Returner Keisean Nixon is making Packers history

Nixon has made 100-yard return performances a regular occurrence in his first season in Green Bay.

Despite starting the last three games as the Green Bay Packers’ nickel corner, all of the buzz around Keisean Nixon is about his performance as a return man. Brought in due to his experience with new special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, Nixon replaced the fumble-prone returner Amari Rodgers at midseason and hasn’t looked back since.

According to a Stathead search ($), Nixon’s five-game streak of 100-plus return yards in consecutive games is not only the first of the 2022 season but also the first since 2010, when Danny Amendola, Darren Sproles, LaRod Stephen-Howling and Stefan Logan all managed to accomplish a similar streak.

In total, a five-game streak of 100-plus return yards has happened 50 times in NFL history by just 38 individual players. Nixon joins Roell Preston (1998) as the only members in Packers history on the list. For reference, Preston was named a Second-Team All-Pro in 1998 and a Pro Bowler for his efforts that season. That postseason, Preston put up 198 kickoff yards against the San Francisco 49ers, which is still the playoff record for a Packer to this day.

If Nixon keeps this streak going for even one more game, it will be just 1 of 18 times in NFL history that a player has been able to put up six consecutive games of 100-plus return yards. The regular season record for the most consecutive triple-digit return yard games is 15, set by Michael Lewis during a run that stretched over the 2001 and 2002 seasons. Charlie Rogers is second all-time with a streak of 11 games.

Here is a count of the five-game, 100-plus yard return streaks by decade:

• 2020s: 1
• 2010s: 4
• 2000s: 27
• 1990s: 12
• 1980s: 2
• 1970s: 3
• 1960s: 1
• Pre-1960s: 0

What is particularly notable about Nixon’s run is how many of those yards have come as a kick returner. In each of these five games, Nixon has posted at least 95 yards on kickoffs. Per Stathead, this has only happened in five consecutive games just 23 times in NFL history, with Stephens-Howlings (2010) being the most recent player to do it before Nixon.

Here is a count of the five-game, 95-plus yard kick return streaks by decade:

• 2020s: 1
• 2010s: 1
• 2000s: 13
• 1990s: 7
• 1980s: 0
• 1970s: 0
• 1960s: 1
• Pre-1960s: 0

Unlike the overall return streak, Preston was unable to keep up with Nixon’s current kickoff pace back in 1998. Nixon is the first player in Packers history to ever go on such a run as a kick returner. The all-time streak of 95-plus-yard kickoff return games was set by MarTay Jenkins (2000) and Glyn Milburn (1996) at nine games in a row.

In short, Nixon is having a phenomenal season, despite Rodgers handling kick return duties earlier in the year. The only player in the NFL to return more kicks for a better yards per return average in 2022 is the Minnesota Vikings’ Kene Nwagnwu, who was named to the All-Rookie team last season.

In the Tuesday presser this week, head coach Matt LaFleur joked that Nixon has been trying to play slot receiver on top of kick return, punt return and slot corner. At this point, they might as well give him a chance. He can do everything else.