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LEGWOLD: Time for Broncos to pay for returns

By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 13, 2008 at 9:09 p.m.

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Eddie Royal averaged more than 14 yards a punt return the past two seasons for Virginia Tech.

Photo by Matthew Stockman / Getty Images

Eddie Royal averaged more than 14 yards a punt return the past two seasons for Virginia Tech.

Felix Jones had two 100-yard kickoff returns for touchdowns while playing for Arkansas.

Photo by Brian Bahr / Getty Images/2006

Felix Jones had two 100-yard kickoff returns for touchdowns while playing for Arkansas.

DeSean Jackson returned six punts for touchdowns during his time at California.

Photo by Jonathan Ferrey / Getty Images/2007

DeSean Jackson returned six punts for touchdowns during his time at California.

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Some dart, some spin, some just drop the hammer and rocket up the sideline leaving only flailing arms in their wake.

Some are short, some tall, some small, some not. They are all returners, and they are out there, sitting on the draft boards taking shape around the league.

And the Broncos need one, maybe more than anyone else.

When the local franchise swept up the pieces of its '07 season, one of the most important items on the pile was an even bigger pile of lost field position. Each of the past two seasons, they have finished in the league's bottom tier in average drive start after kickoff returns, and in '07, they had only three punt returns longer than 14 yards.

The need is great enough that the last time coach Mike Shanahan publicly went over the to-do list for his team, he said, "We definitely need a returner."

So, here are those worthy of attention:

Eddie Royal, Virginia Tech

Usually, 183-pound receivers who don't hit 5-foot-10 on the tape measure don't get that much attention unless they bring a little more to the dinner.

But Royal comes with plenty of skills. He's explosive in traffic, has big-time speed (4.39-second timing in the 40-yard dash at the combine) and is powerful enough to have benched 225 pounds 24 times at the combine, which was better than 14 linebackers. And receivers aren't even required to participate in the drill.

He has averaged more than 14 yards per punt return the past two seasons with three touchdowns. He also threw a 53-yard touchdown pass in a bowl-game win over Georgia to close out the 2006 season.

Chris Johnson, East Carolina

At 197 pounds, the running back ran a 4.33 (electronic time) 40 at the combine - some teams had him in the 4.27 range on hand-held watches - and was a kickoff returner for four seasons.

He had 153 yards worth of kickoff returns in his last college game, a Hawaii Bowl win over Boise State. As a high school runner in Orlando, Fla., he anchored the fastest 4x100 relay team in the nation.

Leodis McKelvin, Troy

Had three punt returns for touchdowns this past season alone, giving him seven for his career. Also had a kickoff return for a touchdown - a 100-yarder against South Carolina in '05.

At 190 pounds, the cornerback ran a 4.38 40 at the combine and could contribute on defense as well.

Felix Jones, Arkansas

The Razorbacks' "other" running back. Jones is considered a first-rounder by most teams because of what he can do in the backfield and in the return game. Averaged 29.6 per kickoff return this past season - he was an All-Southeastern Conference selection - with two touchdowns.

Two of his three career kickoff returns for touchdowns went for 100 yards.

DeSean Jackson and Lavelle Hawkins, California

Everybody knows Jackson, but fellow receiver Hawkins? Well, not so much.

Jackson came into the draft as a junior. He weighed only 169 pounds at the combine, which makes some teams nervous, but he has plenty of chops in the return game, having set school and Pacific-10 records with six career punt returns for scores.

Twenty-three percent of the times he touched the football in college, he scored a touchdown.

Hawkins returned kickoffs only one season for the Bears, but he averaged 22 per return and had a 90-yarder for a touchdown. He's getting a look because he caught everything in sight at the Senior Bowl practices.

Kevin Robinson, Utah State

Played for a two-win team in '07, yet had four return touchdowns, giving him eight for his career. Averaged 18.9 yards per punt return in '07 with a TD to go with three kickoff returns for touchdowns.

Dorien Bryant, Purdue

Another undersized receiver (5-93/4, 174 pounds) in this class with plenty of pop in the return game. Ran track for the Boilermakers and has clocked a 21.8 in the 200-yard dash.

Had three career kickoff returns for touchdowns, including two this past season.

For those looking for the small-school hero, there is Mount Union's Pierre Garcon, a 5-foot-117/8, 210-pound wide receiver with 4.4 speed. Had 16 career 100-yard receiving games and returned kickoffs in three seasons.

One of the more intriguing returners on the board is Arkansas' little-of-this, little-of-that guy, Peyton Hillis, who lined up at running back, fullback, H-back, tight end and wide receiver with the Razorbacks.

At 240 pounds, he also returned punts two seasons, with with a 10.3 average in '05, an 11.5 average in '06.

A nod also goes to:

* Texas Tech's Daniel Amendola, an All-Big 12 returner as a true freshman in '04 who averaged 16.7 per punt return this past season; Georgia's Mikey Henderson, a 5-10, 160-pounder who led the SEC in punt returns in '06 and is a man of the moment after having proposed to his girlfriend on the field at Senior Day in November.

* Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski, whose draft stock has slipped as the Irish's fortunes have.

* Florida's Andre Caldwell, a wide receiver who clocked 4.37 at the combine but hasn't returned a kickoff since fracturing his leg on a return in '05, though he was the Gators' man for the job before the injury.

Top of the charts Leading Division I-A kickoff returners in 2007:

Player School Year Avg. TDs

A.J. Jefferson Fresno State So. 35.8 2

Bryan Williams Akron Jr. 31.9 1

Kevin Marion Wake Forest Sr. 31.3 1

Felix Jones Arkansas Jr. 29.6 2

Ryan Mouton Hawaii Jr. 29.6 1

Leading Division I-A punt returners in 2007:

Player School Year Avg. TDs

Kevin Robinson Utah State Sr. 18.9 1

Brandon James Florida So. 18.1 1

Deon Murphy Kansas State Jr. 17.5 1

Leodis McKelvin Troy Sr. 17.4 3

Philip Beck Louisiana Tech Jr. 17.4 0

NUMBERS GAME

2 picks for the Broncos in the first 42 selections in the draft. They have the 12th pick in the first round and the 11th pick in the second round (42nd overall).

THREE'S COMPANY

Under Mike Shanahan, below, the Broncos have drafted three players among the top 15 and have not taken a player higher than No. 11. They selected linebacker John Mobley at No. 15 in 1996, cornerback Deltha O'Neal at No. 15 in 2000 and quarterback Jay Cutler at No. 11 in 2006.

COMEBACK TRAIL

Former Broncos draft pick Chris Cole - they took him 70th overall in 2000 - is trying to get back in the league. Cole, a receiver, worked out for scouts as part of Texas A&M's pro day earlier this month. Texas A&M is his alma mater.

HE SAID IT

"I think Devin Hester has helped everybody who returns punts, including me. He's really shown how important a punt returner is."

Eddie Royal, Virginia Tech receiver/returner, on whether there's a premium on returners in the draft.

Comments

  • March 14, 2008

    12:45 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    superchop7 writes:

    You forgot Anthony Alridge

  • March 14, 2008

    9:06 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    RustyWon writes:

    Kick return specialists are extremely valuable, no question. Devin Hester is really in a class by himself, as all Broncos fans know.

    I think NFL teams need to be very careful about selecting them high in the draft, however. They need to have other skills too (ie: DB or WR).
    If you select a return man too high it may cost you since they don't always "Bloom" in the role.

  • March 14, 2008

    10:50 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    OrangeCrush_77 writes:

    I agree, Rusty. And the other problem with taking a returner too high, is that they often become to valuable in their other position (RB, WR, CB) that you don't want to use them as a returner.

  • March 14, 2008

    11:24 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    seevee writes:

    I think Chris Johnson is very special (having seen him destroy Boise State single-handedly). I agree about drafting too high for these types, but man, I think he's the real deal. I can't imagine he'll be around for the third round, but maybe the second half of the second he might be. Check out his highlights on YouTube.

  • March 15, 2008

    10:47 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    millertime3852 writes:

    First of all, the auto-refresh on this site is absolutely pathetic. Why on earth would you have an auto-refresh on an article in the newspaper online? Does the columnist really add things to the article every few minutes that needs to be updated?

    What a joke, and until the developer of this site changes it, the comments section in this newspaper will always blow.

  • March 15, 2008

    10:59 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    millertime3852 writes:

    And secondly, Devin Hester is a great punt returner, but horrible kick-off returner. Do you all realize that he averaged 21.7 yards per return on kick-offs...our own Andre Hall averaged 25.0 yards. Having a kick-off returner in the bottom quarter of all returners like Devin Hester, but he might score a couple of TD's doesn't do us any good. He is 2nd in the league in punt returns, so I'll give him that. But consistant feild position is far more important than an occasional TD. Even with Hester's two long kick-off returns, there were only 2 returners in the entire NFL that had worse averages with at least 20 returns. That's HORRIBLE...so putting Hester in a class by himself is completely inaccurate. Joshua Cribbs is by far and away more valuable to his team as he averages over 30 yards per kick-off return, so he's setting his team up consistantly with good feild position. And he only averages 2 yards per punt return less than Hester.

  • March 15, 2008

    11:04 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    millertime3852 writes:

    And did I seriously just spell 'field' incorrect twice in that last comment? Wow, need another cup of coffee. Sorry.

  • March 16, 2008

    7:17 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Broncos4Life writes:

    Well it's obvious that the Broncos will probably follow their usual plan during the draft. That means drafting someone who has questionable character and then trading away all the other picks for nothing that will help.