The Underrated Packers Addition Who Could Change Everything This Season

The Green Bay Packers had the worst return game in the NFL last season. Help has arrived.

Receiver Skyy Moore goes through drills during the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine. | USA TODAY Sports

To say that Romeo Doubs returned punts for the Green Bay Packers last season wouldn’t be entirely accurate. He caught them, yes. But returned them?

Not so much.

With Jayden Reed injured and Matthew Golden turning every punt into an adventure, the Packers went to the bullpen last year and brought in Doubs for one important reason. At training camp and Family Night, Doubs showed an incredible knack for fielding punts. One day, he caught six, with balls cradled in his arm and between his legs.

It was a great feat, though not one that helped with field position.

Last season, Doubs was one of 27 players who returned at least 15 punts. He ranked 26th with a 6.3-yard average. As a team, the Packers were last with a 5.6-yard average.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Skyy Moore finished 12th with an 11.2-yard average.

In free agency, the Packers signed Moore to a one-year contract. A second-round pick by the Chiefs in 2022, maybe he’ll help the offense as a receiver. Really, though, the Packers are counting on him to help the offense by setting it up with good field position.

A good returner is the rising tide that lifts all boats on special teams. The other 10 players are only human. With Doubs, there was no expectation that he’d break a long return. The blocking probably suffered as a consequence. With Moore, the opposite was true with the 49ers.

“When I (played) in Tampa, we had a guy, Karl ‘The Truth’ Williams, and Karl took a number of punt returns to the house,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said late last season. “Everyone blocks a little harder when they have a guy back there who they think could go on any given return. And I think that’s what we’re seeing right now.”

New special teams coordinator Cam Achord was excited to be handed a proven returner.

“He was convicted running in San Fran,” Achord said at the start of the offseason program. “Had a solid year, done a lot of good things with the ball. For me, returners, the No. 1 thing is holding onto the ball. We’re not going to put it on the ground. Being able to control the ball and catch the ball, let’s start there. We want to make sure we have the ball at the end of the play.

“And then everything else we’ll talk about – gaining the yards and everything – he was convicted. He’s gotten better every year.”

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Skyy Moore (9) returns a kickoff against the Seattle Seahawks. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Moore muffed one punt last season. That came in Week 1. Otherwise, he was flawless.

Last season, Green Bay’s opponents punted 56 times. Doubs, Golden, Reed and Keisean Nixon combined for 146 return yards. That’s 2.6 return yards per punt. San Francisco’s opponents also punted 56 times. Moore had 291 return yards. That’s 5.2 return yards per punt.

That might not seem like much, but Moore gave San Francisco’s offense 145 additional yards of field position.

Moore had 11 returns of 10-plus yards. Green Bay had six. That’s five additional possessions in which Moore gave the Niners a first down’s worth of field position. That could be the difference between a punt and a field goal.

“Every time he gets the ball, we feel he’s got a chance to go,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said after Moore had a 66-yard punt return at Cleveland.

It’s not just punt returns. Moore did double duty for the 49ers. Last season, he was one of 36 returners with at least 19 kickoff returns (Bo Melton’s number). Moore was ninth with a 27.5-yard average, highlighted by a 98-yard runback at Arizona. 

Green Bay rookie Savion Williams was 25th with a 25.6-yard average. He missed the end of the season with a foot injury and was replaced by Melton. He ranked 31st with a 24.6-yard average. The Packers didn’t have a single return of longer than 38 yards.

Overall, the 49ers ranked second in starting field position after a kickoff. The Packers were 21st.

During a three-game stretch late in the season, Moore had the 98-yard kickoff return against Arizona, a 43-yard kickoff return against Carolina and the 66-yard punt return at Cleveland.

“This entire year, any time he gets the ball, I just love the way he hits it,” Niners running back Christian McCaffrey said. “You know, he’s built for this team. He plays with zero hesitation.”

Due in part to their impotent return game, the Packers finished 20th in the Packers On SI special teams rankings. With the additions of Moore and a new coordinator, the 49ers went from 32nd in 2024 to 11th in 2025.

“Me and my agent talked about it, more than anything, just of how I could come in and it could be kind of the same thing for San Fran,” Moore told Packers On SI. “San Fran had the same struggles early in the season. They talked about how their special teams was in the bottom half of the league and my job was to come in there and help change that around.

“So, I’m going to look at it in the same manner of going in there, earning my stripes, earning my role and, hopefully, we can get in that top 10.”

With the 250th birthday of the best country in the world, I was thinking ...

Who are the 250 best players in the history of the Packers?

Here's my list. It's not a ranking (that would be absurd) but it was a fun project (and a very long read). ⬇️https://t.co/SbIt0nkTr8

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 5, 2026

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