2023 Spotlight: Top 5 Kickoff Returners

Chris Norcross

June 1, 2022 @ 12:00 PM

In a day and age where the game of kicking is changing drastically, high school and youth football have been incredibly fun to watch due to the dynamic, and possibility for players to return kicks to the house. This part of the game is not the same as it used to be, as kickoffs have been moved up due to necessary safety reasons. Regardless, the best return artists are the players that find ways to not only rack up plenty of yards, but points doing so. Once a good returner gets a good bit of open field, it is almost written for them to gain a good bit of yards. Below, take some time to view some of our favorite returners out of the 2023 class, as their talent does not go unnoticed. Nick Brown- South Atlanta Nick Brown is not only one of the more talented players in the state of Georgia, but he is one of the most talented kickoff returners in his class. Last season, within a 12 game span, he not only had a long of 83 yards on one return, but he totaled around 360 yards by the end of the season. This was done on only 8 attempts, creating a season average of 45.38 yards a return. Jaylun Goodrum- First Presbyterian Day As if 305 kickoff return yards are not impressive enough, the fact that Goodrum was able to do so on only 7 attempts certainly is. This, paired with the fact that he was also very effective on both sides of the ball for his team proves how versatile of a player he is, and we fully expect him to continue to produce in a high capacity for his team in the return game next season. [player_tooltip player_id="34050" first="Jace" last="Arnold"]- Marietta Luck is certainly not a factor when considering the fact that Arnold is on this list. We state this due to the fact that he performs incredibly well in every single facet of his game when given the chance. As a kickoff returner, Arnold totaled around 290 yards last season, and he also averaged around 47 yards a return, which was on 7 attempts. Look for him to continue to play with his explosive nature next season, and to be a huge factor for his team’s success. Cam’ron Lacy- Stephens County While Lacy holds a high yards per return average of 41 yards, it should also be noted that Lacy is talented when it comes to his versatile ability to change direction, and kick his speed up a notch. This was proven by his overall total of around 370 yards last season, and longest return of 93 yards. This success rate came on 9 returns, and because of this average, we expect him to have this same level of success next season. Eddren Chester- Jones County Not only is Chester one of the better returners in the state for his class, but he manages to prove this with ease. Last season, Chester totaled over 300 kickoff return yards in only 12 games, with a long of 95 yards on one return. While this is impressive in itself, it should also be noted that Chester did all of this on only 8 return attempts, making him one of the most anticipated returners to track in his state going into next season.