2016 College Average Punt Return Allowed Leaders

Return yards allowed divided by punts returned. It shows how well a punter and his coverage team contain returners.

Lower is better. Only punters with enough returns are ranked. In 2016, Zachary Block (2.2) topped college football punters in average punt return allowed, ahead of Zach Sinor (2.4) and Nick Porebski (2.6). 99 punters qualify (minimum 10 returns). The median qualified punter had 7.3.

Final 2016 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Avg ret	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Zachary Block	Tulane	2.2	68	40.8	38.8	23	34%	7%	33%	−1.9
2	Zach Sinor	Oklahoma State	2.4	52	42.4	40.4	35	66%	2%	38%	+13.0
3	Nick Porebski	Oregon State	2.6	64	41.3	38.9	23	35%	9%	40%	+4.5
4	Jonny Linehan	BYU	2.8	52	42.7	41.4	22	54%	5%	28%	+10.4
5	Joe Schopper	Purdue	3.2	56	40.7	37.8	25	45%	11%	25%	+4.7
6	Sam Loy	Vanderbilt	3.3	64	41.2	37.8	23	36%	10%	21%	−0.9
7	Mitchell Ludwig	Virginia Tech	3.3	62	38.8	37.2	31	51%	3%	45%	−2.1
8	Ryan Kay	Troy	3.4	62	40.8	38.9	28	50%	7%	35%	+6.9
9	Nick Walsh	Kansas State	3.4	46	42.7	39.2	22	48%	11%	16%	+5.0
10	Alex Starzyk	Temple	3.4	48	39.7	38.2	22	46%	2%	13%	−2.2
11	Cameron Johnston	Ohio State	3.5	49	46.2	43.4	23	47%	10%	39%	+18.4
12	Matt Bonadies	Middle Tennessee	3.6	55	38.4	37.0	16	30%	4%	29%	−7.7
13	Joseph Davidson	Bowling Green	3.7	61	45.8	43.5	24	45%	6%	19%	+26.0
14	Matt Haack	Arizona State	3.7	66	43.9	42.0	21	32%	5%	35%	+14.5
15	Damon Foncham	Arkansas State	3.8	65	39.4	38.1	19	30%	3%	27%	−5.8
16	Steve Brosy	Air Force	4.4	46	41.3	39.2	25	57%	2%	40%	+4.5
17	Adam Nunez	TCU	4.5	69	39.6	37.7	26	38%	3%	36%	−2.6
18	Michael Dickson	Texas	4.5	65	47.4	43.4	30	48%	14%	29%	+23.9
19	Jacob Ambrose	Northern Illinois	4.7	70	39.1	36.4	20	33%	8%	23%	−6.6
20	Ryan Santoso	Minnesota	4.8	70	40.6	37.3	27	39%	7%	15%	−3.9
21	Corey Fatony	Missouri	4.8	66	43.8	41.0	28	43%	9%	19%	+15.3
22	Tyler Sarrazin	Southern Miss	4.8	48	44.6	41.0	17	33%	10%	17%	+11.9
23	Dalton Schomp	Florida Atlantic	4.9	68	42.6	39.4	24	38%	10%	32%	+10.0
24	Colin Downing	Iowa State	4.9	58	41.1	38.8	24	41%	5%	34%	+5.3
25	Lumi Kaba	Texas State	5.0	74	41.9	39.2	20	27%	8%	39%	+3.3
26	Arthur Hart	Charlotte	5.2	68	39.2	36.6	16	25%	6%	24%	−11.7
27	Shane Tripucka	Texas A&M	5.3	66	43.2	41.4	25	40%	0%	36%	+10.5
28	Joseph Gedeon	Indiana	5.3	55	40.0	36.9	25	45%	0%	15%	+1.6
29	Wade Lees	Maryland	5.4	65	39.9	38.4	21	32%	2%	41%	−2.5
30	Ethan Wood	Wyoming	5.4	65	41.6	39.8	32	52%	3%	18%	+8.3
31	Jake Hartbarger	Michigan State	5.4	54	40.9	38.2	22	41%	6%	27%	+3.5
32	Mike Knoll	Boston College	5.6	86	38.3	34.9	16	19%	8%	32%	−21.5
33	Grant McKinniss	Kentucky	5.8	55	39.5	36.0	12	21%	9%	19%	−5.6
34	Sam Geraci	Cincinnati	6.3	66	40.0	37.6	33	49%	5%	50%	+2.8
35	Alan Luna	UTEP	6.5	62	41.0	37.5	19	34%	2%	12%	−5.8
36	Michael Farkas	Ohio	6.5	69	41.0	38.7	31	46%	4%	40%	+4.5
37	Jack Fox	Rice	6.6	75	40.7	37.7	31	41%	4%	35%	−0.9
38	Marshall Long	Georgia	6.6	49	38.7	35.2	14	29%	6%	27%	−9.4
39	Logan Laurent	Massachusetts	6.6	62	41.6	37.4	21	34%	3%	19%	−2.0
40	Toby Baker	Arkansas	6.7	50	44.6	41.3	21	42%	6%	40%	+16.6
41	Austin Barnes	Eastern Michigan	6.7	60	43.7	40.7	33	55%	7%	32%	+17.1
42	Nicholas Conte	Virginia	6.7	74	44.3	40.5	34	46%	12%	22%	+13.0
43	Hayden Hunt	Colorado State	6.8	50	44.3	40.9	27	54%	6%	32%	+14.2
44	Nick Ellis	Toledo	6.8	47	43.1	37.9	15	37%	15%	19%	+5.6
45	Corey Bojorquez	New Mexico	6.9	46	42.4	37.8	15	33%	7%	19%	−4.1
46	Dayton Balvanz	UL Monroe	7.0	63	41.0	38.3	25	40%	5%	34%	−0.2
47	Blake Gillikin	Penn State	7.1	56	42.1	38.4	25	45%	9%	28%	+6.7
48	Evan Pantels	UNLV	7.2	64	41.7	38.3	16	25%	3%	18%	−1.0
49	Kaare Vedvik	Marshall	7.2	70	40.0	37.1	26	41%	3%	39%	+1.1
50	Kenny Allen	Michigan	7.3	46	42.6	37.6	21	46%	11%	17%	+1.1
51	Jake Bailey	Stanford	7.4	45	42.8	39.3	22	49%	4%	14%	+6.0
52	Billy Kinney	West Virginia	7.4	51	41.4	37.5	15	31%	10%	40%	+1.1
53	Ian Wheeler	Oregon	7.4	59	37.8	34.8	22	37%	5%	43%	−10.0
54	Jamie Sackville	SMU	7.4	71	39.6	35.9	23	32%	7%	21%	−4.6
55	Sean Wale	Boise State	7.9	47	45.2	40.5	19	42%	7%	41%	+7.0
56	Justin Vogel	Miami	7.9	57	44.2	41.1	25	44%	2%	47%	+7.2
57	Nick Gasser	Akron	8.2	59	37.7	35.1	23	40%	0%	28%	−11.7
58	Kyle Schmidt	Ball State	8.4	57	41.3	37.9	21	36%	7%	16%	+4.8
59	Michael Barden	Texas Tech	8.4	43	38.3	35.1	10	24%	5%	10%	−10.3
60	Ryan Winslow	Pittsburgh	8.6	55	42.6	36.2	14	25%	11%	19%	−5.6
61	Yannis Routsas	UTSA	8.6	67	41.9	38.1	15	24%	2%	28%	−1.4
62	Dalton Parks	Tulsa	8.6	64	41.8	37.6	20	31%	9%	22%	−0.9
63	Anthony Lotti	Wisconsin	8.8	48	37.5	33.8	25	53%	2%	26%	−9.0
64	Ryan Frain	Illinois	8.9	53	40.1	35.9	21	40%	8%	20%	−10.2
65	Tanner Blain	San Diego State	8.9	56	41.9	38.3	27	57%	6%	29%	+7.0
66	Dom Maggio	Wake Forest	9.0	67	42.6	36.9	26	38%	10%	12%	−10.7
67	Johnny Townsend	Florida	9.0	60	48.0	42.0	24	41%	10%	25%	+13.4
68	Justin Wain	UConn	9.1	74	40.8	37.4	24	32%	8%	43%	−3.2
69	Michael Cintron	Rutgers	9.2	95	37.9	33.2	19	20%	6%	24%	−40.2
70	Ron Coluzzi	Iowa	9.3	68	41.3	38.4	26	38%	7%	47%	+4.1
71	Eric Keena	North Texas	9.3	69	43.8	39.8	27	40%	3%	18%	+7.7
72	Mason King	Louisville	9.3	47	42.7	39.3	15	32%	2%	51%	+4.8
73	Mitch Wishnowsky	Utah	9.4	60	48.0	44.5	37	62%	3%	26%	+25.3
74	Cole Moos	Kansas	9.5	73	41.4	38.2	13	19%	3%	28%	−2.1
75	Jonathan Hernandez	South Florida	9.5	59	41.2	38.5	26	51%	0%	40%	+3.0
76	Hunter Niswander	Northwestern	9.7	70	41.4	36.4	26	37%	9%	23%	−4.3
77	Sterling Hofrichter	Syracuse	9.7	77	42.7	38.4	21	31%	4%	25%	−2.5
78	Sean Kelly	South Carolina	9.7	72	42.5	38.5	30	42%	6%	37%	+1.1
79	Justin Martin	Miami (OH)	9.8	33	38.0	35.2	7	21%	3%	20%	−4.8
80	Derek Adams	Kent State	10.1	76	40.3	37.4	25	43%	2%	43%	−5.3
81	Michael Carrizosa	San José State	10.2	61	44.3	39.3	27	44%	10%	26%	+5.9
82	Austin Rehkow	Idaho	10.2	49	42.6	38.1	26	58%	5%	31%	+3.2
83	Ryan Rodwell	Georgia Tech	10.4	44	43.4	38.4	15	34%	11%	32%	−2.9
84	Stone Wilson	Florida International	10.5	61	37.6	34.2	13	21%	5%	30%	−15.4
85	Dylan Klumph	California	10.5	50	44.8	38.5	19	38%	6%	14%	−6.7
86	Rigoberto Sanchez	Hawai'i	10.6	67	44.6	38.9	24	36%	6%	31%	+6.8
87	Alex Boy	Nevada	11.1	51	43.7	38.0	18	39%	11%	30%	+3.4
88	Caleb Lightbourn	Nebraska	11.2	58	39.3	34.6	21	40%	6%	24%	−11.9
89	Tristan Vizcaino	Washington	11.4	43	39.6	33.6	15	35%	12%	15%	−11.9
90	Josh Pollack	Arizona	11.5	48	42.3	36.4	14	34%	5%	8%	−7.4
91	Kyle DeWeen	Buffalo	11.9	72	39.8	34.3	22	30%	8%	23%	−15.6
92	Brandon Wright	Georgia State	12.0	61	39.8	34.0	17	28%	5%	17%	−19.6
93	JK Scott	Alabama	12.1	46	47.7	40.3	16	36%	16%	24%	+6.7
94	Alex Kinney	Colorado	12.4	66	41.3	35.0	15	24%	6%	33%	−11.0
95	Worth Gregory	East Carolina	12.6	51	42.3	38.1	17	33%	4%	28%	−3.2
96	Tyler Newsome	Notre Dame	13.3	54	43.5	37.3	18	33%	6%	13%	−3.6
97	Trevor Daniel	Tennessee	13.8	64	44.7	40.2	28	44%	11%	41%	+10.6
98	Payton Theisler	New Mexico State	16.8	65	42.2	34.2	21	32%	3%	16%	−18.5
99	Logan Tyler	Florida State	20.2	49	40.6	34.8	13	28%	4%	30%	−7.6

All 2016 College punter rankings

Average Punt Return Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

More 2016 College punter leaderboards

Other 2016 College rankings

Loading the interactive stats…