routinely went through the back of the end zone, and it almost felt like both teams were going through the motions. Those days are gone, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.
Denver Broncos WR Marvin Mims has been first team All-Pro each of his first two NFL seasons. Two years ago, prior to the kickoff rule change, Mims was first team as a kick returner. Last season, Mims made first team as a punt returner. His kick returns were cut in half. Part of that had to do with the number of touchbacks last season, resulting in yet another adaptation of these new rules. The ball now comes out to the 35-yard line if the ball goes out of the back of the end zone. That’s why we are seeing so many more returns this year. Mims has already seen nearly as many returns in 2025 as he did during his All-Pro rookie season in 2023.
“Get to the point, Chaw.”
I guess that’s the fun part of this little experiment. There is no point. I just want to know how I can find the next best NFL kick returners during the scouting process. What do the top current return men look like? What are their collegiate accolades that led them to this point? Is there a pattern within the data?
It’s time to figure out how to find the next Devin Hester before everyone else.
Who are the top Kick Returners in the NFL?
The sample size. My research looks at any NFL kick returner that is averaging one or more kick returns per week so far this season. We are heading into week 8 which means any player who has 7 or more kick returns is included. The data set is 55 players in total. The average size is 5’10 198 pounds.
Of these 55 players, the breakdown is nearly split 50/50 between running backs and wide receivers with 3 total defensive backs mixed in. There seems to be no correlation between the position and NFL kick return average.
Since there isn’t a correlation in regard to position, let’s look at competition level. There were 30 Power-4 conference players on this list, 11 Group of 6 conference players, and 14 non-Division-I FBS players.
The thing that sticks out to me most from this data is that nearly half of the top-55 kick returners in the NFL come from outside the Power-4 level with 1 in every 4 coming from outside Division-1 FBS competition. How does this correlate into NFL success as a kick returner, and was their collegiate success an indicator of their success in the NFL?
First, let’s look at collegiate all-purpose yards and average college kick and punt return touchdowns.
No surprise here. Non-FBS players have more All-Purpose yards in college than both Power-4 and Group of 6 players. The surprising number comes from the 500+ yard difference in All-Purpose yards between non-FBS players and Group of 6 players.
It is nearly a 50/50 split between Power-4 players and those outside the ACC, Big 10, Big 12 and SEC, so let’s combine the G-6 and FCS/D-II players into one group and see how they fair at the NFL level.
It’s clear that college All-Purpose yards aren’t correlated to NFL kick return success under the new rules, as the averages between competition levels is nearly identical.
What seems to be at least somewhat correlated is the number of TOTAL punt/kick return touchdowns a player has in college. You can see that players outside the Power-4 conferences averaged 1.1 total touchdowns compared to 0.7 for the Power-4 players.
There appears to be a fairly direct connection between the total number of collegiate punt/kick return touchdowns to NFL kick return average. Players outside of the Power-4 conferences are averaging 2.1 more yards per kick return than Power-4 players.
Now that we know that let’s shift gears and focus on where these players were drafted rather than the conferences they played in. Once again, I’m going to look at the average number of punt/kick return touchdowns as well as All-Purpose Yards.
You can see from this data, undrafted players (UDFA) have more than 500+ All-Purpose yards compared to players drafted on either Day 2 or Day 3. Note: No players in the top 55 were taken in round 1.
I don’t think this data tells the full story given most UDFAs on this list, in fact 11 of the 18, played outside the Power-4 conferences. This means those players likely played lesser competition which led to more All-Purpose yards. There are also less early declares from outside the Power-4 which means they likely played more games on average.
However, it is staggering that the UDFAs had nearly 6x the amount of college punt/kick return touchdowns on average than those drafted on Day 2. I think the primary reason for this is players drafted on Day 2 are thought to be future starters at their positions, whether that is RB or WR, as opposed to returner. Players like Tank Bigsby, Skyy Moore, Kendre Miller and Antonio Gibson were all Day 2 picks.
With that in mind, is there any correlation between where these players are drafted and their NFL kick return success?
The short answer is seemingly no. Whether drafted on Day 2 or UDFA, the KR averages are within 1-yard of one another. I don’t see anything here that gives us a definitive look at NFL kick return success based on where players are drafted.
The only conclusion I’m able to come to from this data is that it really does matter how many punt/kick return TDs a player has in college, especially if they are an UDFA. Players outside of the Power-4 averaged more than 1 total return touchdown in college, and those same players are averaging 2 yards more than their Power-4 counterparts.
Having said that, I’m going to give you a list of some prospects I think fit this new kick return mold and can have success at the NFL level.
UPDATED DRAFT ELIGIBLE LISTAlante Brown, WR Michigan StateJadarian Price, RB Notre DameDamon Bankston, RB New MexicoDevin Gandy, WR Louisiana TechDevin Miles, RB Western MichiganKaden Wetjen, WR IowaVinny Anthony II, WR WisconsinCam Ross, WR VirginiaSahmir Hagans, WR DukeLorenzo Styles Jr, S Ohio StateJulian Gray, RB LibertySieh Bangura, RB OhioBarion Brown, WR LSUCaullin Lacy, WR LouisvilleJaden Nixon, RB UCFJosh Pitsenberger, RB YaleRodney Hammond Jr, RB Sacramento StateBrandon Hayes, WR Southeastern LouisianaKolbe Katsis, WR Northern ArizonaJQ Brown, RB Millersville University
Some highlights & some more underclassman guys below:
What Current College Players Fit This Mold?
Notre Dame RB Jadarian Price
New Mexico RB Damon Blankston
Louisville WR Caullin Lacy
JMU RB Wayne Knight
Cal WR Jacob De Jesus
UCF RB Jaden Nixon
Iowa WR Kaden Wetjen
Illinois WR Hank Beatty
Virginia WR Cam Ross
Wisconsin WR Vinny Anthony II
Ball State RB Qua Ashley
Kansas WR Emmanuel Henderson Jr.
Florida WR Vernell Brown III
Pitt WR Kenny Johnson
Bowling Green RB Cameron Pettaway
UAB RB Solomon Beebe
Texas State RB Jaylen Jenkins
Kent State WR Da’Realyst Clark
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