Today we take a look at the potential options to return kicks and punts this fall, starting with the man who handled both duties last year.
In 2017, Nate Cottrell returned kicks for the Jackets and Brad Stewart returned punts. Both units were very pedestrian, and produced few to no big plays. When I wrote this article last year, I was very hopeful that both units would be able to take a step forward in 2018, whether that meant with Cottrell and Stewart still back deep or someone else taking over the job.
Thomas supplanted Cottrell back deep on kickoffs from day 1, and took over the punt return duties from Stewart midseason.