NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The NFL wanted to add excitement to the game.

As a result, on a list that is represented by some of the league’s premiere players like Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Taylor and Christian McCaffrey, it’s Tennessee Titans rookie Chimere Dike that sits on top.

Dike and the Dallas Cowboys‘ KaVontae Turpin are among the NFL’s top five in all-purpose yards thanks to the kickoff rules changes in 2024 before they were slightly tweaked in 2025 — an incentive to bring back the return game. It gave players like New York Jets return man Isaiah Williams a better chance of making the roster. It has also helped increase the value for veterans like Turpin, who signed a three-year, $13.5 million contract extension in March.

The 2024 rule changes introduced the new dynamic formation to increase returns and boost safety (43% reduction in concussion rates) because players are aligned closer to each other to reduce high-speed collisions. The league also moved the touchback spot from the 20-yard line to the 30. However, the leaguewide return rate of 32.8% was still the league’s lowest since at least 2000, and the touchback rate of 64.3% was the league’s highest over the same period.

So the league moved the touchback spot to the 35-yard line in 2025, and data has shifted. Teams have elected to put the ball in play rather than drill it deep in the end zone for a touchback. Through Week 14, the kick return rate has surged to 77.4%, more than doubling last season’s 32.8% rate, and through the first four weeks, the league saw its highest rate (78.3%) in 19 years at the time.

For players like Dike and Turpin, they are being asked to handle kick and punt return duties while also being a part of the offense. Having such an involved role is demanding for any player.

Dike has had to step up at times as a receiver, where he has 34 receptions for 284 yards and three touchdowns. Turpin has done the same, with 21 catches for 286 yards and a touchdown.

“Not many people can do kick return, punt return and [play] receiver too,” Titans special teams coordinator John Fassel said. “[Dike] gets the ball thrown to him, punted to him and kicked to him. He’s an incredibly valuable weapon because he can do all of that.”

Entering Week 15, Dike was leading the league in all-purpose yards (1,984), kick return yards (1,323) and yards per punt return (19.9). He’s on pace to pass Lionel James (2,535 in 1985) for fourth in all-purpose yards in a single season since 1941, and he has an outside shot at the all-time record (2,696) set by Darren Sproles and to pass former Titans wide receiver Derrick Mason’s number of 2,690, which is second all time.

“His all-purpose yards are all earned,” a surprised Fassel said when informed of Dike’s record pace.

Although the kick return average is down from last season (25.9 yards from 27.6), the change has resulted in more total return yards (42,613 and counting from 25,385). The league has also seen 91.4% of the returns go beyond the 20-yard line, the most over the past 25 years.

“[Dike’]s really excelled as a returner, and I think he has done some really good things as a wide receiver,” Mason told ESPN. “He’s learning how to play the game from a special teams standpoint, how to see the field as a returner. So he’s going to be able to operate on offense in spaces that would be hard for some of the other wide receivers to do. He’s used to finding holes and isn’t afraid of contact.

“He’s a strong runner. He breaks tackles, which is why he’s a good returner. All those things are good for him. He may end up being the steal of the draft [Round 4, pick 103] because he’s coming on as a receiver. With his return skills, he’s going to be a guy that, to me, will be a weapon like Percy Harvin.”

AS FOR WILLIAMS‘ path, he was signed off the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad on Sept 10. Williams had a nightmarish game against the Miami Dolphins in Week 4. It was a Monday night game where he fumbled on a kickoff, and he fielded a punt at his own 3-yard line at the end of the game, ruining any chance of a long drive and comeback.

The Jets cut Williams a few days later, but they re-signed him to the practice squad on Oct 6. He was saved by first-year Jets coach Aaron Glenn, who crossed paths with Williams when he signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in April 2024 before the Bengals claimed him off the practice squad that November. Glenn always had an affinity for Williams, who was promoted to the active roster on Oct 18.

Glenn called Williams’ return to the team, “A great redemption story.” Since his second chance with New York, Williams has two touchdowns on punt returns, becoming the third Jet in history to do so in the same season. He and Dike are the only two players to have a 70-yard return on a punt and kickoff.

“I feel like all of it was really a blessing,” Williams told ESPN. “Looking back at it, I learned and grew from it, but I found out on Friday [that I was cut]. You go through that [Miami] game and you practice the next three days — Wednesday, Thursday, Friday — and you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m about to have an opportunity to redeem myself.’ Then you come out of practice on a Friday, realizing you got cut.

“In my head, I’m like, ‘Dang, I might be done for the year. I might be on somebody’s practice squad.’ When I signed back, my biggest thing was, ‘I’m going to come back and just compete, work. Whatever happens, happens.’ Then I ended up getting an opportunity.”

Williams joined Dike, New England Patriots returner Marcus Jones, and Jacksonville Jaguars returner Parker Washington as the only players to have at least two punt returns for a touchdown. This is the first year since 2019 in which at least one player has had multiple punt returns for a touchdown in a season.

TURPIN FORCED HIS way onto the Cowboys’ roster as a return man in 2022 after toiling in the Indoor Football League, Fan Controlled Football League, Spring League and European Football League from 2019 to 2021. His breakthrough came in 2022 when he was named the USFL’s Most Valuable Player in its inaugural season.

“He came in and tried it out,” said Fassel, who was Turpin’s special teams coordinator with the Cowboys at the time. “We signed him, and he was at practice that same day.”

Turpin scored two touchdowns in the second preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers. The first was on a 98-yard kickoff return in the first quarter, and the second was on an 86-yard punt return in the second quarter.

“It was like, ‘Well, he’s a returner. Get him out of the game,'” Fassel said. “He made the team in like two weeks.”

Fassel said Turpin’s vision made him one of those returners he gave the freedom to veer away from the direction the play was called. For instance, if there was a return right and Turpin saw a lane open to his left, he had the green light to cut it back and make a play.

“I learned a lot from him, where I had to make sure I don’t ever tell Turp where to run,” Fassel said with a smile.

At 5-foot-9, 173 pounds, Turpin’s toughness and courage stood out to Fassel and his assistant special teams coach, Rayna Stewart, when they were in Dallas. Dike (6-1, 196 pounds) is bigger than Turpin, and Stewart sees the same traits in the Titans’ returner.

“It takes a lot of courage to go back there and be willing to run through the smoke or to the ring of fire,” Stewart told ESPN.

Rookie returner Myles Price‘s 1,548 all-purpose yards rank seventh in the league, and his Minnesota Vikings are set to face Turpin and the Cowboys on Sunday.

Price will try to keep pace with Dike and Turpin (1,620 yards), as the three are the only players who’s primary yardage in the top 10 for all-purpose yards comes from returns, but unlike Dike and Turpin, Price is solely a return man at this point in his career.

“It’s pretty cool to think about [leading the NFL], but as [Fassel] puts it, ‘Stats don’t matter until the end of the year,'” Dike said. “At the end of the year, it would be a cool moment because coming into the league, you try to make an impact.”

NFL Nation reporters Rich Cimini and Kevin Seifert contributed to this report.