The Packers added two new coordinators this offseason, bringing on Jonathan Gannon as defensive coordinator to replace Jeff Hafley and hiring Cam Achord as special teams coordinator to fill Rich Bisaccia’s spot.
Gannon’s unit has largely been solid (though against a slate of subpar quarterbacks), but how have things been on special teams?
It’s complicated. At least, it’s complicated if you’re looking for a true one-to-one comparison with Rich Bisaccia.
Our fearless leader Justis Mosqueda did a deep dive on Rich Bisaccia earlier this year and came away with a few broad conclusions. First, the Packers put themselves behind the eight ball when it comes to special teams, generally speaking, because of their “draft and develop” philosophy. They tend to draft players a couple of years ahead of when they’ll need them, stashing them as developmental prospects on the roster in the meantime. That leaves special teams units to be filled out by draft picks waiting their turn.
Additionally, his study showed the Packers have historically only really cared about punt and kick coverage. They’re not worried about the return game, because to excel in the return game they’d have to sign a dedicated returner, which would snipe a roster spot that could otherwise be used on a draft pick waiting for a higher profile gig to open up.
But this offseason, the Packers broke with their established mentality a bit. They signed Skyy Moore with the intention that he’d handle their punt and kick return duties, making it clear fairly early in training camp they anticipated he’d make the 53 man roster, which he did. And that has thrown the Packers’ numbers on special teams for a bit of a loop.
For starters, the Packers currently rank second in the NFL in average punt return (15.5 yards per return) and are tied for eighth in average kickoff return (27.2 yards per return). The Packers’ punt return number is boosted by a 63-yard punt return by Moore in Week 2 against the New York Jets; Moore also had a 43-yard kickoff return in the same game.
The Packers never ranked that high in punt returns under Bisaccia, and only beat that kick return ranking in 2022 and 2023, when Keisean Nixon was handling the job full-time. But it’s hard to bestow too much credit for that change on Achord, when we see the difference a quality return man can make. Invest in a good returner and you get good returns, it seems.
As far as coverage goes, the Packers are handling things well on punts and not so well on kickoffs. They rank fifth in average punt return yards allowed (7.4), but 31st in average kickoff return yards allowed (30.1). Their kickoff ranking plummeted after they allowed a 61-yard return by the Bears on Sunday, and it’s worth noting that the Bears entered the game as one of the worst kick return teams in the league.
Under Bisaccia, the Packers never ranked higher than 18th in punt coverage and never worse than 21st in kickoff coverage. By way of comparison, Bisaccia’s units were never as good as Achord’s in punt coverage and never worse than Achord’s in kickoff coverage.
But to return to the original point about personnel, we have to factor that into Achord’s special teams rankings, too. Surely the Packers’ punt coverage is boosted by the fact that Daniel Whelan is, to put it mildly, kicking the crap out of the ball right now, not to mention the fact that certified special teams demon Nick Niemann has already racked up five tackles in the kicking game. Players matter! And it’s hard to say the Packers haven’t invested more in their players under Achord than they did under Bisaccia.
The Packers have also been a bit less tolerant of special teams miscues this year than in the past, though admittedly we don’t have many firm examples. But after Jonathan Ford bore much of the blame for a blocked field goal in Week 3, he disappeared from the Packers’ field goal and PAT units, and has yet to play there again.
So yes, in some ways, the Packers’ special teams have improved under Cam Achord, but it’s hard to tease out the difference that we can attribute to a new coordinator and what seems to be the result of a slightly altered roster approach. It’s a situation worth monitoring as the season wears on, though, and hopefully Skyy Moore returns from his tweaked ankle to continue to bolster the return units.