There's a lot of "Beasley was lousy at punt returns" views, both here and on other sites. But let's be realistic about that.
Last year the Cowboys returned 24 punts. That's just over ONE per game. Just what do people expect from the punt return game? Touchdowns? Well let's see, who was arguably one of the best punt returners ever? Deion, for example. He returned 212 punts, got SIX touchdowns. That's 2.83%. Meaning if Deion returned all punts last year he'd have, statistically, he'd have had no tds.
Even if Beasley had a couple of tds, is that going to make the team a SB contender?
No.
The return game is important, mostly though by not fumbling the ball, not getting touchdowns and big returns. And Beasley didn't have a problem with that. But the returns are mostly due to good blocking, and how long the hang time is on the punt. The ball hangs up in the air for 5 seconds, given the speed of the players, the vast majority of the time the coverage is right on the returner and NO returner, even a Deion, is going to do anything except fair catch the ball.
It's a minor point of the game, as long as the guy doesn't fumble, the punt return game is good enough. Having a better punt returner isn't making this team a top contender...
