Philadelphia Eagles: Dante Pettis can supercharge the return game

Could Dante Pettis supercharge the Philadelphia Eagles’ return game?

Okay, maybe that’s a tad vague, considering the team has like, a dozen issues of varying size and importance, but there’s one specific problem that I don’t think gets its enough attention: The Eagles’ return game is horrible.

I know, right? With issues on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, who’d even stop to think about the third side of the ball, if you will, but here I am, a maverick ready to dig a little deeper than most.

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Through the first eight weeks of the 2020 NFL season, Eagles players have returned 26 balls – 12 kicks and 14 punts. On those plays, the Eagles are averaging 18.8 yards per return on kicks with a long of 25 and 5.7 ypr on punts with a long of 22.

Those numbers… aren’t good.

First and foremost, if a team simply lets a kickoff roll into the endzone or sail through the uprights, they automatically get the ball at the 25. If the Eagles are averaging less than 20 ypr on kicks – which their primary return man, Boston Scott, currently is – they’d probably be better off just letting it hit the endzone over returning the ball to the 20ish yard line.

The same goes for punts. While the Eagles have largely relied on Greg Ward as their ‘safe’ punt returner after watching Jalen Reagor fumble in his debut and DeSean Jackson suffer a basically season-ending injury against the Giants, his 6.5 ypr ranks 13th in the league – 10 yards behind the league’s current leader Ray-Ray McCloud.

Fortunately, a player just became available who could not only revolutionize the Eagles’ return game both kick and punt but also contribute a little on the offensive side of the ball as the team patiently waits for Alshon Jeffery to maybe, eventually, one day get healthy: Dante Pettis.

A second-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2018 NFL Draft, Pettis played his college ball at the University of Washington alongside future NFL players John Ross III and Myles Gaskin and was one of the dirtiest return men in the game. Over his four-year tenure in Seattle, Pettis returned 90 punts over 52 games for 1,274 yards and a record-breaking nine(!) touchdowns.

Watch: History. Dante Pettis sets a new NCAA record with his ninth punt return for touchdown.#PurpleReign pic.twitter.com/AOnszBWpl1
— Washington Football (@UW_Football) November 5, 2017

Granted, that success as a returner hasn’t followed Pettis to the NFL, as his longest return ironically enough came in his lone kick return opportunity (18 yards) but frankly, none of Pettis’ college success has followed him to the pros. The 25-year-old receiver was on the trade block for over a year and was ultimately waived midway through his third professional season, so it’s not like he’s some diamond in the rough in crazy demand.

Then again, neither was Travis Fulgham when the Eagles became his third team in as many weeks earlier this year, so it’s not like NFL scouting is 100 percent either way.

With Jackson an all but certain cap casualty in 2021 and the Eagles’ desire to move on from Alshon Jeffery very well documented, the Eagles’ wide receiving corps is still a bit of a work in progress moving forward. While Fulgham and Reagor appear locks to remain starters for the foreseeable future, with Ward supplementing the duo coming out of the slot, it’s anyone’s guess as to the roles players like John Hightower, Quez Watkins, and JJ Arcega-Whiteside will be tasked with moving forward – that is, if they even remain on the roster at all.

Even if Pettis isn’t some surefire offensive option who can instantly revolutionize the team’s offense like Fulgham did in Week 4, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t push the group moving forward and maybe even find a long-term role beyond the end of the 2020 season. His route running and abilities as a returner alone all but guarantees that some team will give Pettis a second chance to continue on with his NFL career even if his ceiling has shrunk considerably from his initial draft day expectations.

Remember, as meh as Pettis has played thus far as a pro, he’s still the same player who took this throw from Nick Mullens 75 yards to the house despite having three Seahawks players around him. If the Eagles can unlock that facet of his game as a utility reserve at all three receiving positions, it’d only help the offense moving forward.

Whether the Philadelphia Eagles opt to put in a waiver claim on Pettis to secure the final year and a half of his four-year, $6.4 million rookie-scale contract, sign him once he clears waivers, or simply offer him a spot on the practice squad, the idea of adding the NCAA’s all-time punt return touchdown leader for nothing midway through the season feels like the kind of opportunity that Howie Roseman should at least consider, right?