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Breaking Down BYU’s Top Return Specialist Candidates

BYU is replacing both return specialists from the 2025 season
Casey Lundquist|
BYU RB Preston Rex at Fall Camp
BYU RB Preston Rex at Fall Camp | BYU Photo

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BYU Cougars

On Saturday, the BYU football program wrapped up the first scrimmage of Fall Camp. The first scrimmage of camp is an important practice for players competing for starting spots. The special teams units are a major question mark for BYU in 2026. The Cougars will need to replace every starter at the specialist positions.

After the scrimmage, Kalani Sitake was asked about BYU's special teams. Sitake expressed confidence in all the the special teams units, and he named the players that are competing to return kicks.

According to Sitake, five players are competing at punt return: Cannon Devries, Tiger Bachmeier, Preston Rex, Legend Glasker, and Evan Johnson. Devries and Bachmeier "have an edge," according to Bachmeier, given their prior experience. In this article, we'll break down the top return specialist candidates.

Tiger Bachmeier

Tiger Bachmeier was a punt return specialist at Stanford before he transferred to BYU. At Stanford, he had a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown against Cal Poly.

After Parker Kingston muffed a few punts at the start of the 2025 season, Bachmeier replaced Kingston as the punt return specialist. Bachmeier, frankly, struggled and the job was given back to Kingston. Bachmeier fielded multiple punts inside his own five yard-line. If Bachmeier can improve his decision making as a returner, he could be the solution at punt return.

Cannon Devries

Cannon Devries was a dynamic return specialist in high school. He was a backup punt returner for BYU last season, and he even had a chance to return a punt against Portland State in the season opener. If we had to project a starting punt returner, we would probably go with Devries.

Legend Glasker

True freshman wide receiver Legend Glasker is on track to play a role for the BYU offense. Glasker was a return speciailist as a senior at Lehi last season, and he has the top-end speed to take a return to the house.

Glasker will be needed on offense, so the injury risk may prohibit him from returning kicks.

Preston Rex

Most BYU fans probably don't know that Preston Rex was a wide receiver in high school that also returned kicks. Rex doesn't have the top-end speed that some of the other players on list have, but he is a sure-handed receiver that would make good decisions.

Evan Johnson

Evan Johnson is the fastest player on BYU's roster. Johnson was a wide receiver in high school, so he is comfortable catching the football. Johnson is one of the most important players on BYU's defense, so while he would be an electric returner, the downside injury risk outweighs the upside of what he would bring to the return game.

Devaughn Eka

Devaughn Eka is not competing for the punt return job, but he is competing to be the kickoff returner. Eka showed off his top-end speed in Saturday's scrimmage. Eka broke a tackle then out-ran the defense for a long touchdown.

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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of BYU On SI. He has covered BYU athletics since 2020. During that time, he has published over 3,500 stories that have reached millions of readers.

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