Top 10 Returners Going Into the 2024 NFL Season

For some reason, you all love reading about returners (so do we!). We at Takeaways are here to please, and so we bring you the top 10 returners for the 2024 season! As with last year’s edition, for these rankings, both kick returners and punt returners will be evaluated. Neither type of returner will be favored over the other, but a player who does both might get a few brownie points. Rookies will only be included in special cases, as we haven’t seen them in action at the NFL level. Field position is critical, and it’s always nicer to start a drive at the 35 than at the 20. These players will help teams do that, so let’s meet them!

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Notes: The teams listed are the players’ current teams. Any team names in (parentheses) denote previous teams that the players were on in 2023 before switching this offseason. Jamal Agnew would earn a spot on this list, but he is still unsigned, so we can’t confirm if/where he will play in 2024.

1. Marvin Mims, Broncos
A commenter on last year’s list nailed this one. They asked my thoughts on Mims, who was a rookie at the time and thus failed to qualify for the rankings. Despite his low return volume at Oklahoma, I lauded his explosiveness and promised myself I’d keep an eye on him. In just 1 year, he has vaulted all the way to the #1 spot. He made the Pro Bowl and earned Second-Team All-Pro honors while leading the league in both KR (26.5) and PR (16.4) averages. Long speed and good vision to set up blocks are the keys to Mims’ success. If he has more opportunities this year (his volume was slightly low), he can do even more damage.

2. Derius Davis, Chargers
Only a member of the second All-Pro team, Davis arguably got snubbed of some more accolades. Like Mims, Davis was a rookie in 2023 and immediately made an impact as a returner. However, we at least saw him do that in college at TCU. He finished second with 16 yards per punt return and 385 total PR yards. Davis was fine in the KR game with 374 yards, but punt returns really showed off his strengths. His short-area quickness almost always makes the first defender miss, and then his long speed allows him to burst upfield, as he did for an 87-yard TD in week 8. The return game was about the only bright spot for LA last year.

3. Rashid Shaheed, Saints
Shaheed was still figuring things out as a rookie in 2022, but we knew he was fast and agile. The game slowed down for him in his second season, and he let his athleticism take over. In addition to becoming a quality deep threat as a WR, Shaheed swept up awards as a returner. He snagged Pro Bowl, First-Team All-Pro slots as a returner. He did that by finishing 4th in PR average (13.6), scoring a punt return TD, and posting 384 yards as a kick returner. At 6’0″, he’s more of a burner than a human joystick a la Derius Davis. You can’t teach speed though, and Shaheed is a threat to break a big return every time he touches the ball.

4. Keisean Nixon, Packers
A mainstay on this list, Nixon finished the season with the most KR yards (782) at a 26.1 yard per return clip. He outpaced the 2nd-place finisher (Xavier Gipson) by a whopping 271 yards. Those accomplishments made him the First-Team All-Pro kick returner. He loses a few points for not being nearly as prolific in the PR game (Jayden Reed actually took over that role late in the season), but he’s still an elite kick returner. Nixon bursts through even small open spaces faster than almost anyone. That decisiveness is what gives him an edge: he trusts his eyes and then blasts away before defenders can react.

5. Britain Covey, Eagles
In his second year as the starting PR, Covey took a major step forward. He led the league with 417 yards, finishing 3rd in yards per return (14.4). For some reason he had only 1 kick return, which I’d advocate for increasing based on that 30-yard effort. Covey ran just a 4.5-s 40 at his Pro Day, but he plays much faster than his timed speed. Making quick decisions helps him, but once he commits to a move, he has the ability to pull it off. The Eagles’ receivers, defensive linemen, and QB get all the attention; perhaps the special teams deserve love as well. Covey certainly helps the offense start out in advantageous territory.

6. KaVontae Turpin, Cowboys
Turpin made a splash upon signing with Dallas following a fantastic USFL season. However, 2023 saw him have fewer opportunities. This seems to just be weirdly low volume, as he did earn the vast majority of the return touches; they weren’t merely going to other players. He didn’t have a great year on punts, but if he qualified, his 29.2 yards per KR would’ve led the entire league. Turpin has promised to show out again in 2024, and I have no doubt about his ability to do so. Speed, explosiveness, and evasion are three traits you need to excel as a returner. Turpin has all three of them in spades.

7. DeeJay Dallas, Cardinals (Seahawks)
When an RB signs a 3-year free agent contract in excess of $8M with almost no offensive production, you know his special teams skills are valuable. Contributing in both phases of the return game, Dallas finished 4th among all kick returners with 440 yards. He didn’t see as many punts, but his robust 10.6 yards per return in that department showed that he’s more than a straight-line sprinter. As an RB, Dallas is by far the strongest-built player on this list, so if he can’t evade a tackler, he often simply runs him over. That’s a unique skillset among the top returners, and its success earns Dallas a spot on this list.

8. Braxton Berrios, Dolphins
Another player who frequently appears on this list, Berrios had a typically good season in 2023. If the names you’ve seen so far haven’t given it away, undersized slot receivers tend to do well in the return game. A prototypical Patriots-style slot player (in fact, NE originally drafted him), Berrios doesn’t overwhelm you with size or speed, but he calmly stares down incoming tacklers and fakes them out. He earned 10.2 yards per PR and 24.5 yards per KR, both of which were firmly in the top 10. Berrios rarely leads in any particular stat, but he’s always solid across the board. That dependability is worth a lot in my rankings.

9. Xavier Gipson, Jets
If you’re wondering who led the league in total return yards, it was actually Gipson with 830. The rookie UDFA made the team by filling this role, and he made an immediate impact. In his first regular-season game, Gipson took a punt return for a game-winning TD in overtime against the Bills. Quicker than fast, Gipson can make you miss by turning on the Jets (pun intended) in a hurry. He wasn’t quite as efficient as some of the others on his list, racking up volume with a lot of opportunities provided by the Jets’ defense. However, he was still effective and served as one of the only explosive elements on a Zach Wilson-led team.

10. Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs
This was a particularly tough year to make a list of just 10 players, as plenty of guys made a case to be here. Ultimately, I went with Worthy because of his immense upside. As I said at the top of the page, I don’t put many rookies on these lists, but his 4.21-s 40 time portends major explosiveness. Our second consecutive Xavier, Worthy led all college players last season with 371 yards. He looked downright special on his 74-yard TD, and now you’ve got Andy Reid and ST coordinator Dave Toub working with him. If anyone is primed to hit the ground running in the return game as a rookie, it’s Worthy.