2017 College Kickoff Specialist Rankings

Every college football kickoff specialist with enough work in the 2017 regular season (at least 30), ranked by kickoff points added. Each kickoff's expected-points result compared with the league-average kickoff, added up over the season. Onside kicks are left out. It credits the kicker and the coverage team together.

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 2017 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

2017 College Leaders

Kickoff Touchback Percentage

Joey Slye (Virginia Tech): 85% 50 of 59
Tyler Bass (Georgia Southern): 85% 44 of 52
Jason Sanders (New Mexico): 81% 39 of 48
Eddy Pineiro (Florida): 78% 39 of 50
Austin Seibert (Oklahoma): 77% 79 of 102

Full Kickoff Touchback Percentage leaderboard

Average Kickoff Return Allowed

Blake Haubeil (Ohio State): 13.8 70 returns
Matthew McCrane (Kansas State): 14.2 25 returns
Bennett Moehring (Navy): 14.3 28 returns
Ryan Jones (Cincinnati): 14.7 37 returns
Josh Orne (Northern Illinois): 15.0 25 returns

Full Average Kickoff Return Allowed leaderboard

Kickoff Points Added

Miguel Recinos (Iowa): +17.3 63 kickoffs
James Foug (Michigan): +16.5 64 kickoffs
Blake Haubeil (Ohio State): +15.4 82 kickoffs
Jake Bailey (Stanford): +15.1 75 kickoffs
Freeman Jones (North Carolina): +13.2 59 kickoffs

Full Kickoff Points Added leaderboard

Average Kickoff Distance

Parker White (South Carolina): 64.6 58 kickoffs
Caleb Pratt (East Carolina): 64.6 61 kickoffs
Jake Bailey (Stanford): 64.4 75 kickoffs
Cole Murphy (Syracuse): 64.3 63 kickoffs
Joshua Rowland (Texas): 64.2 62 kickoffs

Full Average Kickoff Distance leaderboard

Kickoff Out of Bounds Percentage

Austin Seibert (Oklahoma): 0.0% 0 of 102
Matt Ammendola (Oklahoma State): 0.0% 0 of 98
Greg Joseph (Florida Atlantic): 0.0% 0 of 93
JK Scott (Alabama): 0.0% 0 of 89
Lucas Havrisik (Arizona): 0.0% 0 of 87

Full Kickoff Out of Bounds Percentage leaderboard

30+ Yard Return Percentage Allowed

James Foug (Michigan): 0.0% 0 of 33
Miguel Recinos (Iowa): 0.0% 0 of 32
Kaare Vedvik (Marshall): 0.0% 0 of 28
Jake Bailey (Stanford): 0.0% 0 of 22
Andrew Mikkelsen (BYU): 0.0% 0 of 21

Full 30+ Yard Return Percentage Allowed leaderboard

All 2017 College Kickoff Specialist Leaderboards

Kickoffs by Points Added

128 kickoff specialists qualify.

Rk	Player	Team	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Miguel Recinos	Iowa	63	63.1	49%	32	+17.3
2	James Foug	Michigan	64	63.0	48%	33	+16.5
3	Blake Haubeil	Ohio State	82	59.6	15%	70	+15.4
4	Jake Bailey	Stanford	75	64.4	71%	22	+15.1
5	Freeman Jones	North Carolina	59	63.5	51%	28	+13.2
6	Rodrigo Blankenship	Georgia	82	64.1	73%	22	+12.9
7	Jimmy Camacho	Fresno State	73	62.4	51%	36	+12.6
8	Zach Hintze	Wisconsin	70	64.2	70%	21	+12.5
9	Greg Joseph	Florida Atlantic	93	63.6	75%	23	+11.5
10	Jack Driggers	Duke	57	62.3	30%	40	+11.2
11	Gabe Siemieniec	California	52	64.1	52%	25	+10.2
12	Kaare Vedvik	Marshall	54	63.4	48%	28	+9.9
13	Braxton Davis	Colorado State	78	63.4	53%	37	+9.5
14	Logan Cooke	Mississippi State	66	63.7	59%	27	+9.4
15	Matt Ammendola	Oklahoma State	98	61.1	35%	64	+9.0
16	Dominik Eberle	Utah State	68	61.5	56%	30	+8.1
17	Joel Velazquez	Boise State	75	64.2	63%	28	+8.1
18	Davis Price	Colorado	64	63.8	63%	24	+8.0
19	Brandon Ruiz	Arizona State	72	63.3	68%	23	+7.8
20	Andrew Mikkelsen	BYU	31	62.6	32%	21	+7.6
21	JK Scott	Alabama	89	63.1	47%	47	+7.3
22	Cole Bunce	TCU	80	62.1	40%	44	+7.2
23	Matthew McCrane	Kansas State	57	61.1	56%	25	+7.0
24	John Baron II	San Diego State	70	62.9	44%	39	+6.8
25	Parker White	South Carolina	58	64.6	72%	16	+6.3
26	Tristan Vizcaino	Washington	70	58.8	23%	51	+6.0
27	Jordan Choukair	Oregon State	48	62.3	31%	33	+5.9
28	Sean Young	Florida International	57	63.0	54%	26	+5.7
29	Michael Tarbutt	UConn	58	63.6	62%	22	+5.6
30	Maximilian Schulze-Geisthovel	Boston College	42	63.4	52%	20	+5.6
31	Jason Sanders	New Mexico	48	63.8	81%	9	+5.6
32	Joey Slye	Virginia Tech	59	63.6	85%	9	+5.4
33	Connor Limpert	Arkansas	66	60.7	32%	45	+5.3
34	Aidan Schneider	Oregon	80	64.0	49%	41	+5.2
35	Aaron Boumerhi	Temple	64	60.5	28%	45	+5.1
36	Chris Francis	Iowa State	65	63.7	58%	25	+4.9
37	Michael Farkas	Ohio	81	58.8	20%	65	+4.7
38	Nick Schrage	Army	60	60.7	32%	41	+4.6
39	Michael Rubino	App State	72	61.4	35%	47	+4.6
40	Justin Davidovicz	Rutgers	44	62.4	30%	31	+4.5
41	Logan Tyler	Florida State	66	64.1	59%	27	+4.4
42	Cameron Gamble	LSU	62	63.6	48%	32	+4.0
43	Bennett Moehring	Navy	44	59.4	36%	28	+3.8
44	Zachary Block	Tulane	50	60.5	38%	31	+3.8
45	Caleb Pratt	East Carolina	61	64.6	66%	21	+3.7
46	Derrick Mitchell	Western Michigan	60	60.3	22%	46	+3.2
47	Tyler Davis	Penn State	81	62.1	38%	50	+3.2
48	Alex Rinella	Western Kentucky	59	62.0	39%	36	+3.0
49	Chase McLaughlin	Illinois	43	62.4	72%	12	+2.7
50	Evan Rabon	Coastal Carolina	33	58.8	21%	26	+2.6
51	Trevor Moore	North Texas	77	61.8	49%	38	+2.2
52	Chase McGrath	USC	55	61.8	33%	37	+2.1
53	Ramiz Ahmed	Nevada	53	61.8	53%	25	+2.0
54	Ryan Jones	Cincinnati	50	58.6	26%	37	+1.7
55	Matthew Wright	UCF	97	59.7	24%	73	+1.7
56	Cole Murphy	Syracuse	63	64.3	48%	33	+1.6
57	Ryan Meskell	Hawai'i	50	57.7	4%	48	+1.6
58	Daniel Carlson	Auburn	85	63.4	73%	20	+1.5
59	Matt Wylie	UL Monroe	69	62.4	36%	44	+1.4
60	Jameson Vest	Toledo	80	61.9	48%	42	+1.3
61	Blanton Creque	Louisville	78	60.7	28%	55	+1.3
62	Aaron Medley	Tennessee	41	64.2	71%	12	+1.3
63	Brett Scanlon	Michigan State	55	60.7	24%	42	+1.2
64	Daniel Portillo	UTSA	52	60.8	31%	36	+1.2
65	Drew Brown	Nebraska	56	62.1	45%	31	+1.1
66	Luke Strebel	Air Force	54	60.6	54%	25	+1.0
67	Mitch Wishnowsky	Utah	62	62.2	69%	19	+0.8
68	Alex Spence	Clemson	52	61.7	27%	38	+0.8
69	Tyler Bass	Georgia Southern	52	64.0	85%	8	0.0
70	Danny Sutton	Maryland	57	59.0	9%	52	0.0
71	Jonathan Barnes	Louisiana Tech	71	60.9	41%	42	0.0
72	JJ Molson	UCLA	79	63.4	43%	45	−0.1
73	Tucker McCann	Missouri	77	63.0	53%	36	−0.1
74	Parker Davidson	New Mexico State	32	63.4	50%	16	−0.2
75	Jack Fox	Rice	39	63.1	69%	12	−0.2
76	Braden Mann	Texas A&M	61	62.1	49%	31	−0.6
77	Tommy Openshaw	Vanderbilt	55	62.5	65%	19	−0.7
78	Redford Jones	Tulsa	67	62.6	45%	37	−0.8
79	Brady Viles	UTEP	32	60.1	66%	11	−1.1
80	Alex Kessman	Pittsburgh	56	62.9	50%	28	−1.4
81	Joshua Rowland	Texas	62	64.2	52%	30	−1.4
82	Cade Coffey	Idaho	51	60.5	51%	25	−1.5
83	Michael Badgley	Miami	71	62.1	44%	40	−1.6
84	Griffin Oakes	Indiana	60	61.9	50%	30	−1.7
85	Nick Vogel	UAB	67	61.7	42%	39	−1.8
86	Jesse Kelly	Eastern Michigan	57	60.0	28%	41	−1.9
87	Josh Orne	Northern Illinois	38	59.3	34%	25	−2.0
88	Ryan Rimmler	Ball State	47	59.4	15%	40	−2.1
89	Spencer Smith	Memphis	73	57.4	26%	52	−2.3
90	Caden Novikoff	Houston	59	60.3	42%	34	−2.5
91	Sawyer Williams	Arkansas State	76	57.4	26%	53	−2.6
92	Brian Delaney	Virginia	54	63.2	37%	34	−2.7
93	Ryan Santoso	Minnesota	52	61.6	33%	35	−2.9
94	Austin Seibert	Oklahoma	102	61.9	77%	22	−3.0
95	Lucas Havrisik	Arizona	87	63.1	67%	29	−3.5
96	Shane Hynes	Kent State	36	61.1	25%	27	−3.5
97	James Sherman	Texas State	41	61.2	34%	27	−3.6
98	Justin Yoon	Notre Dame	51	62.5	29%	36	−4.0
99	Spencer Evans	Purdue	47	61.7	55%	21	−4.0
100	Luke Logan	Ole Miss	76	61.2	33%	51	−4.0
101	Stevie Artigue	Louisiana	38	62.1	47%	20	−4.1
102	Adam Mitcheson	Buffalo	61	60.4	36%	39	−4.3
103	Barry Brown	Georgia State	30	60.8	0%	30	−4.4
104	Cooper Rothe	Wyoming	53	61.4	42%	31	−4.5
105	Luke Otto	Northwestern	63	59.2	32%	43	−4.7
106	Josh Williams	SMU	61	58.3	28%	42	−5.5
107	Emilio Nadelman	South Florida	79	62.4	42%	46	−5.6
108	Sam Sloman	Miami (OH)	58	59.2	36%	37	−5.8
109	Logan Laurent	Massachusetts	32	59.3	53%	14	−6.3
110	Michael Barden	Texas Tech	67	63.6	57%	29	−6.6
111	Daniel Gutierrez	UNLV	61	59.7	25%	46	−6.7
112	Michael Carrizosa	San José State	30	55.2	67%	9	−7.3
113	Liam Jones	Kansas	48	58.9	35%	31	−7.5
114	Canon Rooker	Middle Tennessee	61	63.7	59%	25	−7.7
115	Brad Davis	Old Dominion	56	59.1	34%	37	−8.2
116	Bratcher Underwood	Troy	57	59.7	39%	35	−8.6
117	Erik Powell	Washington State	63	62.0	48%	33	−8.8
118	Evan Staley	West Virginia	74	58.8	36%	47	−8.9
119	Mike Weaver	Wake Forest	75	59.9	43%	43	−8.9
120	Kyle Bambard	NC State	69	58.2	28%	49	−9.2
121	Nick Fields	Bowling Green	64	55.7	28%	46	−9.3
122	Eddy Pineiro	Florida	50	64.0	78%	11	−11.3
123	Dylan Brown	New Mexico State	36	58.4	31%	25	−11.4
124	Nick Gasser	Akron	58	58.0	19%	47	−11.5
125	Briggs Bourgeois	Southern Miss	69	61.5	51%	34	−12.9
126	Austin MacGinnis	Kentucky	66	59.7	44%	36	−15.8
127	Kaden Keon	Central Michigan	63	54.8	30%	44	−19.6
128	Michael Schreiner	Massachusetts	36	54.8	8%	33	−20.9

Points compare each kickoff's expected-points result with the league-average kickoff (for college, expected points come from where the receiving team started its first play). Onside kicks are listed separately and left out of points. Average distance is measured from the kicking spot to where the ball was caught or reached the goal line; a touchback counts the full distance. Returns exclude touchbacks, out-of-bounds kicks and fair catches. Minimum 30 kickoffs.

Kickoff Specialist Rankings in Other Seasons

2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011

Other 2017 College Rankings

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