2017 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 2017, Jonny Linehan (1.2) topped college football punters in average punt return allowed, ahead of Kyle Kramer (1.2) and Connor Martin (2.2). 91 punters qualify (minimum 10 returns). The median qualified punter had 6.4.

Final 2017 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Avg ret	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Jonny Linehan	BYU	1.2	59	42.9	41.9	28	47%	3%	26%	+11.9
2	Kyle Kramer	Miami (OH)	1.2	64	40.5	38.8	28	44%	8%	30%	−5.4
3	Connor Martin	Baylor	2.2	39	40.3	39.1	12	31%	3%	24%	−2.0
4	Adam Stack	Oregon	2.3	54	38.0	35.7	18	33%	6%	37%	−10.0
5	Colin Downing	Iowa State	2.6	62	40.3	38.7	27	46%	5%	38%	+3.8
6	Jake Hartbarger	Michigan State	2.6	67	42.0	38.3	29	43%	16%	30%	+7.2
7	Derek Adams	Kent State	2.7	79	43.6	40.5	22	28%	11%	29%	+8.8
8	Quinn Skillin	Boise State	2.8	36	40.6	38.2	18	47%	8%	35%	+7.4
9	Blake Johnson	Arkansas	3.1	59	38.6	37.6	18	31%	5%	40%	−4.1
10	James Smith	Cincinnati	3.2	64	42.0	41.4	25	39%	0%	45%	+10.1
11	Aaron Dalton	Utah State	3.5	67	41.7	38.5	21	31%	12%	38%	+2.1
12	Brett Graham	UConn	3.5	63	38.8	37.3	23	37%	3%	31%	−2.1
13	Blake Gillikin	Penn State	3.6	50	43.2	40.0	27	53%	6%	29%	+9.6
14	Shane Tripucka	Texas A&M	3.8	76	46.1	43.3	26	34%	8%	43%	+25.4
15	Colten Rastetter	Iowa	3.8	49	38.4	37.5	10	20%	0%	14%	−10.0
16	Haydon Whitehead	Indiana	3.9	85	40.7	38.0	29	35%	6%	34%	+2.4
17	Matt Panton	Kentucky	3.9	57	42.7	40.5	20	35%	5%	27%	+4.8
18	Bailey Cate	Old Dominion	3.9	66	40.5	38.0	22	33%	5%	35%	−5.8
19	Joseph Davidson	Bowling Green	4.0	60	44.0	42.4	27	47%	3%	25%	+16.9
20	Ryan Rickel	Florida Atlantic	4.1	46	42.6	41.0	16	36%	2%	42%	+8.0
21	Derrick Mitchell	Western Michigan	4.1	65	42.4	39.6	32	49%	6%	11%	+5.4
22	Kaare Vedvik	Marshall	4.2	53	44.4	40.8	24	45%	13%	27%	+14.4
23	Blake Hayes	Illinois	4.2	77	42.0	40.2	31	40%	3%	19%	+8.3
24	Alex Kinney	Colorado	4.4	56	43.8	41.1	28	50%	4%	35%	+10.4
25	Anthony Lotti	Wisconsin	4.6	51	40.3	37.4	25	48%	4%	28%	+2.6
26	Mike Knoll	Boston College	4.6	73	40.2	37.4	36	49%	5%	26%	−0.8
27	Owen White	Navy	4.6	39	41.2	38.6	13	38%	6%	24%	+1.1
28	Caleb Lightbourn	Nebraska	4.7	59	42.1	39.7	24	41%	7%	32%	+3.9
29	Zac Everett	Southern Miss	4.8	60	40.5	38.6	21	35%	5%	26%	+2.6
30	Zach Feagles	Miami	4.9	68	38.1	37.1	27	40%	4%	49%	−3.9
31	Nick Walsh	Kansas State	5.1	54	43.7	40.0	23	43%	11%	38%	+10.2
32	Corliss Waitman	South Alabama	5.2	70	45.2	42.5	28	40%	6%	40%	+13.0
33	Payton Theisler	New Mexico State	5.2	69	41.5	38.5	18	26%	6%	19%	−1.3
34	Matt Ference	Northern Illinois	5.3	78	41.2	38.1	31	40%	10%	21%	−0.8
35	Dominic Panazzolo	Texas Tech	5.4	55	42.0	39.6	14	25%	4%	43%	+0.7
36	Tim Zaleski	Wyoming	5.7	81	39.4	37.4	28	35%	5%	30%	−0.6
37	Jonathan Hernandez	South Florida	5.8	58	43.2	36.9	14	23%	17%	29%	−2.9
38	Michael Sleep-Dalton	Arizona State	5.8	59	39.8	36.3	18	30%	2%	21%	−10.3
39	Jake Bailey	Stanford	5.8	53	45.1	42.5	25	48%	6%	35%	+14.4
40	Marcus Ripley	Texas State	5.8	81	42.4	38.5	27	38%	7%	23%	+0.3
41	Hunter Niswander	Northwestern	6.0	63	42.9	39.9	21	33%	5%	28%	+5.5
42	Michael Dickson	Texas	6.1	73	48.4	44.8	35	49%	11%	39%	+36.8
43	Ryan Santoso	Minnesota	6.2	66	43.0	38.5	19	29%	14%	29%	+6.1
44	Austin Parker	Duke	6.3	61	42.0	36.6	11	18%	15%	26%	−2.9
45	Mason King	Louisville	6.4	39	44.1	39.9	8	20%	5%	24%	+0.6
46	Cameron Nizialek	Georgia	6.4	49	44.5	41.8	23	47%	6%	51%	+9.3
47	Evan Rabon	Coastal Carolina	6.5	56	43.3	39.9	20	36%	5%	33%	+5.4
48	Stone Wilson	Florida International	6.5	50	41.8	37.9	20	40%	12%	33%	−2.3
49	Michael Farkas	Ohio	6.6	54	40.4	37.9	17	35%	4%	36%	+2.4
50	Stan Gaudion	Hawai'i	6.8	58	42.1	38.8	20	34%	2%	25%	−9.8
51	Joseph Charlton	South Carolina	6.9	47	44.3	41.1	11	23%	9%	24%	+7.0
52	Arthur Hart	Charlotte	7.0	85	43.5	39.5	24	28%	12%	36%	+2.4
53	Alex Starzyk	Temple	7.0	52	40.3	34.9	21	39%	13%	26%	−4.1
54	Jake Collins	Western Kentucky	7.1	52	39.9	36.8	19	37%	8%	20%	−3.4
55	Tom Sheldon	North Carolina	7.2	45	45.8	42.5	15	34%	5%	36%	+6.4
56	Trevor Daniel	Tennessee	7.4	70	47.5	43.3	31	44%	7%	21%	+20.6
57	Alan Luna	UTEP	8.0	79	44.1	39.3	28	36%	9%	23%	+3.1
58	Joel Dixon	UAB	8.0	60	41.3	35.7	14	23%	8%	25%	−9.7
59	Kyle DeWeen	Buffalo	8.4	56	40.6	37.9	21	38%	5%	32%	−1.0
60	Xavier Subotsch	App State	8.5	52	39.8	35.9	19	37%	10%	35%	−6.2
61	Brandon Heicklen	San Diego State	8.7	57	38.4	34.5	19	33%	5%	42%	−12.7
62	Thomas Bennett	Tulsa	8.8	61	42.3	36.8	17	28%	8%	14%	−8.9
63	Tyler Newsome	Notre Dame	8.9	59	43.5	37.9	16	27%	7%	29%	−1.7
64	Reid Budrovich	USC	9.2	49	42.5	37.5	19	38%	6%	31%	−2.6
65	Harrison Heim	UL Monroe	9.2	58	41.9	37.4	23	40%	9%	26%	−1.0
66	Matt Flynn	Georgia Southern	9.5	66	40.2	36.6	15	23%	9%	35%	−11.8
67	Will Spiers	Clemson	9.6	60	40.8	36.7	28	47%	7%	38%	−1.6
68	Dylan Klumph	California	9.8	46	43.0	38.5	12	26%	7%	20%	−0.2
69	Ryan Anderson	Rutgers	9.9	79	44.4	38.9	21	27%	13%	13%	+0.3
70	Pressley Harvin III	Georgia Tech	9.9	50	44.1	39.7	21	42%	2%	27%	+5.3
71	Jack Sheldon	Central Michigan	9.9	72	43.6	38.5	26	36%	10%	7%	+1.7
72	Sam Loy	Vanderbilt	10.1	64	40.2	36.5	17	27%	6%	27%	−11.5
73	Dom Maggio	Wake Forest	10.2	64	43.9	38.2	21	33%	9%	27%	−2.3
74	Tyler Sumpter	Troy	10.3	53	40.2	36.0	16	32%	6%	23%	−12.9
75	Logan Tyler	Florida State	11.2	65	43.2	39.1	21	34%	6%	29%	+3.4
76	Brad Robbins	Michigan	11.2	58	40.9	36.9	24	42%	7%	35%	−5.6
77	Michael Carrizosa	San José State	11.3	73	45.6	41.3	31	42%	7%	28%	+10.0
78	Johnny Townsend	Florida	11.4	64	47.5	41.5	29	45%	8%	18%	+11.2
79	Billy Kinney	West Virginia	11.5	61	40.0	35.9	20	33%	7%	43%	−12.2
80	Lester Coleman	Virginia	11.6	71	44.0	38.1	31	43%	11%	20%	−7.8
81	Austin Barnes	East Carolina	12.0	50	44.0	39.4	17	35%	12%	29%	+0.8
82	Ryan Winslow	Pittsburgh	12.2	57	44.5	38.7	20	35%	9%	40%	−5.2
83	A.J. Cole III	NC State	12.3	53	43.8	37.9	23	43%	8%	26%	−5.8
84	Jack Fox	Rice	12.3	57	44.2	37.2	17	30%	13%	31%	−5.0
85	Nathan Snyder	Ball State	13.5	50	37.3	31.6	14	29%	6%	25%	−32.0
86	Logan Laurent	Massachusetts	14.0	65	42.6	34.3	19	30%	9%	14%	−15.4
87	Stefan Flintoft	UCLA	14.4	52	42.8	38.8	18	35%	2%	41%	−0.3
88	Blake Cusick	Fresno State	14.5	64	42.4	37.2	20	32%	13%	35%	+1.0
89	Nick Gasser	Akron	14.8	78	41.9	36.8	26	33%	4%	31%	−14.2
90	Cade Coffey	Idaho	16.0	66	44.6	36.7	27	41%	11%	13%	−12.2
91	Cole Moos	Kansas	18.6	83	39.6	35.3	24	29%	4%	26%	−29.9

All 2017 College punter rankings

Average Punt Return Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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