2018 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 2018, Jack Sheldon (40) led college football punters in punts returned, ahead of Logan Tyler (29) and Ryan Stonehouse (29). 177 punters qualify.

Final 2018 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Returns	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Jack Sheldon	Central Michigan	40	89	40.4	35.5	20	22%	3%	17%	−23.5
2	Logan Tyler	Florida State	29	82	43.2	38.3	17	21%	6%	28%	0.0
3	Ryan Stonehouse	Colorado State	29	65	48.3	38.3	16	25%	13%	11%	+1.0
4	Hayes Hicken	UNLV	28	65	43.8	39.1	20	30%	5%	17%	+1.6
5	Blake Hayes	Illinois	27	62	43.6	36.6	25	39%	8%	13%	−4.6
6	Tyson Dyer	New Mexico	26	74	44.3	40.2	24	32%	8%	13%	+11.7
7	Kirk Christodoulou	Pittsburgh	26	68	41.6	37.8	20	29%	4%	17%	−6.4
8	Mason King	Louisville	25	64	40.6	36.5	22	32%	3%	36%	−9.4
9	Grant Carlson	Boston College	25	68	40.0	37.0	27	41%	3%	25%	−0.3
10	Thomas Bennett	Tulsa	24	53	46.6	40.0	13	25%	11%	12%	−5.7
11	Adam Korsak	Rutgers	22	78	42.7	40.5	24	31%	4%	19%	+7.2
12	Payton Theisler	New Mexico State	22	74	40.5	34.3	18	24%	10%	21%	−20.3
13	Austin Parker	Duke	22	65	41.4	37.7	25	38%	6%	39%	−5.2
14	Steven Coutts	California	22	63	41.8	39.1	32	51%	3%	29%	+7.7
15	Brandon Wright	Georgia State	22	51	48.2	42.7	22	45%	8%	4%	+9.5
16	Nick Gasser	Akron	21	75	39.4	36.9	20	27%	5%	14%	−13.0
17	Jake Julien	Eastern Michigan	21	66	43.6	38.1	23	35%	9%	16%	+4.1
18	Bryce Crawford	San José State	21	65	44.2	40.0	20	31%	9%	15%	−1.0
19	Owen White	Navy	21	53	41.6	38.5	20	38%	0%	15%	+1.0
20	Brandon Heicklen	San Diego State	20	63	42.1	39.6	28	44%	2%	30%	+10.2
21	Stan Gaudion	Hawai'i	20	42	40.6	38.9	12	29%	0%	18%	−5.1
22	Luke Magliozzi	UConn	19	63	42.9	39.3	26	41%	3%	29%	+5.6
23	Blake Gillikin	Penn State	19	60	43.1	37.7	20	33%	15%	21%	+5.1
24	Braden Mann	Texas A&M	19	47	51.1	44.9	21	45%	19%	22%	+26.2
25	Yannis Routsas	UTSA	18	75	43.0	39.9	30	39%	5%	22%	+5.7
26	Mitchell Crawford	UTEP	18	72	39.8	37.3	20	28%	4%	31%	−2.4
27	Jonn Young	East Carolina	18	71	40.1	36.9	16	23%	3%	35%	−9.0
28	James Smith	Cincinnati	18	54	47.0	45.1	26	48%	2%	35%	+26.0
29	Michael Sleep-Dalton	Arizona State	18	53	43.7	37.5	20	38%	11%	31%	−0.9
30	Dom Maggio	Wake Forest	17	71	41.4	38.8	26	37%	4%	39%	−0.6
31	Jake Collins	Northwestern	17	72	40.7	38.0	28	39%	6%	36%	+5.8
32	Stefan Flintoft	UCLA	17	56	45.8	37.9	17	30%	11%	29%	−1.8
33	Dane Roy	Houston	17	55	42.3	40.4	24	44%	2%	42%	+5.2
34	Quinton Conaway	Nevada	17	53	43.2	41.1	17	32%	6%	15%	+2.6
35	Clayton Stewart	Texas State	16	69	37.9	34.4	23	33%	6%	22%	−6.1
36	Kyle Thompson	Kansas	16	69	43.3	39.4	26	37%	10%	17%	+5.2
37	Reid Budrovich	USC	16	58	39.4	35.5	18	32%	4%	33%	−10.2
38	Daniel Rodriguez	Oregon State	16	55	41.9	39.9	12	22%	0%	51%	+2.6
39	Kyle Corbett	Charlotte	16	55	41.0	34.8	8	16%	4%	17%	−19.4
40	Parker Thome	Vanderbilt	16	49	45.1	40.0	19	39%	12%	28%	+10.7
41	Colten Rastetter	Iowa	16	46	39.6	36.5	20	43%	4%	9%	−7.0
42	Corliss Waitman	South Alabama	15	67	41.7	38.1	16	25%	5%	40%	−4.8
43	Trent Schneider	South Florida	15	68	42.6	37.5	15	24%	14%	24%	−0.8
44	Sterling Hofrichter	Syracuse	15	61	43.3	39.3	28	46%	7%	36%	+4.7
45	Robert LeFevre	Marshall	15	59	40.8	37.6	24	41%	7%	26%	+3.0
46	Ryan Bujcevski	Texas	15	58	40.2	37.4	18	32%	2%	28%	−5.5
47	Reid Bauer	Arkansas	15	56	38.9	36.9	13	23%	2%	39%	−6.7
48	Connor Bowler	Temple	15	52	42.4	36.9	20	38%	12%	23%	−3.9
49	Jared Porter	UL Monroe	15	50	42.6	37.1	12	24%	6%	36%	−7.1
50	Max Duffy	Kentucky	15	51	44.8	40.2	26	51%	4%	25%	+5.1
51	Clayton Howell	App State	15	46	43.2	41.5	14	30%	2%	42%	+4.1
52	Tyler Newsome	Notre Dame	15	45	44.4	38.6	16	36%	16%	24%	−1.8
53	Will Hart	Michigan	15	39	47.6	39.9	17	44%	23%	8%	+7.5
54	Matt Ference	Northern Illinois	14	83	40.1	37.6	35	42%	8%	23%	+3.5
55	Oscar Bradburn	Virginia Tech	14	65	42.2	39.2	23	35%	6%	44%	+5.8
56	Joe Schopper	Purdue	14	56	43.1	40.7	24	44%	4%	46%	+9.1
57	Haydon Whitehead	Indiana	14	51	40.0	37.0	19	37%	6%	40%	+0.4
58	Derek Adams	Kent State	14	31	40.2	33.9	9	29%	3%	13%	−17.5
59	Kyle Kramer	Miami (OH)	13	65	41.9	38.5	36	55%	9%	32%	+4.0
60	Hunter Lent	North Carolina	13	50	39.9	39.1	17	34%	0%	27%	+3.3
61	Jack Fox	Rice	12	80	45.5	40.6	30	37%	16%	23%	+11.1
62	Jamie Sackville	SMU	12	67	39.7	37.9	22	33%	5%	30%	+0.2
63	Will Spiers	Clemson	12	55	39.6	36.9	15	28%	7%	39%	−7.5
64	Evan Finegan	Buffalo	12	50	42.1	37.4	13	25%	8%	26%	−3.9
65	Zach Von Rosenberg	LSU	12	50	45.6	44.0	17	35%	2%	49%	+11.1
66	Corey Fatony	Missouri	12	47	44.0	40.5	24	51%	6%	14%	+3.7
67	Dylan Klumph	Arizona	12	44	42.2	39.1	16	36%	5%	32%	+2.0
68	A.J. Cole III	NC State	12	40	41.3	38.8	20	47%	9%	34%	−0.3
69	Michael Farkas	Ohio	12	42	43.1	40.0	16	39%	7%	43%	−0.2
70	George Georgopoulos	Massachusetts	12	39	39.1	36.2	7	18%	0%	18%	−10.0
71	Tyler Hunt	Michigan State	12	36	40.1	37.0	15	42%	6%	28%	−1.1
72	Aidan Alves	Liberty	11	66	37.0	33.7	25	37%	6%	35%	−11.9
73	Jake Bailey	Stanford	11	59	44.0	39.9	26	44%	17%	30%	+17.1
74	Davan Dyer	Louisiana Tech	11	58	41.1	38.2	22	38%	7%	33%	−2.3
75	Rhett Almond	BYU	11	54	40.3	39.4	20	38%	2%	24%	+2.2
76	Adam Williams	Memphis	11	50	42.9	37.3	19	37%	10%	30%	−3.0
77	Drew Galitz	Baylor	11	50	42.5	39.4	19	37%	6%	45%	+4.8
78	Tommy Townsend	Florida	11	50	45.1	42.0	23	47%	6%	45%	+12.7
79	Davis Price	Colorado	11	48	38.4	37.2	22	47%	0%	48%	−3.5
80	Mac Loudermilk	UCF	11	41	42.6	37.9	15	38%	8%	21%	+0.2
81	Stone Wilson	Florida International	11	37	43.9	38.6	15	38%	8%	44%	+1.9
82	Joel Whitford	Washington	11	28	41.6	36.6	10	36%	7%	29%	−1.7
83	Zach Sinor	Oklahoma State	11	26	45.5	40.5	7	27%	8%	23%	+2.4
84	Caleb Lightbourn	Nebraska	11	24	41.6	33.3	2	8%	4%	17%	−16.7
85	Wade Lees	Maryland	10	67	40.9	39.2	29	43%	3%	41%	+5.6
86	Blake Cusick	Fresno State	10	62	42.1	40.5	32	52%	6%	29%	+11.7
87	Mitch Wishnowsky	Utah	10	54	45.1	41.3	21	38%	7%	39%	+10.8
88	Bailey Cate	Old Dominion	10	53	40.2	37.7	19	35%	9%	43%	+2.5
89	Magill Bauerle	Georgia Southern	10	44	38.9	37.5	16	30%	4%	40%	+0.3
90	Drue Chrisman	Ohio State	10	53	43.3	42.6	27	53%	2%	41%	+12.3
91	Tyler Sumpter	Troy	10	51	44.8	41.9	15	29%	8%	30%	+14.1
92	Lester Coleman	Virginia	10	47	42.1	39.7	20	43%	11%	24%	+7.9
93	Joseph Charlton	South Carolina	10	43	44.8	41.8	16	36%	5%	44%	+9.9
94	Oscar Draguicevich III	Washington State	10	40	46.0	41.3	12	32%	14%	25%	+3.6
95	Tim Zaleski	Wyoming	10	36	38.8	36.4	12	33%	8%	20%	−0.1
96	Matt Naranjo	Bowling Green	10	31	41.2	40.3	9	29%	3%	13%	+2.3
97	Pressley Harvin III	Georgia Tech	10	31	44.3	40.8	12	39%	6%	17%	+5.4
98	Jacob Herbers	Minnesota	9	51	41.2	41.0	20	39%	0%	51%	+7.4
99	Nick Mihalic	Western Michigan	9	50	37.9	34.3	11	22%	10%	33%	−16.4
100	Sebastian Riella	Florida Atlantic	9	38	38.1	34.8	5	14%	0%	31%	−14.2
101	Billy Kinney	West Virginia	9	36	41.1	38.1	13	36%	6%	36%	+0.8
102	Grant Tinnerman	Bowling Green	9	35	37.0	36.8	6	17%	0%	14%	−4.4
103	Nathan Snyder	Ball State	9	16	41.2	32.0	2	13%	6%	31%	−6.2
104	Joe Doyle	Tennessee	8	66	41.0	39.1	25	38%	9%	38%	+7.1
105	Cody Grace	Arkansas State	8	58	40.3	40.0	22	38%	2%	52%	+4.2
106	Arryn Siposs	Auburn	8	47	44.1	42.2	20	36%	7%	42%	+14.3
107	Corey Dunn	Iowa State	8	50	40.0	37.9	20	40%	2%	25%	−0.9
108	Matt Bonadies	Middle Tennessee	8	52	41.5	38.8	23	46%	6%	40%	+2.9
109	Rhys Byrns	Louisiana	8	46	40.1	37.0	19	40%	2%	43%	−7.0
110	Zach Feagles	Miami	8	30	38.9	36.5	13	45%	3%	21%	−2.1
111	Anthony Lotti	Wisconsin	8	28	39.1	34.0	12	43%	14%	29%	−5.1
112	Jack Spicer	Miami	8	29	37.1	33.9	10	36%	0%	25%	−7.3
113	Devin Anctil	Kansas State	8	27	43.6	39.9	10	37%	11%	26%	+6.8
114	Dontae Crow	Wyoming	8	24	42.8	38.1	5	21%	8%	33%	−2.7
115	Race Porter	Washington	8	17	42.3	31.6	6	33%	18%	6%	−5.5
116	Charles Ouverson	Coastal Carolina	7	49	43.2	40.3	13	27%	8%	36%	+3.6
117	Mac Brown	Ole Miss	7	48	41.3	37.0	15	31%	8%	36%	−3.0
118	Quinn Skillin	Boise State	7	45	39.0	32.9	20	43%	13%	36%	−6.8
119	Blake Maimone	Oregon	7	39	42.7	40.5	17	44%	8%	39%	+6.6
120	Patrick LeCorre	Ball State	7	39	39.7	37.5	12	31%	5%	25%	−1.3
121	Ryan Wright	Tulane	7	43	44.1	39.4	12	32%	13%	43%	+0.3
122	Nick Schrage	Army	7	22	41.9	39.5	4	18%	0%	29%	−1.7
123	William Przystup	Michigan State	7	20	39.7	36.6	7	35%	10%	15%	−4.7
124	Alex Kinney	Colorado	7	16	41.9	40.9	8	50%	0%	21%	+3.2
125	Bailey Flint	Toledo	6	56	40.5	38.5	25	44%	4%	35%	−1.1
126	Kyle Greenwell	UAB	6	56	40.3	37.7	17	30%	7%	43%	−1.0
127	Alvin Kenworthy	North Texas	6	50	42.4	38.5	22	43%	10%	41%	+0.4
128	Taylor Hintze	Utah State	6	40	39.6	38.5	9	23%	5%	30%	+0.6
129	Matthew Trickett	Kent State	6	35	38.7	35.6	13	37%	3%	35%	−10.5
130	Isaac Armstrong	Nebraska	6	32	43.6	39.9	9	27%	9%	23%	+3.9
131	Andrew David	TCU	6	29	37.0	34.5	6	21%	7%	34%	−8.5
132	Austin Seibert	Oklahoma	6	29	41.1	39.0	8	28%	7%	38%	−1.1
133	Connor Allen	Wisconsin	6	22	37.5	32.9	7	32%	5%	43%	−8.8
134	Mike Bernier	Alabama	6	21	37.9	35.5	5	26%	5%	42%	−3.4
135	Dominic Panazzolo	Texas Tech	5	52	42.1	40.1	23	44%	8%	34%	+9.8
136	Zac Everett	Southern Miss	5	33	38.8	37.3	14	35%	8%	22%	−0.1
137	Jake Camarda	Georgia	5	38	43.2	37.4	11	30%	22%	35%	−0.5
138	Adam Nunez	TCU	5	35	38.6	35.9	16	46%	11%	23%	+0.3
139	Charlie Scott	Air Force	5	25	39.0	33.9	8	30%	12%	40%	−3.9
140	Alex Rinella	Western Kentucky	4	63	38.2	35.2	25	37%	6%	45%	−13.5
141	Tucker Day	Mississippi State	4	41	38.2	37.0	14	34%	0%	44%	−6.5
142	Zachary Block	Tulane	4	29	38.4	34.0	13	48%	15%	27%	+4.0
143	Matt Hockett	Oklahoma State	4	22	42.5	39.7	8	36%	9%	55%	+3.1
144	Andrew Hicks	Kansas State	4	17	44.0	36.5	4	20%	5%	50%	−4.7
145	Jake Koehnke	Air Force	4	17	41.6	37.7	4	24%	12%	40%	+1.6
146	Travis Reynolds	Massachusetts	4	15	37.8	34.4	5	33%	13%	43%	−2.3
147	Bryce Baringer	Michigan State	3	15	32.4	30.5	5	33%	7%	33%	−5.9
148	Jake Verity	East Carolina	3	13	36.3	34.9	6	46%	0%	9%	−1.5
149	Jake Hartbarger	Michigan State	3	6	48.8	44.3	2	33%	0%	17%	+1.6
150	Tyler Bass	Georgia Southern	3	3	47.0	30.3	1	33%	0%	0%	−1.6
151	Kody Schexnayder	Mississippi State	2	9	36.1	35.1	1	11%	0%	44%	−1.7
152	Blake Johnson	Arkansas	2	7	30.4	17.1	3	43%	0%	29%	−7.0
153	Danny Jones	BYU	2	7	37.6	37.6	2	29%	0%	29%	−2.3
154	Tom Snee	Oregon	1	17	35.2	31.3	7	39%	0%	56%	−5.3
155	Ryan Galovich	Wyoming	1	13	37.9	31.8	7	54%	15%	18%	−2.2
156	Josh Growden	LSU	1	14	35.6	32.2	9	75%	8%	42%	+0.4
157	Grant Urenovitch	Kent State	1	10	34.1	31.5	1	10%	0%	0%	−5.8
158	Tyler Flathau	Southern Miss	1	9	35.8	35.8	0	0%	0%	33%	−2.5
159	Bernardo Rodriguez	Kansas State	1	5	36.4	31.6	2	25%	25%	25%	−1.4
160	Ben Scruton	Hawai'i	1	7	37.9	36.6	0	0%	0%	67%	−1.7
161	Chris Tilbey	USC	1	7	34.6	33.4	2	29%	0%	57%	−2.3
162	Xavier Subotsch	App State	1	5	33.8	33.6	3	60%	0%	40%	0.0
163	Jake Stone	South Florida	1	4	41.3	30.5	2	50%	25%	0%	+0.2
164	Luke Shiflett	Middle Tennessee	1	4	35.5	33.3	3	75%	0%	50%	−1.0
165	Mark Deaves	UL Monroe	1	4	34.5	34.5	2	50%	0%	50%	−0.3
166	Andrew Strauch	UCLA	1	3	36.3	29.0	0	0%	0%	67%	−2.5
167	Joel Velazquez	Boise State	1	2	35.0	22.0	0	0%	0%	50%	−4.1
168	Conor Blount	Oregon State	1	2	30.0	30.0	2	100%	0%	0%	0.0
169	Donovan Gagen	Kansas	1	2	32.5	32.5	1	50%	0%	50%	−0.6
170	Jake McClure	Oklahoma State	1	2	53.0	54.0	1	50%	0%	0%	+1.7
171	Joe Rivera	Iowa State	1	2	38.0	38.0	0	0%	0%	0%	−0.5
172	Trevor Denbow	SMU	1	2	41.5	39.5	1	50%	0%	0%	+0.2
173	Hunter Renfrow	Clemson	1	1	42.0	42.0	0	0%	0%	0%	+0.2
174	Jacob Finn	Florida	1	1	38.0	30.0	0	0%	0%	0%	−0.6
175	Mason Lawler	Bowling Green	1	1	38.0	37.0	0	0%	0%	0%	−0.2
176	Nick Rice	Old Dominion	1	1	65.0	37.0	0	0%	0%	0%	0.0
177	Rocky Lombardi	Michigan State	1	1	32.0	34.0	0	0%	0%	0%	0.0

All 2018 College punter rankings

Punts Returned in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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