Rashid Shaheed selected to the Pro Bowl as a kick returner

Congratulations to Sheed!

He was on track early in the season to lead the league in all-purpose yardage. The offensive play calling and play scheming got away from getting him the ball down the field and instead they attempted to get him the ball on wr screens that didn't work very well. His overall numbers declined as a result. The defense struggled to pin the opponent deep often enough to force returnable punts so again his number of opportunities in the punt return game dropped. Earlier in the year he had been returning kickoffs from as much as three yards deep in the endzone but that too changed as the year went on. And of course he had the knee injury that limited him a little. Overall still impressive and encouraging things from a 2nd year undrafted free agent player who entered the league coming off a late season serious knee injury that stymied his play in the first half of his rookie season. Saints fans can expect further growth from Rashid in year three.

As a side note, league sources have said that they will discuss rules relating to kickoffs in the offseason and possibly implement new rule changes to enhance that part of the game. Their 1st priority is to limit high speed collisions that create serious player injuries. Keeping the kicking and the return team close together has limited the full speed contact of the players and the rule changes regarding blocking schemes has had a positive impact as well. What has become of one of the games most potentially exciting plays has turned into a mostly boring routine play with few exceptions. Currently there isn't much incentive to return the kickoff at all. What they may choose to do is move the kicking team back 5 or 10 yards so that the kickoff return game becomes a bigger part of the game and becomes more exciting. I would be all for that. That would greatly impact the special team players value and certainly returners such as Shaheed.