Southern Cal cornerback Adoree' Jackson is making his pre-draft visits, reportedly seeing the Cowboys this week. But when some team selects him, it will be most interesting for the impact he could make on their return teams.
Jackson is certainly an opportunistic cornerback, intercepting 5 passes for the Trojans last year. But he's an awesome return man, bringing back 2 kickoffs and 2 punts for touchdowns last year, and 8 total (4 of each) in three seasons at Southern Cal.
The NFL, of course, has done all but eliminate kickoff returns entirely, believing players get injured too much on such plays. In a five-year span from 2007-2011, there were 88 TDs on kickoffs, 17.6 per season. In the last five years, there have been only 40; just 8 per season.
But punt returns have been fairly stable: 76 from 2007-2011 (15.2 per year), 67 from 2012-2016 (13.4 per year). Slight decline, but not dramatic. Whoever selects Jackson will likely have him handling both, and he'll make that team very interesting in fantasy leagues, especially TD-only formats.
Punt, kickoff and total returns, by team, from the last three seasons are shown below. Unsurprisingly, teams with special returners -- Philadelphia, Minnesota, Kansas City -- have been the most successful. The Cowboys, who need secondary help and are one of eight teams with no return TDs the last three years, are definitely a fit for Jackson.
| KICK RETURNS, 2014-2016 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 14P | 14K | 15P | 15K | 16P | 16K | Total |
| Philadelphia | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Kansas City | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| LA Rams | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Miami | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Arizona | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Baltimore | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Buffalo | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Chicago | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Detroit | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Green Bay | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jacksonville | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| NY Giants | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Pittsburgh | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Seattle | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Atlanta | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Carolina | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Denver | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Houston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Indianapolis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| New England | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| New Orleans | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dallas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NY Jets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oakland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| San Diego | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| San Francisco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tampa Bay | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
--Andy Richardson