2022 College Average Kickoff Distance Leaders

The average length of a specialist's kickoffs in yards, from the kicking spot to where the ball was caught or crossed the goal line. Onside kicks are left out.

A touchback counts the full distance to the goal line, so a deep kick and a kick into the end zone score the same. In 2022, Dragan Kesich (64.8) led college football kickoff specialists in average kickoff distance, ahead of Jake Bates (64.6) and Brendan Farrell (64.5). 132 kickoff specialists qualify (minimum 30 kickoffs). The median qualified kickoff specialist had 61.8.

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 2022 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Avg dist	Kickoffs	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	64.8	66	88%	8	+4.0
2	Jake Bates	Arkansas	64.6	68	85%	10	+10.1
3	Brendan Farrell	Virginia	64.5	37	68%	12	+2.6
4	Ryan Fitzgerald	Florida State	64.3	69	67%	23	+11.6
5	Chance Poore	Kentucky	64.3	60	73%	16	−1.7
6	RJ Lopez	UCLA	64.2	85	67%	28	+10.1
7	Noah Rauschenberg	Baylor	64.2	74	78%	16	+4.3
8	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Tech	64.1	40	55%	18	−0.9
9	Michael Hayes II	Georgia State	64.1	59	71%	17	−1.7
10	Jonathan Kim	North Carolina	64.1	32	84%	4	−2.9
11	Brady Denaburg	Syracuse	64.0	53	66%	18	+4.6
12	Spencer Shrader	South Florida	63.9	57	82%	10	+0.7
13	Caden Davis	Texas A&M	63.9	56	84%	8	+6.3
14	Zach Schmit	Oklahoma	63.8	74	74%	19	−37.9
15	Jack Browning	San Diego State	63.7	50	56%	22	+8.0
16	Noah Burnette	North Carolina	63.7	52	52%	25	+5.2
17	B.T. Potter	Clemson	63.6	77	79%	13	+11.9
18	Gavin Baechle	UTEP	63.6	67	66%	23	−29.6
19	Nathan Dibert	LSU	63.6	50	64%	18	+0.9
20	Ryan Coe	Cincinnati	63.6	70	60%	28	+5.6
21	Henry Katleman	Colorado State	63.6	38	79%	8	+2.6
22	Colton Theaker	Washington State	63.5	57	61%	22	+4.4
23	Aidan Laros	Charlotte	63.4	47	57%	20	−0.1
24	Ethan Mooney	North Texas	63.4	61	72%	17	+2.9
25	Chris Freeman	Indiana	63.3	44	55%	20	+2.4
26	Charlie Ham	Duke	63.3	42	64%	15	−1.3
27	Cole Becker	Colorado	63.3	43	72%	12	−9.3
28	Joshua Karty	Stanford	63.3	55	73%	14	+11.0
29	Kyler Halvorsen	Hawai'i	63.3	52	71%	15	+6.5
30	Jack Podlesny	Georgia	63.2	91	76%	19	+13.5
31	Briggs Bourgeois	Southern Miss	63.2	59	59%	24	+2.9
32	Adam Mihalek	Florida	63.1	41	63%	14	+2.4
33	Collin Smith	NC State	63.0	65	60%	24	+17.2
34	Andrew Boyle	Oregon	63.0	71	70%	18	+7.5
35	Jake Moody	Michigan	63.0	94	76%	21	+19.4
36	Ty Zentner	Kansas State	63.0	80	60%	31	+7.0
37	Eddie Czaplicki	Arizona State	63.0	44	55%	20	+10.2
38	Matthew Killam	Nevada	63.0	43	53%	20	+10.8
39	Chad Ryland	Maryland	63.0	61	67%	20	+1.0
40	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	62.9	72	76%	17	+11.7
41	John Hoyland	Wyoming	62.9	56	48%	29	−0.9
42	Jake Pinegar	Penn State	62.9	40	68%	13	+4.1
43	Jason Stricker	Liberty	62.9	63	65%	22	+3.2
44	Mitch Jeter	South Carolina	62.9	69	68%	21	+12.5
45	Kyle Lowe	Virginia Tech	62.9	46	72%	12	−4.2
46	Tim Horn	Rice	62.8	59	51%	29	−1.7
47	Connor Madden	James Madison	62.8	63	60%	25	+2.9
48	Atticus Sappington	Oregon State	62.7	42	55%	19	+6.5
49	Joseph Bulovas	Vanderbilt	62.6	55	49%	28	+5.5
50	Buck Buchanan	Louisiana Tech	62.5	63	54%	29	+1.0
51	Graham Nicholson	Miami (OH)	62.5	35	51%	17	−13.9
52	Trey Smack	Florida	62.4	30	63%	9	+6.6
53	Logan Ward	Oklahoma State	62.4	35	37%	22	+7.8
54	Alex Stadthaus	USC	62.4	92	49%	46	+11.9
55	Bubba Baxa	Houston	62.4	64	58%	27	−8.3
56	Drew Stevens	Iowa	62.3	52	56%	23	+8.4
57	George Steinkamp	New Mexico	62.1	48	50%	24	−1.8
58	Casey Glover	Tulane	62.1	74	65%	26	+13.3
59	Chris Van Eekeren	Purdue	62.0	55	58%	23	+2.0
60	Tyler Loop	Arizona	62.0	71	63%	26	−18.2
61	Brendan Franke	Nebraska	62.0	56	68%	18	+8.5
62	Michael Luckhurst	California	61.9	43	49%	19	+5.1
63	Caleb Griffin	Illinois	61.9	48	73%	13	+6.6
64	Lucas Matias	Florida International	61.9	42	57%	18	−4.3
65	Michael Lantz	Georgia Southern	61.9	65	34%	43	+4.2
66	Tanner Gillis	Memphis	61.8	35	46%	19	+0.4
67	Noah Grant	Memphis	61.8	40	38%	25	+4.0
68	Sean Koetting	Missouri	61.8	55	80%	10	+6.2
69	Will Reichard	Alabama	61.7	86	60%	28	+18.2
70	Dylan Lynch	Fresno State	61.7	49	47%	26	−5.7
71	Cole Talley	Army	61.7	57	51%	28	+13.4
72	Zach Long	Troy	61.7	35	60%	14	+1.8
73	Thomas Leo	Louisiana	61.6	64	33%	43	−2.8
74	Ben Raybon	Mississippi State	61.6	63	54%	29	+4.5
75	Trey Wolff	Texas Tech	61.5	75	56%	33	−6.8
76	Jake Oldroyd	BYU	61.5	57	54%	25	−5.1
77	Calum Sutherland	UL Monroe	61.5	47	47%	25	−12.9
78	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	61.4	65	63%	24	+7.4
79	Tabor Allen	Kansas	61.3	77	57%	33	−22.2
80	Cory Munson	Western Kentucky	61.3	78	40%	47	+8.6
81	Will Stone	Texas	61.3	75	37%	43	+17.4
82	Zac Yoakam	Notre Dame	61.3	65	63%	20	+9.8
83	Jayden Fielding	Ohio State	61.3	97	55%	40	+7.8
84	Keegan Shackford	Iowa State	61.2	30	23%	23	+4.7
85	Luke Laminack	TCU	61.2	95	45%	49	−3.6
86	Jordan Noyes	Utah	61.1	40	33%	26	+5.1
87	Carter Davis	Florida Atlantic	61.1	49	47%	26	−7.7
88	Dominik Soos	Old Dominion	61.0	50	46%	27	+2.3
89	Gavin Lahm	Wisconsin	61.0	42	43%	24	+11.1
90	Tristan Mattson	Arkansas State	60.9	62	44%	35	+14.2
91	Jonah Dalmas	Boise State	60.9	35	49%	18	−0.8
92	Ryker Casey	UCF	60.8	72	63%	27	−5.8
93	Noe Ruelas	UConn	60.8	47	36%	30	−6.1
94	Jared Sackett	UTSA	60.8	62	48%	32	−9.2
95	Matthew Dapore	Air Force	60.8	48	38%	30	+1.6
96	Michael Hughes	App State	60.7	71	51%	35	−2.0
97	Brendan Hall	SMU	60.7	81	56%	35	−9.1
98	Jadon Redding	Utah	60.7	33	27%	23	−2.4
99	Grady Gross	Washington	60.6	82	29%	56	+8.0
100	Andres Borregales	Miami	60.5	58	66%	19	+4.9
101	Reese Burkhardt	UAB	60.5	66	50%	33	+0.4
102	Jonathan Cruz	Ole Miss	60.4	73	55%	29	−6.0
103	Owen Daffer	East Carolina	60.4	45	24%	34	−2.2
104	Jacob Meeks	South Alabama	60.3	72	39%	44	+4.3
105	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	60.3	53	38%	32	−0.1
106	Parker Grothaus	West Virginia	60.2	65	38%	40	−4.9
107	Tristian Vandenberg	Ohio	60.1	72	38%	43	+11.6
108	Thomas Cluckey	Toledo	60.0	67	22%	52	−11.9
109	Scott Payne	Middle Tennessee	59.9	70	19%	57	−12.8
110	Josh Rolston	Central Michigan	59.9	48	44%	27	−1.3
111	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	59.8	40	38%	25	−2.0
112	Alex McNulty	Buffalo	59.6	57	56%	25	−8.5
113	Jack Stone	Michigan State	59.5	52	25%	37	+0.1
114	Brady Pohl	Eastern Michigan	59.5	50	50%	25	−7.6
115	Jude McAtamney	Rutgers	59.4	47	36%	29	−12.1
116	Anders Carlson	Auburn	59.4	43	33%	27	−7.3
117	Tyler Tipton	Tulsa	59.4	68	44%	37	+0.1
118	Ben VonGunten	Ball State	59.2	59	19%	46	+5.3
119	Liam Gray	Coastal Carolina	59.1	40	40%	24	+1.8
120	Rece Verhoff	Marshall	59.1	39	46%	21	+5.7
121	Paxton Brooks	Tennessee	58.7	88	50%	38	+14.4
122	Adam Stage	Northwestern	58.4	39	26%	27	+13.3
123	Mason Lawler	Bowling Green	58.1	50	28%	36	−8.6
124	Mason Shipley	Texas State	57.6	49	33%	33	−4.6
125	Nick Mihalic	Western Michigan	57.6	35	31%	24	−23.5
126	Ivan Mora	Wake Forest	57.6	65	22%	47	+0.7
127	Evan Warren	Navy	57.4	36	33%	21	+0.6
128	Rory Bell	Temple	56.5	51	14%	43	−12.1
129	Andrew Glass	Kent State	54.6	58	29%	41	−30.4
130	John Richardson	Northern Illinois	54.0	62	27%	45	−2.9
131	Daniel Gutierrez	UNLV	52.6	39	28%	28	−18.7
132	Taren Schive	San José State	51.1	57	18%	47	−15.0

All 2022 College kickoff specialist rankings

Average Kickoff Distance in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

More 2022 College kickoff specialist leaderboards

Other 2022 College rankings

Loading the interactive stats…