Bengals’ Darrin Simmons reveals frontrunner for punt-return job

Cincinnati Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons had a meeting with the media this week in the wake of mandatory minicamp.

In that meeting, Simmons — also the assistant head coach — threw out some interesting tidbits about where things stand for the roster.

One of those tidbits pertained to the battle going down between weapons hoping to return punts next season.

According to ESPN’s Ben Baby, Simmons said wideout Trent Taylor is currently the frontrunner for the gig. That’s probably what the team had expected when bringing Taylor aboard after losing names like Giovani Bernard and Alex Erickson this offseason.

That said, Simmons also threw out undrafted free agent Pooka Williams as a possibility — and he’s already drawn praise for learning the role in camps.

So while Taylor has a grip on the job right now, Pooka and names like Darius Phillips will be hot on his heels all summer before the roster gets trimmed down.