Blogging The Boys
One of the more stellar moments from the 2024 season for the Dallas Cowboys was KaVontae Turpin’s kickoff return on the road against the Washington Commanders. It was the catalyst for an improbable comeback.
Thankfully that season is behind us, but these current times are a bit somber as well. Dallas was riding high during their three-game winning streak before it all came crashing down following Thursday night’s loss to the Detroit Lions. At least it feels that way. The Cowboys still carry mathematical (and somewhat legitimate) hopes for the playoffs, but given that they were 3-5-1 it was always going to be hard to pull off a Turpin-like return, so to speak.
On the subject of KaVontae Turpin, it is time to have a conversation regarding his kickoff return abilities specifically. That moment at Washington was a big one and incidentally the first and still only kickoff return that Turpin has ever had that went for a touchdown. It highlighted the notion that he was the best returner in the NFL, there are also punt returns to consider in this overall conversation to be clear, and he was rewarded by the Cowboys in the offseason with a three-year, $18M deal.
Again, there is a lot to Turpin’s role on the team. He has been given more on offense which is something to consider in terms of a discussion about everything that he is doing. Right now we are only talking about kickoffs, though.
Below is a listing of every Dallas Cowboys possession this season (through the Lions game) that began off of a kickoff. This does not include possessions that started as a result of a punt, turnover, blocked field goal, you get the point. Also, if it isn’t obvious, this list also includes possessions that were ultimately touchbacks. This is not a listing of every return that Turpin has had on a kickoff this season, just so we are clear.
There are 78 total possessions here as noted. With all due respect to touchbacks, we are interested in this subject because KaVontae Turpin is supposed to be a difference-maker in this capacity. And this has not been the case this year.
The line in which a difference is “made” is subjective admittedly, but I feel like we would all agree that starting across midfield would be pretty significant. The Cowboys have done so only three times this season off of kickoffs. Unfortunately, it was against two of the worst teams they played in the Jets and Raiders.
You might say that this is being a bit too intense with calling for a difference, and I don’t think that claim would be outlandish. There is an argument to be made that a “difference” is at least at the 40-yard line. I agree with this logic to be clear, but we should also note that touchbacks nowadays put the ball at a team’s own 35 so we are qualifying a “difference” as to an additional five yards, but let’s just...
