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LV Las Vegas Raiders · WR· #19

Malik Benson

Age
23
Height
6'1"
Weight
195 lbs
College
Oregon; Florida State; Alabama; Hutchinson CC
Drafted
2026, No. 195 overall (LV)
Experience
Rookie
Compare with another playerPunt returners leaderboard

58

Overall grade

5th of 34 punt returners

Well above typical

above average; 50 is average

Grades updated Rechecked every few hours on game days

The read

Malik grades above average among punt returners so far, with no number far from the middle.

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 punt returners in the league.

  • EPA per punt fielded+0.276th of 34small sample
  • Yards per return13.6 yds6th of 24small 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.

WorstMiddleBestrecent12345Week 2: 96th percentileWeek 3: 94th percentileWeek 4: 91st percentile91st

Season rank holding near the 91st 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
WeekOpponentThat gamepuntsSeason rank after
1vs MIA+0.812–
2vs LAC+0.24296th pct
3vs NO+0.37294th pct
4vs KC−0.34291st 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

Well above typical

+0.27

6th of 34 punt returners · top 18%

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).

Last 2 games: −0.34 (2) vs +0.47 before

Small sample: could move a lot · 8 punts · true level likely −0.19 to +0.74

Yards per return

Well above typical

13.6 yds

6th of 24 punt returners · top 25%

Average yards when he returns the punt (fair catches excluded).

The box score: This is the box score number.

Last 2 games: 4.0 yds (1) vs 16.0 yds before

Small sample: could move a lot · 5 returns · true level likely 7.7 yds to 19.5 yds

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

38%

Right around the middle of punt returners: a typical one is 41%.

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

Small sample: could move a lot · 8 punts

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.

Malik Benson game by game
GameResultFieldedYdsEPA/puntYds/return
Wk 1 vs MIAW 27–13235+0.8117.5 yds
Wk 2 vs LACW 26–14216+0.2416.0 yds
Wk 3 vs NOW 35–27213+0.3713.0 yds
Wk 4 vs KCL 27–3024−0.344.0 yds

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.

Malik Benson box score totals
StatTotalRank
Punts fielded822nd of 34
Return yards6815th of 34

Players with a similar profile

The punt 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.

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