Who are Washington’s best kick and punt returners ever?

June 20, 2025

by Steve Thomas

Washington’s punt and kickoff return game has been lagging in recent years; sometimes not necessarily terrible, but lagging, particularly in punt returns.  Sometimes . . . terrible.  The team hasn’t had a steady punt and kickoff returner who’s lasted more than a season for quite awhile.  There’ve been a seemingly neverending string of both kick and punt returners, some fairly decent, some not good at all, none being the long-term answer.  Washington drafted Virginia Tech’s Jaylin Lane in the 4th round this yeawr apparently in part due to his abilities as a returner.  The hope for Lane appears to be that he can settle the madness and become Washington’s principal multiyear returner for the first time in what seems like forever.

I’m not here today to evaluate Lane’s chance to accomplish that mission; that’s another column for another day.  What’s currently going through my head is which players have been the best kick and punt returners in franchise history.  Admittedly, the effectiveness of kickoff returns vary somewhat by generation due to the massive changes in the rules, but it’s still an interesting question, right?  Punt returning, on the other hand, has been mostly the same for decades minus the tougher rules on blocking and contact, so that’s probably a better comparison.  Let’s start with kick returning.

Kickoff returns

Washington has had 16 players in franchise history return 50 or more kickoffs, as shown in the table below, sorted by average return distance:

Name	Years	# of returns	Ave	Touchdowns
Herb Mul-Key	1972-1974	54	27.9	1
Dick James	1956-1963	155	25.5	0
Larry Jones	1974-1977	73	24.9	1
Eddie Brown	1975-1977	64	24.8	0
Rock Cartwright	2002-2009	222	24.0	1
Brandon Banks	2010-2012	119	24.0	1
Ladell Betts	2002-2009	86	24.0	1
Mike Nelms	1980-1984	175	23.6	0
Eddie Saenz	1946-1951	93	23.6	2
Ken Jenkins	1985-1986	68	23.1	0
Chad Morton	2003-2004	60	23.1	1
Rickie Harris	1965-1970	102	22.8	0
Brian Mitchell	1990-1999	421	22.8	2
James Thrash	1997-2008	85	22.4	1
Dan Sandifer	1948-1949	50	22.2	1
Keith Griffin	1984-1988	52	18.9	0

Notice that not one player from recent seasons is on this list, the latest player being Brandon Banks, followed by Rock Cartwright and Ladell Betts.  That may be due in part to rules changes, but it’s mostly due to a long string of mediocre at best kick returners in Washington.  Brian Mitchell is the the all-time franchise leader in number of kickoff returns, with 421, followed by Rock Cartwright with 222 and Mike Nelms with 175.

That having been said, reducing the minimum number of kickoff returns to 10 reveals a new franchise leader in yards per kickoff return.  Drum roll please . . . the winner is Austin Ekeler, with 19 returns for an average of 31.3 yards per return, followed by Luke McCaffrey with 10 returns for an average of 29.9 yards per return.  I’m skeptical, to say the least, that either of them could keep up those lofty averages over an extended number of returns.  But, unbelievably, Ekeler is the all-time franchise leader at 10 or more returns.  I never would have guessed that.

For those wondering, the NFL’s all-time leader in average yards per kickoff return for players with over 100 returns is Cordarrelle Patterson, who is still active and was with the Steelers last season, with 29.0 yards per return.  He’s also the NFL’s all-time leader is kickoffs returned for touchdowns, with 9.  I think it’s fair to say that Patterson is the most accomplished kickoff returner in NFL history.  Brian Mitchell returned 607 kickoffs, which is the most ever.

Punt returns

Washington has had 15 players who returned 50 or more punts, as shown in the table below, sorted by average yards per return:

Name	Years	# of returns	Ave	Touchdowns
Andy Farkas	1938-1944`	52	12.1	1
Darrell Green	1983-2002	51	12.0	0
Brian Mitchell	1990-1999	317	11.0	7
Eddie Saenz	1946-1951	59	10.9	0
Eddie Brown	1975-1977	111	10.4	1
Ken Jenkins	1985-1986	54	10.0	0
Brandon Banks	2010-2012	100	9.4	0
Mike Nelms	1980-1984	212	9.2	2
Speedy Duncan	1971-1974	64	8.6	0
Rickie Harris	1965-1970	119	8.4	3
Dick James	1956-1963	98	8.1	0
Jamison Crowder	2015-2024	129	8.0	1
Larry Jones	1974-1977	62	7.7	1
Antwaan Randle El	2006-2009	129	7.0	1
Joe Scudero	1954-1958	66	6.9	1

As you can see, Andy Farkas is the franchise leader in average yards per punt return, followed by Darrell Green with 12.0 and Brian Mitchell with 11.0.  Mitchell is also the leader in touchdowns by a long shot, with 7, as well as total number of returns, with 317.

You can see that Jamison Crowder is the only recent player on this list, with 129 returns at 8.0 yards per return.  Brandon Banks is the next-most modern player, with 100 returns at 9.4 yards per return from 2010 – 2012.  Washington should have made an effort to keep Banks for longer than just 3 seasons – for those who aren’t aware, he had a full career in the CFL from 2013 – 2022, in which he had another 170 punter returns at an average of 9.2 yards per return and 2 touchdowns.

The NFL’s all-time leader in average yards per punt return for players with 100 or more career returns is George McAfee, with 112 at an average of 12.8 yards per return from 1940 – 1950.  The best player in the modern era by this measurement is Desmond Howard, with 244 returns at an average of 11.9 yards per return from 1992 – 2002, which included 10 returns for Washington.

Brian Mitchell returned 421 punts in his career, which is the most in NFL history.

Can Jaylin Lane compete with any of these players, either in kickoff returns or punt returns?  It seems more likely that he’ll accomplish more in punt returns simply because of the recent kickoff rules changes, but we’ll see.