2024 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 2024, Aeron Burrell (65.0) led college football kickoff specialists in average kickoff distance, ahead of Buck Buchanan (64.9) and Carter Davis (64.7). 133 kickoff specialists qualify (minimum 30 kickoffs). The median qualified kickoff specialist had 61.9.

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 2024 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Avg dist	Kickoffs	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Aeron Burrell	LSU	65.0	66	94%	4	+4.4
2	Buck Buchanan	Louisiana Tech	64.9	55	93%	4	+7.1
3	Carter Davis	Florida Atlantic	64.7	53	81%	9	−1.7
4	Robert Gunn III	Clemson	64.6	83	81%	14	+7.3
5	Collin Smith	NC State	64.4	73	86%	10	+2.4
6	Enock Gota	Rice	64.4	45	82%	8	−1.1
7	Caden Davis	Ole Miss	64.4	87	87%	11	+8.6
8	Michael Lantz	USC	64.4	71	73%	19	+1.7
9	Caden Chittenden	UNLV	64.3	81	67%	27	+12.0
10	Gavin Lahm	Wisconsin	64.2	56	68%	18	+4.8
11	Paddy McAteer	Troy	64.1	60	62%	23	+5.5
12	Tommy Doman	Michigan	64.1	60	62%	23	+10.8
13	Jared Zirkel	Texas A&M	64.1	68	63%	25	+3.2
14	John Hoyland	Wyoming	64.0	52	62%	20	+6.7
15	Atticus Sappington	Oregon	64.0	77	74%	20	+3.2
16	Andres Borregales	Miami	64.0	92	68%	27	+6.5
17	Nathan Totten	Marshall	63.9	38	71%	11	+6.0
18	Tristian Vandenberg	Memphis	63.9	77	87%	10	+1.6
19	Jayden Fielding	Ohio State	63.9	64	72%	18	+8.5
20	Towns McGough	Auburn	63.9	61	72%	17	+1.8
21	Aidan Laros	Kentucky	63.8	48	67%	16	+7.5
22	Peyton Woodring	Georgia	63.7	78	58%	33	+12.8
23	Ryan Coe	California	63.6	57	70%	16	+4.7
24	Rece Verhoff	Marshall	63.5	40	68%	13	+3.1
25	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	63.5	50	70%	15	+5.6
26	Drew Stevens	Iowa	63.5	67	60%	27	+7.4
27	Lucas Osada	North Carolina	63.5	56	70%	17	+1.8
28	Brady Denaburg	Syracuse	63.5	72	82%	13	+0.4
29	Tabor Allen	Kansas	63.5	70	77%	16	+6.8
30	Will Stone	Texas	63.4	82	71%	23	+14.5
31	Gabriel Nwosu	Penn State	63.4	81	63%	30	+4.8
32	Braeden McAlister	Georgia State	63.4	59	75%	15	−0.2
33	Dante Jackson	Akron	63.3	50	64%	18	+2.3
34	Dean Janikowski	Washington State	63.3	48	56%	21	+2.3
35	Trey Smack	Florida	63.3	65	80%	13	+3.9
36	Brendan Franke	Texas State	63.3	62	81%	12	+6.7
37	Josh Turbyville	Tennessee	63.3	79	84%	12	+7.0
38	Ethan Head	Tulane	63.3	76	64%	27	+6.0
39	Collin Rogers	SMU	63.2	77	52%	33	−1.4
40	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	63.2	75	77%	15	+0.6
41	Conor Talty	Alabama	63.2	72	64%	25	+7.1
42	Ryan Fitzgerald	Florida State	63.1	43	79%	8	−0.9
43	Tate Sandell	UTSA	63.1	74	77%	17	+1.7
44	Trey Coleman	Utah	63.1	39	44%	22	+7.4
45	Brock Taylor	Vanderbilt	63.1	37	57%	16	+4.1
46	Devin Bale	Arkansas	63.1	68	63%	25	−0.1
47	Brian Buschini	Nebraska	63.1	42	55%	19	+0.1
48	Caleb Carlson	Wake Forest	63.1	52	71%	15	−3.3
49	Zach Schmit	Oklahoma	63.0	59	68%	15	−0.7
50	Jack Stone	Baylor	62.9	70	67%	23	+7.1
51	Blake Craig	Missouri	62.9	67	73%	18	+5.0
52	Will Ferrin	BYU	62.9	75	55%	32	+6.2
53	Nick Barr-Mira	Mississippi State	62.9	43	77%	10	+0.2
54	Evan Morris	UCF	62.8	38	53%	18	+2.0
55	Kellan McLaughlin	Miami (OH)	62.8	56	61%	22	+8.5
56	Cristiano Rosa	James Madison	62.8	67	70%	20	+1.6
57	Chris Freeman	UConn	62.8	77	58%	32	+7.5
58	Kyle Lowe	Virginia Tech	62.7	69	57%	29	+5.6
59	Everett Hayes	Oregon State	62.7	57	86%	8	+5.7
60	Ethan Moczulski	Illinois	62.7	58	52%	28	+2.9
61	Tyler Loop	Arizona	62.7	58	91%	5	−0.2
62	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	62.5	67	76%	16	+2.9
63	Bryan Hansen	Colorado State	62.3	58	45%	32	+4.2
64	Aidan Birr	Georgia Tech	62.1	66	74%	17	+1.4
65	Buzz Flabiano	UTEP	62.1	34	50%	17	−4.7
66	Jack Howes	Maryland	61.9	54	57%	23	−3.6
67	Stephen Rusnak	Charlotte	61.9	48	73%	12	−1.2
68	Luke Akers	Northwestern	61.9	50	50%	25	+2.8
69	Liam Gray	Coastal Carolina	61.8	71	56%	31	−2.0
70	Mateen Bhaghani	UCLA	61.8	51	47%	27	−3.9
71	Everett Scott	East Carolina	61.7	50	36%	32	−1.2
72	Dylan Lynch	Fresno State	61.6	59	51%	29	+5.2
73	Kyle Lemmermann	TCU	61.6	63	48%	33	+4.8
74	Jace Gilbert	Iowa State	61.5	71	55%	31	−2.1
75	Jesus Gomez	Eastern Michigan	61.5	60	58%	25	−5.6
76	Reese Burkhardt	Texas Tech	61.5	74	64%	27	+3.9
77	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	61.3	57	53%	27	+2.6
78	Riley Stephens	Western Kentucky	61.3	64	23%	49	+6.9
79	Nathan Hawks	Cincinnati	61.3	65	40%	39	+1.4
80	Upton Bellenfant	Buffalo	61.3	67	43%	37	+3.2
81	Emmet Kenney	Stanford	61.3	57	37%	36	−1.8
82	Quinn Warren	Indiana	61.2	33	33%	22	−0.3
83	Luke Drzewiecki	New Mexico	61.2	37	51%	18	−2.8
84	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	61.1	51	45%	28	−15.9
85	Christian Pavon	Sam Houston	61.1	54	26%	40	−7.2
86	Reagan Tubbs	Air Force	61.1	44	52%	21	+0.6
87	Nico Gramatica	South Florida	61.0	60	47%	23	−5.8
88	Kenneth Almendares	Louisiana	61.0	81	35%	53	+9.5
89	Ryan Degyansky	Duke	61.0	43	26%	30	+2.2
90	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Southern	61.0	66	53%	31	+4.0
91	Wes Pahl	Oklahoma State	60.9	33	48%	17	+2.6
92	Parker Lewis	Arizona State	60.9	63	59%	26	−1.7
93	Ben Freehill	Purdue	60.9	35	54%	16	−4.4
94	Noah Grant	UAB	60.8	65	51%	31	−2.6
95	Gianni Spetic	Ohio	60.8	73	41%	42	−3.9
96	Eric Goins	Notre Dame	60.8	56	38%	30	+7.9
97	Jonathan Kim	Michigan State	60.8	53	57%	23	−1.9
98	Jack Scullion	Rutgers	60.7	59	46%	32	+5.3
99	Max Morgan	Liberty	60.6	54	50%	27	−5.0
100	Alex Herrera	South Carolina	60.5	63	46%	31	+8.1
101	Matthew Killam	Nevada	60.5	45	49%	23	−1.0
102	Michael Denning	Toledo	60.4	54	30%	38	−0.1
103	Reed Malphurs	Tulsa	60.3	58	40%	33	+1.8
104	Maddux Trujillo	Temple	60.3	52	52%	25	+1.9
105	Zach Long	Bowling Green	60.2	67	54%	31	−4.9
106	Logan Ward	Oklahoma State	60.1	31	45%	17	+0.1
107	Abraham Montano	New Mexico State	60.1	48	56%	19	−7.8
108	Austin Welch	Kennesaw State	60.0	31	48%	16	+0.6
109	Liam Connor	Boston College	59.9	46	33%	31	+5.6
110	Max Larson	UL Monroe	59.8	50	24%	38	+1.6
111	Trey Gronotte	Army	59.6	54	30%	38	+0.5
112	Garrison Rippa	Jacksonville State	59.5	84	33%	56	−1.2
113	Clayton Amaya	Arkansas State	59.4	59	39%	36	+7.7
114	Ethan Chang	Old Dominion	59.4	53	38%	33	−1.5
115	Gabriel Plascencia	San Diego State	58.9	51	45%	28	−1.4
116	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	58.9	64	48%	33	−3.7
117	Jack Martin	Houston	58.8	39	38%	22	+0.4
118	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	58.7	59	54%	27	−2.2
119	Alejandro Prado	Florida International	58.7	53	11%	47	−3.1
120	Michael Hayes II	West Virginia	58.6	66	27%	48	−4.7
121	Lance Gossett	Navy	58.6	64	27%	45	+1.4
122	Laith Marjan	South Alabama	58.4	60	30%	42	−10.2
123	Taren Schive	Boise State	58.4	51	41%	30	−2.7
124	Mathias Brown	San José State	58.2	49	27%	36	−1.0
125	Derek McCormick	Indiana	58.2	37	27%	27	+0.6
126	Grady Gross	Washington	58.1	60	28%	43	−10.4
127	Tristan Mattson	Central Michigan	58.0	38	63%	14	−6.2
128	Blake Ford	North Texas	57.9	74	58%	31	−1.9
129	Zach Benedict	Middle Tennessee	57.6	30	20%	16	+4.4
130	Austin Bullock	Northern Illinois	57.5	61	31%	40	−10.6
131	Ben Falck	Hawai'i	57.5	55	27%	40	+2.1
132	Charles Steinkamp	New Mexico	56.8	31	32%	21	−11.7
133	Carson Holmer	Ball State	54.5	54	20%	43	−9.5

All 2024 College kickoff specialist rankings

Average Kickoff Distance in other seasons: 2026 2025 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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