2024 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 2024, Andrew Conrad (6.2) topped college football kickoff specialists in average kickoff return allowed, ahead of Jayden Fielding (6.3) and Blake Ford (6.5). 148 kickoff specialists qualify (minimum 10 returns). The median qualified kickoff specialist had 14.5.

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 ret	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Andrew Conrad	East Carolina	6.2	22	59.2	18%	18	+3.6
2	Jayden Fielding	Ohio State	6.3	64	63.9	72%	18	+8.5
3	Blake Ford	North Texas	6.5	74	57.9	58%	31	−1.9
4	Ethan Moczulski	Illinois	7.5	58	62.7	52%	28	+2.9
5	Tommy Doman	Michigan	7.9	60	64.1	62%	23	+10.8
6	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	7.9	67	62.5	76%	16	+2.9
7	Cale Allaire	Western Michigan	8.0	25	51.8	0%	25	−4.3
8	Wes Pahl	Oklahoma State	8.3	33	60.9	48%	17	+2.6
9	Will Hryszko	Kent State	8.5	26	50.0	27%	19	−15.5
10	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Southern	8.6	66	61.0	53%	31	+4.0
11	Clayton Amaya	Arkansas State	8.9	59	59.4	39%	36	+7.7
12	Tristian Vandenberg	Memphis	8.9	77	63.9	87%	10	+1.6
13	Nathan Totten	Marshall	9.0	38	63.9	71%	11	+6.0
14	Reese Burkhardt	Texas Tech	9.2	74	61.5	64%	27	+3.9
15	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	9.2	64	58.9	48%	33	−3.7
16	Caden Chittenden	UNLV	9.8	81	64.3	67%	27	+12.0
17	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	9.8	59	58.7	54%	27	−2.2
18	Peyton Woodring	Georgia	9.9	78	63.7	58%	33	+12.8
19	Alejandro Quintero	Indiana	9.9	18	60.5	17%	15	+1.4
20	Brendan Franke	Texas State	10.3	62	63.3	81%	12	+6.7
21	Gabriel Plascencia	San Diego State	10.4	51	58.9	45%	28	−1.4
22	Jackson Moore	App State	10.5	10	40.2	0%	10	−8.8
23	Jonathan Kim	Michigan State	10.7	53	60.8	57%	23	−1.9
24	Ben Falck	Hawai'i	10.9	55	57.5	27%	40	+2.1
25	Mateen Bhaghani	UCLA	10.9	51	61.8	47%	27	−3.9
26	Alex Herrera	South Carolina	11.1	63	60.5	46%	31	+8.1
27	Kenneth Almendares	Louisiana	11.1	81	61.0	35%	53	+9.5
28	Jack Scullion	Rutgers	11.2	59	60.7	46%	32	+5.3
29	Maddux Trujillo	Temple	11.2	52	60.3	52%	25	+1.9
30	Kyle Lemmermann	TCU	11.3	63	61.6	48%	33	+4.8
31	Tristan Mattson	Central Michigan	11.5	38	58.0	63%	14	−6.2
32	Derek McCormick	Indiana	11.6	37	58.2	27%	27	+0.6
33	Bryan Hansen	Colorado State	11.8	58	62.3	45%	32	+4.2
34	Kian Afrookhteh	Nevada	11.8	15	51.2	0%	15	−6.4
35	Mathias Brown	San José State	11.9	49	58.2	27%	36	−1.0
36	Joe Bowman	UTEP	12.2	15	57.6	20%	12	−1.3
37	Caden Davis	Ole Miss	12.2	87	64.4	87%	11	+8.6
38	Michael Hayes II	West Virginia	12.2	66	58.6	27%	48	−4.7
39	Collin Rogers	SMU	12.4	77	63.2	52%	33	−1.4
40	Max Morgan	Liberty	12.4	54	60.6	50%	27	−5.0
41	Carson Holmer	Ball State	12.5	54	54.5	20%	43	−9.5
42	Gabriel Nwosu	Penn State	12.5	81	63.4	63%	30	+4.8
43	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	12.5	57	61.3	53%	27	+2.6
44	Ryan Coe	California	12.6	57	63.6	70%	16	+4.7
45	Jack Stone	Baylor	12.6	70	62.9	67%	23	+7.1
46	Jace Feely	Colorado	12.7	17	61.0	29%	12	+4.5
47	Stephen Rusnak	Charlotte	12.9	48	61.9	73%	12	−1.2
48	Ben Freehill	Purdue	13.0	35	60.9	54%	16	−4.4
49	Nick Barr-Mira	Mississippi State	13.1	43	62.9	77%	10	+0.2
50	Reed Malphurs	Tulsa	13.1	58	60.3	40%	33	+1.8
51	John Hohl	Nebraska	13.2	14	60.5	21%	11	+0.2
52	Dean Janikowski	Washington State	13.2	48	63.3	56%	21	+2.3
53	Blake Craig	Missouri	13.3	67	62.9	73%	18	+5.0
54	Braeden McAlister	Georgia State	13.3	59	63.4	75%	15	−0.2
55	Trey Coleman	Utah	13.5	39	63.1	44%	22	+7.4
56	Drew Stevens	Iowa	13.5	67	63.5	60%	27	+7.4
57	Noah Grant	UAB	13.5	65	60.8	51%	31	−2.6
58	Zach Benedict	Middle Tennessee	13.6	30	57.6	20%	16	+4.4
59	Dante Jackson	Akron	13.7	50	63.3	64%	18	+2.3
60	Quinn Warren	Indiana	13.8	33	61.2	33%	22	−0.3
61	Eric Goins	Notre Dame	13.8	56	60.8	38%	30	+7.9
62	Michael Denning	Toledo	13.9	54	60.4	30%	38	−0.1
63	Kyle Lowe	Virginia Tech	13.9	69	62.7	57%	29	+5.6
64	Luka Zurak	Western Michigan	13.9	29	57.1	0%	29	+2.4
65	Reagan Tubbs	Air Force	14.0	44	61.1	52%	21	+0.6
66	Jonah Dalmas	Boise State	14.0	14	51.4	7%	13	−4.6
67	Riley Stephens	Western Kentucky	14.0	64	61.3	23%	49	+6.9
68	Dylan Lynch	Fresno State	14.2	59	61.6	51%	29	+5.2
69	Matthew Killam	Nevada	14.2	45	60.5	49%	23	−1.0
70	Will Faris	Vanderbilt	14.2	26	61.0	35%	17	−0.9
71	Upton Bellenfant	Buffalo	14.2	67	61.3	43%	37	+3.2
72	Ryan Degyansky	Duke	14.3	43	61.0	26%	30	+2.2
73	Luke Drzewiecki	New Mexico	14.3	37	61.2	51%	18	−2.8
74	Ethan Head	Tulane	14.4	76	63.3	64%	27	+6.0
75	Tate Sandell	UTSA	14.5	74	63.1	77%	17	+1.7
76	Gavin Lahm	Wisconsin	14.6	56	64.2	68%	18	+4.8
77	Luke Stewart	Southern Miss	14.6	29	60.8	38%	18	−1.8
78	Christian Pavon	Sam Houston	14.7	54	61.1	26%	40	−7.2
79	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	14.7	50	63.5	70%	15	+5.6
80	Jarrett Reeser	Boise State	14.8	26	62.1	54%	12	+1.6
81	Logan Ward	Oklahoma State	14.8	31	60.1	45%	17	+0.1
82	Will Stone	Texas	14.8	82	63.4	71%	23	+14.5
83	Jesus Gomez	Eastern Michigan	14.8	60	61.5	58%	25	−5.6
84	Brady Denaburg	Syracuse	14.9	72	63.5	82%	13	+0.4
85	Taren Schive	Boise State	14.9	51	58.4	41%	30	−2.7
86	Jace Gilbert	Iowa State	15.0	71	61.5	55%	31	−2.1
87	Davis Little	South Alabama	15.0	18	58.1	39%	11	−0.4
88	Nathan Hawks	Cincinnati	15.0	65	61.3	40%	39	+1.4
89	Jack Howes	Maryland	15.1	54	61.9	57%	23	−3.6
90	John Hoyland	Wyoming	15.1	52	64.0	62%	20	+6.7
91	Lucas Osada	North Carolina	15.1	56	63.5	70%	17	+1.8
92	Lance Gossett	Navy	15.1	64	58.6	27%	45	+1.4
93	Brock Taylor	Vanderbilt	15.2	37	63.1	57%	16	+4.1
94	Atticus Sappington	Oregon	15.2	77	64.0	74%	20	+3.2
95	Will Ferrin	BYU	15.2	75	62.9	55%	32	+6.2
96	Trey Gronotte	Army	15.3	54	59.6	30%	38	+0.5
97	Parker Lewis	Arizona State	15.4	63	60.9	59%	26	−1.7
98	Liam Gray	Coastal Carolina	15.6	71	61.8	56%	31	−2.0
99	Gianni Spetic	Ohio	15.7	73	60.8	41%	42	−3.9
100	Kellan McLaughlin	Miami (OH)	15.8	56	62.8	61%	22	+8.5
101	Garrison Rippa	Jacksonville State	15.9	84	59.5	33%	56	−1.2
102	Caleb Carlson	Wake Forest	15.9	52	63.1	71%	15	−3.3
103	Cash McVay	App State	16.0	18	62.2	28%	13	+1.1
104	Laith Marjan	South Alabama	16.1	60	58.4	30%	42	−10.2
105	Aidan Laros	Kentucky	16.1	48	63.8	67%	16	+7.5
106	Grady Gross	Washington	16.2	60	58.1	28%	43	−10.4
107	Rece Verhoff	Marshall	16.3	40	63.5	68%	13	+3.1
108	Alejandro Prado	Florida International	16.4	53	58.7	11%	47	−3.1
109	Zach Long	Bowling Green	16.4	67	60.2	54%	31	−4.9
110	Tabor Allen	Kansas	16.4	70	63.5	77%	16	+6.8
111	Abraham Montano	New Mexico State	16.5	48	60.1	56%	19	−7.8
112	Everett Scott	East Carolina	16.5	50	61.7	36%	32	−1.2
113	Max Larson	UL Monroe	16.9	50	59.8	24%	38	+1.6
114	Evan Morris	UCF	16.9	38	62.8	53%	18	+2.0
115	Conor Talty	Alabama	17.0	72	63.2	64%	25	+7.1
116	Britton Williams	Kennesaw State	17.1	14	58.0	21%	11	−3.1
117	Liam Connor	Boston College	17.1	46	59.9	33%	31	+5.6
118	Luke Akers	Northwestern	17.2	50	61.9	50%	25	+2.8
119	Michael Lantz	USC	17.3	71	64.4	73%	19	+1.7
120	Devin Bale	Arkansas	17.3	68	63.1	63%	25	−0.1
121	Chris Freeman	UConn	17.5	77	62.8	58%	32	+7.5
122	Jack Martin	Houston	17.5	39	58.8	38%	22	+0.4
123	Austin Welch	Kennesaw State	17.6	31	60.0	48%	16	+0.6
124	Emmet Kenney	Stanford	17.8	57	61.3	37%	36	−1.8
125	Michael Hughes	App State	17.9	28	62.5	64%	10	+2.6
126	Austin Bullock	Northern Illinois	17.9	61	57.5	31%	40	−10.6
127	Ethan Chang	Old Dominion	18.1	53	59.4	38%	33	−1.5
128	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	18.4	51	61.1	45%	28	−15.9
129	Jared Zirkel	Texas A&M	18.5	68	64.1	63%	25	+3.2
130	Zach Schmit	Oklahoma	18.9	59	63.0	68%	15	−0.7
131	Aidan Birr	Georgia Tech	18.9	66	62.1	74%	17	+1.4
132	Josh Turbyville	Tennessee	19.1	79	63.3	84%	12	+7.0
133	Towns McGough	Auburn	19.4	61	63.9	72%	17	+1.8
134	Alex Stoyanovich	Colorado	19.5	18	62.1	17%	15	−1.4
135	Trey Smack	Florida	19.5	65	63.3	80%	13	+3.9
136	Collin Smith	NC State	19.7	73	64.4	86%	10	+2.4
137	Robert Gunn III	Clemson	19.8	83	64.6	81%	14	+7.3
138	Charles Steinkamp	New Mexico	20.1	31	56.8	32%	21	−11.7
139	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	20.4	75	63.2	77%	15	+0.6
140	Daniel Gerlach	Colorado	20.6	29	59.1	21%	23	−4.5
141	Cristiano Rosa	James Madison	20.8	67	62.8	70%	20	+1.6
142	Brian Buschini	Nebraska	21.0	42	63.1	55%	19	+0.1
143	Paddy McAteer	Troy	21.2	60	64.1	62%	23	+5.5
144	Zeke Rankin	Middle Tennessee	21.3	16	54.6	6%	15	−8.6
145	Andres Borregales	Miami	21.9	92	64.0	68%	27	+6.5
146	Nico Gramatica	South Florida	22.4	60	61.0	47%	23	−5.8
147	Chris Tennant	Kansas State	22.5	22	64.5	50%	11	+2.6
148	Buzz Flabiano	UTEP	25.2	34	62.1	50%	17	−4.7

All 2024 College kickoff specialist rankings

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

More 2024 College kickoff specialist leaderboards

Other 2024 College rankings

Loading the interactive stats…