Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Kavontae Turpin rushes during the first quarter against the New York Giants. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Cowboys’ KaVontae Turpin fires back at All-Pro nod critics

Originally posted on Dallas Cowboys on SI
By Randy Gurzi | Last updated Jan 10, 2026 5:28 PM ET

On Sunday, NFL All-Pro teams were announced, and while the Dallas Cowboys didn't have anyone make the First-Team, three players were on the Second-Team All-Pro.

Wide receiver George Pickens, kicker Brandon Aubrey, and return man KaVontae Turpin were all named to that team. While Pickens and Aubrey's selection made sense after they each had great seasons, Turpin's name was met with criticism.

Turpin, who was a First-Team All-Pro in 2024, was accused of making it on name recognition only. The reason is that despite leading the league in kick return yards with 1,814, his yards per kick return went down from 33.5 to 26.3. His punt return average dropped from 10.4 to 5.5, and he had no touchdowns after posting one punt return and one kick return touchdown in 2024.

Making his selection look even worse is the fact that he was 12th in the league in average yards per return, and the Cowboys had the worst average starting field position in the league. Throw in his issues on punt returns, which included spotty fielding and two penalties for illegal fair catches, and the criticism feels warranted.

Turpin isn't bothered by the noise, however. Instead, he fired back at critics on social media, saying the joke was on everyone else.

jokes on yall!
— KaVontae Turpin (@KaVontaeTurpin) January 10, 2026

KaVontae Turpin benefited from porous defense

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Name recognition surely helped Turpin, but his selection likely came down to the sheer number of return yards he had. While that number is impressive at first glance, you have to take into account how often he was returning kicks.

Despite missing two games, Turpin led the league with 69 returns. That's an average of 4.6 returns per game, is an indication of how often the opponent was kicking off. The defensive struggles for Dallas helped Turpin rack up the returns, which also helped him secure the position.

This article first appeared on Dallas Cowboys on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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