Part of it was Zuerlein missing 5 games. Also, at least according to FootballOutsiders who I think does a good job on special teams ratings, they were middle of the pack in kickoff returns and bottom 10 in kickoff coverage.
Littleton and Ebukam becoming starters resulted in them played less than half the ST snaps they did in 2017. And I think they also missed Craig Davis.
I mentioned this before but I do think that special teams, in part, factored into them keeping Malcolm Brown over CJ Anderson.
Maybe the Penn State kid they drafted in the 7th round can come in and help on ST too.
