With free agency having slowed down, we can turn our thoughts towards the draft, so what better time to lean on one of our regular JetsFixers to “pull out” a guest post. Thanks, TSJC68, DEI King of Ffrance!
Xavier Gipson was solidly below average last year (8.1 yards per punt return with a league average of 9.9)and nobody we’ve added in free agency so far looks like a viable option (Kene Nwangwu only returns kicks, has never returned a punt) so I went searching for guys in the draft class who have shown any modicum of punt return ability. List is not exhaustive but attempted to be thorough.
Punt returners in the 2025 draft class of note, in order of their current rank on Pro Football Network’s Mock Draft simulator (which is a good but not foolproof gauge of value):
Rank – 49: WR Jaylin Noel, Iowa State (4th year Senior)
5’10” 194, 4.39 40
Career: 245 rec, 2855 yds (56.0 ypg), 18 TD
Best season: 2024: 80 rec, 1194 yds, 8 TD
53 punt returns, 8.8 yppr, 0 TD
37 kick returns, 22.2 ypkr, 0 TD
Rank – 92: WR Tez Johnson, Troy/Oregon (5th year Senior)
5’9″ 154, 4.51 40
Career: 310 rec, 3889 yds (62.7 ypg), 28 TD
Best season: Oregon 2023: 86 rec, 1182 yds, 10 TD
56 punt returns, 9.3 yppr, 1 TD
2 kick returns, 6.0 ypkr, 0 TD
Rank – 99: WR Tory Horton, Nevada/Colorado State (5th year senior)
6’2″ 196, 4.41 40
Career: 265 rec, 3615 yds (70.9 ypg), 27 TD
Best season: Colorado State 2023: 96 rec, 1136 yds, 8 TD
26 punt returns, 16.3 yppr, 3 TD
no kick returns
Rank – 162: WR Jaylin Lane, Middle Tennessee State/Virginia Tech (5th year Senior)
5’9″ 191, 4.34 40
Career: 203 rec, 2532 yds (46.9 ypg), 18 TD
Best season 2022: 69 rec, 940 yds, 5 TD
67 punt returns, 10.9 yppr, 2 TD
39 kick returns, 21.8 ypkr, 0 TD
Rank – 256: WR La’Johntay Wester, Florida Atlantic/Colorado (5th year Senior)
5’9″ 163, 4.46 40
Career: 326 rec, 3634 yds (62.7 ypg), 31 TD
Best season: FAU 2023: 108 rec, 1168 yds, 8 TD
66 punt returns, 11.2 yppr, 2 TD
15 kick returns, 20.3 ypkr, 0 TD
Rank – 382: WR Jamaal Pritchett, Tuskegee/South Alabama (4th year senior)
5’8″ 175, 4.42 40
Career: 177 rec, 2522 yds (61.6 ypg), 20 TD
Best season: South Alabama 2024: 91 rec, 1127 yds, 9 TD
17 punt returns, 14.7 yppr, 1 TD
2 kick returns, 13.0 ypkr, 0 TD
Rank – 429: DB Donte Kent, Central Michigan (5th year Senior)
5’10” 187, 4.38 40
Career: 234 tackles, 46 PBU, 2 INT, 1.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery
Best season: 2021: 14 PBU, 1 INT, 1 fumble recovery
16 punt returns, 13.6 yppr, 1 TD
no kick returns
Rank – 588: WR Myles Price, Texas Tech/Indiana (5th year Senior)
5’8″ 178, 4.41 40
Career: 199 rec, 2217 yds (40.3 ypg), 13 TD
Best season: Texas Tech 2023: 43 rec, 410 yds, 5 TD
42 punt returns, 13.9 yppr, 0 TD
3 kick returns, 19.7 ypkr, 0 TD
not ranked: WR Courtney Jackson, Syracuse/Arkansas State (6th year Senior)
5’10” 183, 4.38 40
Career: 144 rec, 1845 yds (29.8 ypg), 13 TD
Best season: Arkansas State 2023: 39 rec, 689 yds, 7 TD
40 punt returns, 14.0 yppr, 4 TD
7 kick returns, 20.3 ypkr, 0 TD
not ranked: WR Silas Bolden, Oregon State/Texas (5th year Senior)
5’7″ 162, 4.53 40
Career: 103 rec, 1343 yds (25.3 ypg), 10 TD
Best season: Oregon State 2023: 54 rec, 746 yds, 5 TD
33 punt returns, 12.5 yppr, 2 TD
41 kick returns, 24.8 ypkr, 0 TD
not ranked: WR/RB Roderick Daniels, SMU (4th year Senior)
5’7″ 180, 4.51 40
Career: 105 rec, 1485 yds (28.6 ypg), 12 TD // 75 rush, 285 yds (5.5 ypg), 4 TD
Best season: 2024: 42 rec, 663 yds, 4 TD // 44 rush, 160 yds, 3 TD
56 punt returns, 10.6 yppr, 2 TD
16 kick returns, 22.4 ypkr, 0 TD
not ranked: WR Taylor Morin, Wake Forest (6th year Senior)
5’10” 186, 4.49 40
Career: 227 rec, 2974 yds (48.8 ypg), 21 TD
Best season: 2022: 47 rec, 575 yds, 9 TD
76 punt returns, 10.6 yppr, 1 TD
10 kick returns, 23.6 ypkr, 0 TD
not ranked: RB Kobe Johnson, North Dakota State/Colorado State (6th year Senior)
5’8″ 184, 4.45 40
436 rush, 2698 yds (41.5 ypg), 19 TD
Best season: North Dakota State 2022: 129 rush, 961 yds, 9 TD
9 punt returns, 15.0 yppr, 1 TD
24 kick returns, 21.8 ypkr, 1 TD
All RAS charts from RAS.Football.
Would YOU like to write a guest post for JetsFix? We’re always looking for content, so please send submissions, pitches or ideas to bentdouble@gmail.com.