As things stand heading into camp, the leading candidate both for punt return duties and one of the two kick return spots is veteran receiver and return man Steven Sims, a free-agent signing who is heading into his seventh season in the league.
Sims, who has spent time with Washington, Pittsburgh, Houston and Baltimore, has extensive experience in both return jobs, returning 74 punts for 462 yards and 62 kickoffs for 1,561 yards in 53 career regular-season games, including a 91-yard touchdown as a rookie. Sims also had a 67-yard punt return touchdown in a Divisional Round playoff game two seasons ago while playing for the Texans.
“Big fan of Steven,” Harbaugh said. “He’s quick, he’s twitched up. He takes it really seriously. He loves that role and really embraces it, works his tail off. You guys see it from pre-practice to just throughout, his tremendous stamina and enthusiasm. That doesn’t wane either, from the meetings to throughout the rest of practice. So, all of those things, plus he has a lot of God-given talent too. So, you combine those two things, it’s pretty exciting, and we’re thrilled to have him.”
While Sims would appear to be the top candidate heading into camp, he’ll have to earn his return role or roles, and as offseason workouts showed, the Seahawks will take a look at plenty of players in those roles.
“We’re repping a bunch of guys right now, and we’ll see,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said during last month’s minicamp. “It’s why we signed Sims in large part, but we got some competition there and the kick return battle too.”
As for who could push Sims and/or join him on kick returns—the Seahawks, like most teams, used two kick returners in the new format last season—the options range from several returning players to a couple of rookies with college experience. The Seahawks have used running backs Kenny McIntosh and Zach Charbonnet as kick returners in the past, either in regular or preseason action, while Dareke Young, a special teams standout, returned kicks at times in college and has practiced in that role in the past. Rookie Tory Horton, meanwhile, comes to Seattle with significant punt return experience from his time at Colorado State, including punt return touchdowns in each of the past three seasons. Receiver Cody White, who has split time between the active roster and practice squad, returned punts in college, while receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba also has some punt return experience from his time at Ohio State, and has fielded punts in practice, but it’s hard to see the Seahawks using their top receiver as a regular on returns, though it can’t be ruled out entirely.
Whoever wins the return jobs, the Seahawks would love to find some production and consistency after multiple years with a lot of turnover in those important roles.