The 2023 NFL Special Teams Rankings
The Houston Texans become rare back-to-back special teams champions
DeMeco Ryans has a strong case for NFL Coach of the Year honors.
Ryans inherited a 3-13-1 Houston team from Lovie Smith and, despite starting a rookie quarterback, took the Texans to an AFC South championship with a 10-7 record.
Frank Ross on his staff may have an even stronger case for NFL Assistant Coach of the Year honors.
Ryans retained Ross off Smith’s staff as his special-teams coordinator for good reason. Ross coached the Texans to the best special teams in the NFL in 2022 – and he did it again in 2023. I’ve been producing these annual NFL special-teams rankings for 38 years now and Ross is only the third coach to finish first in the rankings in consecutive seasons, joining Bobby April (Buffalo, 2004-05) and Dave Toub (Chicago, 200-07). Ross also became just the seventh coach to finish atop the rankings twice.
The league’s 32 teams are ranked in 22 kicking-game categories and assigned points according to their standing – one for best, 32 for worst. The Texans compiled 236 points to finish 16 ahead of the runner New Orleans Saints with 252. The New York Jets, Las Veas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers rounded out the Top 5.
The Texans finished in the Top 10 in 15 of the 22 categories. Houston led in kickoff returns with an average of 26.7 yards. The Texans shared the lead in special-teams scoring with 12 points on a pair of kickoff returns by different players, Andrew Beck and Dameon Pierce. Houston also shared first place in two other categories — fewest blocked kicks (none) and fewest turnovers (none).
Will Anderson blocked a field goal for the Texans and Ka’Dar Hollman and Henry To’oTo’o recovered fumbles. Anderson and To’oTo’o were both rookies from Alabama. The Texans also finished sixth in the NFL in net punting with an average of 43.04 yards.
Now understand the challenges Ross and the Texans faced in returning to the top. Ross lost two of his top coverage players from 2022 in free agency, Jalen Reeves-Maybin (Detroit) and Tremon Smith (Denver). Maybin went on to become the NFC Pro Bowl special-teams player for the Lions in 2023. Then three of Houston’s best coverage players to start the 2023 season – Eric Murray, M.J. Stewart and Tavierre Thomas – all finished the season on injured reserve. Ross got only nine games out of Thomas, eight from Stewart and six from Murray.
Still, Neville Hewitt made 13 tackles for Houston coverage units that finished 10th on kickoffs and fourth on punts.
“Neville was our tone setter,” Ross said. “The guy was a machine – high motor, high effort. He maximizes his skill set. He had a monster year.”
Houston used four six different gunners and four personal protectors on the punt team during the season. The Texans also used three kickers and two punters because of injuries. When kicker and team-leading scorer Kai Fairbairn suffered an injury in the Tampa Bay game in early November, backup running back Dare Ogunbowale took over in the second half. He kicked a 29-yard field goal and also handled six kickoffs with three touchbacks.
“We’ve done a good job of having multiple people prepare for key roles after losing impact-level players,” Ross said. “That allowed us to sustain some consistency. Developing young guys and trying to be a good teacher is the secret sauce.”
This was the fifth Top 5 finish for the Saints and their coach Darren Rizzi in the last six seasons. New Orleans finished in the Top 10 in 13 categories, either leading or sharing the lead in five of them and finishing in second in two others. New Orleans allowed a sterling 5.6 yards in punt coverage to lead the league and also blocked two punts.
The team that made the biggest jump in the rankings was the Philadelphia Eagles, who vaulted from 31st in 2022 to 10th in 2023. The Eagles finished in the Top 10 in 10 of the categories.
Rank Team Points
1 Houston Texans 236
2 New Orleans Saints 252
3 NY Jets 278
4 Las Vegas Raiders 284.5
5 LA Chargers 287.5
6 Seattle Seahawks 300
7 Denver Broncos 302
8 Cincinnati Bengals 311
9 Jacksonville Jaguars 314.5
10 Philadelphia Eagles 322
11 Cleveland Browns 325.5
12 Dallas Cowboys 326.5
13 New England Patriots 337
14 Kansas City Chiefs 342
15 Indianapolis Colts 348
16 Baltimore Ravens 348.5
17 Pittsburgh Steelers 356
18 Arizona Cardinals 356.5
19 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 360.5
20 Detroit Lions 372
21 Tennessee Titans 388
22 Chicago Bears 400.5
23 Carolina Panthers 416
NY Giants 416
25 SF 49ers 425
26 Atlanta Falcons 437.5
27 Minnesota Vikings 444
28 Buffalo Bills 449.5
29 Green Bay Packers 452
30 Washington 455.5
31 Miami Dolphins 479
32 LA Rams 493
Here are the categories:
KICKOFF RETURNS
Best: Houston, 26.7 yards
Worst: LA Rams, 16.1 yards
League average: 22.6 yards
PUNT RETURNS
Best: Denver, 16.3 yards
Worst: Dallas, 5.4 yards
League average: 9.7 yards
KICKOFF COVERAGE
Best: NY Jets, 15.4 yards
Worst: Miami, 30.5 yards
League average: 23.2 yards
PUNT COVERAGE
Best: New Orleans, 5.6 yards
Worst: LA Rams, 15.5 yards
League average: 9.6 yards
STARTING POINT
Best: Seattle, 26.5-yard line
Worst: Minnesota, 24.3-yard line
League average: 25.2-yard line
OPPONENT STARTING POINT
Best: Detroit, 23.7-yard line
Worst: Miami, 26.6-yard line
League average: 25.2-yard line
PUNTING
Best: Dallas, 51.4 yards
Worst: New Orleans, 43.0 yards
League average: 47.3 yards
NET PUNTING
Best: Las Vegas, 45.1 yards
Worst: Chicago, 38.0 yards
League average: 40.5 yards
INSIDE THE 20 PUNTS
Best: New England, 38
Worst: Arizona, 13
League average: 25.9
OPPONENT PUNTING
Best: NY Jets, 44.5 yards
Worst: Denver, 49.5 yards
League average: 47.3 yards
OPPONENT NET PUNTING
Best: Philadelphia, 39.1 yards
Worst: Atlanta, 43.9 yards
League average: 41.7 yards
FIELD GOALS
Best: Dallas & NY Jets, 36 apiece
Worst: New England, 16
League average: 28.5 field goals
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
Best: Tennessee, 96.7 percent
Worst: New England, 64 percent
League average: 85.8 percent
OPPONENT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
Best: Cleveland, 70.8 percent
Worst: Tennessee, 97.9 percent
League average: 85.7 percent
EXTRA POINT PERCENTAGE
Best: 8 teams tied with 100 percent
Worst: Carolina, 85.0 percent
League average: 95.6 percent
POINTS SCORED
Best: Houston, New England, New Orleans, 12 points apiece
Worst: 17 teams tied with 0
League average: 3.4 points
POINTS ALLOWED
Best: 17 teams tied with 0
Worst: LA Rams, 14
League average: 3.4 points
BLOCKED KICKS
Best: Cleveland, Dallas, Pittsburgh, 3 apiece
Worst: 10 teams tied with 0
League average: 1 blocked kick
OPPONENT BLOCKED KICKS
Best: 12 teams tied with 0
Worst: Baltimore, LA Rams, Washington, 3 apiece
League average: 1 blocked kick
TAKEAWAYS
Best: Baltimore, NY Giants, 3 apiece
Worst: 8 teams tied with 0
League average: 1 takeaway
GIVEAWAYS
Best: 9 teams tied with 0
Worst: Tennessee, 4
League average: 1 giveaway
PENALTIES
Best: LA Chargers, 4 for 35 yards
Worst: Green Bay, 19 for 178 yards
League average: 11.9 penalties for 97.9 yards
