2023 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 2023, Alec Bevelhimer (1.9) topped college football punters in average punt return allowed, ahead of Caleb Junko (2.2) and Porter Wilson (2.8). 34 punters qualify (minimum 10 returns). The median qualified punter had 7.6.

Final 2023 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Avg ret	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Alec Bevelhimer	Miami (OH)	1.9	53	45.3	44.1	28	53%	8%	36%	+22.9
2	Caleb Junko	Pittsburgh	2.2	62	42.3	39.3	18	31%	12%	24%	−1.9
3	Porter Wilson	Duke	2.8	50	46.8	44.3	25	50%	8%	40%	+18.2
4	Dante Jackson	Akron	3.0	65	37.5	36.0	16	25%	5%	46%	−13.1
5	Jadon Cardell	Sam Houston	3.2	75	40.9	38.6	23	31%	9%	35%	−2.6
6	James Evans	Indiana	3.7	57	45.8	42.7	18	32%	11%	38%	+8.9
7	Tyler Perkins	Iowa State	3.8	58	44.3	41.2	26	45%	12%	28%	+10.3
8	Oscar Chapman	Auburn	4.5	58	44.9	42.0	21	36%	10%	43%	+8.0
9	Matt Freem	Nevada	4.9	66	41.2	39.2	18	28%	5%	26%	−5.7
10	Jack Browning	San Diego State	5.4	54	45.4	42.5	27	50%	9%	49%	+14.8
11	Aidan Swanson	Clemson	5.5	55	43.7	40.4	22	40%	9%	47%	+6.6
12	Alex Mastromanno	Florida State	5.6	61	45.2	43.2	26	43%	5%	57%	+12.4
13	Anthony Venneri	Buffalo	6.5	53	43.6	41.3	17	33%	4%	30%	−1.6
14	Fraser Masin	Ole Miss	6.8	43	42.4	39.5	17	39%	0%	31%	+1.4
15	Brian Buschini	Nebraska	7.1	57	40.7	38.8	20	34%	3%	42%	−8.8
16	Caden Noonkester	NC State	7.2	67	42.7	39.9	28	42%	7%	52%	+6.2
17	Angus Davies	Tulsa	7.2	58	42.7	40.3	26	44%	2%	47%	+3.9
18	James Ferguson-Reynolds	Boise State	8.1	51	49.6	44.8	25	49%	16%	10%	+11.3
19	Bryce McFerson	Notre Dame	8.4	37	44.7	40.2	6	17%	6%	34%	−2.5
20	Jake Walrath	Central Michigan	9.3	62	43.2	39.5	16	26%	11%	38%	−2.9
21	Mark Vassett	Colorado	9.3	66	44.1	41.4	24	36%	5%	23%	+7.3
22	Matthew Hayball	Vanderbilt	9.5	58	47.6	44.8	25	44%	7%	27%	+16.5
23	James Burnip	Alabama	10.6	50	47.2	42.2	21	42%	14%	36%	+13.8
24	Aaron Rodriguez	New Mexico	11.0	52	42.4	39.9	20	39%	2%	41%	−0.4
25	Logan Lupo	Florida Atlantic	11.0	55	44.1	39.7	17	31%	7%	52%	−1.4
26	Tory Taylor	Iowa	11.1	86	47.9	44.7	33	38%	7%	43%	+25.2
27	Josh Smith	Kent State	11.3	50	41.0	36.8	15	30%	2%	26%	−17.1
28	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	11.7	64	42.9	37.2	17	26%	11%	34%	−9.9
29	Ryan Rehkow	BYU	13.5	68	48.3	42.2	25	38%	8%	30%	+6.0
30	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	14.5	51	41.3	35.8	10	21%	8%	18%	−13.5
31	John McConnell	Marshall	15.1	55	43.1	37.1	14	26%	6%	32%	−9.4
32	Lachlan Wilson	California	15.9	47	45.6	41.3	19	40%	4%	41%	−1.6
33	Lucas Borrow	Ball State	16.2	58	41.7	36.7	22	38%	5%	28%	−10.9
34	Max Fletcher	Arkansas	16.9	59	46.9	42.8	21	36%	5%	36%	+2.9

All 2023 College punter rankings

Average Punt Return Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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