MIA Miami Dolphins · RB· #5

Jaylen Wright

Age
23
Height
5'10"
Weight
205 lbs
College
Tennessee
Drafted
2024, No. 120 overall (MIA)
Experience
3rd NFL season

61

Overall grade

5th of 53 kick returners

Elite

well above average; 50 is average

Grades updated Rechecked every few hours on game days

The read

Jaylen grades well above average among kick returners so far, with no number far from the middle.

Lately he is playing worse. Yards per return is 21.5 yds over the last 2 games (6 returns), against 37.0 yds before that. The change is bigger than what a few plays would produce by chance.

Written from his numbers, not from film. 4 games are behind the season figures.

How he stacks up

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

  • EPA per return+0.605th of 53small sample
  • Yards per return28.5 yds12th of 53small 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 kick returners. Faded bars are still small samples.

How he has progressed

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

WorstMiddleBestrecent12345Week 2: 98th percentileWeek 4: 96th percentileWeek 5: 92nd percentile92nd

Season rank holding near the 92nd 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 return game by game
WeekOpponentThat gamereturnsSeason rank after
1vs LV+1.942–
2vs SF+0.46398th pct
4vs MIN+0.08496th pct
5vs CIN+0.53292nd pct

One game is a small sample: a single stat over 3 returns can swing on a handful of plays. Shaded rows are the recent stretch.

The numbers, in context

Each one against every kick returner with at least 5 returns. Right on the strip is better.

EPA per return

Elite

+0.60

5th of 53 kick returners · top 10%

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 each kickoff he returns.

The box score: Return average ignores the starting field position the team would have had anyway.

Does it show up in winning? Across 82 games league-wide, teams won 54% of the time when their kick returner was in the best third on EPA per return, and 30% when he was in the worst third.

Last 2 games: +0.23 (6) vs +1.05 before−25.0grade points downA clear change

Small sample: could move a lot · 11 returns · true level likely +0.21 to +1.00

Yards per return

Well above typical

28.5 yds

12th of 53 kick returners · top 23%

Average yards per kickoff return.

The box score: This is the box score number.

Does it show up in winning? Across 82 games league-wide, teams won 63% of the time when their kick returner was in the best third on yards per return, and 30% when he was in the worst third.

Last 2 games: 21.5 yds (6) vs 37.0 yds before−39.9grade points downA clear change

Small sample: could move a lot · 11 returns · true level likely 24.1 yds to 33.0 yds

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.

Jaylen Wright game by game
GameResultRetYdsEPA/returnYds/return
Wk 1 vs LVL 13–272106+1.9453.0 yds
Wk 2 vs SFL 13–35379+0.4626.3 yds
Wk 4 vs MINL 10–15476+0.0819.0 yds
Wk 5 vs CINL 24–31253+0.5326.5 yds

The box score

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

Jaylen Wright box score totals
StatTotalRank
Returns1114th of 53
Return yards31412th of 53

Players with a similar profile

The kick returners whose grades are closest to his across the same stats. Similar means similar numbers, not the same style of play.

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.