2016 College Gross Punting Average Leaders

Gross average is total punt yards divided by punts that were not blocked. It measures distance only and ignores returns and touchbacks.

Net average is a better measure of field position; use both. In 2016, Johnny Townsend (48.0) led college football punters in gross punting average, ahead of Mitch Wishnowsky (48.0) and JK Scott (47.7). 123 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 41.4.

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

Rk	Player	Team	Avg	Punts	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Johnny Townsend	Florida	48.0	60	42.0	24	41%	10%	25%	+13.4
2	Mitch Wishnowsky	Utah	48.0	60	44.5	37	62%	3%	26%	+25.3
3	JK Scott	Alabama	47.7	46	40.3	16	36%	16%	24%	+6.7
4	Michael Dickson	Texas	47.4	65	43.4	30	48%	14%	29%	+23.9
5	Cameron Johnston	Ohio State	46.2	49	43.4	23	47%	10%	39%	+18.4
6	Joseph Davidson	Bowling Green	45.8	61	43.5	24	45%	6%	19%	+26.0
7	Sean Wale	Boise State	45.2	47	40.5	19	42%	7%	41%	+7.0
8	Spencer Smith	Memphis	45.2	44	43.0	11	27%	7%	36%	+13.3
9	Dylan Klumph	California	44.8	50	38.5	19	38%	6%	14%	−6.7
10	Trevor Daniel	Tennessee	44.7	64	40.2	28	44%	11%	41%	+10.6
11	Tyler Sarrazin	Southern Miss	44.6	48	41.0	17	33%	10%	17%	+11.9
12	Toby Baker	Arkansas	44.6	50	41.3	21	42%	6%	40%	+16.6
13	Rigoberto Sanchez	Hawai'i	44.6	67	38.9	24	36%	6%	31%	+6.8
14	Brandon McKee	South Alabama	44.5	44	41.4	27	61%	11%	37%	+11.7
15	Steven Coutts	Louisiana	44.4	58	41.0	24	41%	7%	46%	+7.5
16	Michael Carrizosa	San José State	44.3	61	39.3	27	44%	10%	26%	+5.9
17	Nicholas Conte	Virginia	44.3	74	40.5	34	46%	12%	22%	+13.0
18	Hayden Hunt	Colorado State	44.3	50	40.9	27	54%	6%	32%	+14.2
19	Justin Vogel	Miami	44.2	57	41.1	25	44%	2%	47%	+7.2
20	Matt Haack	Arizona State	43.9	66	42.0	21	32%	5%	35%	+14.5
21	Corey Fatony	Missouri	43.8	66	41.0	28	43%	9%	19%	+15.3
22	Eric Keena	North Texas	43.8	69	39.8	27	40%	3%	18%	+7.7
23	Austin Barnes	Eastern Michigan	43.7	60	40.7	33	55%	7%	32%	+17.1
24	Alex Boy	Nevada	43.7	51	38.0	18	39%	11%	30%	+3.4
25	Tyler Newsome	Notre Dame	43.5	54	37.3	18	33%	6%	13%	−3.6
26	Ryan Rodwell	Georgia Tech	43.4	44	38.4	15	34%	11%	32%	−2.9
27	Shane Tripucka	Texas A&M	43.2	66	41.4	25	40%	0%	36%	+10.5
28	Nick Ellis	Toledo	43.1	47	37.9	15	37%	15%	19%	+5.6
29	Gerald Shouse	Louisiana Tech	43.0	32	37.2	13	41%	13%	16%	+1.5
30	Jake Collins	Western Kentucky	42.9	36	38.8	11	32%	12%	18%	+6.8
31	Jake Bailey	Stanford	42.8	45	39.3	22	49%	4%	14%	+6.0
32	Mason King	Louisville	42.7	47	39.3	15	32%	2%	51%	+4.8
33	Nick Walsh	Kansas State	42.7	46	39.2	22	48%	11%	16%	+5.0
34	Jonny Linehan	BYU	42.7	52	41.4	22	54%	5%	28%	+10.4
35	Sterling Hofrichter	Syracuse	42.7	77	38.4	21	31%	4%	25%	−2.5
36	Austin Rehkow	Idaho	42.6	49	38.1	26	58%	5%	31%	+3.2
37	Kenny Allen	Michigan	42.6	46	37.6	21	46%	11%	17%	+1.1
38	Ryan Winslow	Pittsburgh	42.6	55	36.2	14	25%	11%	19%	−5.6
39	Dom Maggio	Wake Forest	42.6	67	36.9	26	38%	10%	12%	−10.7
40	Dalton Schomp	Florida Atlantic	42.6	68	39.4	24	38%	10%	32%	+10.0
41	Sean Kelly	South Carolina	42.5	72	38.5	30	42%	6%	37%	+1.1
42	Tom Sheldon	North Carolina	42.5	46	40.2	18	39%	11%	42%	+8.0
43	Corey Bojorquez	New Mexico	42.4	46	37.8	15	33%	7%	19%	−4.1
44	Zach Sinor	Oklahoma State	42.4	52	40.4	35	66%	2%	38%	+13.0
45	Worth Gregory	East Carolina	42.3	51	38.1	17	33%	4%	28%	−3.2
46	Josh Pollack	Arizona	42.3	48	36.4	14	34%	5%	8%	−7.4
47	Payton Theisler	New Mexico State	42.2	65	34.2	21	32%	3%	16%	−18.5
48	Blake Gillikin	Penn State	42.1	56	38.4	25	45%	9%	28%	+6.7
49	Josh Growden	LSU	41.9	51	39.8	20	40%	6%	50%	+5.5
50	Yannis Routsas	UTSA	41.9	67	38.1	15	24%	2%	28%	−1.4
51	Tanner Blain	San Diego State	41.9	56	38.3	27	57%	6%	29%	+7.0
52	Lumi Kaba	Texas State	41.9	74	39.2	20	27%	8%	39%	+3.3
53	Caleb Houston	UCF	41.8	64	39.6	21	38%	4%	39%	+4.9
54	Dalton Parks	Tulsa	41.8	64	37.6	20	31%	9%	22%	−0.9
55	Evan Pantels	UNLV	41.7	64	38.3	16	25%	3%	18%	−1.0
56	Logan Laurent	Massachusetts	41.6	62	37.4	21	34%	3%	19%	−2.0
57	A.J. Cole III	NC State	41.6	46	38.1	13	28%	9%	34%	−3.9
58	Ethan Wood	Wyoming	41.6	65	39.8	32	52%	3%	18%	+8.3
59	Cole Moos	Kansas	41.4	73	38.2	13	19%	3%	28%	−2.1
60	Kevin Phillips	Auburn	41.4	40	39.5	14	36%	8%	61%	+4.9
61	Hunter Niswander	Northwestern	41.4	70	36.4	26	37%	9%	23%	−4.3
62	Billy Kinney	West Virginia	41.4	51	37.5	15	31%	10%	40%	+1.1
63	Drew Galitz	Baylor	41.3	52	40.5	15	30%	4%	46%	+3.4
64	Steve Brosy	Air Force	41.3	46	39.2	25	57%	2%	40%	+4.5
65	Kyle Schmidt	Ball State	41.3	57	37.9	21	36%	7%	16%	+4.8
66	Nick Porebski	Oregon State	41.3	64	38.9	23	35%	9%	40%	+4.5
67	Alex Kinney	Colorado	41.3	66	35.0	15	24%	6%	33%	−11.0
68	Ron Coluzzi	Iowa	41.3	68	38.4	26	38%	7%	47%	+4.1
69	Sam Loy	Vanderbilt	41.2	64	37.8	23	36%	10%	21%	−0.9
70	Jonathan Hernandez	South Florida	41.2	59	38.5	26	51%	0%	40%	+3.0
71	Colin Downing	Iowa State	41.1	58	38.8	24	41%	5%	34%	+5.3
72	Dayton Balvanz	UL Monroe	41.0	63	38.3	25	40%	5%	34%	−0.2
73	Michael Farkas	Ohio	41.0	69	38.7	31	46%	4%	40%	+4.5
74	Alan Luna	UTEP	41.0	62	37.5	19	34%	2%	12%	−5.8
75	Jake Hartbarger	Michigan State	40.9	54	38.2	22	41%	6%	27%	+3.5
76	Bentlee Critcher	App State	40.9	50	37.7	21	45%	7%	43%	−0.8
77	Austin Seibert	Oklahoma	40.8	45	39.4	22	49%	0%	64%	+5.6
78	Justin Wain	UConn	40.8	74	37.4	24	32%	8%	43%	−3.2
79	Zachary Block	Tulane	40.8	68	38.8	23	34%	7%	33%	−1.9
80	Ryan Kay	Troy	40.8	62	38.9	28	50%	7%	35%	+6.9
81	Jack Fox	Rice	40.7	75	37.7	31	41%	4%	35%	−0.9
82	Dane Roy	Houston	40.7	55	38.7	19	35%	7%	45%	+0.1
83	Joe Schopper	Purdue	40.7	56	37.8	25	45%	11%	25%	+4.7
84	Ryan Santoso	Minnesota	40.6	70	37.3	27	39%	7%	15%	−3.9
85	Logan Tyler	Florida State	40.6	49	34.8	13	28%	4%	30%	−7.6
86	Jack Sheldon	Central Michigan	40.3	43	37.5	16	38%	12%	15%	−3.2
87	Derek Adams	Kent State	40.3	76	37.4	25	43%	2%	43%	−5.3
88	Ryan Frain	Illinois	40.1	53	35.9	21	40%	8%	20%	−10.2
89	Joseph Gedeon	Indiana	40.0	55	36.9	25	45%	0%	15%	+1.6
90	Sam Geraci	Cincinnati	40.0	66	37.6	33	49%	5%	50%	+2.8
91	Kaare Vedvik	Marshall	40.0	70	37.1	26	41%	3%	39%	+1.1
92	Wade Lees	Maryland	39.9	65	38.4	21	32%	2%	41%	−2.5
93	Brandon Wright	Georgia State	39.8	61	34.0	17	28%	5%	17%	−19.6
94	Kyle DeWeen	Buffalo	39.8	72	34.3	22	30%	8%	23%	−15.6
95	Logan Cooke	Mississippi State	39.8	40	35.0	21	51%	5%	38%	−7.4
96	Alex Starzyk	Temple	39.7	48	38.2	22	46%	2%	13%	−2.2
97	Tristan Vizcaino	Washington	39.6	43	33.6	15	35%	12%	15%	−11.9
98	Jamie Sackville	SMU	39.6	71	35.9	23	32%	7%	21%	−4.6
99	Adam Nunez	TCU	39.6	69	37.7	26	38%	3%	36%	−2.6
100	Grant McKinniss	Kentucky	39.5	55	36.0	12	21%	9%	19%	−5.6
101	Damon Foncham	Arkansas State	39.4	65	38.1	19	30%	3%	27%	−5.8
102	Caleb Lightbourn	Nebraska	39.3	58	34.6	21	40%	6%	24%	−11.9
103	Arthur Hart	Charlotte	39.2	68	36.6	16	25%	6%	24%	−11.7
104	Jacob Ambrose	Northern Illinois	39.1	70	36.4	20	33%	8%	23%	−6.6
105	Matt Flynn	Georgia Southern	39.1	56	37.9	11	20%	2%	48%	−10.5
106	Mitchell Ludwig	Virginia Tech	38.8	62	37.2	31	51%	3%	45%	−2.1
107	Marshall Long	Georgia	38.7	49	35.2	14	29%	6%	27%	−9.4
108	Kyle Sweet	Washington State	38.7	31	38.6	10	34%	0%	18%	−2.0
109	Matt Bonadies	Middle Tennessee	38.4	55	37.0	16	30%	4%	29%	−7.7
110	Austin Kent	UCLA	38.3	44	36.5	15	37%	2%	51%	−5.1
111	Blake Cusick	Fresno State	38.3	78	36.9	20	25%	3%	46%	−12.1
112	Mike Knoll	Boston College	38.3	86	34.9	16	19%	8%	32%	−21.5
113	Michael Barden	Texas Tech	38.3	43	35.1	10	24%	5%	10%	−10.3
114	Justin Martin	Miami (OH)	38.0	33	35.2	7	21%	3%	20%	−4.8
115	Michael Cintron	Rutgers	37.9	95	33.2	19	20%	6%	24%	−40.2
116	Aaron Dalton	Utah State	37.9	62	34.1	22	35%	6%	36%	−12.6
117	Ian Wheeler	Oregon	37.8	59	34.8	22	37%	5%	43%	−10.0
118	Chris Tilbey	USC	37.8	46	36.4	19	41%	4%	35%	−3.9
119	Nick Gasser	Akron	37.7	59	35.1	23	40%	0%	28%	−11.7
120	Bailey Cate	Old Dominion	37.7	53	34.9	23	47%	6%	36%	−5.3
121	Andy Teasdall	Clemson	37.7	48	35.1	18	38%	8%	52%	−6.2
122	Stone Wilson	Florida International	37.6	61	34.2	13	21%	5%	30%	−15.4
123	Anthony Lotti	Wisconsin	37.5	48	33.8	25	53%	2%	26%	−9.0

All 2016 College punter rankings

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

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Other 2016 College rankings

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