All-NFC North Specialists: Nixon the Obvious Choice

Our all-NFC North team concludes with the specialists. Green Bay Packers All-Pro returner Keisean Nixon was a unanimous selection.

Green Bay Packers All-Pro Keisean Nixon / Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

GREEN BAY, Wis. – SI.com’s All-NFC North team concludes with the specialists, with the Green Bay Packers’ Keisean Nixon the unanimous selection as returner.

All-NFC North voting was conducted by Bill Huber from Packers On SI, John Maakaron from Lions On SI, Gene Chamberlain from Bears On SI and Joe Nelson from Vikings On SI, who ranked their top four kickers, punter and returners, with one point for the best player, two points for the second-best player and so on.

The Bears’ Cairo Santos received three of the four first-place votes to the kicker. The Packers’ Anders Carlson got three fourth-place votes and the other went to his main competition, Greg Joseph.

The Lions’ Jack Fox received three of the four first-place votes to be the punter. Green Bay’s Daniel Whelan was third.

Here are the All-NFC North specialists, with the capsules written by their respective beat writers.

Returner: Keisean Nixon, Green Bay Packers

When the Packers signed Nixon, the two-time All-Pro returner, to a one-year contract in 2022, it wasn’t to be the returner. In fact, Nixon had little experience as a returner. Not in three years with the Raiders. Not even at South Carolina.

However, after former third-round pick Amari Rodgers fumbled away the job midway through the 2022 season, the Packers gave Nixon a shot. He rewarded the Packers with an All-Pro season, then did it again last year to become just the fourth returner to earn back-to-back All-Pro honors.

Of course, he won All-Pro honors practically by default last year. Nixon was No. 1 in the NFL with a 26.1-yard average on kickoff returns. At the same time, he also was second-from-last because only two players had the 20 returns necessary to be listed among the league leaders.

In order to pump life into a dying play, the NFL made sweeping revisions to the kickoff this offseason. That should provide a lot more opportunities for Nixon to do his thing after leading the NFL with six kickoff returns of 50-plus yards and 19 of 30-plus yards the last two seasons.

“I feel like they’re changing it for me,” Nixon said.

Kicker: Cairo Santos, Chicago Bears

For years, the Bears have had the Gould standard for kickers. No one could match up to Robbie Gould’s numbers after former GM Ryan Pace and coach John Fox so foolishly released him in 2016.

Finally, Santos has met this, as his 90.4 field-goal percentage in four-plus seasons with the Bears makes him most accurate in franchise history. Now, in his second stint with the team, he has added long-distance kicks to his repertoire. Over the last two seasons, he’s 11-of-13 from 50-plus yards after he went 10-of-22 from long distance during his first eight seasons with assorted teams. All of this has come despite constantly battling the toughest late-season kicking conditions in the division due to the Soldier Field cold combined with the lakefront wind.

The Brazilian finally flourished once he got healthy following several years of nagging injuries, then settled in with a team in obvious need of a kicker following the infamous Cody Parkey double-doink and national search for his replacement.  

Still to be shown by Santos is how he produces in the final seconds for the win, as the Bears simply haven’t been good enough to get in those situations in the last four seasons.

Punter: Jack Fox, Detroit Lions

The Lions took a chance on Fox during the 2020 season, adding him as an undrafted free agent. Sam Martin, who had been the team's punter since 2013, had signed with the Broncos, leaving Detroit with a competition.

Fox won the competition that year and hasn't looked back, as he earned Pro Bowl honors his rookie season.

Last season, Fox’s average went down, but he landed a career-high 45.6 percent of his kicks inside the 20-yard line and had just five go for touchbacks. According to PFF, he ranked second in average hangtime and sixth in percentage of punts that were not returned. He remains a field-position weapon, and the Lions see plenty of value in that. 

In addition to his punting prowess, Fox has also gotten the chance to show off his arm during Dan Campbell's tenure. He's 3-for-4 in his career throwing the ball on fake punts, totaling 38 yards and all three of his completions going for first downs.

More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

It was a big day at #Packers training camp, even without Jordan Love practicing and with the players in shorts and helmets. Here's everything you need to know, including lineup notes, highlights, the play and player of the day and more.https://t.co/nQol0QA4Mu

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 23, 2024

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