LAC Los Angeles Chargers · WR· #12

Derius Davis

Age: 26
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 165 lbs
College: TCU
Drafted: 2023, No. 125 overall (LAC)
Experience: 4th NFL season

Compare with another player Punt returners leaderboard

Overall grade

32nd of 34 punt returners

Among the weakest

well below average; 50 is average

Grades updated Mon, Oct 12, 3:02 AM ETRechecked every few hours on game days

The read

Derius grades well below average among punt returners so far, with no number far from the middle.

Lately he is playing worse. EPA per punt fielded is −0.76 over the last 2 games (7 punts), against +0.21 before that. The change is bigger than what a few plays would produce by chance.

Written from his numbers, not from film. 5 games are behind the season figures.

How he stacks up

Every graded stat at a glance, against all the punt returners in the league.

EPA per punt fielded−0.3632nd of 34small sample

Left is the worst at his job, right is the best, and the line down the middle is average. The bubble is his percentile: 90 means better than nine in ten qualifying punt returners. Faded bars are still small samples.

How he has progressed

Where he has ranked among punt returners after each week, and every game behind it.

Season rank slipped: 75th to 6th percentile since Wk 2.

The line is his season-to-date rank among players at his position after each week, from 100 (the best) to 0 (the worst). It rises when he passes other players, not when he has one big game. Early weeks are noisier because fewer plays are behind them. The shaded weeks are the recent stretch.

EPA per punt fielded game by game
Week	Opponent	That game	punts	Season rank after
1	vs ARI	+0.49	1	–
2	vs LV	+0.03	3	75th pct
3	vs BUF	+0.45	1	75th pct
4	vs SEA	−1.58	4	3rd pct
5	vs DEN	+0.32	3	6th pct

One game is a small sample: a single stat over 2 punts can swing on a handful of plays. Shaded rows are the recent stretch.

The numbers, in context

Each one against every punt returner with at least 5 punts fielded. Right on the strip is better.

EPA per punt fielded

Among the weakest

−0.36

32nd of 34 punt returners · bottom 9%

−0.19worse to better+0.29

Expected points added: how many points the play added to (or took from) the offense's scoring chances, given the down, the distance and the field position. From his team's side, for every punt he fields, fair catches included.

The box score: Return average ignores fair catches and the starting field position.

Does it show up in winning? Across 54 games league-wide, a good or bad game on EPA per punt fielded from a punt returner has not lined up much with his team winning (61% wins in the best third, 53% in the worst).

How he plays

Tendencies: how his game differs from the punt returners around him. These are not better or worse, only different, and often say as much about the offense or defense he plays in as about him.

Fair catch rate

Style

75%

Fair catches often, and more so than almost any of the punt returners. A typical one is 41%.

19%low to high68%

How often he fair catches instead of returning, a choice about risk.

Game by game

Every game this season: how it ended for his team, how much he played, his box score, and the advanced numbers from that one game. One game is a small sample, so read the right-hand columns as a snapshot, not his level.

Derius Davis game by game
Game	Result	Fielded	Yds	EPA/punt
Wk 1 vs ARI	L 14–26	1	0	+0.49
Wk 2 vs LV	L 14–26	3	0	+0.03
Wk 3 vs BUF	L 16–24	1	14	+0.45
Wk 4 vs SEA	L 23–30	4	0	−1.58
Wk 5 vs DEN	L 17–23	3	1	+0.32

The box score

The traditional totals, with where each ranks among punt returners. A total rewards volume, which is why the advanced numbers above matter.

Derius Davis box score totals
Stat	Total	Rank
Punts fielded	12	7th of 34
Return yards	15	31st of 34

Ranks are among players at the same job who have enough plays to be graded. Grades and rankings come from play-by-play, charting and snap-count data, so they cannot see blocking, route running or assignments. See how the grades work.

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Data: nflverse play-by-play, CC BY 4.0. Also FTN charting, Pro Football Reference advanced stats, snap counts and injury reports, all through nflverse. Calculations and charts by Raiders Rundown.

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