Ravens have a return man

The Ravens spent the entire offseason searching for a replacement for Jacoby Jones. It looks like they have their guy in second year wide receiver Michael Campanaro. Campanaro was battling Asa Jackson, Tom Nelson, Terrence Magee, and DeAndre Carter for the job during training camp. Out of the four, Campanaro is the only one still on the Ravens 53-man roster. Steve Smith handled punt returns on weeks one and two, but Campanaro took punt return duties as well on Sunday.

Does Campanaro pull off the spectacular, 100 plus yard returns that Asa Jackson does? No. Does Campanaro make foolish mistakes or fumble punts like Asa Jackson does? No, and that's what's really important.

Campanaro has two kick returns for 55 yards, giving him an average of 22.5 yards per return, which puts him in a tie with San Diego's Brandon Oliver at 14th. On punts he has two returns for 35 yards, giving him an average of 17.5 yards per return, which puts him at fourth overall in the NFL.

In 2014 Jacoby Jones averaged 30.6 yards per kickoff return, so Jones still has the advantage there. However Jacoby Jones only averaged 9.2 yards per return in 2014, which gives Campanaro the edge. Jones also fumbled four times on returns in 2014, while Campanaro has not fumbled in 2015. Campanaro might not be the explosive kick returner that Jacoby was, but he's been reliable.  In San Diego,Jacoby has returned one kickoff for 24 yards this season and he's been inactive for the last two weeks.

It appears that going with Michael Campanaro instead of Jacoby Jones was the right decision for the Ravens.