Bear Digest

Why No One Can Assume Velus Jones Jr. as Bears Kick Returner

Velus Jones Jr. has struggled on offense and punt returns but has stood out on kick returns, and now he faces the possible challenge of a rule change on kickoffs.

Gene Chamberlain

Velus Jones Jr. accelerates as he starts a return against the Packers. Will he be affected by the kick return changes?
Velus Jones Jr. accelerates as he starts a return against the Packers. Will he be affected by the kick return changes? / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
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During the Bears rookie camp held earlier in May, special teams coordinator Richard Hightower identified Velus Jones Jr. as one player who could really benefit from the new kickoff rules.

"A guy like that with his type of skill set, with the speed and the power that he has, and he's coming full speed ahead at you, it's like a damn freight train running at you," Hightower said. "And he's gonna get an opportunity to touch the ball three or four more times a game.

"And we all know he's a very dynamic player with the ball in his hands. But this new rule, because of the landing zone, because of the league incentivizing returns, it's only going to have a really good effect for not only our whole return team but for a guy like that to really change the game."

It's true Jones has been effective, on kick returns, anyway. Last year no one with more than 10 returns had a better average per kick return than he did (27.2). He was even better (27.6) the previous year, when both Dallis Flowers of the Colts (31.09) and Green Bay's Keisean Nixon (28.8) averaged more prior to the rule changes that brought down return attempts for almost everyone.

But is Jones really an ideal kick returner now? It's questionable.

Jones hasn't been much help as a receiver and without the big benefit he has produced for the offense on kick returns, it decreases his chances of even being with the team.


Hightower, Darren Rizzi and John Fassel and key roles in formulating these kick return rules, so you'd think Hightower is right when he describes Jones the way he did.

However, CBS Sports analyst Cody Benjamin delved into six previously unthinkable things that could happen this season in the NFL and one of those was the rebirth of kick returns after a year when the number dropped to its lowest total since 1959.

Benjamin's last sentence on the topic sums up why it might be a greater challenge for Jones than his coordinator and many others assume.

"The new rules establish setup and return "zones," encouraging more, albeit slower-developing returns behind revised formations."

Slower developing is not necessarily what Jones would benefit from because his asset is the 4.31-second 40-yard speed. When Hightower described him as a "damn freight train running right at you," he was exaggerating. Jones is 6-foot, 200, fairly solid for a wide receiver but not especially big for other skill positions.

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A 200-pound running back, for example, is small and more likely to be a third-down back than an every down back. In today's game, 200-pound wide receivers are not even rare. When Jones was drafted, one of the player comparisons the Bears brought up was Deebo Samuel. But Samuel is 15 pounds heavier. At 6-2, 220, Cordarrelle Patterson has been a true freight train. A receiver like 6-4, 235-pound D.K. Metcalf is a freight train.

Jones' strength is his speed but that's by hauling it straight upfield after catching the kickoff. He hits the coverage at full stride and explodes from the time he catches it.

Return footage from games with similar rules from the XFL show the plays do start with a slower return, almost like a running back trying to pick his hole in a zone blocking scheme.

The better return men going forward might be backs more than wide receivers.

The Bears have Khalil Herbert on the roster still and he

averaged 24.9 yards per return his first two seasons before becoming too valuable as a running back to use on returns. Perhaps the Bears return to their back on returns?

All will depend on how Jones adapts to slower starts on kick returns instead of barreling ahead full speed like a freight train.

For a receiver, Jones does have a history of being able to run the ball on end-around plays or even out of the backfield on rare occasion. He has 17 rushing attempts and has averaged 9.1 yards a rush, including one 42-yard return. Even with that big chunk removed, he's at 7 yards a carry and that's nothing to complain about.

It will be another season of adaptation for Jones in a new offense and with new kick return rules. He'll need to be up for it considering the job competition does not get easier on this roster.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.