Don’t blink or you’ll miss him. Rashid Shaheed leads all NFC returns specialists in Pro Bowl Games votes. The second-year standout is a rising star in the NFL, and he’s the only member of the New Orleans Saints to lead his position group in voting after the first round of fan ballots, the league announced this week.
And it’s easy to see why. Shaheed has missed a game with an injury and he’s still one of the top-performing punt returners, averaging 14.4 yards a pop on 18 returns; only one player in the league has a better pace while fielding as many punts (Los Angeles Chargers receiver Derius Davis, who has 16.6 yards per return on 19 tries).
Shaheed’s 343 kick return yards are second-best in the NFL, too. There’s just one player with more total return yards on punts and kickoffs this season, and that’s Keisean Nixon (Green Bay Packers), whose 8.1 yards per punt return is pedestrian by contrast. There are few players who can match Shaheed for volume and efficiency.
Hopefully Shaheed can return to work soon and continue to produce so he can earn his first Pro Bowl nod. He missed last week’s game with a thigh injury that’s kept him out of practice to start this week, too, so we’ll keep an eye on his status moving forwards.
Fans interested in voting for Shaheed (and the other Saints players on this year’s ballot) may do so at ProBowl.com/Vote, as well as on the Saints’ official website here. Voting will open on social media platforms later in December.