April, 30, 2011
By Calvin Watkins
IRVING --Of the six players selected today by the Cowboys, two have returned punts or kicks.
Demarco Murray, the second rounder and Dwayne Harris, the sixth-round pick, have returned either kicks or punts during their college careers.
Harris averaged 23.2 yards per kick return in his career which included three touchdowns for East Carolina. He also averaged 9.3 yards per punt return.
Harris said he would rather return punts.
"I was always a guy that will do anything to help the team out," Harris said. "The coaches wanted me to do both punt and kickoff return and it gave me a chance to put the ball in my hand by doing both."
Murray averaged 24.9 yards a return last season while fielding only 10 kicks for Oklahoma. He does have the speed and isn't afraid to mix it up when attacking defenders.
"We spent a lot of time evaluating him as a punt returner and we have film of him catching punts and he can catch punts," Jerry Jones said. "He didn't do it a lot at Oklahoma, but he can. We are satisfied that is a possibility."
Last season, Dez Bryant, Bryan McCann and Akwasi Owusu-Ansah were the primary kick returners. Bryant and McCann showed speed and the ability to read blocks to get down field. Owusu-Ansah was more of a straight ahead runner with little elusiveness.
As a team the Cowboys returned 74 kicks for 1,572 yards.
Punt returns resulted in three touchdowns, two from Bryant and one from McCann. As a group, Dallas averaged a franchise-best 15.9 yards per return in 2010. The second highest punt return average was 1968 when the team averaged 13.5 yards.
By Calvin Watkins
IRVING --Of the six players selected today by the Cowboys, two have returned punts or kicks.
Demarco Murray, the second rounder and Dwayne Harris, the sixth-round pick, have returned either kicks or punts during their college careers.
Harris averaged 23.2 yards per kick return in his career which included three touchdowns for East Carolina. He also averaged 9.3 yards per punt return.
Harris said he would rather return punts.
"I was always a guy that will do anything to help the team out," Harris said. "The coaches wanted me to do both punt and kickoff return and it gave me a chance to put the ball in my hand by doing both."
Murray averaged 24.9 yards a return last season while fielding only 10 kicks for Oklahoma. He does have the speed and isn't afraid to mix it up when attacking defenders.
"We spent a lot of time evaluating him as a punt returner and we have film of him catching punts and he can catch punts," Jerry Jones said. "He didn't do it a lot at Oklahoma, but he can. We are satisfied that is a possibility."
Last season, Dez Bryant, Bryan McCann and Akwasi Owusu-Ansah were the primary kick returners. Bryant and McCann showed speed and the ability to read blocks to get down field. Owusu-Ansah was more of a straight ahead runner with little elusiveness.
As a team the Cowboys returned 74 kicks for 1,572 yards.
Punt returns resulted in three touchdowns, two from Bryant and one from McCann. As a group, Dallas averaged a franchise-best 15.9 yards per return in 2010. The second highest punt return average was 1968 when the team averaged 13.5 yards.