Four weeks into the 2022 college football season, sophomore Kool-Aid McKinstry leads the nation in punt return yards.

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McKinstry currently has 244 yards returned during a punt. The next closest is The University of Louisiana's Eric Garror, who currently has 160 yards.

At the start of the year though, the defensive back was never going to be the guy returning punts. Sophomore wide receiver JoJo Earle came in as the favorite to replace Jameson Williams, but he suffered a Jones fracture in his foot and would have to be sidelined for 6-8 weeks.

McKinstry beat out Jermaine Burton and Aaron Anderson to earn the starting role.

“Special teams brings a lot to the game, we don’t look at special teams no different than offense and defense. We also understand that the energy that comes from special teams, it leads on to offense and defense,” McKinstry said. “So whatever we do on special teams, we know that leads on to offense and defense, bring energy.”

Louisiana-Monroe v Alabama
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If Alabama wants to hoist the National Championship at the end of the year, then McKinstry has to keep setting the offense up with good field position.

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