nfl special teams rankings 2022

Defensive back Zech McPhearson and linebacker TJ Edwards are standouts in kick coverage who should help make this unit one of the leagues best. Plus, shifty return man Deonte Harty and reliable coverage specialist Zack Baun should help support a unit that boasts one of the premier special teamers in football, JT Gray. Meanwhile, the defense has been outstanding against the run (81.3 yards allowed, third best), but the pass defense is allowing 283.7 yards per game, the second worst in the league. Chris Boswell has only gotten better during his last three years with the Steelers. Punter Cameron Johnston will, however, likely maintain the high level of play the team has come to expect of him. Jakeem Grant was supposed to be the teams primary returner, but its likely hell miss the season with an Achilles tear he suffered in training camp. Sunday's game against the Chiefs was the eighth they've lost by seven or fewer points. If Patterson is once again a focal point on offense, then Avery Williams will likely be called to return kicks and punts as he did in 2021. -- Ben Baby, The Dolphins' defense has picked up since adding linebacker Bradley Chubb at the trade deadline, but Miami can't overcome below-average defensive play. Kicker Cairo Santos is exceptionally talented from inside the 40. Slye struggled with consistency in his early stops with Houston and San Francisco, making just 9-of-12 extra points and 11-of-13 field goals. Zuerlein has one of the strongest legs in the NFL, but his accuracy from that distance leaves a lot to be desired (55.4% on field goals from 50-plus yards). An error occurred. The special teams has 15 field goals -- tied for the third least in the league -- and its coverage units have struggled, particularly against the Eagles, with rookie Britain Covey returning six punts for 105 yards in Week 13. We've covered every group on offense and every group on defense. Jake Bailey has been a solid punter over the past three seasons in New England but struggled in 2021. Townsend has shown the ability to be a very strong punter, so its too early to say he cant return to that form in his third year. Berrios has always had a role as a punt returner and is now averaging 11.4 yards per punt return in his career. Roberts split his time between the Texans and Chargers last season and led the league in kick return yards (1,010) while also scoring a touchdown. McCloud held both roles during his two seasons with the Steelers and was very effective at flipping field position. Assuming Kicker Will Lutz can return to form coming off a groin injury last season, new Head Coach Dennis Allen could potentially field one of the better special teams units in football this upcoming season. D-coordinator Joe Barry likely will take the fall for his lack of innovative game plans and playcalls, but there are others at fault too. The defense's biggest issue is a lack of a consistent pass rush (its 23 sacks ranks 28th), which is why Jacksonville is 28th in the NFL in pass defense (253.3 yards per game allowed). Its possible that in an unforgiving NFC East environment age will become a factor for Gano this year. The Lions had a rotating cast of kickers during the 2021 season, withRiley Pattersonfinishing as the last man standing. Defense: 14 But the fact that the offense is seventh after Dak Prescott missed five games with a fractured thumb is telling. Also hoping to make major contributions will be return specialist Ray-Ray McCloud IIIsupplemented by Brandon Aiyukand talented coverage man Deommodore Lenoir. The rookie will compete with veteran Matt Haack for the starting job this season. Hes a career 93.3% kicker inside 50 yards. McCloud has historically struggled to secure punts, logging six career muffs in his career. Maggio recorded 101 career punts inside the 20-yard line in college and averaged 46.8 yards per punt his senior season. Santos is 57-for-82 on kicks past 40 yards in his career. The special teams committed some costly gaffes early in the season, but it has evened out since then. Denver let last years primary returner (Diontae Spencer) walk in free agency, so there are questions over who will take over that role. -- Sarah Barshop, Get exclusive access to more than 3,000 premium articles a year from top writers. QB Deshaun Watson, after an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL personal conduct policy, has led the Browns to just one offensive TD in two games. Standout coverage specialists Chris Westry and Sam Franklin Jr also figure to be major contributors. Kicker: Ryan Succop, Punter: Jake Camarda*, KR/PR: Jaelon Darden. The third-year veteran hit 48 of his 49 extra points while also converting a career-high 94.1% of his field-goal attempts. In two seasons with the Giants, Board has averaged 13.0 yards per punt return and 25.2 yards per kick return. Jaelon Darden served as the teams kick and punt returner in his rookie season. Similarly, Cole has shown the ability to consistently flip the field in the kicking game. Kicker: Brandon McManus, Punter: Sam Martin, KR/PR: Kendall Hinton. He has one career punt return touchdown. Defensively, the Bucs can be lights out, when healthy. Full schedule | Standings -- Mike Reiss, Offense: 15 Crosby hit just 73.5% of his field goals and posted below career average conversion rates at distances between 30-39 (69.2%) and 40-49 (50.0%). Today Im ranking every special teams unit around the league, 1-32. -- Jake Trotter, The Panthers have been much more efficient since interim coach Steve Wilks took over and committed to the running game. In addition to the Eagles, other Top NFL teams include division leaders the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, and the Cincinnati Bengals. The same defense that once carried the team has allowed 27 or more points in four of the past six contests. More ESPN+ content , Offense: 16 Choose from multiple experts to create the perfect best ball cheat sheet. -- DJ Bien-Aime, Rex Ryan: The Bucs look old and slow -- and not just the QB (1:02), Updated NFL Power Rankings: 1-32 poll, plus offense, defense and special teams rankings, How coach Andy Reid saved the Kansas City Chiefs, Titans hiring 49ers' Carthon as GM, sources say, Rodgers mulling future with Packers or elsewhere, Source: Johnson tells Lions he'll return as OC, Cowboys stick with kicker Maher, expect rebound, Eagles' Hurts: 'Got a bounty on me every week', Chargers fire OC Lombardi after playoff collapse, Sources: Browns to hire Schwartz as new DC, Bengals owner wants to keep Burrow for long haul, What's next for Tom Brady and the Bucs? Koo has been especially effective as a distance kicker in his last two years, making 26-of-29 kicks from beyond 40 yards. Buffalo Bills. He muffed just one punt in 28 opportunities. Siposs pinned 17 of his 55 punts inside the 20-yard line and finished with a net average of 38.8 punt yards per season. Whatever the reason, 12 of the Raiders' 13 outings have been one-score games, and they are just 5-8. ESPN's weekly defense/special teams (D/ST) fantasy football rankings are an aggregate of our four rankers, listed alphabetically. -- John Keim, Offense: 17 The Colts are fundamentally bad on offense, struggling in critical areas like protecting the football and blocking, which explains a lot. View consensus Defense & Special Teams best ball rankings for 2022 fantasy football contests. Here's a look at how each NFL team ranks at each position. The defense is tops against the pass (178.7 yards per game) and takeaways (24). The Jets decided to bring in Greg Zuerlein to compete with Eddy Pineiro for the starting job. The special teams spot -- particularly with Avery Williams as one of the league's best punt returners (17.4 yards per return) and Cordarrelle Patterson as the team's kick returner (33.5 yards per return, one touchdown) -- seems specifically low. Find NFL defense rushing stats by team. With solid contributions from players like Punter Tommy Townsend and electric returner Mecole Hardman, the Chiefs should be able to control the field position battle. Matt Gay had the best season of his career in Los Angeles in 2021. Lamb was primarily used as a punt returner thanks to his ability to secure the ball. Reed, is the biggest reason for the massive improvement on defense. Deonte Harty will once again serve as the teams kick and punt returner in 2022. An exceptional talent from inside the 45, Vizcaino should get a real shot to win the role. Connelly: CFB season's best games Few kickers have been more dependable than Robbie Gould throughout his career. Finally, talents like Daniel Thomas and Chris Claybrooks will all contribute positively to kick coverage. Since the 2015 season, Huber has just two seasons with an average hangtime above 4.25. Those takeaways have prevented teams from finishing drives that could have changed the outcome of games. Indianapolis, 272 3. The strongest component of the Jets special teams is returner Braxton Berrios. He leads a coverage unit along with Akeem Davis-Gaither and Clay Johnston that could be one of the stronger groups in the league this season. The most notable improvement came on his attempts past 50 yards; Elliot had three straight seasons making 50% or less of his deep kicks before converting all three of those kicks in 2021. -- Jeff Legwold, The main reason for the Texans' poor offensive output is their quarterback play, which is one of the worst in the league. Jacksonville will go into 2022 with a massive question mark at kicker. (Want to see the rest of our position group rankings series? Waddle is an explosive playmaker with the ball and should once again get the first shot to build on those solid rookie numbers. Though his placekicking counterpart has yet to be singled out. On defense, Atlanta's lack of a pass rush (17 sacks) has hindered production. 2022 NFL Special Teams Rankings | StatMuse 2022 NFL special teams rankings Explore Who is the all-time NFL rushing leader? The second-year receiver had just six returns in his first season, but averaged an impressive 12.5 per return. Which is why Baltimore again finished first in the NFL special-teams rankings compiled annually by Rick Gosselin for the last 43 years. It was the second consecutive season the veteran kicker made over 93% of his field-goal attempts. They are Mike Clay, Tristan H. Cockcroft, Eric Karabell and Eric . Isaiah Rodgers was successful as the Colts kick returner in 2021, averaging 26.4 yards per return. Theyll also get help from reliable returner Freddie Swain and ace special teamer Ben Burr-Kirven. Seattle will need more consistency from Myers to have success as a unit this season. Dickers longest career field goal was 57 yards. The defense is allowing opponents to convert 63% of their red zone opportunities over the past six games as compared with 40% during New York's 6-1 start. Offensively, coach Kevin O'Connell has boosted wide receiver Justin Jefferson to the top of the league's production charts. Without many impact players on special teamsaside from linebacker Isaiah McDuffieGreen Bay needs to find more consistency from a unit that struggled last season. Jordan Berryalso found success in his first year punting with the team in 2021. Rex Ryan is highly disappointed in the Buccaneers and says Tom Brady is not the only one who deserves blame. Camarda averaged 45.8 yards per punt throughout his four-year career. The 2022 NFL regular season is over. And their defensive ranking is based largely on the strength of the pass rush, which has generated 42 sacks. While we are at the point of the season where the rankings stay largely consistent week to week, we do have teams that made the biggest jump up and down the list. ODonnell has just two years with a net punting average above 40.0. Kicker: Nick Folk, Punter: Jake Bailey, KR/PR: Marcus Jones*. In two years with the Broncos, Martin is averaging 42.4 net yards per punt and 26.5 punts inside the 20. Using Justin Fields' dynamic rushing ability to its advantage has kept Chicago battling down the stretch of games despite sitting on a six-game losing streak. Jack Fox will retain his role as the teams punter again this year. 2022 fantasy football rankings Overall standard Overall PPR Quarterback Running back standard Running back PPR Wide receiver standard Wide receiver PPR Tight end standard Tight end PPR D/ST Kickers The trouble with D/ST scoring is the emphasis on touchdowns and turnovers, which are impossible to predict. The Eagles spent most of last season usingJalen Reagoras their kick and punt returner before giving kick return duties toKenneth Gainwelldown the stretch. Hekker had just one season with a net punting average below (42.0) and has never had fewer than 20 punts downed inside the 20. Weve covered every group on offense and every group on defense. With solid contributions from players like Punter Tommy Townsend and electric returner Mecole Hardman, the Chiefs should be able to control the field position battle. Pacheco hasnt returned kicks since his freshman season when he averaged 19.3 yards on 18 returns. Cooke has a career net punt average of 43.2. Harvin had a net punt average of 38.0 and an average hangtime of 4.28, both of which are underwhelming. Powell was the only returner in the NFL who averaged over 20 yards in both kick returns (26.0) and punt returns (22.2) last season. Neither player is an explosive returner, but both are dependable options on special teams. Mann improved his yards per punt (45.7) and net punt average (41.6) in his sophomore season. New Head Coach Mike McDaniel will be hoping to get the most out of talented though inconsistent kicker Jason Sanders. 2021 Fantasy PPG: 8.9 (4th) 2021 Stats: 42 sacks, 19 int, 11 fr. They may have even cost their team a Super Bowl appearance after a shaky showing against San Francisco in the NFC. The Dolphins also roster two of the leagues best coverage specialists in Brandon Jones and Clayton Fejedelem. McManus has the leg to make kicks from deep and could give the Broncos more scoring opportunities. Both figures were career highs. NFL footage NFL Productions LLC. Taylor got all seven of his punt returns after Week 14 of the regular season but averaged 7.4 yards per return during that stretch. The special teams unit has been the most consistent group for Buffalo this year, with kicker Tyler Bass making a career-high 89.7% of field goals, which is especially significant after. But the run game has been better than expected this season. Maggio was on the team but didnt have a punt attempt in 2021. Christian McCaffrey is a top play, but that nudges Elijah Mitchell into the top-15 of Wild Card rankings. The Rams also added a rookie kicker, Cameron Dicker, from the University of Texas. Buffalo, 316.5 9.. Team efficiencies are based on the point contributions of each unit to the team's scoring margin, on a per-play basis. The Ravens have finished in the Top 5 in these rankings in eight of the last nine seasons, also winning in 2015. Head Coach Bill Belichick will let inexperienced kicker Tristan Vizcaino compete with veteran Nick Folk for the starting kicking job. Discover NFL team overall stats and rankings throughout the season. Rookie Kyle Phillips will get the first shot at returning punts for the Titans this season. Sarah Lewis Dec 21, 2022 Two defense/special teams (DSTs) to look at for Week 16 are the Tennessee Titans (currently rostered in only about half of Yahoo leagues) and the San Francisco 49ers. New coach Kevin OConnell will turn to Greg Josepha gifted kicker who had a tumultuous run in his first season with Minnesota. From week 5 to week 13 Gonzalez did not miss a single field goal or extra point. Carter has averaged 26.2 yards per return during his eight years as a returner. Santoso had just one attempt over 40 yards last season and he missed it. Today, we look to the third part of the game special teams. All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League. He will need to become more consistent fielding the ball on punts in his second season (two muffed punts on 31 attempts). Kansas City, 298.5 5. The official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage . Joseph set career highs in extra points (90.0%) and field goal (86.8%) accuracy in his first season. Olszewski has averaged 23.2 yards per kick return and 12.6 yards per punt return during his three-year career in New England. In Zuerlein's nine-year career, he has just two seasons (2013 and 2017) with a field goal success rate above 88.0%. Special teams: 18, The FPI reflects what the Browns are -- a bottom-half team across the board. The Packers will turn to veteran Mason Crosby as their kicker and former third-round pick Amari Rodgers as the kick returner. When the most-accurate kicker in NFL history, a punter who in 2021 tied for eighth in the league with punts inside the 20-yard line and a wide receiver who finished second in punt return yards and ninth in kickoff return yards are on the same squad, people take notice. Quarterback Justin Herbert played multiple games despite feeling the effect of fractured rib cartilage. Gillan has seen his hang time all three seasons of his career and hasnt had a net punting average of over 40.0 since 2019. Lamar Jackson and the offense started off hot before struggling in the red zone recently, which is why the Ravens are averaging 16.5 points in their past four games. Kicker: Jake Elliott, Punter: Arryn Siposs, PR/KR: Jalen Reagor. Pollard was exceptional as a kick returner in 2021, averaging 28.8 yards on 17 returns. Tyler Bassshowed significant improvement in his second season as the Bills kicker. 2026; 2025; 2024; 2023; 2022; 2021; 2020; 2019; 2018; 2017; 2016; 2015 In those seasons, hes averaged 9.6 yards per return and scored two punt return touchdowns. NFL Football Player Stats & Stats Leaders - Special Teams Total Tackles Who's your favorite NFL team? Buffalo Bills (10-3). Cincinnati D-coordinator Lou Anarumo's mantra of "yards don't equal points" has been a staple during his four-year tenure. Koo went 30-for-30 on extra points and made 27-of-29 field goes in his third season with the Falcons. Dan Fornek @fornekdf Aug 13, 2022, 8:50 AM EDT Light Mode Our 2022 NFL position group rankings series rolls along. They are not a completely hapless team devoid of talent. The 2022 NFL season is right around the corner, and training camps are quickly approaching. Baltimore Ravens . From Weeks 12 to 18, Patterson made all 16 of his extra-point attempts while converting 13-of-14 field goals.

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