Not only will the addition of new Pittsburgh Steelers running back LeGarrette Blount help with depth in the backfield, the former undrafted free agent also figures to get a shot at being the kickoff returner in 2014 as well.
Last season with the New England Patriots, Blount returned 17 kickoffs for 494 yards with a long of 83. His 29.1 yard average ranked him fifth in the league last season when compared to players that returned more than 10 kickoffs.
Last season, the Steelers had eight different players that returned 43 kickoffs and combined that resulted in a 22.4 average per return. Running back Felix Jones, who is currently an unsigned unrestricted free agent, returned 23 of those kicks for 510 yards with a long of 42. His 22.2 average per return ranks him 27th on the list below.
| PLAYER | TEAM | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cordarrelle Patterson, WR | MIN | 43 | 1393 | 32.4 | 109 | 2 |
| Dwayne Harris, WR | DAL | 28 | 857 | 30.6 | 90 | 0 |
| Quintin Demps, S | KC | 33 | 992 | 30.1 | 95 | 1 |
| Leon Washington, RB | TEN/NE | 17 | 500 | 29.4 | 95 | 0 |
| LeGarrette Blount, RB | NE | 17 | 494 | 29.1 | 83 | 0 |
| Jacoby Jones, WR | BAL | 31 | 892 | 28.8 | 77 | 1 |
| Trindon Holliday, WR | DEN | 28 | 775 | 27.7 | 105 | 1 |
| Devin Hester, WR | CHI | 52 | 1436 | 27.6 | 80 | 0 |
| Jordan Todman, RB | JAX | 26 | 712 | 27.4 | 59 | 0 |
| LaMichael James, RB | SF | 12 | 321 | 26.8 | 41 | 0 |
| Keshawn Martin, WR | HOU | 36 | 947 | 26.3 | 50 | 0 |
| Brandon Tate, WR | CIN | 35 | 914 | 26.1 | 71 | 0 |
| Damaris Johnson, WR | PHI | 17 | 441 | 25.9 | 33 | 0 |
| Eric Page, WR | TB | 22 | 548 | 24.9 | 44 | 0 |
| David Reed, WR | IND | 24 | 590 | 24.6 | 39 | 0 |
| Jeremy Ross, WR | DET/GB | 21 | 514 | 24.5 | 98 | 1 |
| Josh Cribbs, WR | NYJ | 20 | 490 | 24.5 | 42 | 0 |
| Micah Hyde, CB | GB | 22 | 531 | 24.1 | 70 | 0 |
| Taiwan Jones, CB | OAK | 26 | 623 | 24 | 41 | 0 |
| Darius Reynaud, RB | TEN/NYJ | 18 | 430 | 23.9 | 40 | 0 |
| Ted Ginn, WR | CAR | 25 | 595 | 23.8 | 38 | 0 |
| Jacquizz Rodgers, RB | ATL | 25 | 575 | 23 | 34 | 0 |
| Benny Cunningham, RB | STL | 13 | 299 | 23 | 32 | 0 |
| Jacoby Ford, WR | OAK | 11 | 253 | 23 | 30 | 0 |
| Jerrel Jernigan, WR | NYG | 11 | 246 | 22.4 | 46 | 0 |
| Marcus Thigpen, RB | MIA | 39 | 870 | 22.3 | 50 | 0 |
| Felix Jones, RB | PIT | 23 | 510 | 22.2 | 42 | 0 |
| Tavon Austin, WR | STL | 18 | 398 | 22.1 | 32 | 0 |
| Fozzy Whittaker, RB | CLE/SD | 29 | 638 | 22 | 56 | 0 |
| Marquise Goodwin, WR | BUF | 16 | 351 | 21.9 | 28 | 0 |
| Michael Cox, RB | NYG | 20 | 436 | 21.8 | 56 | 0 |
| Jermaine Kearse, WR | SEA | 13 | 283 | 21.8 | 40 | 0 |
| Danny Woodhead, RB | SD | 12 | 262 | 21.8 | 37 | 0 |
| Micheal Spurlock, WR | DAL/DET | 18 | 389 | 21.6 | 36 | 0 |
| Javier Arenas, CB | ARI | 23 | 493 | 21.4 | 46 | 0 |
| Darren Sproles, RB | NO | 12 | 255 | 21.3 | 32 | 0 |
| Niles Paul, TE | WSH | 20 | 411 | 20.6 | 39 | 0 |
| Josh Morgan, WR | WSH | 12 | 239 | 19.9 | 25 | 0 |
