2025 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 2025, AJ Winsor (30) led college football punters in punts returned, ahead of Oliver Straw (24) and Grant Chadwick (24). 161 punters qualify.

Final 2025 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Returns	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	AJ Winsor	Oregon State	30	62	44.7	34.5	15	24%	8%	16%	−22.1
2	Oliver Straw	West Virginia	24	66	42.5	38.9	17	26%	5%	22%	−7.0
3	Grant Chadwick	LSU	24	59	45.3	38.2	21	36%	8%	35%	−4.8
4	Bronson Long	Charlotte	22	70	42.7	38.4	19	28%	6%	48%	−5.4
5	Damon Greaves	Colorado	22	64	43.7	38.3	16	25%	8%	35%	−2.6
6	Ryan Eckley	Michigan State	22	49	48.5	40.8	21	42%	2%	27%	−8.0
7	Bart Edmiston	Wyoming	21	65	46.1	38.6	25	37%	17%	20%	+3.1
8	Cole Maynard	Western Kentucky	21	51	48.7	42.4	14	27%	10%	33%	+3.7
9	Wes Pahl	Oklahoma State	20	64	46.5	42.6	21	32%	6%	36%	+1.5
10	Emile Sebafundi	Coastal Carolina	20	62	42.5	37.1	17	27%	7%	31%	−11.2
11	Noah Botsford	UTEP	20	59	45.6	41.2	19	32%	7%	4%	+5.1
12	Aleksi Pulkkinen	South Alabama	20	49	40.4	36.2	11	22%	6%	24%	−10.1
13	Adam Saul	Ball State	19	70	40.7	37.4	17	24%	4%	44%	−12.8
14	Aidan Flintoft	Stanford	19	58	43.3	39.1	15	27%	2%	30%	−2.1
15	Reed Chandley	Georgia State	19	54	45.8	39.5	23	43%	4%	21%	−2.4
16	Caile Hogan	UTSA	19	50	44.9	39.8	15	32%	6%	35%	−3.4
17	Alex Bacchetta	Rice	18	60	44.6	39.5	20	32%	8%	42%	+3.3
18	Nathan Torney	Louisiana	18	50	42.1	39.4	10	20%	4%	37%	−6.7
19	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	18	35	47.5	37.9	14	40%	11%	19%	−0.4
20	Bryan Hansen	Colorado State	17	57	47.9	44.1	15	26%	9%	19%	+17.4
21	Grayson Miller	Oklahoma	17	54	46.2	40.3	30	58%	12%	26%	+3.5
22	Dylan Drennan	Buffalo	16	64	44.8	41.6	26	41%	8%	21%	+7.8
23	Landon Rehkow	Utah State	16	61	42.7	38.5	19	31%	7%	32%	−6.8
24	Emilio Duran	Toledo	16	60	40.6	37.3	23	38%	10%	47%	−5.4
25	John Hoyet Chance	Louisiana Tech	16	58	47.0	42.9	27	47%	9%	33%	+11.3
26	Tom Maginness	North Carolina	16	56	42.7	39.8	21	38%	2%	47%	+2.8
27	Ian Ratliff	App State	16	54	43.9	41.1	11	20%	2%	52%	+6.0
28	Jack McCallister	Purdue	16	50	43.2	40.8	24	48%	4%	44%	+6.5
29	Joseph Castle	Akron	16	48	42.8	36.6	17	35%	10%	35%	−5.5
30	Curtis Gerrand	Sam Houston	15	64	43.0	40.4	23	37%	3%	56%	+2.5
31	Jack Stonehouse	Syracuse	15	60	46.5	41.6	15	26%	10%	52%	+8.9
32	Mitchell Tomasek	Eastern Michigan	15	48	45.1	40.8	10	20%	14%	26%	+0.1
33	Trey Wilhoit	Florida International	15	50	43.5	38.6	14	28%	4%	52%	−3.1
34	Anthony Venneri	UCF	15	48	40.7	35.6	19	40%	8%	36%	−9.3
35	Will Karoll	UCLA	15	44	43.5	39.2	12	27%	5%	39%	−0.5
36	Finn Lappin	Kansas	15	39	45.3	41.2	13	33%	3%	44%	+1.7
37	Hudson Hollenbeck	Michigan	15	38	43.0	37.8	11	28%	8%	32%	−2.1
38	Kanyon Floyd	Arizona State	15	36	41.4	34.5	8	22%	6%	36%	−13.7
39	Hunter Green	San Diego State	14	59	46.6	41.2	29	49%	17%	41%	+10.2
40	Nathan Totten	Marshall	14	55	44.9	40.4	26	45%	18%	47%	+10.4
41	Tom Weston	Minnesota	14	59	42.8	39.5	19	33%	5%	31%	+1.4
42	Max Dean	New Mexico State	14	55	42.3	39.7	20	36%	5%	42%	−0.8
43	Charlie Durkin	Kent State	14	48	41.1	37.3	13	28%	4%	29%	−11.3
44	Brenden Lach	Delaware	14	42	39.5	35.6	15	35%	2%	47%	−7.4
45	Evan Crenshaw	Troy	13	65	45.8	41.7	32	49%	6%	30%	+5.8
46	Makenzie Ryan	UL Monroe	13	60	38.9	35.5	14	23%	5%	45%	−21.5
47	Jack Bouwmeester	Texas	13	55	44.7	38.4	24	43%	15%	43%	+1.5
48	Alex Smith	Georgia Southern	13	54	42.6	39.6	15	28%	6%	49%	−2.3
49	Mason Love	South Carolina	13	53	45.1	41.4	18	33%	8%	39%	+6.9
50	Aidan Laros	Kentucky	13	50	44.5	38.6	20	39%	8%	51%	+2.1
51	Caden Noonkester	NC State	13	52	43.6	39.0	23	45%	6%	48%	−1.5
52	Liam Dougherty	Houston	13	50	44.3	37.0	18	35%	14%	36%	−9.2
53	Wade McSparron	SMU	13	52	42.4	39.1	16	31%	8%	45%	+2.1
54	Nick Veltsistas	Virginia Tech	13	47	45.4	37.3	18	38%	9%	36%	−7.3
55	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	13	48	42.5	39.5	19	40%	9%	39%	+2.4
56	Alec Clark	Tulane	13	45	46.8	43.4	17	38%	9%	38%	+13.1
57	Daniel Hughes	New Mexico	13	35	45.5	42.1	11	29%	5%	41%	+7.9
58	Keegan Andrews	Massachusetts	12	69	46.5	41.7	32	45%	3%	39%	+5.0
59	Ashton Logan	Middle Tennessee	12	66	44.6	41.1	33	50%	11%	41%	+9.2
60	Shamus Florio	Boston College	12	49	39.7	38.3	16	31%	2%	27%	+0.8
61	Caleb Junko	Pittsburgh	12	48	44.5	40.7	12	25%	10%	41%	+0.3
62	Billy Gowers	Hawai'i	12	46	46.4	41.4	24	52%	4%	37%	+2.6
63	Patrick Foley	UAB	12	30	41.6	34.2	6	19%	10%	33%	−17.6
64	Palmer Williams	Baylor	12	27	46.9	46.3	11	41%	4%	26%	+9.4
65	Ryan Millmore	Western Michigan	11	53	42.1	38.4	22	42%	10%	49%	+4.1
66	Bailey Ettridge	Nevada	11	45	45.1	41.5	18	39%	4%	58%	+7.7
67	Cam Brown	UNLV	11	43	44.0	41.1	15	35%	7%	36%	−0.1
68	Atticus Bertrams	Wisconsin	11	35	41.8	35.9	17	44%	5%	14%	−5.6
69	Sean West	Wisconsin	11	26	47.4	39.1	9	36%	8%	25%	0.0
70	Joshua Huiet	Kennesaw State	10	57	41.3	39.7	25	43%	4%	52%	+1.0
71	Cal Joseph	Wake Forest	10	57	38.1	35.1	20	35%	4%	60%	−13.9
72	Oscar Doyle	Boise State	10	52	43.7	40.4	18	35%	10%	60%	+5.2
73	Angus Davies	Tulsa	10	46	43.3	41.6	21	43%	0%	42%	+0.3
74	Conor Donaghy	Jacksonville State	10	47	39.6	37.1	17	37%	4%	53%	−3.0
75	Jack Smith	Clemson	10	45	42.1	41.1	22	49%	4%	56%	+8.3
76	Max Morgan	Liberty	10	46	41.2	38.8	14	31%	9%	53%	−4.4
77	Stewart McDonald	Missouri State	10	42	42.7	36.1	13	32%	15%	29%	−11.2
78	Kade Reynoldson	Duke	10	39	44.5	41.1	18	45%	5%	55%	+6.9
79	Michael Kern	California	10	38	41.6	38.7	9	24%	8%	42%	−3.7
80	Max Fletcher	Cincinnati	10	35	45.8	42.0	17	49%	3%	45%	−3.4
81	John Henderson	Bowling Green	9	59	40.5	35.4	20	34%	10%	43%	−18.4
82	Pierse Stainton	Miami (OH)	9	59	41.9	40.0	25	43%	3%	60%	+11.1
83	Ryan Harris	Washington State	9	51	40.9	38.3	18	35%	6%	58%	+0.1
84	Connor Stutz	UConn	9	44	45.5	41.0	23	51%	13%	45%	+7.8
85	Blake Doud	Alabama	9	41	42.9	38.8	15	36%	2%	49%	−0.4
86	Ethan Pulliam	Mississippi State	9	40	46.7	45.9	10	26%	0%	48%	+14.0
87	Dylan Joyce	Miami	9	37	44.4	40.5	19	51%	14%	43%	+4.6
88	Jackson Ross	Tennessee	9	37	44.3	42.2	19	51%	5%	56%	+6.9
89	Magnus Haines	Ohio	9	38	42.2	39.9	16	43%	5%	46%	+1.7
90	Jacob Carlson	Navy	9	32	44.6	40.3	14	44%	13%	29%	+3.9
91	Luke Akers	Northwestern	9	32	45.4	40.7	10	32%	13%	39%	+6.8
92	Marshall Nichols	Georgia Tech	9	31	47.3	42.0	13	42%	10%	29%	+7.7
93	Daniel Vuckovic	Northern Illinois	9	25	42.3	35.0	10	36%	4%	22%	−5.4
94	Mitch McCarthy	Indiana	9	27	39.8	37.7	11	41%	0%	36%	−0.5
95	Brook Honore Jr.	California	9	20	41.4	35.4	6	27%	0%	12%	−6.8
96	Declan Duley	Central Michigan	8	50	40.9	36.7	18	37%	6%	59%	−6.2
97	Hudson Kaak	Auburn	8	49	42.0	40.7	13	27%	2%	63%	+4.2
98	Tyler White	Texas A&M	8	44	44.4	40.9	18	41%	5%	42%	+4.0
99	Connor Weselman	Missouri	8	41	41.8	39.0	14	34%	7%	55%	−0.6
100	Ethan Craw	TCU	8	41	41.5	38.7	14	35%	10%	39%	+0.8
101	Jack Burgess	Texas Tech	8	40	43.4	41.0	19	48%	5%	53%	+7.9
102	Trent Carrizosa	San José State	8	39	45.6	40.1	12	32%	13%	44%	−6.1
103	Keelan Crimmins	Illinois	8	35	44.0	38.5	9	25%	17%	56%	−0.8
104	Reed Harradine	Southern Miss	8	34	40.8	38.7	6	18%	3%	39%	−3.5
105	James Wagenseller	Army	8	32	43.1	40.8	15	47%	6%	48%	+5.6
106	Oscar Bird	Ole Miss	8	32	45.9	43.8	10	31%	3%	29%	+11.0
107	Jack Murley	Southern Miss	8	23	36.5	34.5	14	58%	8%	18%	+0.3
108	Luke Freer	Air Force	8	23	44.5	41.4	12	52%	4%	33%	+0.9
109	Bryce McFerson	Maryland	7	56	44.2	40.4	20	36%	15%	47%	+0.5
110	Jackson Waller	Arkansas State	7	54	41.4	40.3	24	44%	4%	35%	+0.9
111	Tommy Doman	Florida	7	50	44.0	41.1	18	38%	8%	45%	+3.0
112	Ian Brandt	Old Dominion	7	41	41.0	35.4	18	41%	7%	53%	−9.3
113	Tyler Perkins	Iowa State	7	42	42.4	40.9	19	45%	5%	57%	+5.5
114	David Nunez	Texas State	7	36	40.4	38.2	12	32%	5%	58%	+0.4
115	Sam Vander Haar	BYU	7	38	42.5	38.8	16	43%	3%	61%	+0.4
116	Devin Bale	Arkansas	7	34	45.6	39.0	14	40%	12%	35%	−0.3
117	Gabriel Nwosu	Penn State	7	35	46.1	42.9	14	42%	9%	46%	+9.5
118	Isaac Lovison	Arizona	7	32	42.6	39.8	12	38%	6%	56%	−1.6
119	Luke Dunne	Washington	7	28	40.2	33.6	7	23%	14%	26%	−8.5
120	Logan Lupo	Florida Atlantic	7	28	44.9	41.3	12	43%	0%	33%	+1.6
121	Nick Verdugo	Fresno State	6	47	40.6	39.6	16	33%	2%	74%	+7.7
122	Lachlan Carrigan	Memphis	6	42	43.4	41.2	20	47%	9%	67%	+7.4
123	David Chapeau	Louisville	6	38	39.7	37.8	18	49%	8%	59%	+1.2
124	Orion Phillips	Utah	6	35	42.9	40.4	13	38%	9%	44%	+6.2
125	Jake Ference	Northern Illinois	6	30	43.7	39.9	7	23%	3%	48%	+0.3
126	Nick Haberer	Vanderbilt	6	23	46.7	43.0	10	43%	9%	50%	+7.0
127	Sam Johnson	USC	6	20	41.4	35.3	6	30%	5%	50%	−6.2
128	Dante Atton	Temple	5	62	42.2	41.4	26	43%	2%	80%	+5.7
129	Patrick Rea	James Madison	5	43	40.7	38.9	17	40%	5%	62%	+0.1
130	Jakob Anderson	Rutgers	5	33	44.2	41.8	12	36%	3%	62%	+4.6
131	Brayden Johnson	Akron	5	12	40.1	36.4	7	58%	0%	14%	−5.5
132	Elijah Slibeck	Virginia	5	11	46.2	37.3	4	36%	9%	30%	−2.7
133	Brett Thorson	Georgia	4	42	45.2	42.7	20	49%	10%	62%	+10.1
134	Rhys Dakin	Iowa	4	39	43.2	40.1	17	45%	8%	60%	+5.3
135	Archie Wilson	Nebraska	4	32	38.9	37.6	14	44%	3%	48%	−1.8
136	Chase Leon	South Florida	4	32	43.0	39.2	15	47%	3%	44%	−2.9
137	James Ferguson-Reynolds	Oregon	4	29	42.1	39.9	13	46%	11%	55%	+1.4
138	Sawyer Evans	North Texas	4	28	40.8	39.8	10	38%	4%	61%	−0.5
139	Ryan Leavy	East Carolina	4	20	39.1	37.6	4	20%	0%	50%	−2.7
140	David Barker	New Mexico State	4	6	44.5	40.5	2	33%	0%	17%	+0.4
141	Mac Chiumento	Florida State	3	26	44.2	40.7	13	46%	4%	70%	+2.8
142	Joe McGuire	Ohio State	3	24	42.0	40.0	8	33%	8%	55%	+1.3
143	Tomas O'Halloran	East Carolina	3	18	42.7	37.9	6	33%	6%	53%	−2.0
144	James Rendell	Notre Dame	2	25	44.6	43.4	13	54%	4%	64%	+7.8
145	Anthony Frederique	Missouri State	2	11	36.9	29.5	7	54%	0%	33%	−4.4
146	Drew Miller	Georgia	2	6	48.0	42.3	3	50%	17%	40%	+2.1
147	Quinn Warren	Indiana	2	6	48.0	45.5	3	50%	0%	0%	+1.9
148	Carter Schwartz	Louisville	1	14	39.6	39.3	5	33%	0%	50%	−1.5
149	Jake Stoeckel	Kent State	1	9	31.3	31.7	3	30%	0%	29%	−0.6
150	Matt McKenzie	Arizona State	1	10	35.2	32.8	1	10%	0%	50%	−5.7
151	Cade Backe	Jacksonville State	1	7	40.3	37.3	2	29%	0%	50%	−2.1
152	Steve Angeli	Syracuse	1	2	36.0	43.3	2	50%	0%	33%	+2.2
153	Jayden Becks	North Texas	1	3	37.3	38.7	0	0%	0%	0%	−0.6
154	Tashi Dorje	San Diego State	1	3	50.0	48.3	0	0%	0%	67%	+2.2
155	Zac Chapeau	Central Michigan	1	3	40.3	40.3	0	0%	0%	0%	−2.1
156	Baylor Hayes	Tulsa	1	2	36.5	35.5	0	0%	0%	0%	0.0
157	Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi	Colorado State	1	2	40.5	39.5	2	100%	0%	0%	+0.6
158	Jackson Kleather	Bowling Green	1	2	49.5	49.0	1	50%	0%	0%	+1.3
159	Joe McFadden	Nevada	1	2	39.5	36.0	1	50%	0%	50%	−0.4
160	Jaxon Potter	Washington State	1	1	40.0	40.0	1	100%	0%	0%	+0.3
161	William Hudlow	Tulane	1	1	34.0	17.0	0	0%	0%	0%	−1.4

All 2025 College punter rankings

Punts Returned in other seasons: 2026 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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