2016 College Net Punting Average Leaders

Net average subtracts return yards and 20 yards for every touchback from each punt, then divides by punts. It is the yardage a punt really gains for its team, so it is the standard measure of punting.

Higher is better. Coverage teams affect it as well as the punter. In 2016, Mitch Wishnowsky (44.5) led college football punters in net punting average, ahead of Joseph Davidson (43.5) and Michael Dickson (43.4). 122 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 38.1.

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

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

All 2016 College punter rankings

Net Punting Average 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…