KaVontae Turpin, Tank Bigsby, and the Eagles’ efforts to win at the NFL’s new kickoff format

Nick Sirianni was animated in the locker room after the Eagles won Thursday night, effusive in his praise of a special teams unit that doesn’t “get the credit, ever” that it deserves.

It was an area where the Dallas Cowboys were expected to have an edge with returner KaVontae Turpin, who is a threat to break off a long run every time the ball is in his hands.

The NFL’s new kickoff format moved the touchback up to the 35-yard line from the 30-yard line. The dynamic kickoff the league debuted in 2024 resulted in more kickoff returns, but not the uptick the league was looking for. Spotting the ball 5 yards farther is not a small deal, so the Eagles, like other NFL teams, spent the summer tinkering with what it might look like. Jake Elliott worked on various kick trajectories and placements.

Thursday represented a first test. The Eagles prepared accordingly. They sat one edge rusher, Azeez Ojulari, in favor of another, Patrick Johnson, specifically because of Johnson’s special teams ability. They had Elliott land the ball in front of the end zone on all five of his kickoffs.

Turpin caught his first kick at the 5-yard line and returned it to the 32. A small win for the Eagles. He caught the next kick at the 2-yard line and returned it to the 22. A big win. He caught the next one at the 8 and took it to the 31 before muffing the fourth and taking it from the 3-yard line to the 12. The fifth kick went to Jalen Tolbert, who caught the game’s final kickoff at the 9-yard line and was downed at the 29.

The average starting position on five Dallas kick returns was the 25-yard line. The average starting position on four Eagles kick returns, which included two touchbacks, was the 29-yard line. Advantage: Eagles.

According to ESPN, Week 1 games before Monday produced touchbacks on just 18.6% of kickoffs, down from 64.5% in Week 1 in 2024 and 77.6% in Week 1 in 2023.

The Eagles, who were 23rd in kickoff return average and 22nd in kick coverage in 2024, will cover and field more kickoffs this season than they have in quite some time. This brings us to the latest Howie Roseman trade.

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The Eagles on Monday night traded two Day 3 draft picks in 2026 for Jacksonville running back Tank Bigsby. The Eagles have one of the game’s best backs in Saquon Barkley at the top of their depth chart. They have two capable backups in Will Shipley and AJ Dillon. They have arguably bigger needs at cornerback and elsewhere.

There are some obvious reasons to acquire Bigsby, who was in a crowded backfield in Jacksonville but rushed for 766 yards and seven touchdowns for the Jags last season. Shipley was banged up with a rib injury Thursday night for one, and Bigsby provides some insurance there. Dillon is only under contract for this season, and Shipley and Bigsby, a 2023 third-round pick whose rookie deal carries through the 2026 season, could provide a solid backup corps for Barkley at a combined number below $3 million.

There’s also the value proposition of trading two Day 3 picks when you’re flush with draft capital for a player who went in the third round and has showcased upside.

But the Eagles think Bigsby, 24, could help them out on kickoff returns. They signed returner Avery Williams in the offseason, but he did not make the team. Neither did second-year receiver Ainias Smith.

Without them, the kick return options are Shipley, Dillon, and John Metchie, who returned his first career kick on Thursday, carrying the ball from the 8-yard line to the 28 on the opening kickoff of the second half after Shipley left the game. Fullback Ben VanSumeren was getting reps there, too, but he was carted off the field Thursday and is now on injured reserve with a long-term injury.

Bigsby, as pointed out by ESPN, has only seven kickoff returns over the last two seasons (and just 11 for his career), but his 0.2 expected points added per return rates him 19th among all players with five-plus returns in 2024 and through Week 1 in 2025. It’s a small sample, but Bigsby, who also returned kicks as a freshman at Auburn, averaged 32.5 yards on six return attempts in 2024, when the league average was 27.6. Turpin, for context, averaged 33.5 yards, a league high for players with at least 15 returns in 2024.

“As I watch film across the league the last couple years, he’s popped up a lot in Jacksonville,” Eagles special teams coach Michael Clay said. “Obviously, being a running back, he has that natural vision and feel when it comes to returning the ball.

“The returner position, I think, has increased value with these new rules in place.”

Bigsby’s longest return last season came against the Eagles, who booted the ball to him with a 22-0 lead more than five minutes into the third quarter. Bigsby caught the kick 2 yards into the end zone and took the ball to the 39-yard line. The 41-yard return, which set up a touchdown drive, included Bigsby running over Eagles edge rusher Nolan Smith in the process.

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Time will tell how the Eagles deploy Bigsby both in the backfield and on the back line of their return unit. But one game into the 2025 season, it’s clear the Eagles are taking seriously a facet of the game once left for dead.

“We put a big emphasis on that of guys standing up, watching, being excited about this play that we saw yesterday was a big play for a lot of teams,” Sirianni said Monday. “We knew how good we had to be in coverage, and we have to continue to be good in the coverage. But I was really excited about the way we beat blocks and the way we tackled. You’re always looking for ways that you want your team to show their toughness and their physicality because that’s the game of football.”

He was talking about covering kicks and slowing Turpin down. A few hours later, Roseman gave him another weapon to potentially use on returns.