2016 College Kickoff Return Yards Allowed Leaders

Total return yards gained against a specialist's kickoffs. It reflects his kick and his coverage team.

Lower is better, but volume matters. In 2016, Redford Jones (1309) led college football kickoff specialists in kickoff return yards allowed, ahead of Chris Blewitt (1247) and Alex Rinella (1221). 232 kickoff specialists qualify.

College rule from 2012 to 2017: a kickoff touchback started the receiving team at its 25, so a touchback was a good result for the kicking team. Kickoff Points Added accounts for the rule, so it is the fair way to compare kickoff specialists across leagues and seasons.

Final 2016 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Ret yds	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Redford Jones	Tulsa	1309	90	61.1	36%	58	−7.4
2	Chris Blewitt	Pittsburgh	1247	87	61.7	28%	63	+7.3
3	Alex Rinella	Western Kentucky	1221	89	61.4	25%	66	−1.6
4	Canon Rooker	Middle Tennessee	1220	86	59.7	28%	62	−35.0
5	Jonathan Barnes	Louisiana Tech	1217	90	59.7	33%	60	−12.7
6	Cooper Rothe	Wyoming	1185	76	62.8	39%	46	−0.5
7	Mike Molina	West Virginia	1088	75	58.4	31%	51	−16.4
8	John Baron II	San Diego State	1072	80	62.4	31%	55	+11.9
9	Austin Seibert	Oklahoma	1047	92	63.3	49%	47	+1.0
10	Emilio Nadelman	South Florida	1032	68	61.0	29%	48	+0.2
11	Mike Caggiano	Massachusetts	1021	57	59.4	14%	49	−12.5
12	Brendan Renius	Eastern Michigan	986	73	58.9	25%	55	−0.9
13	Tristan Vizcaino	Washington	979	99	59.1	37%	60	−3.7
14	Blake Brewer	Charlotte	975	56	59.4	20%	45	−9.2
15	Craig Ford	UL Monroe	968	56	57.1	11%	50	−4.2
16	Austin Taylor	Florida International	957	59	57.2	19%	48	−14.9
17	Blanton Creque	Louisville	952	54	59.7	13%	46	−4.6
18	Drew Galitz	Baylor	947	74	62.6	30%	52	+13.6
19	Ty Cummings	Houston	942	80	62.8	45%	43	+6.9
20	Erik Powell	Washington State	941	85	60.1	41%	50	+5.4
21	Austin MacGinnis	Kentucky	923	71	61.4	32%	48	+6.7
22	Samuel Vucelich	Toledo	919	69	60.4	22%	54	+10.9
23	Nathan Noble	Ole Miss	919	77	63.0	39%	47	+8.2
24	Adam Griffith	Alabama	911	88	63.4	52%	41	+6.0
25	Mitchell Becker	Texas	894	68	63.1	37%	43	+6.5
26	Tyler Durbin	Ohio State	887	90	60.3	38%	55	+6.8
27	Elliott Fry	South Carolina	887	51	61.8	33%	33	−2.9
28	Brad Davis	Old Dominion	864	69	53.4	14%	59	−15.0
29	Christian Hagan	Northern Illinois	837	62	60.8	31%	42	−6.3
30	JJ Molson	UCLA	837	60	61.8	32%	40	−4.0
31	Gavin Patterson	South Alabama	828	50	58.6	14%	39	−10.5
32	Joey Julius	Penn State	827	93	62.1	48%	48	+7.7
33	Tom O'Leary	Akron	822	46	57.5	13%	40	−10.6
34	Cole Murphy	Syracuse	821	53	59.3	19%	42	+0.3
35	Cameron Gamble	LSU	802	59	61.3	20%	47	+6.7
36	Bennett Moehring	Navy	801	79	57.5	27%	56	+8.4
37	Greg Huegel	Clemson	799	85	60.8	42%	49	+7.0
38	Noah Beito	California	799	81	55.6	28%	49	+0.4
39	Cole Bunce	TCU	789	69	62.5	39%	41	+8.7
40	Butch Hampton	Western Michigan	789	47	59.7	17%	39	−8.8
41	Aaron Boumerhi	Temple	785	47	58.3	21%	37	−9.4
42	Rigoberto Sanchez	Hawai'i	778	61	60.6	31%	42	−3.8
43	Evan Pantels	UNLV	770	49	60.9	31%	34	−10.3
44	Sawyer Williams	Arkansas State	766	66	60.5	21%	52	+15.8
45	Josh Williams	SMU	760	49	57.6	27%	36	−18.8
46	Rodrigo Blankenship	Georgia	760	50	62.3	38%	31	−8.9
47	Matt Ammendola	Oklahoma State	740	76	63.1	46%	41	+15.8
48	Shane Hynes	Kent State	740	47	56.1	11%	41	−10.8
49	Michael Badgley	Miami	736	82	63.4	59%	34	−0.3
50	J.D. Dellinger	Purdue	726	54	55.2	13%	46	−5.6
51	Austin Rehkow	Idaho	726	55	62.2	27%	40	+2.8
52	Ryan Jones	Cincinnati	726	53	59.5	26%	39	−4.7
53	Jack Fox	Rice	722	59	60.9	42%	34	−2.4
54	Daniel Portillo	UTSA	716	58	60.4	38%	36	−3.8
55	Anthony George	Louisville	713	40	60.3	8%	37	+1.0
56	Parker Davidson	New Mexico State	706	53	61.9	45%	29	−1.9
57	Bratcher Underwood	Troy	688	63	59.7	29%	44	+8.3
58	Tyler Sarrazin	Southern Miss	682	46	60.1	28%	33	−4.4
59	Nick Weiler	North Carolina	679	77	63.7	57%	33	+8.3
60	Luke Strebel	Air Force	674	70	60.6	50%	35	−8.8
61	Kenny Allen	Michigan	667	77	64.2	58%	32	+11.8
62	Kevin Cronin	Michigan State	665	61	59.5	38%	38	−0.5
63	Aaron Medley	Tennessee	661	76	64.8	55%	33	+7.0
64	Derrick Mitchell	Western Michigan	657	54	62.7	33%	36	+3.7
65	Austin Jones	Temple	654	39	60.3	15%	33	−1.7
66	Sam Sloman	Miami (OH)	647	50	56.9	22%	38	−11.1
67	Clayton Hatfield	Texas Tech	647	46	62.2	37%	29	+3.5
68	Griffin Oakes	Indiana	634	56	59.9	39%	32	−4.6
69	Drew Brown	Nebraska	629	55	63.8	47%	29	+4.8
70	Brandon Wright	Georgia State	626	45	61.6	27%	33	+1.4
71	Stevie Artigue	Louisiana	624	53	60.0	30%	37	+4.1
72	Matt Boermeester	USC	623	77	63.2	52%	37	+10.3
73	Connor Limpert	Arkansas	614	42	61.7	21%	33	−0.4
74	Justin Yoon	Notre Dame	614	54	61.9	44%	30	+7.9
75	Tyler Rausa	Boise State	613	71	64.1	55%	32	+8.1
76	Jake Thompson	Utah State	610	58	61.3	43%	33	+2.9
77	Chris Francis	Iowa State	603	67	62.1	52%	32	+0.6
78	Caleb Pratt	East Carolina	602	41	58.3	32%	28	−7.1
79	Jack Mitchell	Northwestern	586	58	63.1	53%	27	+1.7
80	Michael Farkas	Ohio	577	34	57.3	6%	32	−0.1
81	Tommy Openshaw	Vanderbilt	575	47	61.8	26%	35	−5.7
82	Donald De La Haye	UCF	572	64	60.6	50%	32	−1.9
83	Louie Zervos	Ohio	567	38	54.9	11%	33	−9.1
84	Brent Zuzo	Nevada	556	54	59.9	41%	32	+2.1
85	Chris Graham	Colorado	549	42	61.8	40%	24	−5.9
86	Corey Edwards	BYU	548	47	61.8	32%	32	+1.8
87	Hayes Hicken	Utah	543	57	62.4	51%	28	+6.8
88	Kyle Bambard	NC State	539	39	61.5	23%	30	+3.2
89	Bentlee Critcher	App State	536	65	63.7	65%	23	+1.4
90	Adley Rutschman	Oregon State	529	53	60.4	38%	33	−0.4
91	P.J. Rosowski	Wisconsin	528	74	63.3	64%	27	+8.5
92	Nick Fields	Bowling Green	527	55	53.5	24%	39	−6.4
93	Mike Knoll	Boston College	525	48	60.7	29%	34	+7.3
94	Mike Weaver	Wake Forest	522	56	64.1	55%	25	+7.4
95	Emmit Carpenter	Minnesota	521	72	61.7	51%	35	+3.3
96	Matt Wogan	Oregon	513	78	64.6	67%	26	+6.8
97	Tucker McCann	Missouri	511	63	63.4	67%	21	+0.5
98	Dylan Sims	Virginia	493	28	61.1	36%	18	−2.7
99	Eric Keena	North Texas	491	55	63.0	58%	23	+1.6
100	Danny Sutton	Maryland	486	31	58.9	16%	26	−1.1
101	Jake Bailey	Stanford	473	62	63.9	60%	25	+9.9
102	Lumi Kaba	Texas State	469	30	59.0	17%	25	−4.2
103	Taylor Sheets	Buffalo	468	28	56.9	14%	24	−6.2
104	Kyle Schmidt	Ball State	466	30	61.1	20%	24	+3.6
105	Braxton Davis	Colorado State	464	58	61.4	53%	27	−0.1
106	Zachary Block	Tulane	456	45	60.3	42%	26	+1.2
107	Logan Tyler	Florida State	444	76	64.4	66%	26	+15.8
108	Matthew Wyman	Kansas	432	52	63.3	56%	23	+0.3
109	Ron Coluzzi	Iowa	424	60	62.0	63%	22	−0.5
110	Chase McLaughlin	Illinois	417	35	62.0	43%	20	−5.8
111	Davis Plowman	East Carolina	404	22	59.1	5%	20	+1.2
112	Jake Elliott	Memphis	402	88	63.7	68%	28	+18.9
113	Kaden Keon	Central Michigan	396	25	56.0	12%	22	−1.3
114	Harrison Butker	Georgia Tech	389	65	64.5	71%	19	+8.6
115	Brian Eavey	Central Michigan	387	33	57.5	24%	25	−1.1
116	Tyler Bass	Georgia Southern	385	66	64.4	68%	21	+5.5
117	Edgar Gastelum	Arizona	384	29	62.5	45%	16	−5.6
118	Amoreto Curraj	Marshall	382	40	62.8	55%	18	+5.7
119	Adam McFain	Arkansas	381	24	59.7	21%	19	−1.7
120	Austin Parker	Duke	375	25	60.2	16%	21	+1.9
121	Adam Greene	Maryland	373	24	58.1	8%	22	+3.6
122	Michael Armstrong	SMU	357	18	54.7	11%	15	−5.2
123	Will Kline	Duke	354	21	60.3	10%	19	−1.1
124	Joey Slye	Virginia Tech	352	87	64.5	78%	19	+18.0
125	Brad Wall	Mississippi State	349	29	61.5	28%	20	+4.4
126	Matthew McCrane	Kansas State	330	32	60.5	34%	21	+2.1
127	Nicolai Bornand	UNLV	329	19	60.4	26%	14	−6.3
128	Braden Mann	Texas A&M	326	67	64.0	73%	17	+10.7
129	John Chereson	Notre Dame	321	16	56.7	25%	12	−4.5
130	Jared Smolar	Rutgers	318	20	55.0	0%	19	+0.2
131	Brandon Behr	South Florida	318	15	60.3	7%	14	−3.1
132	Ryan Rimmler	Ball State	317	20	59.4	10%	18	+1.7
133	Zane Gonzalez	Arizona State	316	76	64.4	78%	17	+11.1
134	Mitchell Howard	Army	316	25	60.8	36%	16	+0.6
135	Sam Hayward	Virginia	314	23	61.4	39%	14	+0.2
136	Adam Mitcheson	Buffalo	310	14	52.9	0%	14	−7.1
137	Jackson Maples	NC State	307	22	61.0	27%	16	−3.5
138	David Bonagura	Rutgers	306	20	54.8	15%	16	−7.7
139	Jay Mattox	UTEP	306	48	63.8	67%	16	+7.4
140	Ian Patterson	Kansas State	288	20	62.3	20%	16	−1.6
141	Eddy Pineiro	Florida	284	58	64.5	72%	15	+3.9
142	Jason Sanders	New Mexico	281	81	63.4	83%	14	+0.6
143	Michael Barden	Texas Tech	278	45	63.8	69%	14	+3.9
144	Steve Drida	Ball State	278	14	57.1	0%	14	−3.4
145	Michael Carrizosa	San José State	270	60	60.8	68%	19	+2.0
146	Stephen Brauchle	Southern Miss	269	18	51.9	0%	18	−5.5
147	Westin Graves	Mississippi State	269	14	57.6	0%	14	−2.3
148	Blake Wilson	Army	259	25	54.2	12%	22	+2.6
149	Daniel Carlson	Auburn	239	68	63.6	79%	13	+10.6
150	Nick Schrage	Army	232	12	57.6	17%	10	−2.2
151	Nick Gasser	Akron	230	14	60.9	14%	12	−1.2
152	Greg Joseph	Florida Atlantic	228	50	64.7	78%	11	+5.8
153	Bobby Puyol	UConn	217	43	62.8	67%	14	+6.2
154	Jimmy Camacho	Fresno State	209	20	60.9	30%	14	+4.7
155	Davis Price	Colorado	209	14	60.9	29%	10	−0.4
156	Josh Pollack	Arizona	206	19	54.3	16%	16	−4.2
157	Van Valkenburg	Fresno State	197	18	61.9	28%	13	+2.2
158	Andrew Mikkelsen	BYU	193	12	59.6	0%	12	+2.6
159	Nick Van Valkenburg	Fresno State	191	11	61.6	9%	10	+1.6
160	David Reisner	Illinois	191	7	59.4	14%	6	−6.8
161	Kyle Fischer	Louisiana Tech	190	11	61.4	0%	11	+1.3
162	Logan Cooke	Mississippi State	185	25	63.3	56%	11	+3.8
163	James Sherman	Texas State	167	12	61.2	25%	9	+1.9
164	Rogier ten Lohuis	Georgia State	147	5	63.8	40%	3	−2.1
165	Corliss Waitman	South Alabama	145	10	51.9	0%	10	−5.4
166	Dalton Schomp	Florida Atlantic	145	7	63.6	14%	6	+0.8
167	Sam Loy	Vanderbilt	143	8	61.1	13%	7	0.0
168	Alex Spence	Clemson	139	8	62.0	13%	7	−0.2
169	Parker Shaunfield	Southern Miss	136	11	56.6	27%	8	−6.2
170	Zach Gingerich	Akron	133	4	60.0	0%	4	−5.5
171	Evan Jakubowski	Miami (OH)	126	5	58.6	0%	5	−2.3
172	Mitch Lochbihler	Kansas State	122	22	63.9	68%	7	+2.4
173	Diego Gonzalez	Colorado	116	19	65.0	84%	3	−1.5
174	James Foug	Michigan	113	8	57.5	25%	6	−1.0
175	Spencer Lindsay	Nebraska	106	7	62.1	29%	5	+0.6
176	Zach Sinor	Oklahoma State	105	7	61.1	14%	6	+3.0
177	Andy Phillips	Utah	99	10	58.2	30%	6	−1.1
178	Evan O'Hara	Louisville	99	6	53.2	0%	6	−3.2
179	Garrett Owens	Oregon State	96	4	56.0	0%	4	−2.5
180	Josh Cole	Western Kentucky	92	8	60.4	0%	8	+3.9
181	William Ham	Georgia	92	11	60.5	36%	7	+3.3
182	Ian Shannon	Auburn	86	11	64.4	55%	5	+3.0
183	JK Scott	Alabama	84	9	62.3	44%	5	+1.9
184	Josh Rode	Toledo	82	4	59.5	0%	4	+0.2
185	Ryan Tice	Michigan	82	3	63.0	0%	3	−0.2
186	Ryan Frain	Illinois	68	9	64.2	44%	5	+3.6
187	Tavis Guerra	Colorado State	66	5	64.4	40%	3	+0.9
188	Randy Harvey	Tulane	63	5	47.0	0%	5	−1.7
189	Ryley Guay	Vanderbilt	58	3	53.0	0%	3	−3.5
190	Alex Trifonovitch	Hawai'i	57	3	53.3	0%	3	−0.4
191	Colton Lichtenberg	Boston College	56	3	60.7	33%	2	−1.2
192	Jameson Vest	Toledo	53	2	61.0	0%	2	−1.1
193	Max Allan	Oklahoma State	49	4	62.0	0%	4	+0.5
194	Ryan Nuss	Western Kentucky	39	2	62.5	0%	2	+0.6
195	Aaron Del Grosso	Indiana	38	7	60.1	57%	3	+1.2
196	Mike Shinsky	Maryland	36	2	56.0	0%	2	−0.1
197	Erik Harris	Navy	34	3	63.0	33%	2	+1.0
198	Andy Pappanastos	Alabama	33	2	57.0	0%	2	+0.3
199	Connor Haskins	NC State	31	1	65.0	0%	1	−0.3
200	Bailey Cate	Old Dominion	30	2	56.0	0%	2	+0.4
201	Jordan Choukair	Oregon State	30	1	65.0	0%	1	−0.3
202	Sterling Hofrichter	Syracuse	26	1	55.0	0%	1	−0.8
203	Jack Gonsoulin	LSU	24	1	50.0	0%	1	+0.2
204	Tom Sheldon	North Carolina	24	1	64.0	0%	1	−1.2
205	Mitch Wishnowsky	Utah	22	3	61.7	33%	2	−0.5
206	Worth Gregory	East Carolina	22	2	49.0	0%	2	−3.8
207	Nick Dowd	Miami (OH)	21	1	63.0	0%	1	+0.3
208	Matt Bonadies	Middle Tennessee	20	1	56.0	0%	1	−1.6
209	Connor Martin	Baylor	19	1	59.0	0%	1	+0.1
210	Corey Fatony	Missouri	17	1	45.0	0%	1	−1.4
211	Myles Homan	Purdue	17	1	47.0	0%	1	−0.7
212	Cameron Van Winkle	Washington	16	2	63.0	50%	1	+0.6
213	Danny Stirt	Duke	15	1	60.0	0%	1	+0.4
214	Michael Cintron	Rutgers	15	2	61.0	50%	1	+0.4
215	Sy Slater	New Mexico State	15	2	68.5	50%	1	0.0
216	Zach Potter	Army	15	1	53.0	0%	1	0.0
217	Daniel LaCamera	Texas A&M	14	4	68.0	50%	2	−1.1
218	Kyle Pfau	Oklahoma	14	1	47.0	0%	1	−0.4
219	Ryan Santoso	Minnesota	14	1	62.0	0%	1	−0.4
220	Andrew Endicott	Wisconsin	13	1	52.0	0%	1	+0.1
221	Dominik Eberle	Utah State	13	1	43.0	0%	1	−0.3
222	Jake Hartbarger	Michigan State	13	1	42.0	0%	1	−2.2
223	Jake Oldroyd	BYU	12	2	31.5	0%	2	−2.0
224	Stone Wilson	Florida International	11	1	45.0	0%	1	−1.8
225	Ryan Graf	TCU	9	3	39.0	0%	3	−0.6
226	Ethan Wood	Wyoming	8	1	45.0	0%	1	−0.1
227	Ricky Aguayo	Florida State	8	1	50.0	0%	1	+0.7
228	Steven Logan	Tulane	7	1	58.0	0%	1	+0.7
229	Kody Kroening	Fresno State	6	1	53.0	0%	1	+0.5
230	Matt Hockett	Oklahoma State	5	1	59.0	0%	1	+0.8
231	Joseph Davidson	Bowling Green	3	1	46.0	0%	1	+0.8
232	Jamie Sackville	SMU	2	1	68.0	0%	1	+0.7

All 2016 College kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Return Yards Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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