With all the talk about the New York Jets’ kick return situation, one notable name has been mentioned less and less often: Xavier Gipson, the incumbent. Robert Saleh said at his initial training camp press conference that Gipson would get first dibs on the job, but after an injury sidelined him for a couple of weeks, other players have been grabbing the opportunity.
The question is if Gipson is the best man for the job. He wasn’t a particularly good kick returner in college, returning 23 kicks with 16.4 yards per return. Even excluding an outlier of -8.0 yards per return on three returns in 2022, Gipson’s 20.1 average was lackluster.
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Gipson was slightly better than that in his rookie season but still below average. Among 22 kick returners with at least 10 return attempts in 2023, he ranked 14th with 23.3 yards per return. His long of 34 also tied for 14th. Gipson also had 22 return attempts, the second-most in the league, making his sample size more reliable. Pro Football Focus gave him the second-lowest grade among the returners at 56.4, likely because he fumbled twice.
The statistics aren’t all that promising for Gipson as a kick returner. However, it’s worth examining his return attempts from 2023 to evaluate the blocking compared to his output. Maybe the Jets just didn’t block well and Gipson did his best with what was presented to him.
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This was a pretty good kickoff from Tyler Bass. He pinned Gipson to the left sideline, forcing Gipson to take a wide track to get around the right edge. C.J. Uzomah’s (No. 87) whiffed block killed any potential for Gipson to get through what looked like a promising blocking setup otherwise. Gipson was forced to pivot outside, where at least one or two Bills tacklers had leverage on him, certainly to tackle him before the 25.
Gipson made a nice cut on No. 16, getting underneath him to gain an extra 6-7 yards on the play. He displayed solid short-area quickness. His shiftiness allowed the Jets to start at their own 27 instead of the 21.
It looks small, but that’s a big difference in field position. With the new kickoff rules, teams care more about the touchback to the 30 than when it was to the 25. That indicates that 5 yards of field position is not something teams want to cede. Gipson’s play here was important.
This was a pretty well-blocked return. Uzomah was beaten to prevent it from being perfectly blocked, but there was room for Gipson to operate. He beat the Patriots’ No. 14 and No. 45 through the hole. If Michael Carter (No. 32) could have held his block for a drop longer, Gipson would have had only the kicker to beat for a possible touchdown or at least a very deep return.
However, a really good returner might have cut further inside to get away from the Patriots’ No. 21, allowing him to juke out the kicker for a potentially longer return that way. Gipson is fairly quick to bounce his kicks outside.
Jamien Sherwood’s (No. 44) blown block killed any longer potential this return might have had. Gipson took a wide track to avoid No. 41 rather than trying to juke him out, which would have been riskier but also kept his track more linear rather than toward the sideline.
After getting past No. 41, though, he should have cut upfield rather than drifting further outside. Had he done that, he may have been able to get through the hole set up by blocks from Carter and Chazz Surratt (No. 55), which could have given him a lane down the sideline.
Again, Gipson is way too quick to pin himself toward the sideline rather than continuing upfield to give himself options.
No chance on this one. The blocking was terrible.
Blown block from Nick Bawden (No. 48) on this play. Gipson had no chance.
It’s difficult to understand why Gipson didn’t try to aggressively hit the hole between Ashtyn Davis (No. 21) and Uzomah. Sure, No. 41 was scraping over the top, which is probably why Gipson took his track outside. Still, he should have just maintained slight outside leverage and darted back through the hole to get past No. 41 rather than cutting way too far inside.
This is where Gipson’s poor vision and/or decision-making took away any chance of a bigger return. And he fumbled, to boot.
Again, it’s hard to understand why Gipson chose to veer outside rather than trying to run straight ahead. He might have achieved the same result, but that was the correct hole to hit even with No. 41 coming hard downfield.
Well-blocked play which gave Gipson an easy return to the 30. But yet again, why did he try to run outside of Tyler Bass (No. 2) rather than juking him inside? There’s just no creativity there at all.
Gipson got a decent result here, but the process was bad. Why didn’t he try to hit the hole between Uzomah and Bryce Hall (No. 37)? It was a pretty large hole. It’s hard to know for sure from this front angle rather than the back, but it looks like a clear-cut vision issue from Gipson.
Once again, there appeared to have been a big hole between Jeremy Ruckert (No. 89) and Davis if Gipson had run straight upfield rather than veering left. Perhaps No. 12 would have gotten there, but Gipson had already started left before No. 12 even contacted Davis. Another vision issue.
Actually a pretty good job from Gipson here. For some reason, the Jets didn’t even account for No. 38, allowing him a free run at Gipson. Gipson started out to his right to pin No. 38’s leverage outside before running past him inside. He then found his blockers and got out to the 30 with an extra jump cut at the end.
Really good job setting up his blocks here. Instead of aggressively running toward the sideline, he stayed just outside enough to keep No. 37 outside, then waited for Sam Eguavoen (No. 52) to pin No. 37 outside before hitting the hole. He then picked his way through traffic to get out near the 40.
Bad misjudgment of the kickoff from Gipson here. Having his momentum going backward to start the return gave him little chance regardless of the blocking. I would argue he should have taken a knee here, although it was so close to the goal line that it could be he wasn’t sure if he was even in the end zone.
Should he return?
Overall, it’s evident that Gipson left a lot of meat on the bone in the return game. While the Jets’ blocking wasn’t perfect, it was good enough for him to have gotten past the 25 on a good chunk of these plays. Sometimes, he left the potential for a deep return on the table by making a beeline outside rather than trying to make a move.
Gipson did not show the vision necessary to be a good kick returner. He should not be an option. With the new rules, good vision is just as essential as ever, if not even more important. Let players like Malachi Corley, Isaiah Davis, and Braelon Allen duke it out for the rest of training camp.
Perhaps keep Brandon Codrington and Tyler Harrell in as dark-horse candidates. Codrington was an excellent punt returner in college but has subpar speed (4.61 at the HBCU combine, 4.55 at his pro day). Harrell is the opposite: he averaged just 20.9 yards per kick return on eight attempts in college but ran a blazing 4.29 at his pro day.
Speaking of pure speed, Izzy Abanikanda had a shot to make the roster as a kick returner. At his pro day, his best 40 time was 4.27, which was his one elite trait coming out of college. However, Abanikanda’s two kick return attempts in 2023 went miserably: not only did he average just 15.5 yards per return, but he also fumbled once. The play he fumbled on was very poorly blocked, but nonetheless, lack of ball security has been a theme of Abanikanda’s college career and his limited NFL experience.
Because of the vision issues that limited Gipson as a returner, I’m inclined to favor Davis as the primary kick returner. His vision and patience as a running back will allow him to consistently take what the blocking gives him, and his ability to gain yards after contact will help him for a few extra yards.
Although Davis’ 4.57 straight-line speed might prevent him from maximizing a return to score a touchdown, we saw Zonovan Knight flash some kick return ability in the 2022 preseason despite his 4.58 speed. Knight had a 52-yard return even with lackluster speed, and he didn’t have great vision as a running back. Davis’ superior vision could allow him to excel as a kick returner.
Meanwhile, Corley is also an interesting option due to his tackle-breaking ability. As Joe Blewett wrote in his list of weaknesses, he doesn’t always have elite vision when it comes to YAC in the receiving game, but he can still succeed as a pure bulldog.
The Jets’ kick return competition will see its first live action in the Jets’ preseason tilt against the Commanders. Keep a close eye on not only the raw result but also how each returner maximizes his blocking (and how the Jets’ blocking is to begin with). This remains the most interesting camp battle for the Jets.
