2016 College Kickoff Returns Allowed Leaders

Kickoffs the receiving team brought out of the end zone. More returns mean more chances for a big return, but also more chances to be tackled short.

Compare with return yards allowed. In 2016, Alex Rinella (66) led college football kickoff specialists in kickoff returns allowed, ahead of Chris Blewitt (63) and Canon Rooker (62). 239 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	Returns	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Points
1	Alex Rinella	Western Kentucky	66	89	61.4	25%	−1.6
2	Chris Blewitt	Pittsburgh	63	87	61.7	28%	+7.3
3	Canon Rooker	Middle Tennessee	62	86	59.7	28%	−35.0
4	Tristan Vizcaino	Washington	60	99	59.1	37%	−3.7
5	Jonathan Barnes	Louisiana Tech	60	90	59.7	33%	−12.7
6	Brad Davis	Old Dominion	59	69	53.4	14%	−15.0
7	Redford Jones	Tulsa	58	90	61.1	36%	−7.4
8	Bennett Moehring	Navy	56	79	57.5	27%	+8.4
9	Tyler Durbin	Ohio State	55	90	60.3	38%	+6.8
10	John Baron II	San Diego State	55	80	62.4	31%	+11.9
11	Brendan Renius	Eastern Michigan	55	73	58.9	25%	−0.9
12	Samuel Vucelich	Toledo	54	69	60.4	22%	+10.9
13	Drew Galitz	Baylor	52	74	62.6	30%	+13.6
14	Sawyer Williams	Arkansas State	52	66	60.5	21%	+15.8
15	Mike Molina	West Virginia	51	75	58.4	31%	−16.4
16	Erik Powell	Washington State	50	85	60.1	41%	+5.4
17	Craig Ford	UL Monroe	50	56	57.1	11%	−4.2
18	Greg Huegel	Clemson	49	85	60.8	42%	+7.0
19	Noah Beito	California	49	81	55.6	28%	+0.4
20	Mike Caggiano	Massachusetts	49	57	59.4	14%	−12.5
21	Joey Julius	Penn State	48	93	62.1	48%	+7.7
22	Austin MacGinnis	Kentucky	48	71	61.4	32%	+6.7
23	Emilio Nadelman	South Florida	48	68	61.0	29%	+0.2
24	Austin Taylor	Florida International	48	59	57.2	19%	−14.9
25	Austin Seibert	Oklahoma	47	92	63.3	49%	+1.0
26	Nathan Noble	Ole Miss	47	77	63.0	39%	+8.2
27	Cameron Gamble	LSU	47	59	61.3	20%	+6.7
28	Cooper Rothe	Wyoming	46	76	62.8	39%	−0.5
29	Blanton Creque	Louisville	46	54	59.7	13%	−4.6
30	J.D. Dellinger	Purdue	46	54	55.2	13%	−5.6
31	Blake Brewer	Charlotte	45	56	59.4	20%	−9.2
32	Bratcher Underwood	Troy	44	63	59.7	29%	+8.3
33	Ty Cummings	Houston	43	80	62.8	45%	+6.9
34	Mitchell Becker	Texas	43	68	63.1	37%	+6.5
35	Christian Hagan	Northern Illinois	42	62	60.8	31%	−6.3
36	Rigoberto Sanchez	Hawai'i	42	61	60.6	31%	−3.8
37	Cole Murphy	Syracuse	42	53	59.3	19%	+0.3
38	Adam Griffith	Alabama	41	88	63.4	52%	+6.0
39	Matt Ammendola	Oklahoma State	41	76	63.1	46%	+15.8
40	Cole Bunce	TCU	41	69	62.5	39%	+8.7
41	Shane Hynes	Kent State	41	47	56.1	11%	−10.8
42	JJ Molson	UCLA	40	60	61.8	32%	−4.0
43	Austin Rehkow	Idaho	40	55	62.2	27%	+2.8
44	Tom O'Leary	Akron	40	46	57.5	13%	−10.6
45	Nick Fields	Bowling Green	39	55	53.5	24%	−6.4
46	Ryan Jones	Cincinnati	39	53	59.5	26%	−4.7
47	Gavin Patterson	South Alabama	39	50	58.6	14%	−10.5
48	Butch Hampton	Western Michigan	39	47	59.7	17%	−8.8
49	Kevin Cronin	Michigan State	38	61	59.5	38%	−0.5
50	Sam Sloman	Miami (OH)	38	50	56.9	22%	−11.1
51	Matt Boermeester	USC	37	77	63.2	52%	+10.3
52	Stevie Artigue	Louisiana	37	53	60.0	30%	+4.1
53	Aaron Boumerhi	Temple	37	47	58.3	21%	−9.4
54	Anthony George	Louisville	37	40	60.3	8%	+1.0
55	Daniel Portillo	UTSA	36	58	60.4	38%	−3.8
56	Derrick Mitchell	Western Michigan	36	54	62.7	33%	+3.7
57	Josh Williams	SMU	36	49	57.6	27%	−18.8
58	Emmit Carpenter	Minnesota	35	72	61.7	51%	+3.3
59	Luke Strebel	Air Force	35	70	60.6	50%	−8.8
60	Tommy Openshaw	Vanderbilt	35	47	61.8	26%	−5.7
61	Michael Badgley	Miami	34	82	63.4	59%	−0.3
62	Jack Fox	Rice	34	59	60.9	42%	−2.4
63	Evan Pantels	UNLV	34	49	60.9	31%	−10.3
64	Mike Knoll	Boston College	34	48	60.7	29%	+7.3
65	Nick Weiler	North Carolina	33	77	63.7	57%	+8.3
66	Aaron Medley	Tennessee	33	76	64.8	55%	+7.0
67	Jake Thompson	Utah State	33	58	61.3	43%	+2.9
68	Adley Rutschman	Oregon State	33	53	60.4	38%	−0.4
69	Elliott Fry	South Carolina	33	51	61.8	33%	−2.9
70	Tyler Sarrazin	Southern Miss	33	46	60.1	28%	−4.4
71	Brandon Wright	Georgia State	33	45	61.6	27%	+1.4
72	Connor Limpert	Arkansas	33	42	61.7	21%	−0.4
73	Austin Jones	Temple	33	39	60.3	15%	−1.7
74	Louie Zervos	Ohio	33	38	54.9	11%	−9.1
75	Kenny Allen	Michigan	32	77	64.2	58%	+11.8
76	Tyler Rausa	Boise State	32	71	64.1	55%	+8.1
77	Chris Francis	Iowa State	32	67	62.1	52%	+0.6
78	Donald De La Haye	UCF	32	64	60.6	50%	−1.9
79	Griffin Oakes	Indiana	32	56	59.9	39%	−4.6
80	Brent Zuzo	Nevada	32	54	59.9	41%	+2.1
81	Corey Edwards	BYU	32	47	61.8	32%	+1.8
82	Michael Farkas	Ohio	32	34	57.3	6%	−0.1
83	Rodrigo Blankenship	Georgia	31	50	62.3	38%	−8.9
84	Justin Yoon	Notre Dame	30	54	61.9	44%	+7.9
85	Kyle Bambard	NC State	30	39	61.5	23%	+3.2
86	Drew Brown	Nebraska	29	55	63.8	47%	+4.8
87	Parker Davidson	New Mexico State	29	53	61.9	45%	−1.9
88	Clayton Hatfield	Texas Tech	29	46	62.2	37%	+3.5
89	Jake Elliott	Memphis	28	88	63.7	68%	+18.9
90	Hayes Hicken	Utah	28	57	62.4	51%	+6.8
91	Caleb Pratt	East Carolina	28	41	58.3	32%	−7.1
92	P.J. Rosowski	Wisconsin	27	74	63.3	64%	+8.5
93	Braxton Davis	Colorado State	27	58	61.4	53%	−0.1
94	Jack Mitchell	Northwestern	27	58	63.1	53%	+1.7
95	Matt Wogan	Oregon	26	78	64.6	67%	+6.8
96	Logan Tyler	Florida State	26	76	64.4	66%	+15.8
97	Zachary Block	Tulane	26	45	60.3	42%	+1.2
98	Danny Sutton	Maryland	26	31	58.9	16%	−1.1
99	Jake Bailey	Stanford	25	62	63.9	60%	+9.9
100	Mike Weaver	Wake Forest	25	56	64.1	55%	+7.4
101	Brian Eavey	Central Michigan	25	33	57.5	24%	−1.1
102	Lumi Kaba	Texas State	25	30	59.0	17%	−4.2
103	Chris Graham	Colorado	24	42	61.8	40%	−5.9
104	Kyle Schmidt	Ball State	24	30	61.1	20%	+3.6
105	Taylor Sheets	Buffalo	24	28	56.9	14%	−6.2
106	Bentlee Critcher	App State	23	65	63.7	65%	+1.4
107	Eric Keena	North Texas	23	55	63.0	58%	+1.6
108	Matthew Wyman	Kansas	23	52	63.3	56%	+0.3
109	Ron Coluzzi	Iowa	22	60	62.0	63%	−0.5
110	Blake Wilson	Army	22	25	54.2	12%	+2.6
111	Kaden Keon	Central Michigan	22	25	56.0	12%	−1.3
112	Adam Greene	Maryland	22	24	58.1	8%	+3.6
113	Tyler Bass	Georgia Southern	21	66	64.4	68%	+5.5
114	Tucker McCann	Missouri	21	63	63.4	67%	+0.5
115	Matthew McCrane	Kansas State	21	32	60.5	34%	+2.1
116	Austin Parker	Duke	21	25	60.2	16%	+1.9
117	Chase McLaughlin	Illinois	20	35	62.0	43%	−5.8
118	Brad Wall	Mississippi State	20	29	61.5	28%	+4.4
119	Davis Plowman	East Carolina	20	22	59.1	5%	+1.2
120	Joey Slye	Virginia Tech	19	87	64.5	78%	+18.0
121	Harrison Butker	Georgia Tech	19	65	64.5	71%	+8.6
122	Michael Carrizosa	San José State	19	60	60.8	68%	+2.0
123	Adam McFain	Arkansas	19	24	59.7	21%	−1.7
124	Will Kline	Duke	19	21	60.3	10%	−1.1
125	Jared Smolar	Rutgers	19	20	55.0	0%	+0.2
126	Amoreto Curraj	Marshall	18	40	62.8	55%	+5.7
127	Dylan Sims	Virginia	18	28	61.1	36%	−2.7
128	Ryan Rimmler	Ball State	18	20	59.4	10%	+1.7
129	Stephen Brauchle	Southern Miss	18	18	51.9	0%	−5.5
130	Zane Gonzalez	Arizona State	17	76	64.4	78%	+11.1
131	Braden Mann	Texas A&M	17	67	64.0	73%	+10.7
132	Jay Mattox	UTEP	16	48	63.8	67%	+7.4
133	Edgar Gastelum	Arizona	16	29	62.5	45%	−5.6
134	Mitchell Howard	Army	16	25	60.8	36%	+0.6
135	Jackson Maples	NC State	16	22	61.0	27%	−3.5
136	David Bonagura	Rutgers	16	20	54.8	15%	−7.7
137	Ian Patterson	Kansas State	16	20	62.3	20%	−1.6
138	Josh Pollack	Arizona	16	19	54.3	16%	−4.2
139	Eddy Pineiro	Florida	15	58	64.5	72%	+3.9
140	Michael Armstrong	SMU	15	18	54.7	11%	−5.2
141	Jason Sanders	New Mexico	14	81	63.4	83%	+0.6
142	Michael Barden	Texas Tech	14	45	63.8	69%	+3.9
143	Bobby Puyol	UConn	14	43	62.8	67%	+6.2
144	Sam Hayward	Virginia	14	23	61.4	39%	+0.2
145	Jimmy Camacho	Fresno State	14	20	60.9	30%	+4.7
146	Nicolai Bornand	UNLV	14	19	60.4	26%	−6.3
147	Brandon Behr	South Florida	14	15	60.3	7%	−3.1
148	Adam Mitcheson	Buffalo	14	14	52.9	0%	−7.1
149	Steve Drida	Ball State	14	14	57.1	0%	−3.4
150	Westin Graves	Mississippi State	14	14	57.6	0%	−2.3
151	Daniel Carlson	Auburn	13	68	63.6	79%	+10.6
152	Van Valkenburg	Fresno State	13	18	61.9	28%	+2.2
153	John Chereson	Notre Dame	12	16	56.7	25%	−4.5
154	Nick Gasser	Akron	12	14	60.9	14%	−1.2
155	Andrew Mikkelsen	BYU	12	12	59.6	0%	+2.6
156	Greg Joseph	Florida Atlantic	11	50	64.7	78%	+5.8
157	Logan Cooke	Mississippi State	11	25	63.3	56%	+3.8
158	Kyle Fischer	Louisiana Tech	11	11	61.4	0%	+1.3
159	Davis Price	Colorado	10	14	60.9	29%	−0.4
160	Nick Schrage	Army	10	12	57.6	17%	−2.2
161	Nick Van Valkenburg	Fresno State	10	11	61.6	9%	+1.6
162	Corliss Waitman	South Alabama	10	10	51.9	0%	−5.4
163	James Sherman	Texas State	9	12	61.2	25%	+1.9
164	Parker Shaunfield	Southern Miss	8	11	56.6	27%	−6.2
165	Josh Cole	Western Kentucky	8	8	60.4	0%	+3.9
166	Mitch Lochbihler	Kansas State	7	22	63.9	68%	+2.4
167	William Ham	Georgia	7	11	60.5	36%	+3.3
168	Alex Spence	Clemson	7	8	62.0	13%	−0.2
169	Sam Loy	Vanderbilt	7	8	61.1	13%	0.0
170	Andy Phillips	Utah	6	10	58.2	30%	−1.1
171	James Foug	Michigan	6	8	57.5	25%	−1.0
172	Dalton Schomp	Florida Atlantic	6	7	63.6	14%	+0.8
173	David Reisner	Illinois	6	7	59.4	14%	−6.8
174	Zach Sinor	Oklahoma State	6	7	61.1	14%	+3.0
175	Evan O'Hara	Louisville	6	6	53.2	0%	−3.2
176	Ian Shannon	Auburn	5	11	64.4	55%	+3.0
177	JK Scott	Alabama	5	9	62.3	44%	+1.9
178	Ryan Frain	Illinois	5	9	64.2	44%	+3.6
179	Spencer Lindsay	Nebraska	5	7	62.1	29%	+0.6
180	Evan Jakubowski	Miami (OH)	5	5	58.6	0%	−2.3
181	Randy Harvey	Tulane	5	5	47.0	0%	−1.7
182	Garrett Owens	Oregon State	4	4	56.0	0%	−2.5
183	Josh Rode	Toledo	4	4	59.5	0%	+0.2
184	Max Allan	Oklahoma State	4	4	62.0	0%	+0.5
185	Zach Gingerich	Akron	4	4	60.0	0%	−5.5
186	Diego Gonzalez	Colorado	3	19	65.0	84%	−1.5
187	Aaron Del Grosso	Indiana	3	7	60.1	57%	+1.2
188	Rogier ten Lohuis	Georgia State	3	5	63.8	40%	−2.1
189	Tavis Guerra	Colorado State	3	5	64.4	40%	+0.9
190	Alex Trifonovitch	Hawai'i	3	3	53.3	0%	−0.4
191	Ryan Graf	TCU	3	3	39.0	0%	−0.6
192	Ryan Tice	Michigan	3	3	63.0	0%	−0.2
193	Ryley Guay	Vanderbilt	3	3	53.0	0%	−3.5
194	Turner Adams	Missouri	2	5	41.0	40%	−3.6
195	Daniel LaCamera	Texas A&M	2	4	68.0	50%	−1.1
196	Colton Lichtenberg	Boston College	2	3	60.7	33%	−1.2
197	Erik Harris	Navy	2	3	63.0	33%	+1.0
198	Mitch Wishnowsky	Utah	2	3	61.7	33%	−0.5
199	Andy Pappanastos	Alabama	2	2	57.0	0%	+0.3
200	Bailey Cate	Old Dominion	2	2	56.0	0%	+0.4
201	Jake Oldroyd	BYU	2	2	31.5	0%	−2.0
202	Jameson Vest	Toledo	2	2	61.0	0%	−1.1
203	Mike Shinsky	Maryland	2	2	56.0	0%	−0.1
204	Ryan Nuss	Western Kentucky	2	2	62.5	0%	+0.6
205	Worth Gregory	East Carolina	2	2	49.0	0%	−3.8
206	Cameron Van Winkle	Washington	1	2	63.0	50%	+0.6
207	Michael Cintron	Rutgers	1	2	61.0	50%	+0.4
208	Sy Slater	New Mexico State	1	2	68.5	50%	0.0
209	Trent Domingue	Texas	1	2	42.0	50%	−2.1
210	Andrew Endicott	Wisconsin	1	1	52.0	0%	+0.1
211	Brock Warren	Utah State	1	1	40.0	0%	+0.1
212	Bryce Crawford	San José State	1	1	30.0	0%	−0.7
213	Connor Haskins	NC State	1	1	65.0	0%	−0.3
214	Connor Martin	Baylor	1	1	59.0	0%	+0.1
215	Corey Fatony	Missouri	1	1	45.0	0%	−1.4
216	Danny Stirt	Duke	1	1	60.0	0%	+0.4
217	Dominik Eberle	Utah State	1	1	43.0	0%	−0.3
218	Ethan Wood	Wyoming	1	1	45.0	0%	−0.1
219	Jack Gonsoulin	LSU	1	1	50.0	0%	+0.2
220	Jake Hartbarger	Michigan State	1	1	42.0	0%	−2.2
221	Jamie Sackville	SMU	1	1	68.0	0%	+0.7
222	Jerry Fitschen	Akron	1	1	56.0	0%	+0.9
223	Jordan Choukair	Oregon State	1	1	65.0	0%	−0.3
224	Joseph Davidson	Bowling Green	1	1	46.0	0%	+0.8
225	Josh Lambert	West Virginia	1	1	42.0	0%	+0.3
226	Kody Kroening	Fresno State	1	1	53.0	0%	+0.5
227	Kyle Pfau	Oklahoma	1	1	47.0	0%	−0.4
228	Matt Bonadies	Middle Tennessee	1	1	56.0	0%	−1.6
229	Matt Hockett	Oklahoma State	1	1	59.0	0%	+0.8
230	Morgan Hagee	Ball State	1	1	14.0	0%	−2.5
231	Myles Homan	Purdue	1	1	47.0	0%	−0.7
232	Nick Dowd	Miami (OH)	1	1	63.0	0%	+0.3
233	Ricky Aguayo	Florida State	1	1	50.0	0%	+0.7
234	Ryan Santoso	Minnesota	1	1	62.0	0%	−0.4
235	Sterling Hofrichter	Syracuse	1	1	55.0	0%	−0.8
236	Steven Logan	Tulane	1	1	58.0	0%	+0.7
237	Stone Wilson	Florida International	1	1	45.0	0%	−1.8
238	Tom Sheldon	North Carolina	1	1	64.0	0%	−1.2
239	Zach Potter	Army	1	1	53.0	0%	0.0

All 2016 College kickoff specialist rankings

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

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