The 49ers need to find more consistency on punt and kick returns, and the Tennessee Titans may have helped them out. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Monday reported the Titans won’t tender wide receiver and return man Kalif Raymond. He’s a player San Francisco should at least kick tires on if they believe they need to add a player to handle kick return duties.
Raymond hasn’t made much impact as a pass catcher since entering the league as an undrafted rookie with the Broncos in 2016. Almost all of his receiving production came in the last two years with Tennessee when he hauled in 19 balls for 357 yards and one touchdown in 23 games.
However, his underwhelming numbers as a receiver are overshadowed by his strong performance as a return man. He averaged 9.4 yards per return on 27 tries, and 20.5 yards per kick return on 33 run backs. Both of those numbers are north of what the 49ers averaged last season, but the more important stat is that Raymond didn’t fumble or muff a return with Tennessee. That was a problem for San Francisco last season, and finding a player who doesn’t drop the football on punts has to be at least a small priority for the 49ers.
Raymond won’t be expensive at all, and putting him to the mix at WR and returner would be a low-risk, high-reward addition for a team in need of some special teams help.
