GREEN BAY, Wis. — Keisean Nixon returned one kick in the first seven games last season and was named a first-team All-Pro.

That’s how dynamic he was, especially late in the season, when he ran back a 52-yard kick return against the Rams, a 93-yarder the following week against the Dolphins and finally a 105-yard house call the following Sunday against the Vikings.

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You could almost feel a touchdown coming for Nixon after he started to get loose and, sure enough, he electrified Lambeau Field in that Week 17 blowout win over Minnesota by going the distance. There’s the same feeling now, as Nixon has kick returns of 36, 49 and 51 yards over the last two games. Don’t be surprised if he takes one for a score in the near future, even as soon as Sunday’s game against the Chargers in Green Bay.

105 YARDS!

Keisean Nixon takes the kick to the house ‼️@keiseannixon | #GoPackGo

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The Packers, who have slumped to 3-6 just past the midway point of the season, sure could use a spark from one of their players most likely to provide one.

“I hope so,” Nixon said giddily in the locker room Thursday when asked if he feels like a home run is coming.

Nixon has 502 kick return yards this season, 159 more than any other player in the league. He leads the NFL with 26.4 yards per kick return, but TruMedia lists only three kick returners as qualifying for the league leaderboard. The Commanders’ Antonio Gibson (24.3 on 14 returns) and the Saints’ Rashid Shaheed (21.4 on 16 returns) are the other two. Nixon has 19 kick returns this season, most in the NFL. Only five players have at least 10, so the competition for All-Pro nods may not be stiff this season.

That doesn’t mean Nixon wouldn’t be deserving if he makes his second consecutive All-Pro team, especially if the gradual ascension we saw last season replicates itself in 2023.

“Keisean’s dynamic,” head coach Matt LaFleur said. “We know that. When he’s got the ball in his hands, he’s capable of breaking a big play, if not taking it to the house. And I think the guys in front of him, whether it was on the kickoff return unit or when he’s given his opportunities on punt return, they do a great job blocking for him. They take pride in that ’cause they know he’s got that ability. We’re always talking about flipping the field for whatever phase. Certainly, in the return game, it’s for the offense, gives our team a better opportunity to go get points, and in his limited opportunities, when he’s gotten an opportunity, he’s done a pretty good job.”

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Those kick return opportunities aren’t so limited for the guy who’s returned more kicks than anyone in the league. And if we’re pointing out his recent exploits, we must also acknowledge the other end of the spectrum.

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Nixon’s first 11 kickoff returns of the season resulted in the Packers offense starting behind its own 25-yard line. Nine of them he took out from his own end zone, anywhere from 2 yards to 9 yards deep (the other two started at the goal line and made it to the 20 and at the 4-yard line and made it to the 19). So little went right for Green Bay’s kick return unit early in the season that even when Nixon took one from 2 yards deep in his own end zone to the 39-yard line for a 41-yard return in Week 4 against the Lions, a holding call on safety Dallin Leavitt enforced at the 24-yard line negated what had been Nixon’s best return of the season.

Even as kick returns have produced better results of late, special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia still needs to see more.

“I just think we’re still a little inconsistent, obviously,” Bisaccia said. “(Nixon) would probably tell you the same thing. I think when we all do the right thing at the right time, we have a chance to make some plays, and I think we have. Some of the ones we made early, we’ve had some penalties on. I feel like we’ve moved ourselves in a better direction with less penalties the last few weeks, but (the Chargers) have really only given up four returns all year. He’s got a big leg, Dicker the Kicker (Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker), has really played well … and as you’ve seen, last week in Pittsburgh, guys play against us, play against Keisean, they’re gonna move the ball around. So usually when we know where the ball’s gonna be caught, we can scheme up some different things according to where we’re gonna catch it, but they’re doing a good job of hitting a bunch of touchbacks and moving the ball around, and we’re still gonna get those kicks outside the numbers and short as we go through the year.”

After one kickoff sailed over his head for a touchback in Denver four games ago, Nixon threw a mini temper tantrum on the field. Nixon wants to return every kick, and as we’ve seen, he’s not afraid to take one out from deep in his end zone. And don’t even think about telling him to experiment with the league’s new kickoff fair catch rule. To an extent, Nixon has earned the freedom because of what he did last season, even if letting some of those early season kickoffs 6, 8 and 9 yards deep in his own end zone go would’ve been the better idea to give Jordan Love the ball at the 25-yard line instead of shy of it.

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He won’t have to worry about making that decision as much anymore, especially at Lambeau Field, with the temperatures dropping. The cold means harder footballs and less distance in the air off the foot. Teams, as Bisaccia said, can counter a lack of distance with more directional kicks to force Nixon to return from a corner and essentially eliminate a big chunk of the field for him to use. They can also pop kicks up, even if they allow Nixon to return from around the 10-yard line because those give kickoff coverage units more time to get down the field.

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“It’s always the blocking,” Nixon said. “It’s never me. Them boys block and they do what they’re supposed to do, we gonna have a big return. It’s getting cold, the ball getting hard … they can’t just kick it out of the end zone like every week they want to, so they gotta see us.”

Regardless of how teams approach Nixon in the coming weeks, they’d better be careful because, like last season, he’s gaining steam. He returned a kick against the Rams two weeks ago from 4 yards deep to his own 47, good for 51 yards. One from 5 yards deep against the Steelers to the 31, good for 36. He also had returns of 29 and 49 yards in Pittsburgh, further signs that it might be only a matter of time until he takes one the distance again.

Until then, Nixon says, he hasn’t done anything of significance.

“If I don’t score, I don’t think I did anything, so it don’t really be a big deal,” he said. “I haven’t did anything yet.”

(Photo: Mark Alberti / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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