Know Your Enemy: The Dallas Cowboys

Typically, these opponent previews don’t highlight a specific special teams ace. But most teams don’t have KaVontae Turpin. The wide receiver is also the Cowboys’ kick and punt returner. He entered Monday Night Football as the leading kickoff returner in terms of total yardage (762 yards, just ahead of Raheem Blackshear) and average per return at 36.3 yards per (minimum 10 returns). Turpin also ranks seventh in average per punt return with 11.8 yards.

Some teams, like the Bengals on Monday night, are choosing not to kick Turpin. He did return a punt for 20 yards, but all six kickoffs were touchbacks.

Turpin delivered one of the most exciting plays of the NFL season with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Washington. And in Week 11 against the Texans, Turpin reached a top speed of 22.36 mph, according to Next Gen Stats, the fastest speed of a ball carrier this season and the fastest since Raheem Mostert hit 23.09 MPH in Week 2 of 2020.

Since entering the league in 2022, Turpin has reached speeds of at least 20 mph as a ball carrier 17 times (before Monday Night Football), the second-most such touches in that span.

The Cowboys also have Juanyeh Thomas, a safety who has returned seven kickoffs for 187 yards (26.7 per return), including one for a touchdown on an onside kick.

On Monday Night Football, the Dallas team’s special unit blocked a punt in the final minutes of the game, but also touched the ball without recovering, giving the ball back to the Bengals and turning it into a touchdown.