Returner Recap and Latest News: Week 14

Footballguys Staff's Returner Recap and Latest News: Week 14 Footballguys Staff Published 12/02/2014

Individual returner projections for each week are included in your MyFBG projections and rankings automatically. My returner projections are included in the default projection set with David Dodds' offensive predictions. Choose David as the source, and then choose a scoring system in which you have included points for return yards.

The base return projections for a week can be seen on this page. You can also go to the content for the week and use the Returner Projections link to get to that page.

UPDATES

So far this week Colts returner Josh Cribbs is not practicing with a knee issue. His status should be watched prior to Sunday's game against Cleveland.

Bengals returner Adam Jones is in the league's concussion protocol but is participating in practice already on a limited basis.

Bobby Rainey showed up to Bucs practice Wednesday in a walking boot, but was without it on Thursday. It looks like Solomon Patton may replace him this week as returner.

Texans kick returner Danieal Manning has a hamstring issue and is questionable to play this week.

Week 13 Recap

Top Performers

Recent acquisition Josh Cribbs continued to reward the faith placed in him by the Colts as he led the NFL in Week 13 with 169 combined yards, including 5 kickoff returns for 156 yards. This was a big week for big name returners, as Atlanta's Devin Hester and Baltimore's Jacoby Jones joined Cribbs atop the weekly leader board with 159 and 143 yards respectively in a week that no returners found the end zone.

Hester was the top punt returner, picking up 68 yards on his 2 punt returns, while Odell Beckham returned 5 punts for the Giants, picking up 48 yards to come in second for the week.

Returns this year continue to lag slightly behind the 2013 season, though have gradually been closing the gap in some categories. 2014 is already seeing more yards per kickoff return, if slightly fewer returns than last year. Punt returns are nearly even in number, but returners are picking up almost a full yard less this season.

SeasonKR/team gameKR Yds/team gameKR Yds/retPR/team gamePR Yds/team gamePR Yds/ret
2013 2.5 58.8 23.4 2.1 20.1 9.4
2014 2.3 53.9 23.8 2.0 17.2 8.5

All Week 13 Returners

Here are all returners for Week 13.

RankPLAYERTEAMKick RetKR YdsKR TDPunt RetPR YdsPR TDTotal YdsTotal TDs
1 Josh Cribbs IND 5 156 0 3 13 0 169 0
2 Devin Hester ATL 3 91 0 2 68 0 159 0
3 Jacoby Jones BAL 4 133 0 1 10 0 143 0
4 Dwayne Harris DAL 4 121 0 0 0 0 121 0
5 DuJuan Harris GNB 4 90 0 0 0 0 90 0
6 De'Anthony Thomas KAN 4 89 0 0 0 0 89 0
7 Knile Davis KAN 3 89 0 0 0 0 89 0
8 Markus Wheaton PIT 3 87 0 0 0 0 87 0
9 Danny Amendola NWE 4 76 0 1 3 0 79 0
10 Jeremy Ross DET 3 65 0 2 14 0 79 0
11 Travaris Cadet NOR 3 75 0 0 0 0 75 0
12 Bishop Sankey TEN 2 71 0 0 0 0 71 0
13 Carlos Hyde SFO 3 62 0 0 0 0 62 0
14 Omar Bolden DEN 3 62 0 0 0 0 62 0
15 Adam Jones CIN 2 55 0 2 0 0 55 0
16 Jordan Todman JAX 3 51 0 0 0 0 51 0
17 Marc Mariani CHI 1 24 0 2 25 0 49 0
18 Chris Davis SDG 2 48 0 0 0 0 48 0
19 Odell Beckham NYG 0 0 0 5 48 0 48 0
20 George Atkinson OAK 3 47 0 0 0 0 47 0
21 Marcus Thigpen BUF 0 0 0 4 47 0 47 0
22 Lance Dunbar DAL 2 46 0 0 0 0 46 0
23 Marcus Sherels MIN 0 0 0 2 45 0 45 0
24 Isaiah Burse DEN 0 0 0 4 41 0 41 0
25 Bobby Rainey TAM 1 19 0 3 21 0 40 0
26 Jarvis Landry MIA 2 40 0 0 0 0 40 0
27 Andre Roberts WAS 1 18 0 2 17 0 35 0
28 Darren Sproles PHI 0 0 0 3 32 0 32 0
29 Ted Ginn Jr ARI 1 18 0 1 14 0 32 0
30 Travis Benjamin CLE 1 25 0 2 7 0 32 0
31 Bryan Walters SEA 0 0 0 4 29 0 29 0
32 Cordarrelle Patterson MIN 1 28 0 0 0 0 28 0
33 Chris Pantale NYJ 1 24 0 0 0 0 24 0
34 Paul Richardson Jr SEA 1 23 0 0 0 0 23 0
35 Fozzy Whittaker CAR 1 22 0 0 0 0 22 0
36 Preston Parker NYG 1 22 0 0 0 0 22 0
37 Albert Wilson KAN 1 21 0 0 0 0 21 0
38 Dexter McCluster TEN 0 0 0 1 21 0 21 0
39 Ace Sanders JAX 0 0 0 3 20 0 20 0
40 Keshawn Martin HOU 0 0 0 2 20 0 20 0
41 Tavon Austin STL 0 0 0 4 19 0 19 0
42 Taylor Gabriel CLE 1 19 0 0 0 0 19 0
43 Antonio Brown PIT 0 0 0 2 15 0 15 0
44 Crockett Gillmore BAL 1 15 0 0 0 0 15 0
45 Lorenzo Taliaferro BAL 1 15 0 0 0 0 15 0
46 Cody Latimer DEN 1 14 0 0 0 0 14 0
47 Jeremy Kerley NYJ 0 0 0 3 14 0 14 0
48 Brian Folkerts CAR 1 12 0 0 0 0 12 0
49 Damien Williams MIA 1 12 0 0 0 0 12 0
50 Jim Leonhard CLE 0 0 0 1 12 0 12 0
51 Kyle Juszczyk BAL 1 12 0 0 0 0 12 0
52 Perrish Cox SFO 0 0 0 2 12 0 12 0
53 Bilal Powell NYJ 1 9 0 0 0 0 9 0
54 Brandon Williams CAR 1 9 0 0 0 0 9 0
55 Orie Lemon TAM 1 8 0 0 0 0 8 0
56 Danieal Manning HOU 1 7 0 0 0 0 7 0
57 Kenbrell Thompkins OAK 1 6 0 0 0 0 6 0
58 Travis Carrie OAK 0 0 0 2 4 0 4 0
59 Fred Jackson BUF 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
60 Marcus Cooper KAN 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
61 Micah Hyde GNB 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
62 Brandon Tate CIN 0 0 0 1 -1 0 -1 0

Returners Year to Date

Here are the top 40 returners for the year based on total return yards.

RKPLAYERTEAMKick RetKR YdsKR TDPunt RetPR YdsPR TDTotal YdsTotal TDs
1 Jacoby Jones BAL 26 819 1 23 173 0 992 1
2 Devin Hester ATL 31 733 0 15 231 1 964 1
3 Jarvis Landry MIA 24 715 0 19 160 0 875 0
4 Adam Jones CIN 19 596 0 19 223 0 819 0
5 Dwayne Harris DAL 22 572 0 23 234 0 806 0
6 Jordan Todman JAX 30 761 0       761 0
7 Cordarrelle Patterson MIN 26 664 0       664 0
8 Benny Cunningham STL 23 664 0       664 0
9 Andre Roberts WAS 19 430 0 23 189 0 619 0
10 Percy Harvin 2TM 26 617 0       617 0
11 Jeremy Ross DET 16 391 0 24 223 0 614 0
12 Knile Davis KAN 21 611 1       611 1
13 Chris Williams CHI 24 579 1 4 30 0 609 1
14 Griff Whalen IND 15 379 0 26 187 0 566 0
15 Solomon Patton 2TM 17 393 0 10 112 0 505 0
16 Darren Sproles PHI 1 15 0 33 480 2 495 2
17 De'Anthony Thomas KAN 10 321 0 17 167 0 488 0
18 Bruce Ellington SFO 14 361 0 17 119 0 480 0
19 Leon Washington TEN 20 470 0 2 10 0 480 0
20 Latavius Murray OAK 19 429 0       429 0
21 Philly Brown CAR 12 273 0 16 153 1 426 1
22 Ted Ginn Jr ARI 13 226 0 18 195 1 421 1
23 Travis Carrie OAK 9 236 0 18 159 0 395 0
24 DuJuan Harris GNB 17 363 0       363 0
25 Preston Parker NYG 13 307 0 8 53 0 360 0
26 Chris Polk PHI 11 340 1       340 1
27 Danny Amendola NWE 11 305 0 9 33 0 338 0
28 Travaris Cadet NOR 14 336 0       336 0
29 Brandon Tate CIN 13 282 0 8 41 0 323 0
30 Marcus Sherels MIN 3 93 0 23 219 0 312 0
31 C.J. Spiller BUF 10 306 1       306 1
32 Markus Wheaton PIT 12 303 0       303 0
33 Marlon Moore CLE 12 300 0       300 0
34 Walt Powell NYJ 8 233 0 12 48 0 281 0
35 Josh Cribbs IND 7 220 0 8 61 0 281 0
36 Saalim Hakim NYJ 13 279 0       279 0
37 Carlos Hyde SFO 11 268 0       268 0
38 Michael Cox NYG 11 261 0       261 0
39 Julian Edelman NWE       19 257 1 257 1
40 Andre Caldwell DEN 11 252 0       252 0

Week 14 Outlook

Job Changes

Bobby Rainey handled both punt and kick returns for Tampa Bay, following the release of Marcus Thigpen.

Thigpen, meanwhile, saw the majority of returns for Buffalo after they picked him up off of waivers. Although C.J. Spiller may begin practicing soon, he cannot be reactivated from IR until Week 16.

Travis Carrie resumed his job as punt returner for the Raiders, though kickoffs were handled by George Atkinson III. Atkinson could lose them back to Latavius Murray if the latter is healthy.

Bishop Sankey continued to see kickoff returns for Tennessee despite Leon Washington being active.

INJURIES OF NOTE

Primary returners made it through Week 13 without adding many new injuries of significance. Previously injured returners to keep an eye on include 49ers dual returner Bruce Ellington, Bears dual returner Chris Williams, Browns kick returner Marlon Moore, and Raider sometimes kick returner Latavius Murray.

Photos provided by Imagn Images

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