Who were the best kick return blockers for the 2019 New York Jets special teams?

Michael Nania doles out credit to the unsung heroes of the New York Jets' elite 2019 special teams unit. For the second consecutive season, the Jets enjoyed high-quality performance from their special teams, ranking fourth in DVOA after topping the league in 2019. Aside from poor field goal/extra point kicking via Kaare Vedvik and Sam Ficken (31st in both FG% and XP%), Brant Boyer's crew was excellent across the board, ranking 12th in kickoff return DVOA, fourth in both punting and punt return DVOA, and first in kickoff coverage DVOA. In the return game, the Jets did not quite reach the heights that Andre Roberts carried them to in 2018 (first in punt return DVOA and second in kickoff return DVOA), but they still found plenty of success through a pair of scrapheap pickups. Braxton Berrios averaged 11.2 yards per punt return, third-best out of 38 players with at least 10 punt returns. Vyncint Smith averaged 29.9 yards per kickoff return, second-best out of 41 players with at least 10 kickoff returns. Berrios and Smith undoubtedly showed elite potential as returners. However, the fact that the Jets were able to achieve solidity with a pair of unproven players who were added very late in the process (in Smith's case, during the season) is a testament to Boyer and how consistently his units were carving out running lanes. I took a look back at the Jets' successful kick returns in 2019 and tallied which players threw crucial blocks on each play, crediting them with assists for their unheralded efforts. Punt return I categorized "successful" punt returns as punts that were returned for at least 10 yards with a net yardage total of under 40 yards (for example, a 59-yard punt with a 17-yard return is a 42-yard net and thus would not qualify). The Jets had seven of these across 21 returns (33.3%), all returned by Berrios. Multiple players could be (and usually were) credited on one play. Here are the results: Bennett Jackson, recently re-signed by the Jets, led the way with three assists, while Matthias Farley and Vyncint Smith followed him with two apiece. Eight other players contributed to one of the successful returns. When you throw snap counts into the picture, Jackson looks like the Michael Jordan of punt return blocking. He played just six snaps on the punt return unit and threw a key block to open up a big return on half of them, whereas other key contributors only collected an assist about 3.2 percent of the time. Jackson picked up two assists against his former team in Week 15, including this one to help open up a 21-yard return (28-yard net) for Berrios. Farley and Smith contribute as well. Farley positions himself well to give Berrios room on this 12-yard return (32-yard net) against Dallas. Josh Bellamy and Arthur Maulet work a solid double-team as well. Smith sticks with his man and gives just enough of a push to send him too far upfield to make a play on Berrios, who sprints by for a 17-yard return (39-yard net). While Smith could have finished this block better, he also may have been called for an illegal block in the back if he did. Solid wherewithal by Smith, as he understands that he had already done his job and did not need to do anything unnecessary that might warrant a penalty. Kickoff return While assists were scarcely awarded in the punt return game, they were handed out like candy on Halloween in the kickoff return game. It is just a product of the stylistic differences between each facet. On punt returns, the majority of players begin the snap by either attempting to block the kick or preventing the kick from being blocked. This leaves players scattered around the field without any legitimate matchups or assignments, and a free-for-all ensues. Kickoff returns are more regimented. Every player knows where they need to be, creating more one-on-one battles and thus more opportunities for solid blocks to be executed. The criteria for a "successful" kickoff return is simple - any return that finishes beyond the 25-yard line. The Jets had 14 of these across 37 returns (37.8%). Six were returned by Smith, five by Ty Montgomery, two by Berrios, and one by Trenton Cannon. With an army of 10 defenders charging in at full throttle, a good return requires the execution of numerous solid blocks. I credited assists to somewhere from three to seven players on each return (4.1 on average). Combine this high number of assists per return with the increased volume of opportunities, and we see substantially more assists on the kickoff return list than the punt return list. Here are the results: Harvey Langi claimed the throne with 10 assists. Farley followed with seven, taking second place on both the punt return and kickoff return lists. B.J. Bello and Daniel Brown rounded out the top-four with six apiece. Brandon Copeland and Tarell Basham added five each while Frankie Luvu picked up four. All of these players are under contract for 2020 except for Copeland, who signed with New England. Here is how the group stacks up on a per-snap basis (excluding Montgomery and Smith, as a portion of their snaps were as returners). Jackson again looks sublime, collecting three assists over 13 snaps (he only played for the Jets in Weeks 14 and 15). Bello was the most efficient among higher-volume blockers, logging six assists (in four different games) across 36 snaps. Langi maintained solid efficiency as a regular contributor to the unit, while Farley also put up a strong assist rate. The Jets may have been hammered by the Ravens in Week 15, but they dominated on special teams against a John Harbaugh-led unit that is consistently elite. The highlight was a blocked punt by Basham that was returned for a touchdown by Bello, but the return teams were also spectacular. Berrios had two of his seven "successful" punt returns (by the criteria I listed previously) in the game. Most notably, the Jets returned a whopping six kickoffs beyond the 25-yard line, the most by any team in one game in 2019 (which is also an indictment on the defense for allowing that many kickoffs in the first place). Of the 53 kickoff return assists I tallied on the season, 27 were awarded over those six returns in the Baltimore game. Montgomery opened the game with a 34-yard return out to Baltimore's 31-yard line. I handed out seven assists on that play. Here's the play in action. The most eye-popping block of the bunch belongs to Basham (highlighted), who blasts his man into the ground. Copeland and Langi execute a dominant double-team. Bello and Brown's double is not quite as forceful, but it gets the job done. Farley and Jackson make one-on-one blocks to clear the lane. Langi, Luvu, and Farley make great plays on his return to help Montgomery reach Baltimore's 36-yard line. Langi works a double-team with Jackson and drives his man out of the picture. With some help from Copeland, Luvu thrusts his man into the ground. Farley absorbs a fully-charged rusher and shows off a nice anchor as he fends off the attack just enough for Montgomery to zip by. The Jets' longest return of the season - be it a kickoff, punt, or defensive return - was Smith's 78-yard scamper against the Dolphins in Week 9. Most of that yardage was Smith's own doing after an unbelievable broken tackle, but the blocking set him up to at least surpass the 25-yard line. Maulet makes his only assist of the season as he helps out Langi with a double-team out in front (Langi specialized in executing doubles with tremendous power). Montgomery gets a head of steam to knock his man off-balance, preventing him from getting back into the play later on. Griffin makes his only assist of the year while Farley (highlighted) makes a crucial block as he carries his man upfield and stays with it to keep him from shedding. Blocking aside for a minute - that is an incredible display of balance and power by Smith. He ran through one tackle attempt (allowed by Daniel Brown) and took a hard shot to his ball-carrying forearm and then his knees while stumbling, and somehow stayed afoot. It's as if he used the defender's momentum to regain his footing. Phenomenal return. Later in that game, Miami was forced to free-kick from its own 20-yard line following a safety. Berrios returned the kick 25 yards from his own 25-yard line to midfield without having to break a tackle. Langi prevents his man from penetrating the lane from the backside. Brown and Luvu don't do anything remarkable initially, but they position themselves well to wall off the running lane, and Luvu lays a hard shot once Berrios goes by. Bello gets out in front and lands a good initial block. After Bello is shed, Farley comes up and latches on, driving the defender downfield. Basham seals his man inside to create room towards the sideline for Berrios. I'm all about giving credit to those between the white lines whose efforts are the most overlooked - and there may not be an assignment in sports that garners less recognition than blocking for a kick returner. Keep these guys in mind! Their performance has just as much to do with return productivity as the returner himself, perhaps even more so. Fortunately for the Jets, it seems like they are set with a solid number of good ones.