2016 College Punts Returned Leaders

Punts the receiving team fielded and ran back, including muffs. Fewer returns mean the punter and coverage team gave the returner less to work with.

Compare with return yards allowed. In 2016, Michael Cintron (31) led college football punters in punts returned, ahead of Logan Laurent (30) and Ryan Santoso (28). 165 punters qualify.

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

Rk	Player	Team	Returns	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Michael Cintron	Rutgers	31	95	37.9	33.2	19	20%	6%	24%	−40.2
2	Logan Laurent	Massachusetts	30	62	41.6	37.4	21	34%	3%	19%	−2.0
3	Ryan Santoso	Minnesota	28	70	40.6	37.3	27	39%	7%	15%	−3.9
4	Rigoberto Sanchez	Hawai'i	28	67	44.6	38.9	24	36%	6%	31%	+6.8
5	Mike Knoll	Boston College	27	86	38.3	34.9	16	19%	8%	32%	−21.5
6	Johnny Townsend	Florida	27	60	48.0	42.0	24	41%	10%	25%	+13.4
7	Ryan Winslow	Pittsburgh	27	55	42.6	36.2	14	25%	11%	19%	−5.6
8	Payton Theisler	New Mexico State	26	65	42.2	34.2	21	32%	3%	16%	−18.5
9	Yannis Routsas	UTSA	26	67	41.9	38.1	15	24%	2%	28%	−1.4
10	Brandon Wright	Georgia State	26	61	39.8	34.0	17	28%	5%	17%	−19.6
11	Alex Kinney	Colorado	25	66	41.3	35.0	15	24%	6%	33%	−11.0
12	Joseph Gedeon	Indiana	25	55	40.0	36.9	25	45%	0%	15%	+1.6
13	Cole Moos	Kansas	24	73	41.4	38.2	13	19%	3%	28%	−2.1
14	Eric Keena	North Texas	24	69	43.8	39.8	27	40%	3%	18%	+7.7
15	Dylan Klumph	California	24	50	44.8	38.5	19	38%	6%	14%	−6.7
16	Dom Maggio	Wake Forest	23	67	42.6	36.9	26	38%	10%	12%	−10.7
17	Sterling Hofrichter	Syracuse	23	77	42.7	38.4	21	31%	4%	25%	−2.5
18	Sean Kelly	South Carolina	22	72	42.5	38.5	30	42%	6%	37%	+1.1
19	Alan Luna	UTEP	22	62	41.0	37.5	19	34%	2%	12%	−5.8
20	Corey Bojorquez	New Mexico	22	46	42.4	37.8	15	33%	7%	19%	−4.1
21	Grant McKinniss	Kentucky	21	55	39.5	36.0	12	21%	9%	19%	−5.6
22	Kyle DeWeen	Buffalo	20	72	39.8	34.3	22	30%	8%	23%	−15.6
23	Hunter Niswander	Northwestern	20	70	41.4	36.4	26	37%	9%	23%	−4.3
24	Adam Nunez	TCU	20	69	39.6	37.7	26	38%	3%	36%	−2.6
25	Evan Pantels	UNLV	20	64	41.7	38.3	16	25%	3%	18%	−1.0
26	Jacob Ambrose	Northern Illinois	20	70	39.1	36.4	20	33%	8%	23%	−6.6
27	Justin Vogel	Miami	20	57	44.2	41.1	25	44%	2%	47%	+7.2
28	Nick Gasser	Akron	19	59	37.7	35.1	23	40%	0%	28%	−11.7
29	Jack Fox	Rice	18	75	40.7	37.7	31	41%	4%	35%	−0.9
30	Jamie Sackville	SMU	18	71	39.6	35.9	23	32%	7%	21%	−4.6
31	Matt Haack	Arizona State	18	66	43.9	42.0	21	32%	5%	35%	+14.5
32	Arthur Hart	Charlotte	18	68	39.2	36.6	16	25%	6%	24%	−11.7
33	Michael Dickson	Texas	18	65	47.4	43.4	30	48%	14%	29%	+23.9
34	Shane Tripucka	Texas A&M	18	66	43.2	41.4	25	40%	0%	36%	+10.5
35	Michael Carrizosa	San José State	18	61	44.3	39.3	27	44%	10%	26%	+5.9
36	Mitch Wishnowsky	Utah	18	60	48.0	44.5	37	62%	3%	26%	+25.3
37	Joseph Davidson	Bowling Green	18	61	45.8	43.5	24	45%	6%	19%	+26.0
38	Kenny Allen	Michigan	18	46	42.6	37.6	21	46%	11%	17%	+1.1
39	Nick Walsh	Kansas State	18	46	42.7	39.2	22	48%	11%	16%	+5.0
40	Michael Farkas	Ohio	17	69	41.0	38.7	31	46%	4%	40%	+4.5
41	Nick Porebski	Oregon State	17	64	41.3	38.9	23	35%	9%	40%	+4.5
42	Dalton Parks	Tulsa	17	64	41.8	37.6	20	31%	9%	22%	−0.9
43	Toby Baker	Arkansas	17	50	44.6	41.3	21	42%	6%	40%	+16.6
44	Anthony Lotti	Wisconsin	17	48	37.5	33.8	25	53%	2%	26%	−9.0
45	Tanner Blain	San Diego State	17	56	41.9	38.3	27	57%	6%	29%	+7.0
46	JK Scott	Alabama	17	46	47.7	40.3	16	36%	16%	24%	+6.7
47	Dalton Schomp	Florida Atlantic	16	68	42.6	39.4	24	38%	10%	32%	+10.0
48	Dayton Balvanz	UL Monroe	16	63	41.0	38.3	25	40%	5%	34%	−0.2
49	Ian Wheeler	Oregon	16	59	37.8	34.8	22	37%	5%	43%	−10.0
50	Jake Hartbarger	Michigan State	16	54	40.9	38.2	22	41%	6%	27%	+3.5
51	Ryan Frain	Illinois	16	53	40.1	35.9	21	40%	8%	20%	−10.2
52	Caleb Lightbourn	Nebraska	16	58	39.3	34.6	21	40%	6%	24%	−11.9
53	Hayden Hunt	Colorado State	16	50	44.3	40.9	27	54%	6%	32%	+14.2
54	Marshall Long	Georgia	16	49	38.7	35.2	14	29%	6%	27%	−9.4
55	Jake Bailey	Stanford	16	45	42.8	39.3	22	49%	4%	14%	+6.0
56	Steve Brosy	Air Force	16	46	41.3	39.2	25	57%	2%	40%	+4.5
57	Lumi Kaba	Texas State	15	74	41.9	39.2	20	27%	8%	39%	+3.3
58	Nicholas Conte	Virginia	15	74	44.3	40.5	34	46%	12%	22%	+13.0
59	Ethan Wood	Wyoming	15	65	41.6	39.8	32	52%	3%	18%	+8.3
60	Austin Barnes	Eastern Michigan	15	60	43.7	40.7	33	55%	7%	32%	+17.1
61	Derek Adams	Kent State	15	76	40.3	37.4	25	43%	2%	43%	−5.3
62	Blake Gillikin	Penn State	15	56	42.1	38.4	25	45%	9%	28%	+6.7
63	Tyler Newsome	Notre Dame	15	54	43.5	37.3	18	33%	6%	13%	−3.6
64	Alex Starzyk	Temple	15	48	39.7	38.2	22	46%	2%	13%	−2.2
65	Mason King	Louisville	15	47	42.7	39.3	15	32%	2%	51%	+4.8
66	Josh Pollack	Arizona	15	48	42.3	36.4	14	34%	5%	8%	−7.4
67	Justin Wain	UConn	14	74	40.8	37.4	24	32%	8%	43%	−3.2
68	Corey Fatony	Missouri	14	66	43.8	41.0	28	43%	9%	19%	+15.3
69	Wade Lees	Maryland	14	65	39.9	38.4	21	32%	2%	41%	−2.5
70	Kaare Vedvik	Marshall	14	70	40.0	37.1	26	41%	3%	39%	+1.1
71	Stone Wilson	Florida International	14	61	37.6	34.2	13	21%	5%	30%	−15.4
72	Colin Downing	Iowa State	14	58	41.1	38.8	24	41%	5%	34%	+5.3
73	Kyle Schmidt	Ball State	14	57	41.3	37.9	21	36%	7%	16%	+4.8
74	Matt Bonadies	Middle Tennessee	14	55	38.4	37.0	16	30%	4%	29%	−7.7
75	Zach Sinor	Oklahoma State	14	52	42.4	40.4	35	66%	2%	38%	+13.0
76	Tyler Sarrazin	Southern Miss	14	48	44.6	41.0	17	33%	10%	17%	+11.9
77	Worth Gregory	East Carolina	14	51	42.3	38.1	17	33%	4%	28%	−3.2
78	Sean Wale	Boise State	14	47	45.2	40.5	19	42%	7%	41%	+7.0
79	Sam Loy	Vanderbilt	13	64	41.2	37.8	23	36%	10%	21%	−0.9
80	Joe Schopper	Purdue	13	56	40.7	37.8	25	45%	11%	25%	+4.7
81	Ryan Kay	Troy	13	62	40.8	38.9	28	50%	7%	35%	+6.9
82	Billy Kinney	West Virginia	13	51	41.4	37.5	15	31%	10%	40%	+1.1
83	Zachary Block	Tulane	12	68	40.8	38.8	23	34%	7%	33%	−1.9
84	Damon Foncham	Arkansas State	12	65	39.4	38.1	19	30%	3%	27%	−5.8
85	Trevor Daniel	Tennessee	12	64	44.7	40.2	28	44%	11%	41%	+10.6
86	Mitchell Ludwig	Virginia Tech	12	62	38.8	37.2	31	51%	3%	45%	−2.1
87	Ryan Rodwell	Georgia Tech	12	44	43.4	38.4	15	34%	11%	32%	−2.9
88	Jonathan Hernandez	South Florida	11	59	41.2	38.5	26	51%	0%	40%	+3.0
89	Cameron Johnston	Ohio State	11	49	46.2	43.4	23	47%	10%	39%	+18.4
90	Logan Tyler	Florida State	11	49	40.6	34.8	13	28%	4%	30%	−7.6
91	Alex Boy	Nevada	11	51	43.7	38.0	18	39%	11%	30%	+3.4
92	Austin Rehkow	Idaho	11	49	42.6	38.1	26	58%	5%	31%	+3.2
93	Nick Ellis	Toledo	11	47	43.1	37.9	15	37%	15%	19%	+5.6
94	Ron Coluzzi	Iowa	10	68	41.3	38.4	26	38%	7%	47%	+4.1
95	Sam Geraci	Cincinnati	10	66	40.0	37.6	33	49%	5%	50%	+2.8
96	Tristan Vizcaino	Washington	10	43	39.6	33.6	15	35%	12%	15%	−11.9
97	Michael Barden	Texas Tech	10	43	38.3	35.1	10	24%	5%	10%	−10.3
98	Jonny Linehan	BYU	10	52	42.7	41.4	22	54%	5%	28%	+10.4
99	Justin Martin	Miami (OH)	10	33	38.0	35.2	7	21%	3%	20%	−4.8
100	Aaron Dalton	Utah State	9	62	37.9	34.1	22	35%	6%	36%	−12.6
101	Caleb Houston	UCF	9	64	41.8	39.6	21	38%	4%	39%	+4.9
102	Dane Roy	Houston	9	55	40.7	38.7	19	35%	7%	45%	+0.1
103	Josh Growden	LSU	9	51	41.9	39.8	20	40%	6%	50%	+5.5
104	Jack Sheldon	Central Michigan	9	43	40.3	37.5	16	38%	12%	15%	−3.2
105	Austin Parker	Duke	9	29	42.1	38.3	13	45%	7%	39%	+2.4
106	Will Gleeson	Ole Miss	9	28	44.1	38.1	11	41%	4%	41%	−1.1
107	Stefan Flintoft	UCLA	9	23	40.3	36.9	7	32%	5%	27%	−3.8
108	Bentlee Critcher	App State	8	50	40.9	37.7	21	45%	7%	43%	−0.8
109	Tom Sheldon	North Carolina	8	46	42.5	40.2	18	39%	11%	42%	+8.0
110	Austin Seibert	Oklahoma	8	45	40.8	39.4	22	49%	0%	64%	+5.6
111	Brandon McKee	South Alabama	8	44	44.5	41.4	27	61%	11%	37%	+11.7
112	Logan Cooke	Mississippi State	8	40	39.8	35.0	21	51%	5%	38%	−7.4
113	Jake Collins	Western Kentucky	8	36	42.9	38.8	11	32%	12%	18%	+6.8
114	Gerald Shouse	Louisiana Tech	8	32	43.0	37.2	13	41%	13%	16%	+1.5
115	Cooper Mojsiejenko	Central Michigan	8	20	41.0	35.8	8	36%	0%	29%	−0.7
116	Blake Cusick	Fresno State	7	78	38.3	36.9	20	25%	3%	46%	−12.1
117	Andy Teasdall	Clemson	7	48	37.7	35.1	18	38%	8%	52%	−6.2
118	Chris Tilbey	USC	7	46	37.8	36.4	19	41%	4%	35%	−3.9
119	Austin Kent	UCLA	7	44	38.3	36.5	15	37%	2%	51%	−5.1
120	Matt Flynn	Georgia Southern	6	56	39.1	37.9	11	20%	2%	48%	−10.5
121	Drew Galitz	Baylor	6	52	41.3	40.5	15	30%	4%	46%	+3.4
122	Bailey Cate	Old Dominion	6	53	37.7	34.9	23	47%	6%	36%	−5.3
123	A.J. Cole III	NC State	6	46	41.6	38.1	13	28%	9%	34%	−3.9
124	Kyle Sweet	Washington State	6	31	38.7	38.6	10	34%	0%	18%	−2.0
125	Danny Stirt	Duke	6	25	36.5	31.7	7	28%	8%	48%	−9.5
126	Gary Wunderlich	Ole Miss	6	21	43.7	39.3	4	19%	5%	42%	+0.2
127	Steven Coutts	Louisiana	5	58	44.4	41.0	24	41%	7%	46%	+7.5
128	Spencer Smith	Memphis	5	44	45.2	43.0	11	27%	7%	36%	+13.3
129	Kyle Kramer	Miami (OH)	5	28	41.9	38.7	12	46%	8%	17%	+0.1
130	David Reisner	Illinois	5	23	40.6	37.2	5	22%	4%	22%	−8.0
131	Corliss Waitman	South Alabama	5	16	38.3	38.4	5	31%	0%	47%	+1.3
132	P.J. Rosowski	Wisconsin	5	15	36.7	35.5	3	20%	0%	33%	−1.5
133	Marcus Ripley	Texas State	5	8	38.4	32.1	1	13%	0%	0%	−3.9
134	Kevin Phillips	Auburn	4	40	41.4	39.5	14	36%	8%	61%	+4.9
135	James Coleman	Western Michigan	4	25	40.2	39.2	9	39%	4%	55%	+2.9
136	Alex Barta	Navy	3	20	42.0	38.2	7	35%	5%	25%	−1.2
137	Mike Weaver	Wake Forest	3	10	41.2	37.5	4	40%	0%	30%	+1.8
138	Adam Searl	UCLA	3	6	41.0	31.4	2	40%	0%	40%	−2.0
139	Kody Schexnayder	Mississippi State	2	18	36.9	34.6	4	22%	6%	59%	−4.1
140	Brice Ramsey	Georgia	2	15	34.6	34.5	5	33%	0%	53%	−2.2
141	Erik Harris	Navy	2	10	45.1	44.5	7	70%	0%	44%	+6.0
142	Nicolai Bornand	UNLV	2	3	46.7	26.0	2	67%	0%	0%	−0.1
143	JJ Molson	UCLA	2	2	44.0	46.0	1	50%	0%	0%	+1.6
144	Derrick Mitchell	Western Michigan	1	16	40.9	41.3	5	31%	0%	6%	−0.4
145	J.D. Mote	Army	1	13	36.5	32.4	2	15%	15%	23%	−3.6
146	Jake Glatting	Arizona	1	10	39.4	37.0	3	43%	0%	20%	−1.5
147	Zach Charme	Washington State	1	7	38.7	31.9	5	71%	29%	33%	−0.3
148	Jermaine Adams	Army	1	6	34.8	35.8	1	17%	0%	0%	−5.2
149	Oliver Holdenson	Georgia State	1	6	37.5	31.3	1	17%	17%	0%	−1.9
150	Glen Cuiellette	Tulane	1	4	29.0	33.0	4	80%	0%	20%	+1.6
151	Sam Gentry	New Mexico	1	5	34.4	27.0	0	0%	20%	20%	−4.0
152	Alex Robinson	Stanford	1	4	37.0	36.0	4	100%	0%	75%	+0.4
153	Cam Echols-Luper	Arkansas State	1	4	34.8	33.3	1	25%	0%	0%	−2.6
154	Jaleel Scott	New Mexico State	1	4	37.5	37.3	0	0%	0%	50%	+1.3
155	Mitch Lochbihler	Kansas State	1	4	48.3	44.8	0	0%	0%	50%	+1.8
156	James Sherman	Texas State	1	3	37.7	35.7	0	0%	0%	33%	−0.8
157	Matt Aragon	Arizona	1	3	38.7	34.0	1	33%	0%	33%	−0.5
158	Braden Mann	Texas A&M	1	2	47.0	44.5	1	50%	0%	50%	+0.6
159	Daniel Pasquariello	Penn State	1	2	37.5	37.5	2	100%	0%	50%	+0.3
160	Reid Nelson	Vanderbilt	1	2	28.0	27.5	0	0%	0%	0%	−1.8
161	Tristan Payton	UCF	1	2	43.0	25.5	0	0%	0%	0%	−0.2
162	Andrew King	UTSA	1	1	49.0	55.0	0	0%	0%	0%	+0.3
163	Carson King	Clemson	1	1	37.0	35.0	1	100%	0%	0%	+0.1
164	Erik Powell	Washington State	1	1	68.0	52.0	0	0%	0%	0%	+1.0
165	Rhett Almond	BYU	1	1	39.0	39.0	0	0%	0%	0%	−0.1

All 2016 College punter rankings

Punts Returned 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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