2022 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 2022, Rece Verhoff (6.8) topped college football kickoff specialists in average kickoff return allowed, ahead of Taren Schive (7.1) and Evan Warren (9.4). 147 kickoff specialists qualify (minimum 10 returns). The median qualified kickoff specialist had 16.0.

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 ret	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Rece Verhoff	Marshall	6.8	39	59.1	46%	21	+5.7
2	Taren Schive	San José State	7.1	57	51.1	18%	47	−15.0
3	Evan Warren	Navy	9.4	36	57.4	33%	21	+0.6
4	Gavin Lahm	Wisconsin	9.8	42	61.0	43%	24	+11.1
5	Tanner Brown	Oklahoma State	10.2	21	63.8	48%	11	+1.6
6	Sean Koetting	Missouri	10.3	55	61.8	80%	10	+6.2
7	Thomas Leo	Louisiana	10.4	64	61.6	33%	43	−2.8
8	Dylan Lynch	Fresno State	10.6	49	61.7	47%	26	−5.7
9	Trey Wolff	Texas Tech	10.7	75	61.5	56%	33	−6.8
10	Caleb Griffin	Illinois	10.8	48	61.9	73%	13	+6.6
11	Adam Stage	Northwestern	10.9	39	58.4	26%	27	+13.3
12	Anders Carlson	Auburn	10.9	43	59.4	33%	27	−7.3
13	Tyler Tipton	Tulsa	10.9	68	59.4	44%	37	+0.1
14	Kyler Halvorsen	Hawai'i	11.0	52	63.3	71%	15	+6.5
15	Ryan Coe	Cincinnati	11.1	70	63.6	60%	28	+5.6
16	Ben VonGunten	Ball State	11.1	59	59.2	19%	46	+5.3
17	Daniel Gutierrez	UNLV	11.1	39	52.6	28%	28	−18.7
18	Matthew Dapore	Air Force	11.2	48	60.8	38%	30	+1.6
19	Mitch Jeter	South Carolina	11.3	69	62.9	68%	21	+12.5
20	Noah Gettman	Akron	11.4	16	59.1	38%	10	−0.8
21	Liam Gray	Coastal Carolina	11.4	40	59.1	40%	24	+1.8
22	Ty Zentner	Kansas State	11.4	80	63.0	60%	31	+7.0
23	Josh Rolston	Central Michigan	11.5	48	59.9	44%	27	−1.3
24	Alex Hale	Oklahoma State	11.8	19	63.4	42%	11	+3.9
25	John Richardson	Northern Illinois	11.8	62	54.0	27%	45	−2.9
26	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	12.0	53	60.3	38%	32	−0.1
27	Tanner Gillis	Memphis	12.1	35	61.8	46%	19	+0.4
28	Tristan Mattson	Arkansas State	12.2	62	60.9	44%	35	+14.2
29	Andres Borregales	Miami	12.5	58	60.5	66%	19	+4.9
30	Drew Stevens	Iowa	12.6	52	62.3	56%	23	+8.4
31	Aidan Laros	Charlotte	12.6	47	63.4	57%	20	−0.1
32	Brett Money	New Mexico State	12.7	18	57.0	22%	14	+1.8
33	Andrew Glass	Kent State	12.8	58	54.6	29%	41	−30.4
34	George Steinkamp	New Mexico	12.8	48	62.1	50%	24	−1.8
35	Palmer Domschke	Western Michigan	12.9	17	58.8	35%	11	+3.2
36	Cole Talley	Army	12.9	57	61.7	51%	28	+13.4
37	Will Stone	Texas	13.0	75	61.3	37%	43	+17.4
38	Tate Sandell	UTSA	13.1	20	49.8	5%	17	−2.8
39	Michael Lantz	Georgia Southern	13.1	65	61.9	34%	43	+4.2
40	Matthew Killam	Nevada	13.4	43	63.0	53%	20	+10.8
41	Joshua Karty	Stanford	13.4	55	63.3	73%	14	+11.0
42	Connor Madden	James Madison	13.6	63	62.8	60%	25	+2.9
43	Charlie Ham	Duke	13.6	42	63.3	64%	15	−1.3
44	Jacob Meeks	South Alabama	13.8	72	60.3	39%	44	+4.3
45	Logan Ward	Oklahoma State	13.8	35	62.4	37%	22	+7.8
46	Casey Glover	Tulane	14.0	74	62.1	65%	26	+13.3
47	Collin Smith	NC State	14.0	65	63.0	60%	24	+17.2
48	Gavin Baechle	UTEP	14.1	67	63.6	66%	23	−29.6
49	Jake Pinegar	Penn State	14.2	40	62.9	68%	13	+4.1
50	Michael Hayes II	Georgia State	14.2	59	64.1	71%	17	−1.7
51	Zach Long	Troy	14.2	35	61.7	60%	14	+1.8
52	Paxton Brooks	Tennessee	14.3	88	58.7	50%	38	+14.4
53	Carter Davis	Florida Atlantic	14.3	49	61.1	47%	26	−7.7
54	Buck Buchanan	Louisiana Tech	14.3	63	62.5	54%	29	+1.0
55	Graham Nicholson	Miami (OH)	14.4	35	62.5	51%	17	−13.9
56	Grady Gross	Washington	14.4	82	60.6	29%	56	+8.0
57	Alex McNulty	Buffalo	14.4	57	59.6	56%	25	−8.5
58	Will McManus	Illinois	14.4	14	55.9	0%	14	+0.3
59	Cory Munson	Western Kentucky	14.4	78	61.3	40%	47	+8.6
60	Tristian Vandenberg	Ohio	14.5	72	60.1	38%	43	+11.6
61	Michael Hughes	App State	14.5	71	60.7	51%	35	−2.0
62	Will Ferrin	Boise State	14.9	28	61.3	46%	14	+6.1
63	Abraham Montano	Fresno State	14.9	28	62.5	43%	16	+10.1
64	Jonathan Cruz	Ole Miss	15.0	73	60.4	55%	29	−6.0
65	Brendan Franke	Nebraska	15.2	56	62.0	68%	18	+8.5
66	Rory Bell	Temple	15.2	51	56.5	14%	43	−12.1
67	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	15.3	65	61.4	63%	24	+7.4
68	Zac Yoakam	Notre Dame	15.3	65	61.3	63%	20	+9.8
69	Sander Sahaydak	Penn State	15.5	12	61.6	17%	10	−0.1
70	Ivan Mora	Wake Forest	15.6	65	57.6	22%	47	+0.7
71	Ben Raybon	Mississippi State	15.7	63	61.6	54%	29	+4.5
72	Kade Hensley	Coastal Carolina	15.9	22	61.2	27%	16	+1.2
73	Tabor Allen	Kansas	15.9	77	61.3	57%	33	−22.2
74	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	16.0	72	62.9	76%	17	+11.7
75	Brady Denaburg	Syracuse	16.1	53	64.0	66%	18	+4.6
76	Ryker Casey	UCF	16.1	72	60.8	63%	27	−5.8
77	Ethan Mooney	North Texas	16.2	61	63.4	72%	17	+2.9
78	Jack Podlesny	Georgia	16.3	91	63.2	76%	19	+13.5
79	Colton Theaker	Washington State	16.3	57	63.5	61%	22	+4.4
80	Noah Burnette	North Carolina	16.4	52	63.7	52%	25	+5.2
81	Spencer Shrader	South Florida	16.6	57	63.9	82%	10	+0.7
82	Joseph Bulovas	Vanderbilt	16.6	55	62.6	49%	28	+5.5
83	Jack Stone	Michigan State	16.7	52	59.5	25%	37	+0.1
84	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	16.8	40	59.8	38%	25	−2.0
85	Owen Daffer	East Carolina	16.9	45	60.4	24%	34	−2.2
86	Tyler Loop	Arizona	17.0	71	62.0	63%	26	−18.2
87	Jared Sackett	UTSA	17.1	62	60.8	48%	32	−9.2
88	Will Reichard	Alabama	17.1	86	61.7	60%	28	+18.2
89	Scott Payne	Middle Tennessee	17.2	70	59.9	19%	57	−12.8
90	Chris Van Eekeren	Purdue	17.3	55	62.0	58%	23	+2.0
91	Ryan Fitzgerald	Florida State	17.3	69	64.3	67%	23	+11.6
92	Chad Ryland	Maryland	17.4	61	63.0	67%	20	+1.0
93	Bubba Baxa	Houston	17.4	64	62.4	58%	27	−8.3
94	Jake Moody	Michigan	17.5	94	63.0	76%	21	+19.4
95	John Hoyland	Wyoming	17.5	56	62.9	48%	29	−0.9
96	Noe Ruelas	UConn	17.6	47	60.8	36%	30	−6.1
97	Jayden Fielding	Ohio State	17.6	97	61.3	55%	40	+7.8
98	RJ Lopez	UCLA	17.7	85	64.2	67%	28	+10.1
99	Eddie Czaplicki	Arizona State	17.7	44	63.0	55%	20	+10.2
100	Mason Lawler	Bowling Green	17.8	50	58.1	28%	36	−8.6
101	Todd Pelino	Duke	17.8	17	59.1	24%	12	+2.9
102	Noah Grant	Memphis	18.1	40	61.8	38%	25	+4.0
103	Jordan Noyes	Utah	18.1	40	61.1	33%	26	+5.1
104	Mason Shipley	Texas State	18.2	49	57.6	33%	33	−4.6
105	Kyle Lowe	Virginia Tech	18.3	46	62.9	72%	12	−4.2
106	Everett Hayes	Oregon State	18.4	28	62.4	46%	14	+4.4
107	Jason Stricker	Liberty	18.5	63	62.9	65%	22	+3.2
108	Chris Freeman	Indiana	18.6	44	63.3	55%	20	+2.4
109	Brady Pohl	Eastern Michigan	18.7	50	59.5	50%	25	−7.6
110	Keegan Shackford	Iowa State	18.7	30	61.2	23%	23	+4.7
111	Jace Gilbert	Iowa State	18.8	25	61.6	24%	19	+0.6
112	Jake Bates	Arkansas	18.9	68	64.6	85%	10	+10.1
113	Evan McGuire	Auburn	19.0	15	59.2	13%	13	+0.2
114	Atticus Sappington	Oregon State	19.1	42	62.7	55%	19	+6.5
115	Dominik Soos	Old Dominion	19.1	50	61.0	46%	27	+2.3
116	Damian Ramos	LSU	19.1	26	62.6	46%	14	+0.1
117	Thomas Cluckey	Toledo	19.2	67	60.0	22%	52	−11.9
118	Reese Burkhardt	UAB	19.3	66	60.5	50%	33	+0.4
119	Jake Oldroyd	BYU	19.3	57	61.5	54%	25	−5.1
120	Andrew Boyle	Oregon	19.3	71	63.0	70%	18	+7.5
121	Niko Paxos	Akron	19.4	23	61.0	17%	19	−22.1
122	Jude McAtamney	Rutgers	19.4	47	59.4	36%	29	−12.1
123	Jonah Dalmas	Boise State	19.5	35	60.9	49%	18	−0.8
124	Lucas Matias	Florida International	19.6	42	61.9	57%	18	−4.3
125	B.T. Potter	Clemson	19.6	77	63.6	79%	13	+11.9
126	Parker Grothaus	West Virginia	19.8	65	60.2	38%	40	−4.9
127	Alex Stadthaus	USC	20.0	92	62.4	49%	46	+11.9
128	Michael Luckhurst	California	20.1	43	61.9	49%	19	+5.1
129	Adam Mihalek	Florida	20.1	41	63.1	63%	14	+2.4
130	Luke Laminack	TCU	20.2	95	61.2	45%	49	−3.6
131	Liam Connor	Boston College	20.4	24	60.3	54%	10	−1.2
132	Jack Browning	San Diego State	20.5	50	63.7	56%	22	+8.0
133	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Tech	20.8	40	64.1	55%	18	−0.9
134	Briggs Bourgeois	Southern Miss	20.8	59	63.2	59%	24	+2.9
135	Nathan Dibert	LSU	20.8	50	63.6	64%	18	+0.9
136	Chance Poore	Kentucky	20.9	60	64.3	73%	16	−1.7
137	Tim Horn	Rice	21.1	59	62.8	51%	29	−1.7
138	Cole Becker	Colorado	21.3	43	63.3	72%	12	−9.3
139	Nick Mihalic	Western Michigan	21.6	35	57.6	31%	24	−23.5
140	Calum Sutherland	UL Monroe	21.9	47	61.5	47%	25	−12.9
141	Zach Schmit	Oklahoma	22.1	74	63.8	74%	19	−37.9
142	Brendan Hall	SMU	22.5	81	60.7	56%	35	−9.1
143	Noah Rauschenberg	Baylor	22.6	74	64.2	78%	16	+4.3
144	Jadon Redding	Utah	23.3	33	60.7	27%	23	−2.4
145	Brendan Farrell	Virginia	25.3	37	64.5	68%	12	+2.6
146	Ethan Albertson	New Mexico State	25.3	25	64.5	52%	12	−8.1
147	Danny Longman	Boston College	25.8	17	60.4	12%	15	−3.6

All 2022 College kickoff specialist rankings

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

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