2022 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 2022, Scott Payne (57) led college football kickoff specialists in kickoff returns allowed, ahead of Grady Gross (56) and Thomas Cluckey (52). 295 kickoff specialists qualify.

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	Returns	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Points
1	Scott Payne	Middle Tennessee	57	70	59.9	19%	−12.8
2	Grady Gross	Washington	56	82	60.6	29%	+8.0
3	Thomas Cluckey	Toledo	52	67	60.0	22%	−11.9
4	Luke Laminack	TCU	49	95	61.2	45%	−3.6
5	Cory Munson	Western Kentucky	47	78	61.3	40%	+8.6
6	Ivan Mora	Wake Forest	47	65	57.6	22%	+0.7
7	Taren Schive	San José State	47	57	51.1	18%	−15.0
8	Alex Stadthaus	USC	46	92	62.4	49%	+11.9
9	Ben VonGunten	Ball State	46	59	59.2	19%	+5.3
10	John Richardson	Northern Illinois	45	62	54.0	27%	−2.9
11	Jacob Meeks	South Alabama	44	72	60.3	39%	+4.3
12	Will Stone	Texas	43	75	61.3	37%	+17.4
13	Tristian Vandenberg	Ohio	43	72	60.1	38%	+11.6
14	Michael Lantz	Georgia Southern	43	65	61.9	34%	+4.2
15	Thomas Leo	Louisiana	43	64	61.6	33%	−2.8
16	Rory Bell	Temple	43	51	56.5	14%	−12.1
17	Andrew Glass	Kent State	41	58	54.6	29%	−30.4
18	Jayden Fielding	Ohio State	40	97	61.3	55%	+7.8
19	Parker Grothaus	West Virginia	40	65	60.2	38%	−4.9
20	Paxton Brooks	Tennessee	38	88	58.7	50%	+14.4
21	Tyler Tipton	Tulsa	37	68	59.4	44%	+0.1
22	Jack Stone	Michigan State	37	52	59.5	25%	+0.1
23	Mason Lawler	Bowling Green	36	50	58.1	28%	−8.6
24	Brendan Hall	SMU	35	81	60.7	56%	−9.1
25	Michael Hughes	App State	35	71	60.7	51%	−2.0
26	Tristan Mattson	Arkansas State	35	62	60.9	44%	+14.2
27	Owen Daffer	East Carolina	34	45	60.4	24%	−2.2
28	Tabor Allen	Kansas	33	77	61.3	57%	−22.2
29	Trey Wolff	Texas Tech	33	75	61.5	56%	−6.8
30	Reese Burkhardt	UAB	33	66	60.5	50%	+0.4
31	Mason Shipley	Texas State	33	49	57.6	33%	−4.6
32	Jared Sackett	UTSA	32	62	60.8	48%	−9.2
33	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	32	53	60.3	38%	−0.1
34	Ty Zentner	Kansas State	31	80	63.0	60%	+7.0
35	Matthew Dapore	Air Force	30	48	60.8	38%	+1.6
36	Noe Ruelas	UConn	30	47	60.8	36%	−6.1
37	Jonathan Cruz	Ole Miss	29	73	60.4	55%	−6.0
38	Ben Raybon	Mississippi State	29	63	61.6	54%	+4.5
39	Buck Buchanan	Louisiana Tech	29	63	62.5	54%	+1.0
40	Tim Horn	Rice	29	59	62.8	51%	−1.7
41	John Hoyland	Wyoming	29	56	62.9	48%	−0.9
42	Jude McAtamney	Rutgers	29	47	59.4	36%	−12.1
43	Will Reichard	Alabama	28	86	61.7	60%	+18.2
44	RJ Lopez	UCLA	28	85	64.2	67%	+10.1
45	Ryan Coe	Cincinnati	28	70	63.6	60%	+5.6
46	Cole Talley	Army	28	57	61.7	51%	+13.4
47	Joseph Bulovas	Vanderbilt	28	55	62.6	49%	+5.5
48	Daniel Gutierrez	UNLV	28	39	52.6	28%	−18.7
49	Ryker Casey	UCF	27	72	60.8	63%	−5.8
50	Bubba Baxa	Houston	27	64	62.4	58%	−8.3
51	Dominik Soos	Old Dominion	27	50	61.0	46%	+2.3
52	Josh Rolston	Central Michigan	27	48	59.9	44%	−1.3
53	Anders Carlson	Auburn	27	43	59.4	33%	−7.3
54	Adam Stage	Northwestern	27	39	58.4	26%	+13.3
55	Casey Glover	Tulane	26	74	62.1	65%	+13.3
56	Tyler Loop	Arizona	26	71	62.0	63%	−18.2
57	Carter Davis	Florida Atlantic	26	49	61.1	47%	−7.7
58	Dylan Lynch	Fresno State	26	49	61.7	47%	−5.7
59	Jordan Noyes	Utah	26	40	61.1	33%	+5.1
60	Connor Madden	James Madison	25	63	62.8	60%	+2.9
61	Alex McNulty	Buffalo	25	57	59.6	56%	−8.5
62	Jake Oldroyd	BYU	25	57	61.5	54%	−5.1
63	Noah Burnette	North Carolina	25	52	63.7	52%	+5.2
64	Brady Pohl	Eastern Michigan	25	50	59.5	50%	−7.6
65	Calum Sutherland	UL Monroe	25	47	61.5	47%	−12.9
66	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	25	40	59.8	38%	−2.0
67	Noah Grant	Memphis	25	40	61.8	38%	+4.0
68	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	24	65	61.4	63%	+7.4
69	Collin Smith	NC State	24	65	63.0	60%	+17.2
70	Briggs Bourgeois	Southern Miss	24	59	63.2	59%	+2.9
71	George Steinkamp	New Mexico	24	48	62.1	50%	−1.8
72	Gavin Lahm	Wisconsin	24	42	61.0	43%	+11.1
73	Liam Gray	Coastal Carolina	24	40	59.1	40%	+1.8
74	Nick Mihalic	Western Michigan	24	35	57.6	31%	−23.5
75	Ryan Fitzgerald	Florida State	23	69	64.3	67%	+11.6
76	Gavin Baechle	UTEP	23	67	63.6	66%	−29.6
77	Chris Van Eekeren	Purdue	23	55	62.0	58%	+2.0
78	Drew Stevens	Iowa	23	52	62.3	56%	+8.4
79	Jadon Redding	Utah	23	33	60.7	27%	−2.4
80	Keegan Shackford	Iowa State	23	30	61.2	23%	+4.7
81	Jason Stricker	Liberty	22	63	62.9	65%	+3.2
82	Colton Theaker	Washington State	22	57	63.5	61%	+4.4
83	Jack Browning	San Diego State	22	50	63.7	56%	+8.0
84	Logan Ward	Oklahoma State	22	35	62.4	37%	+7.8
85	Jake Moody	Michigan	21	94	63.0	76%	+19.4
86	Mitch Jeter	South Carolina	21	69	62.9	68%	+12.5
87	Rece Verhoff	Marshall	21	39	59.1	46%	+5.7
88	Evan Warren	Navy	21	36	57.4	33%	+0.6
89	Zac Yoakam	Notre Dame	20	65	61.3	63%	+9.8
90	Chad Ryland	Maryland	20	61	63.0	67%	+1.0
91	Aidan Laros	Charlotte	20	47	63.4	57%	−0.1
92	Chris Freeman	Indiana	20	44	63.3	55%	+2.4
93	Eddie Czaplicki	Arizona State	20	44	63.0	55%	+10.2
94	Matthew Killam	Nevada	20	43	63.0	53%	+10.8
95	Jack Podlesny	Georgia	19	91	63.2	76%	+13.5
96	Zach Schmit	Oklahoma	19	74	63.8	74%	−37.9
97	Andres Borregales	Miami	19	58	60.5	66%	+4.9
98	Michael Luckhurst	California	19	43	61.9	49%	+5.1
99	Atticus Sappington	Oregon State	19	42	62.7	55%	+6.5
100	Tanner Gillis	Memphis	19	35	61.8	46%	+0.4
101	Jace Gilbert	Iowa State	19	25	61.6	24%	+0.6
102	Niko Paxos	Akron	19	23	61.0	17%	−22.1
103	Andrew Boyle	Oregon	18	71	63.0	70%	+7.5
104	Brendan Franke	Nebraska	18	56	62.0	68%	+8.5
105	Brady Denaburg	Syracuse	18	53	64.0	66%	+4.6
106	Nathan Dibert	LSU	18	50	63.6	64%	+0.9
107	Lucas Matias	Florida International	18	42	61.9	57%	−4.3
108	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Tech	18	40	64.1	55%	−0.9
109	Jonah Dalmas	Boise State	18	35	60.9	49%	−0.8
110	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	17	72	62.9	76%	+11.7
111	Ethan Mooney	North Texas	17	61	63.4	72%	+2.9
112	Michael Hayes II	Georgia State	17	59	64.1	71%	−1.7
113	Graham Nicholson	Miami (OH)	17	35	62.5	51%	−13.9
114	Tate Sandell	UTSA	17	20	49.8	5%	−2.8
115	Noah Rauschenberg	Baylor	16	74	64.2	78%	+4.3
116	Chance Poore	Kentucky	16	60	64.3	73%	−1.7
117	Abraham Montano	Fresno State	16	28	62.5	43%	+10.1
118	Kade Hensley	Coastal Carolina	16	22	61.2	27%	+1.2
119	Kyler Halvorsen	Hawai'i	15	52	63.3	71%	+6.5
120	Charlie Ham	Duke	15	42	63.3	64%	−1.3
121	Danny Longman	Boston College	15	17	60.4	12%	−3.6
122	Joshua Karty	Stanford	14	55	63.3	73%	+11.0
123	Adam Mihalek	Florida	14	41	63.1	63%	+2.4
124	Zach Long	Troy	14	35	61.7	60%	+1.8
125	Everett Hayes	Oregon State	14	28	62.4	46%	+4.4
126	Will Ferrin	Boise State	14	28	61.3	46%	+6.1
127	Damian Ramos	LSU	14	26	62.6	46%	+0.1
128	Brett Money	New Mexico State	14	18	57.0	22%	+1.8
129	Will McManus	Illinois	14	14	55.9	0%	+0.3
130	B.T. Potter	Clemson	13	77	63.6	79%	+11.9
131	Caleb Griffin	Illinois	13	48	61.9	73%	+6.6
132	Jake Pinegar	Penn State	13	40	62.9	68%	+4.1
133	Evan McGuire	Auburn	13	15	59.2	13%	+0.2
134	Kyle Lowe	Virginia Tech	12	46	62.9	72%	−4.2
135	Cole Becker	Colorado	12	43	63.3	72%	−9.3
136	Brendan Farrell	Virginia	12	37	64.5	68%	+2.6
137	Ethan Albertson	New Mexico State	12	25	64.5	52%	−8.1
138	Todd Pelino	Duke	12	17	59.1	24%	+2.9
139	Tanner Brown	Oklahoma State	11	21	63.8	48%	+1.6
140	Alex Hale	Oklahoma State	11	19	63.4	42%	+3.9
141	Palmer Domschke	Western Michigan	11	17	58.8	35%	+3.2
142	Jake Bates	Arkansas	10	68	64.6	85%	+10.1
143	Spencer Shrader	South Florida	10	57	63.9	82%	+0.7
144	Sean Koetting	Missouri	10	55	61.8	80%	+6.2
145	Liam Connor	Boston College	10	24	60.3	54%	−1.2
146	Noah Gettman	Akron	10	16	59.1	38%	−0.8
147	Sander Sahaydak	Penn State	10	12	61.6	17%	−0.1
148	Trey Smack	Florida	9	30	62.4	63%	+6.6
149	Brooks Buce	Troy	9	26	63.4	65%	+4.4
150	Gabriel Nwosu	Penn State	9	18	62.4	50%	+3.8
151	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	8	66	64.8	88%	+4.0
152	Caden Davis	Texas A&M	8	56	63.9	84%	+6.3
153	Henry Katleman	Colorado State	8	38	63.6	79%	+2.6
154	Ben Freehill	Purdue	8	11	61.3	18%	+1.1
155	Zach Murphy	Wake Forest	7	11	53.7	18%	−0.8
156	James Williams	Syracuse	7	8	63.0	13%	+2.9
157	Luke Wieland	Air Force	6	10	60.9	40%	+1.0
158	M.Bernard	Ohio	6	9	54.4	22%	−0.5
159	Kyle Ramsey	Houston	6	8	51.3	13%	−7.0
160	Peyton Henry	Washington	6	8	61.1	25%	−0.8
161	Ben Norton	Utah	6	7	62.4	14%	+0.8
162	Cash Peterman	BYU	6	7	58.3	14%	−0.2
163	Justin Ritter	James Madison	6	7	60.0	14%	+1.2
164	Matthew Dennis	Wake Forest	6	6	60.0	0%	−0.6
165	Dario Longhetto	California	5	13	62.4	62%	0.0
166	Camden Lewis	Oregon	5	12	62.5	58%	−7.7
167	Laith Marjan	East Carolina	5	8	64.1	38%	−1.8
168	B.Pohl	Arizona State	5	7	58.1	29%	+1.0
169	R.Garcia	North Texas	5	7	58.0	29%	+2.3
170	B.Pohl	Akron	5	6	60.0	17%	−3.4
171	C.Glover	Massachusetts	5	6	61.3	17%	−11.1
172	Henry Beckett	Miami (OH)	5	6	63.5	17%	−16.5
173	Logan Lupo	Florida Atlantic	5	5	51.0	0%	−0.7
174	Jonathan Kim	North Carolina	4	32	64.1	84%	−2.9
175	Charles Campbell	Indiana	4	12	61.3	67%	+2.1
176	Massimo Biscardi	Mississippi State	4	9	63.6	56%	+1.7
177	O.Daffer	South Florida	4	8	62.9	38%	−2.9
178	Ryan O'Hara	UNLV	4	7	60.1	43%	−1.2
179	G.Nicholson	Kent State	4	6	63.8	17%	−1.1
180	Luke Pawlak	Toledo	4	6	62.2	33%	−3.9
181	Will Hryszko	Kent State	4	6	58.3	33%	−6.8
182	Camden Wise	James Madison	4	5	50.0	20%	+0.4
183	D.Gutierrez	Utah State	4	5	51.6	20%	−9.3
184	M.Lawler	Marshall	4	5	61.2	20%	−0.6
185	T.Cluckey	Buffalo	4	5	60.6	20%	−5.6
186	A.Brown	Duke	4	4	47.5	0%	+1.2
187	B.VonGunten	Miami (OH)	4	4	55.5	0%	+1.4
188	Daniel Davies	Navy	4	4	59.8	0%	+0.7
189	Denis Lynch	USC	4	4	50.5	0%	−3.5
190	Devyn McCormick	UL Monroe	4	4	54.0	0%	+0.4
191	N.Ruelas	Boston College	4	4	61.0	0%	−5.2
192	Jack Van Dyke	Wisconsin	3	18	62.1	78%	+4.1
193	M.Hayes	Georgia Southern	3	8	63.5	63%	−1.4
194	Toby Wilson	Tennessee	3	8	63.8	63%	−1.1
195	Jack Martin	Alabama	3	5	56.8	40%	+0.4
196	L.Gray	Marshall	3	5	63.0	40%	−1.1
197	Danny King	West Virginia	3	4	52.5	25%	−0.6
198	J.Rolston	Akron	3	4	57.3	25%	+0.3
199	Jarrett Reeser	San Diego State	3	4	60.3	25%	+0.6
200	Alex McPherson	Auburn	3	3	40.3	0%	−4.3
201	Andre Szmyt	Syracuse	3	3	64.0	0%	+0.3
202	E.Warren	Temple	3	3	60.0	0%	−6.6
203	Fabrizio Pinton	Illinois	3	3	53.0	0%	−1.9
204	George Eberle	New Mexico State	3	3	40.0	0%	−1.2
205	Jackson Hubbard	Duke	3	3	61.3	0%	+1.8
206	Josh McCormick	Oregon State	3	3	56.0	0%	−1.4
207	Michael James	Texas State	3	3	51.0	0%	−0.2
208	N.Paxos	Eastern Michigan	3	3	53.7	0%	+1.5
209	Zack Long	Tulsa	3	3	46.7	0%	−2.5
210	C.Ryland	Charlotte	2	9	64.3	78%	+0.6
211	E.Mooney	Western Kentucky	2	7	62.7	71%	−0.7
212	J.Pinegar	Rutgers	2	7	62.7	71%	+2.0
213	Carson Zilmer	New Mexico State	2	5	62.0	60%	+0.8
214	Chris Cayton	North Texas	2	5	63.4	60%	+1.6
215	J.Dalmas	BYU	2	5	59.4	60%	−0.5
216	W.Stone	UTSA	2	5	61.6	40%	+0.6
217	A.Glass	Miami (OH)	2	4	60.0	25%	+2.7
218	A.McNulty	Akron	2	4	60.0	50%	−0.1
219	Brayden Narveson	Western Kentucky	2	4	65.0	50%	+0.5
220	C.Munson	North Texas	2	4	64.8	50%	+2.2
221	J.Oldroyd	Boise State	2	4	61.0	25%	+0.6
222	Jude Kelley	Georgia Tech	2	4	64.3	50%	+0.6
223	Morgan Suarez	Florida Atlantic	2	4	63.3	50%	−5.2
224	O.Daffer	Navy	2	4	64.5	50%	+0.8
225	W.Ferrin	San Diego State	2	4	58.0	50%	−2.9
226	Christian Schanefelt	Ole Miss	2	3	61.0	33%	−3.7
227	E.Nimrod	UNLV	2	3	64.3	33%	−0.4
228	J.McAtamney	Penn State	2	3	60.7	0%	−5.9
229	Trey Gronotte	Army	2	3	65.0	33%	−1.2
230	Alex Bales	Oregon	2	2	48.5	0%	−0.3
231	Alex Herrera	South Carolina	2	2	45.5	0%	+0.5
232	Alex Raynor	Georgia Southern	2	2	37.0	0%	−0.1
233	Andrew Conrad	East Carolina	2	2	62.5	0%	−0.9
234	B.Morros	UCF	2	2	59.0	0%	+0.4
235	Bryce Baringer	Michigan State	2	2	29.5	0%	−3.5
236	C.Robbins	Arizona State	2	2	59.5	0%	+1.4
237	Jesus Gomez	Eastern Michigan	2	2	42.5	0%	−0.5
238	Julio Macias	Purdue	2	2	65.0	0%	−0.5
239	N.Gettman	Buffalo	2	2	60.0	0%	−1.0
240	Scott Taylor Renfroe	Troy	2	2	53.5	0%	+0.6
241	C.Van Eekeren	Syracuse	1	6	63.7	67%	+2.2
242	Mac Chiumento	Florida State	1	6	63.0	83%	+1.1
243	A.McNulty	Toledo	1	5	64.4	80%	−4.2
244	Blake Grupe	Notre Dame	1	5	64.8	80%	0.0
245	M.Killam	Texas State	1	5	64.8	60%	−5.7
246	R.Verhoff	Bowling Green	1	5	64.2	60%	−0.3
247	E.Warren	East Carolina	1	4	57.0	75%	−2.8
248	J.Sackett	Texas	1	4	63.3	75%	+1.2
249	M.Dapore	Colorado	1	4	65.0	75%	−4.1
250	R.Burkhardt	Florida Atlantic	1	4	65.0	75%	+3.4
251	E.Czaplicki	Eastern Michigan	1	3	38.3	33%	+1.0
252	I.Hershey	UNLV	1	3	61.3	67%	−1.6
253	J.Browning	Boise State	1	3	64.7	67%	−1.8
254	M.Shipley	Nevada	1	3	63.3	67%	+0.8
255	N.Paxos	Central Michigan	1	3	41.3	0%	−0.1
256	Quinn Maretzki	Army	1	3	62.3	67%	−0.3
257	R.Verhoff	Coastal Carolina	1	3	64.3	67%	−0.3
258	A.Laros	Maryland	1	2	64.0	50%	+0.4
259	Collin Rogers	SMU	1	2	35.5	50%	−0.5
260	Connor Lytton	Boston College	1	2	31.5	0%	−2.4
261	G.Nicholson	Cincinnati	1	2	38.0	0%	+1.2
262	G.Willcox	Marshall	1	2	41.0	0%	+0.8
263	J.Van Dyke	Washington State	1	2	65.0	50%	−0.8
264	John Olson	Air Force	1	2	57.0	50%	−0.6
265	L.Connor	UConn	1	2	64.0	50%	+0.8
266	Alex Weir	San José State	1	1	44.0	0%	−0.8
267	Andrew Stein	Southern Miss	1	1	48.0	0%	−0.8
268	Bernardo Rodriguez	North Texas	1	1	51.0	0%	−1.4
269	C.Carson	Tulane	1	1	56.0	0%	+1.0
270	C.Kolodziey	Tulane	1	1	65.0	0%	+0.2
271	Casey Legg	West Virginia	1	1	9.0	0%	−2.5
272	Christopher Dunn	NC State	1	1	8.0	0%	−2.6
273	Cory Smigel	Akron	1	1	64.0	0%	−1.6
274	Daton Montiel	Florida International	1	1	46.0	0%	−0.3
275	Dominic Zvada	Arkansas State	1	1	62.0	0%	+0.4
276	Ethan Duane	Old Dominion	1	1	30.0	0%	−1.3
277	G.Zimmerman	UCF	1	1	54.0	0%	+0.2
278	George Caratan	UConn	1	1	65.0	0%	−0.8
279	Jacob Barnes	Louisiana Tech	1	1	64.0	0%	+0.5
280	Jacob Borcila	Kansas	1	1	11.0	0%	−3.4
281	James Turner	Louisville	1	1	56.0	0%	−0.1
282	Lachlan Wilson	Tulsa	1	1	60.0	0%	+0.2
283	Luke Elzinga	Central Michigan	1	1	55.0	0%	−0.7
284	M.Nichols	Utah State	1	1	70.0	0%	−3.0
285	Matthew Trickett	Minnesota	1	1	25.0	0%	+0.2
286	Michael Boyle	Colorado State	1	1	64.0	0%	−0.7
287	N.Gettman	Central Michigan	1	1	62.0	0%	−1.9
288	N.Gettman	Eastern Michigan	1	1	58.0	0%	+0.2
289	R.Bell	Navy	1	1	57.0	0%	−3.2
290	R.Tubbs	Colorado	1	1	55.0	0%	+0.2
291	Ryan Rehkow	BYU	1	1	48.0	0%	+0.4
292	Stephen Rusnak	Michigan State	1	1	16.0	0%	−2.4
293	Trey Finison	LSU	1	1	64.0	0%	−3.4
294	Will Faris	Vanderbilt	1	1	53.0	0%	+0.8
295	Zeke Rankin	Middle Tennessee	1	1	63.0	0%	+0.6

All 2022 College kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Returns Allowed 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

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