Cast your vote for the 2024 Detroit Lions Special Teams Player of the Year.
The Detroit Lions ’ special teams unit remained one of the best in football for the 2024 season. Detroit’s coverage units remained solid, their return game had a few special moments, and even their field goal kicking took a huge step this year.
That makes our next Pride of Detroit Award—Special Teams Player of the Year—a difficult one to vote for. Here are our nominees for the award. Make sure to cast your vote at the bottom of the page and share why in the comment section.
Previous awards:
Ryan Mathews: Jake Bates
For all the anxiety drummed up during training camp about the Lions situation at kicker, Bates showed up for the team in some of their biggest moments during the season. The Lions improbable win over the Houston Texans wouldn’t have been possible without Bates drilling a 58-yard field goal to tie it, and then knocking through a walk-off winner from 52 yards out. In his rookie season, Bates finished 10th in field goal percentage (89.7%), won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week twice (Week 7 and 10), and NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November.
Al Karsten: Jack Fox
This was a surprisingly competitive award, given that Dave Fipp’s special teams unit finished the season ranked first in DVOA (per FTN). While Jake “Kick & Mortar” Bates had a remarkable breakout season, this honor goes to the Lions’ First-Team All-Pro punter, Jack Fox.
Fox set a new NFL single-season record with a 46.2-yard net punting average and led the league with a 51.0-yard gross average. On top of that, he continued to showcase his versatility, converting yet another fourth down through the air—bringing his career passing record to an impressive 4-for-5.
Ty Schalter: Jake Bates
There are plenty of worthy options. But given how valid questions about his reliability were, and given how emphatically he answered them, I can’t not hand it to Bates.
Erik Schlitt: Jack Fox
Fox stacked yet another incredible season, earning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 3, was honored with a second career trip to the Pro Bowl , and was named a First-Team All-Pro. He led the NFL in yards per punt (51.0) and net yards (45.8), while also showing yet again that he can be trusted to execute a trick play .
Jeremy Reisman: Jake Bates
It may seem a bit unfair to Jack Fox, who set the NFL record for net punting average in 2024, but that is a full team accomplishment and the Lions also had the fewest punts in the NFL this year. Bates’ impact was both more unexpected and more valuable to Detroit. Bates finally give the Lions the big leg they’ve needed, and his 89.7% field goal accuracy was wildly impressive given how many long kicks he had (13-of-16 from 40 yards or longer). And he was fantastic under pressure, delivering game-winning, last-second kicks against the Vikings, Texans, and Packers .
[Editor’s note: Because no one voted for him, shout out to the forgotten Kalif Raymond, who led the NFL in punt return yards, was third in return average, and was one of just six players who had a punt return TD this year]
Max Gerber: Khalil Dorsey
Dorsey has been the unsung hero of Detroit’s special teams unit for the past two seasons. He is considered to be one of the best gunners in the league and has been able to contribute as a capable kick returner for the Lions as well. His 72-yard kickoff return against the Titans was one of the most electric special teams plays this season for Detroit. His brutal leg injury near the end of the season hampered Detroit’s special teams unit significantly. While this award can easily be given to many other players on the roster, Dorsey is a jack-of-all-trades on special teams and it is clear why Dave Fipp frequently raves about his abilities.
Hamza Baccouche: Jack Fox
This could honestly go to any of the three specialists on the team. Jake Bates had as good of a “rookie” year as you could reasonably expect, Jack Fox got back to elite status , and rookie Hogan Hatten beat out an incumbent for the long snapping job. Ultimately, I gotta go with Fox. Earning All-Pro honors in this era of punting is an unbelievably difficult feat, and he managed to do so while setting numerous records along the way.
John Whiticar: Jack Fox
The Lions have a lot of candidates, from Jake Bates living up to the UFL hype to Sione Vaki shining as a rookie special teams ace. Yet at the end of the day, Fox is an elite talent worthy of his First-Team All-Pro nod. It’s rare that punters transform the game, but he does just that for the Lions.
Meko Scott: Jake Bates
The Lions have been searching for a reliable kicker to hitch their wagon to ever since Matt Prater left town, and I think they finally have him in Jake Bates. While we didn’t get to see him nail any 60-yard kicks in the NFL. Bates still did a great job of being reliable option for Lions on his way to hitting nearly 90% of kicks with a long 58 yards in his first season as a full-time kicker in the NFL.
Brandon Knapp: Jake Bates
When you can make your kicks, the fans will notice, and Bates didn’t just make his kicks this year, he did it from anywhere you needed him to. 30 yarder? No sweat. 45 yards out? He can handle it. How about 58? No sweat. Bates was a big piece of this team in 2024 and something the team has been missing for years.
Morgan Cannon: Jake Bates
Mr. All I do is sell bricks and drill kicks. After a shaky training camp, Bates ended up having a historically successful rookie season in Detroit. Hopefully he can continue that success, and carve out a nice Jason Hanson-like career in the Motor City.