Special teams go overlooked frequently, but when your offense sputters to a halt like the Atlanta Falcons’ has, it can be a key catalyst to putting up points.
Whether it be the shock and awe of a return touchdown, flipping field position, or making the right decision on a questionable fair catch, teams can separate themselves with quality returns (or lack thereof). On Sunday, against the Houston Texans, it may prove to be significant.
Thus, the Falcons’ choice to let cornerback Mike Hughes return punts was an important one. They roster legendary return man Cordarrelle Patterson, who specializes in kick returns—a separate task from fielding less uniform punts.
Atlanta special teams coordinator Marquice Williams detailed what made Hughes the best candidate for the job.
“I thought he was one of the better returners coming out of college,” Williams said. “His skill, change of direction, his fearless running when it goes to getting north-south, being explosive with the football in his hands, and he's not the biggest person, but he runs hard.”
It’s clear Hughes is still a work in progress. It’s not the end of the world, and likely not an area opponents will hone in on, but Hughes is an uncertain variable nonetheless.
Pro Football Focus has graded him as the 18th-best punt returner (of 45 players with a return), with a mediocre 64.4 grade. For reference, that is tied with Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Calvin Austin. His meager 6.2 yards per attempt isn’t particularly impressive, but shouldn’t be taken as exceptionally meaningful.
Being on the path of development, though, means there is room to grow and a reasonable expectation of doing so.
“You can see that he's getting comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Williams continued. “Whether it's being more vocal, understanding the game plan, spending more time on understanding the type of punter we're going against, what kind of punts he likes to hit in certain situations, understanding the return and what's the intent of the design call that we have.”
Williams is hopeful that Hughes is on the right track. It’s clear there’s a baseline level of confidence instilled in him, and it seems that he’ll be given a long enough leash to develop as the season goes along. Improving could go a long way in boosting the Falcons’ special teams DVOA, which ranks 24th in football.
“He's getting better, there's a lot of things that if you asked him, he wants to improve on,” Williams said. “But he's getting better, and I'm excited for him, to see him play this week.”
Again, special teams is always important, but when an offense is anemic, it takes on an even larger role. It won’t earn headlines like Ridder’s struggles or Pitts’ lack of production, but Atlanta needs to put up points and Hughes has found himself a part of that operation.
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