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All-NFC East special teams team: Long live Donnie Jones

Who are the best special teams players in the NFC East?

Rob Carr

Bleeding Green Nation's Mike Kaye did a fine job of assembling the All-NFC East offensive and defensive teams earlier this week, but somehow he left out the most important one of all... the All-NFC East special teams team! So without further ado, here it is.

Special Teams

Kicker: Dan Bailey, Cowboys

Most of us laughed when the salary-cap-strapped Cowboys gave a six-year, $22.5 million ($7.5M guaranteed) contract extension to Dan Bailey this offseason, but he's easily the best kicker in the NFCE. Bailey went 28-30 (93.3%) on field goal attempts and tied for the 4th most touchbacks on kickoffs (52). It's worth noting here that Bailey has the advantage of playing indoors for at least 8 home games. All of the other NFCE home fields are outside.

Punter: Donnie Jones, Eagles

Donnie Freakin' Football is the best punter in the NFCE and I don't want to hear otherwise. Jones' punting prowess is most valuable due to his accuracy and precision. A total of 40.2% of Jones' punts were downed in the opponent's 20 yard line. Jones' 33 punts downed inside the 20 set a team record. Speaking of records, Jones' 40.5 net punting average also set an Eagles franchise record.

Kick Return: Quintin Demps, Giants

I've always felt like the Eagles gave up on Demps a little too soon. He may not be much of a starting safety but he can definitely return kicks. Demps averaged 30.1 yards per kick return in 2013. That was good for 3rd among qualified NFL kick returners. (992 yards on 33 returns, long of 95, 1 TD)

Punt Return: Dwayne Harris, Cowboys

Harris averaged 12.8 yards per return on 20 punts fielded. He scored 1 TD and had a long of 86. New Redskins WR DeSean Jackson only returned 14 punts for an average of 5.1 yards for the Eagles, but he's worth mentioning here obviously.

ST Coverage: Dwayne Harris (Cowboys), James Casey (Eagles), Reed Doughty (Washington), Mark Herzlich (Giants)

OK, so I'm kind of cheating on this one. Instead of coming up with a whole ST unit I just picked the player that finished with the most ST tackles. The above players finished with 9 ST tackles each. As a whole, I genuinely think the Eagles have a good chance to have the best coverage units not only in the division but the league. Get excited.

Holder: Donnie Jones, Eagles

Why not?

Long Snapper: Jon Dorenbos, Eagles

Dorenbos is a magician and has a beautiful wife. If that isn't enough to convince you, Philly.com's Jimmy Kempski even argued Dorenbos deserved Comeback Player of the Year mention.

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