2020 College Average Kickoff Return Allowed Leaders

Return yards divided by returns. It shows how well his kicks and coverage contain returners.

Lower is better. Only specialists with enough returns are ranked. In 2020, Stephen Johnson (2.9) topped college football kickoff specialists in average kickoff return allowed, ahead of Andrew Stein (3.9) and Michael Hayes II (5.9). 128 kickoff specialists qualify (minimum 10 returns). The median qualified kickoff specialist had 16.9.

College rule: a kickoff touchback, or a fair catch inside the 25, starts the receiving team at its 25, so a touchback is 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 2020 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Avg ret	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Stephen Johnson	Oklahoma	2.9	11	62.6	9%	10	+3.5
2	Andrew Stein	Southern Miss	3.9	12	44.8	17%	10	−3.9
3	Michael Hayes II	Georgia State	5.9	12	47.4	8%	11	+0.5
4	Elliott Nimrod	Arkansas State	8.5	35	52.3	37%	19	−3.9
5	Tabor Allen	Kansas	8.6	18	53.0	33%	11	+1.1
6	Paxton Brooks	Tennessee	9.3	40	64.1	70%	12	+4.2
7	Jake Verity	East Carolina	9.4	43	62.7	60%	17	+7.1
8	Cameron Shirkey	Marshall	9.5	38	59.8	16%	32	+6.2
9	Rory Bell	Temple	9.7	17	57.9	12%	15	−3.3
10	Blake Grupe	Arkansas State	9.7	14	40.1	7%	13	−9.7
11	Parker Lewis	USC	10.0	37	63.8	73%	10	+5.7
12	Jack Martin	Troy	10.4	48	59.5	38%	30	+3.1
13	Ben Fee	Navy	10.6	32	57.9	31%	22	+4.5
14	Collin Riccitelli	Rice	10.7	27	51.7	7%	25	−2.3
15	Jack Driggers	Duke	11.0	23	62.7	26%	17	+3.5
16	Jet Toner	Stanford	11.0	28	61.6	50%	14	+1.3
17	Guy Fava	Rutgers	11.0	19	51.9	21%	12	+0.5
18	Jake Oldroyd	BYU	11.3	76	62.5	67%	24	+17.3
19	Daniel Sparks	UL Monroe	11.3	32	59.8	19%	26	+4.5
20	Chris Wood	San José State	11.7	31	58.4	6%	29	−46.4
21	Jake Moody	Michigan	11.9	29	61.4	66%	10	+0.9
22	Caleb Shudak	Iowa	12.1	47	63.6	68%	15	+10.1
23	Luke Logan	Ole Miss	12.1	49	60.7	47%	26	+8.7
24	Massimo Biscardi	Coastal Carolina	12.1	72	57.3	24%	55	0.0
25	Landon Salyers	Army	12.5	52	62.1	35%	33	+7.3
26	Justin Duenkel	Virginia	12.8	43	63.0	60%	17	+5.4
27	Chris Naggar	SMU	13.1	69	63.6	67%	23	+8.9
28	Casey Legg	West Virginia	13.1	24	56.8	13%	20	+1.4
29	Jake Bates	Texas State	13.3	60	63.1	55%	27	+10.4
30	Spencer Shrader	South Florida	13.7	31	57.9	48%	16	−1.0
31	John Parker Romo	Virginia Tech	13.8	55	63.9	60%	22	+9.8
32	Jacob Lewis	Ball State	13.8	38	59.2	26%	28	+2.3
33	Joseph Petrino	Maryland	13.9	20	57.9	10%	16	+0.1
34	Dylan Lewis	Georgia Southern	13.9	59	57.2	17%	47	−0.8
35	Ryker Casey	App State	14.0	40	59.4	30%	28	−5.8
36	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	14.0	21	62.2	38%	11	+5.1
37	Zach Williams	North Texas	14.0	36	57.8	17%	30	−3.9
38	Nathanael Snyder	Louisiana	14.1	61	60.2	23%	47	−2.7
39	Jonathan Garibay	Texas Tech	14.1	22	61.2	36%	14	+2.1
40	Tristan Mattson	Arkansas State	14.1	16	56.9	31%	11	+1.6
41	Chase Allen	Alabama	14.5	41	58.7	71%	10	+3.7
42	Merek Glover	Tulane	14.6	71	60.2	52%	34	+0.7
43	John Richardson	Northern Illinois	14.8	23	52.8	26%	16	−3.4
44	Caleb Lightbourn	Oregon State	14.9	36	59.0	33%	24	+1.7
45	Chandler Staton	App State	15.2	26	58.5	19%	20	+4.9
46	Briggs Bourgeois	Southern Miss	15.2	35	56.0	20%	27	−6.8
47	Joey Rouly	Utah State	15.2	19	58.5	16%	16	+2.4
48	Chad Ryland	Eastern Michigan	15.4	39	55.1	26%	29	−7.0
49	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	15.5	58	58.9	26%	43	−0.3
50	Logan Tyler	Arizona State	15.6	28	61.5	39%	17	+4.8
51	Dominic DiMaccio	Ohio State	15.8	32	57.6	63%	12	−5.1
52	Riley Patterson	Memphis	15.8	57	64.0	63%	21	+11.8
53	Crews Holt	Middle Tennessee	15.9	19	53.4	0%	19	−7.2
54	Cory Munson	Western Kentucky	16.1	44	59.4	41%	26	+4.0
55	Nick Mihalic	Western Michigan	16.3	40	60.6	33%	27	−3.8
56	Matthew Mercurio	San José State	16.3	12	56.9	8%	11	−0.6
57	Ethan Mooney	North Texas	16.4	21	60.7	33%	14	−0.3
58	Charlie Kuhbander	Northwestern	16.4	38	58.7	32%	24	+0.1
59	Jack Crane	Washington State	16.5	56	63.1	61%	22	+7.1
60	Alex Kessman	Pittsburgh	16.6	67	63.3	67%	22	+11.8
61	Tristian Vandenberg	Ohio	16.7	18	61.9	22%	14	+3.1
62	Matthew Shipley	Hawai'i	16.7	28	63.1	46%	15	−13.4
63	Noel Ruiz	Georgia State	16.8	45	59.4	27%	31	+3.9
64	Thomas Cluckey	Toledo	16.9	38	60.2	47%	20	−2.1
65	Jonathan Cruz	Charlotte	16.9	31	59.7	68%	10	−8.5
66	Gavin Baechle	UTEP	17.0	34	59.6	21%	27	0.0
67	Hunter Duplessis	UTSA	17.1	44	60.3	32%	30	−0.9
68	Pierson Cooke	Vanderbilt	17.2	23	61.8	43%	13	+0.5
69	Evan McPherson	Florida	17.2	76	63.8	68%	23	+14.1
70	Will Reichard	Alabama	17.2	54	59.4	50%	27	+4.8
71	Chance Poore	Kentucky	17.3	44	62.7	59%	18	+3.7
72	Scott Payne	Middle Tennessee	17.4	21	59.9	0%	21	−1.1
73	Jonathan Doerer	Notre Dame	17.6	65	61.8	38%	30	+9.8
74	Nolan Cooney	Syracuse	18.1	42	62.5	48%	22	−0.4
75	Jonathan Kim	North Carolina	18.2	83	64.5	84%	13	+6.9
76	Matthew Killam	Nevada	18.2	21	64.2	43%	12	+2.5
77	Brice Honaker	Air Force	18.4	18	60.3	39%	11	+0.3
78	Connor Culp	Nebraska	18.4	40	57.2	30%	27	−3.1
79	Mitch Jeter	South Carolina	18.4	41	59.4	56%	18	−0.4
80	Cole Smith	Cincinnati	18.5	49	60.5	51%	22	−6.4
81	Tanner Brown	UNLV	18.6	24	58.4	4%	23	−3.0
82	Matthew Trickett	Kent State	18.6	28	55.0	29%	20	−10.9
83	Trey Wolff	Texas Tech	18.8	29	59.1	55%	12	−5.1
84	Anders Carlson	Auburn	19.0	56	63.3	61%	21	+0.7
85	Griffin Kell	TCU	19.1	55	61.3	51%	27	+3.0
86	Donovan Murphree	New Mexico	19.1	34	59.0	26%	25	−14.7
87	Trenton Gill	NC State	19.1	64	63.4	52%	31	+10.3
88	Camden Lewis	Oregon	19.2	36	59.1	28%	25	+2.2
89	Bubba Baxa	Houston	19.3	41	64.5	73%	11	+3.9
90	Nickolas Null	Wyoming	19.4	35	62.2	40%	21	+3.0
91	Tim Horn	Washington	19.5	25	61.8	32%	17	−2.6
92	Jack Van Dyke	Wisconsin	19.6	27	62.4	44%	14	+1.9
93	Diego Guajardo	South Alabama	19.6	49	61.2	49%	25	−4.5
94	Vito Calvaruso	Arkansas	19.6	48	64.3	69%	15	−1.4
95	Alex Barbir	Liberty	19.6	69	60.4	38%	42	+4.2
96	Jose Borregales	Miami	19.9	63	64.1	71%	18	+8.2
97	Jerry Fitschen	Akron	20.0	23	57.8	26%	17	−5.8
98	Daniel Obarski	UCF	20.1	73	64.3	66%	25	+6.9
99	Jared Smolar	Indiana	20.3	39	62.0	49%	20	+4.7
100	Evan Staley	West Virginia	20.3	22	60.5	14%	19	−1.1
101	Noah Rauschenberg	Baylor	20.4	33	62.8	58%	14	−1.4
102	Zack Long	Tulsa	20.4	40	57.7	10%	33	−9.7
103	Jake McClure	Oklahoma State	20.4	45	62.9	49%	23	+7.0
104	RJ Lopez	UCLA	20.6	44	62.9	59%	18	−0.3
105	Drake Nettles	Iowa State	20.8	34	58.2	9%	31	−6.0
106	Danny Longman	Boston College	21.0	51	60.9	25%	37	−7.8
107	Gabe Brkic	Oklahoma	21.1	62	62.9	45%	34	+4.4
108	Wilson Beaverstock	UAB	21.3	18	63.1	33%	12	−2.4
109	Parker Grothaus	Florida State	21.4	42	61.4	52%	20	0.0
110	Asa Fuller	Fresno State	21.8	31	58.2	6%	29	−1.2
111	Will Mobley	Temple	21.8	15	53.9	0%	15	−7.3
112	Jordan Noyes	Utah	22.0	26	63.2	42%	15	+1.7
113	Austin Kent	Georgia Tech	22.1	41	64.3	27%	30	+2.7
114	Justin Davidovicz	Rutgers	22.3	23	57.5	13%	19	−5.3
115	Marshall Meeder	Central Michigan	22.3	25	56.6	12%	22	−3.6
116	Alex McNulty	Buffalo	22.3	45	61.9	51%	22	−5.8
117	James McCourt	Illinois	22.3	25	61.3	52%	12	+2.8
118	Jonathan Terry	Colorado State	22.6	18	60.2	22%	14	−6.0
119	Gabe Siemieniec	Louisiana Tech	22.6	45	59.3	38%	28	−10.0
120	Matt Coghlin	Michigan State	22.9	25	62.6	40%	15	0.0
121	Ty Zentner	Kansas State	22.9	46	63.5	61%	18	−3.5
122	Aaron Shahriari	Florida Atlantic	23.2	27	61.8	59%	11	+1.2
123	Coby Neenan	UAB	23.3	27	62.7	26%	20	+5.0
124	Julian Diaz	Nevada	24.7	30	62.6	50%	15	+0.3
125	J.D. Dellinger	Purdue	25.2	26	64.6	58%	11	0.0
126	Avery Atkins	LSU	26.5	59	63.3	76%	13	+2.5
127	Eddie Ogamba	Iowa State	26.7	17	61.1	29%	12	−1.2
128	Matt Araiza	San Diego State	27.0	41	64.0	66%	14	+1.1

All 2020 College kickoff specialist rankings

Average Kickoff Return Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

More 2020 College kickoff specialist leaderboards

Other 2020 College rankings

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