On Christmas against the Giants, Eagles punt returner Britain Covey had an electric 54-yard punt return that set up a short, 2-play, 13-yard opening drive touchdown for the offense. By my count, Covey made five Giants defenders miss, before scooting across the field, outracing the punter to the sideline, and throwing on the brakes while three more Giants defenders flew by, before he was finally corralled inside the 15.
That was Covey’s best return so far of what has been a standout season for the second-year pro. Covey now leads the NFC in punt return average, and he is second in the NFL (min. 15 punt returns):
| Player | Returns | Yards | Avg | FC |
| Derius Davis, Chargers | 23 | 373 | 16.2 | 24 |
| Britain Covey, Eagles | 28 | 409 | 14.6 | 15 |
| Rashid Shaheed, Saints | 21 | 294 | 14.0 | 22 |
| Devin Duvernay, Ravens | 23 | 290 | 12.6 | 20 |
| Charlie Jones, Bengals | 19 | 220 | 11.6 | 9 |
| DeeJay Dallas, Seahawks | 24 | 250 | 10.4 | 15 |
| DeAndre Carter, Raiders | 22 | 225 | 10.2 | 16 |
| Braxton Berrios, Dolphins | 23 | 235 | 10.2 | 23 |
| Xavier Gipson, Jets | 27 | 271 | 10.0 | 29 |
| Kalif Raymond, Lions | 22 | 207 | 9.4 | 22 |
As you can see, Covey is averaging 14.6 yards per return, which is outstanding. It’s an average that would have led the NFL in four of the last five seasons (min. 15 returns). But it’s even better than you’d think. You might also notice that Covey has only called 15 fair catches this season, which represents under 35 percent of his punt return opportunities, while five returners on the list above have called fair catches on 50 percent or more of their return opportunities.
Covey is willing to return punts even if he is likely to only get a few yards, while other returners around the league would otherwise simply call a fair catch to preserve their lofty return averages. Each week, Covey watches every punt from around the league, and he sees returners calling for fair catches when they shouldn’t.
“The best comparison I have is in the NBA, when at the end of the first quarter a guy doesn’t take a three-quarter court shot because it will ruin his three point shooting average,” Covey said. “I see that a lot with players, especially players who have average incentives in their contracts. For a lot of them, I think it’s like if they average over 9 yards or over 9.5 yards per return they get a bonus, over 10 yards they get a bigger bonus… I see guys all the time who will call a fair catch that have those incentives, or sometimes even if they don’t. I’ve always felt like that’s just thinking too much about yourself and not enough about the team.”
Taking the same sample size of the 10 returners above and instead calculating their return averages by including their fair catches, here’s what their averages look like:
| Player | Punts fielded (Ret + FC) | Yards | Avg |
| Britain Covey, Eagles | 43 | 409 | 9.5 |
| Derius Davis, Chargers | 47 | 373 | 7.9 |
| Charlie Jones, Bengals | 28 | 220 | 7.9 |
| Rashid Shaheed, Saints | 43 | 294 | 6.8 |
| Devin Duvernay, Ravens | 43 | 290 | 6.7 |
| DeeJay Dallas, Seahawks | 39 | 250 | 6.4 |
| DeAndre Carter, Raiders | 38 | 225 | 5.9 |
| Braxton Berrios, Dolphins | 46 | 235 | 5.1 |
| Xavier Gipson, Jets | 56 | 271 | 4.8 |
| Kalif Raymond, Lions | 44 | 207 | 4.7 |
“You’ll see a couple of plays this year where I haven’t called a fair catch and I’ve gotten lit up right away, but 2 yards is better than 0,” Covey said.
Return average preservation extends beyond just fair catches. NFL returners will also often allow shorter punts that bounce to simply roll down the field rather than picking them up.
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