clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Who will return punts for the Titans in 2019?

NFL: Tennessee Titans-Minicamp Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

We have spent quite a bit of time talking about how there aren’t that many position battles for the Titans heading into training camp next month. We don’t know who the starter will be at right guard, but that is about the only battle there is on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. What we don’t know is who will return punts for the Titans in 2019.

Titans special teams coach Craig Aukerman was asked about that yesterday after practice:

Aukerman lists 3 guys there- Adoree Jackson, Adam Humphries and Amani Hooker.

One of the more surprising things about this team over the last couple of years has been how much Adoree has struggled returning punts. He was great at it in college, averaging 15.8 yards per return with 2 touchdowns his senior year, but the success hasn’t translated to the NFL. He has averaged just 8.8 yards per return with the Titans, and his decision making has been questionable at best.

Humphries hasn’t had a ton of success as a punt returner. He averaged just 6.6 yards per return last year and doesn’t have a touchdown in his NFL career.

Hooker only returned one punt last year at Iowa for 9 yards.

I’ll be honest, at this point I don’t even care about how many yards whoever they end up picking averages per return. I just want to see a guy back there that makes good decisions. The Titans lost quite a few yards last year when Adoree let balls hit the ground that he should have caught. Give me the guy back there that is going to catch the ball when he should, return it when he should, and fair catch it when he should. That is good enough for me. Am I crazy?