The Eagles are heading into this season with a clear mandate on special teams: make the kick return game matter.
That hasn’t been a strength in Philadelphia for a while, and even with the NFL’s revamped kickoff rules last season creating far more return opportunities, the Eagles didn’t take advantage. The league’s changes did what they were supposed to do - per Pro Football Focus, the kickoff return rate climbed to 76% after touchbacks were moved to the 35-yard line, a 41.2% increase from 2024. But Philadelphia still finished near the bottom of the pack, averaging just 23.9 yards per return, third-fewest in the NFL, and ranking 28th in total kick return yards with 1,411.
Special teams coordinator Michael Clay knows the standard wasn’t met.
"From a schematic standpoint, obviously, we didn’t play up to our expectations from a kickoff return standpoint and that all falls on me," Clay said in May.
He’s spent the offseason digging into the details, from the paths returners should take to the blocking plan up front.
"So going back, I spent a lot of time looking at what the tracks I want the return men to have, how we want our kickoff return, blocking assignments, how we want that [to look]. I’ve spent a lot of time on that and I’m actually looking forward to it when we go [to] OTAs and mandatory mini camps and putting pads on, trying to implement those so we can use that kickoff return as an advantage."
The Eagles also haven’t had a true game-changing return specialist in years. They haven’t had a kickoff returned for a touchdown since Wendell Smallwood in 2016, and the last consistent field-flipping presence came back in the Darren Sproles era.
So the question now is who grabs the job and gives Philadelphia a real edge.
Will Shipley enters camp as the leading return man from last season, even though he has slid to RB3 behind Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby. The 2024 fourth-round pick handled 29 kick returns and produced 777 yards, which accounted for more than half of the team’s total. His 26.8 yards per return tied him for ninth in the league, and his longest return went for 41 yards.
Bigsby is another name to watch. He began his Eagles stint in the kick return role after arriving in a trade from Jacksonville, and the team believed he could handle the job despite limited experience.
Early ball-security issues led to a benching at one point, but his limited work in 2024 showed some juice: six returns, 32.5 yards per return, and a ninth-place ranking in the NFL among players with at least five returns. Overall, he returned nine kicks for Philadelphia last year and averaged 20.8 yards per return.
Britain Covey sits third on the current depth chart and should remain the primary punt return option, though he also handled five kickoffs last season for 125 yards, a 25.0-yard average.
Clay also mentioned rookie wide receiver Makai Lemon as a possibility. Lemon had success returning kicks at USC in 2024, averaging 27.1 yards per return. Running back Dameon Pierce, who signed in March, is another candidate and has 20 career kick returns.
However it shakes out, the goal is simple: give Jalen Hurts and the offense better starting field position and create more chances to change games from the return phase.
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