New Beginnings: 5-Foot-6 Speedster to Try Out for Philadelphia Eagles in Attempted Career Resurgence

During his time with the Miami Dolphins Jakeem Grant was a special teams player that fans knew could always make something happen when the ball was in his hands.

He has six return touchdowns throughout his career. He was a second-team All-Pro selection twice and a Pro Bowl selection once.

Grant has over 1,200 career punt return yards and is just one yard short of having 2,700 career kick return yards. He has over 5,100 career all-purpose yards. At 5-foot-6, his blazing speed created must-watch T.V.

The Philadelphia Eagles need Jakeem Grant’s help returning kickoffs

While the Philadelphia Eagles managed to be tied for the most punt return yards in the NFL in 2023, they were far from the best when it came to kick return yards.

They managed to accrue just 254 yards on kick returns in 2023. Only five teams had fewer yards when returning kickoffs.

The only time Grant ever had total kick return numbers that low in a season was in 2020 when he had just six kick returns for 129 yards. Every other season of Grant’s career has seen him have at least 439 kick return yards. His most productive season, 2019, would’ve had him atop the league in 2023 with 578 kick return yards.

A new kickoff rule in the NFL makes Jakeem Grant’s role more important

This season the NFL will be implementing a new kickoff in which the returning team will be incentivized to return more kicks as opposed to letting the ball go through the end zone.

Any kick in the landing zone, which is from the goal line to the 20-yard line, must be returned. Any kick too short or too far will set the return team up at the 40-yard line or 30-yard line, respectively. This means the NFL will see the kick return specialist make a return to glory.

Buffalo Bills head coach said what he thinks of the new rule in an article from the Democrat and Chronicle.

“We have an exciting game; to me, the most exciting game out there. We’ve got to keep it that way,” McDermott said regarding the lack of excitement that was prevalent on kickoffs. “In order to do that, you want returns to be back in the game. The returns dipped significantly this year, they become dead plays. Those plays need to happen in an exciting way, at least for a significant amount of the time.”

The new rule means return specialists like Grant will be crucial to the field position battle that can dictate who comes out on top in close games.