During his sophomore season at Arkansas, Knile Davis broke out and gained more rushing yards than any running back in the SEC. He gained 1,322 yards and scored 13 touchdowns while averaging nearly 6.5 yards per carry.

While the 2010 season proved how good Davis could be with the ball in his hands, it took until his rookie NFL season for him to find a role in which he could thrive at the next level. Now, Davis’ ability as a kick returner makes him all the more valuable to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“It’s something that I love to do,” Davis told triblive.com on Thursday afternoon, “something that’s helped me stay around the league, something that gave me another avenue to make a name for myself.

“I’d never returned kicks in my life. (Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator) Dave Toub gave me an opportunity in my rookie year, and I told him I would do whatever would help the team out. So I went for it, and I had success.”

Davis was signed by the Steelers in March after spending three seasons in Kansas City, but he joins a team that has a very crowded backfield situation. Davis’ forte as a returner is likely his best bet to stick with the squad and see the field regularly.

Although Davis may not immediately jump to the front of people’s minds when discussing some of the league’s best return men, he’s scored one touchdown on a kickoff return in each of his three NFL seasons. Scoring on a kickoff return is almost a foreign concept for Pittsburgh, which hasn’t had a touchdown in that aspect of the game since 2010.

Perhaps Davis is just the right man to fix that problem.