2026 College Fair Catches Forced Leaders

A fair catch means the returner gave up the chance to run. Punters who kick high and coverage teams who arrive quickly force more of them.

A sign of good hang time and coverage. In 2026, Aidan Flintoft (23) led college football punters in fair catches forced, ahead of Cal Joseph (21) and Hamish Adams (21). 150 punters qualify. This season is in progress (through Week 7), so the numbers change each week.

Data through Week 7 of the 2026 season, updated October 24, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	FC	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Aidan Flintoft	Stanford	23	43	43.0	40.6	13	30%	2%	66%	+3.4
2	Cal Joseph	Sam Houston	21	45	44.2	39.9	18	40%	9%	55%	+1.8
3	Hamish Adams	Sacramento State	21	35	41.1	40.9	16	47%	0%	78%	+2.0
4	Jackson Waller	NC State	18	26	42.0	40.9	10	38%	4%	69%	+1.9
5	Gavin Rush	Arkansas	17	27	40.5	38.2	9	32%	0%	74%	−4.5
6	Roland Podesta	Coastal Carolina	16	35	42.4	40.2	13	37%	9%	53%	+1.5
7	Jack Smith	Clemson	16	30	38.6	37.6	13	43%	0%	70%	−2.2
8	Jackson Ross	Tennessee	16	28	44.8	40.6	14	50%	7%	67%	+2.5
9	Edward Phillipson	Massachusetts	15	32	45.1	38.1	12	34%	6%	56%	−1.0
10	Brunno Reus	Missouri	15	33	44.8	40.9	14	42%	18%	58%	+6.2
11	Bryan Hansen	West Virginia	15	28	42.9	40.0	10	36%	11%	60%	−0.6
12	Brody Richter	New Mexico State	15	26	40.3	38.4	10	37%	0%	60%	−1.9
13	Josh Cupitt	Delaware	14	34	42.0	39.7	17	50%	0%	52%	+1.8
14	Matt Choules	UNLV	14	30	42.3	38.5	15	50%	7%	50%	+0.5
15	Tomas O'Halloran	East Carolina	14	29	46.9	42.9	11	38%	3%	52%	+4.9
16	Nick Verdugo	Fresno State	14	25	42.0	40.5	17	68%	0%	74%	+4.2
17	Max Tulen	Tulsa	13	36	42.9	39.6	11	30%	6%	42%	−2.1
18	Nathan Tiyce	Penn State	13	31	41.1	37.4	11	35%	13%	54%	−3.8
19	Cam Brown	Michigan	13	30	41.9	39.3	13	43%	7%	54%	+4.5
20	Alex Smith	Georgia Southern	13	29	42.7	33.8	8	28%	10%	50%	−13.9
21	Pierse Stainton	Miami (OH)	13	29	43.8	38.6	16	55%	21%	50%	+2.1
22	Nick McLarty	Arizona State	13	23	42.0	32.2	4	17%	13%	59%	−11.3
23	Ian Brandt	Old Dominion	12	35	42.3	36.0	6	17%	11%	40%	−12.2
24	Trent Carrizosa	San José State	12	35	42.9	36.3	17	49%	9%	38%	−1.4
25	William Hudlow	Tulane	12	32	46.9	43.5	11	34%	16%	43%	+10.2
26	Angus Davies	California	12	32	41.0	37.6	11	35%	3%	44%	−5.5
27	Landon Rehkow	Utah State	12	31	42.1	38.7	15	48%	6%	48%	+4.3
28	Dusty Zimmer	Southern Miss	12	28	40.0	38.4	9	32%	0%	48%	+2.6
29	Hudson Kaak	Auburn	12	27	40.3	39.4	14	52%	0%	55%	+2.1
30	Ewan Baulch	Nevada	12	19	42.6	39.9	5	26%	5%	71%	+4.3
31	Fuller Shurtz	BYU	12	18	44.4	44.2	5	28%	0%	92%	+7.9
32	Ethan Stumpf	Buffalo	11	44	45.5	38.9	13	30%	14%	30%	+1.2
33	Joseph Castle	Akron	11	32	41.6	35.8	12	36%	3%	44%	−8.3
34	Makenzie Ryan	UL Monroe	11	33	41.4	31.8	7	22%	3%	39%	−23.5
35	Bryce McFerson	Maryland	11	30	41.6	36.5	11	37%	0%	44%	−8.4
36	Jake Stoeckel	Kent State	11	30	42.8	39.6	12	40%	7%	41%	+0.8
37	Matt McKenzie	Kennesaw State	11	30	44.3	39.8	11	38%	3%	48%	−0.2
38	Harrison Tuck	Memphis	11	30	40.8	39.2	10	36%	0%	44%	−2.0
39	Sam Crossan	Liberty	11	25	40.9	37.4	11	44%	12%	55%	+1.2
40	Mac Chiumento	Texas	11	24	43.0	38.9	8	33%	4%	55%	−4.7
41	Markus Meincke	Toledo	11	22	42.0	40.5	9	41%	0%	58%	+0.4
42	Billy Gowers	Indiana	11	20	38.5	36.9	11	55%	0%	61%	+1.7
43	Gehrig Heil	Hawai'i	10	35	43.4	40.3	16	46%	3%	37%	+3.7
44	Daniel Hull	Eastern Michigan	10	32	44.1	39.7	11	33%	6%	38%	0.0
45	Hunter Green	Washington	10	33	47.9	42.1	10	31%	6%	33%	+3.9
46	Boston Everitt	Iowa	10	27	43.0	41.6	17	61%	7%	59%	+4.5
47	Mason Golding	Louisiana	10	28	40.1	34.5	14	50%	0%	40%	−10.4
48	Bart Edmiston	Wyoming	10	27	48.0	40.9	11	41%	15%	42%	+8.2
49	Evan Crenshaw	Troy	10	26	46.1	41.0	11	42%	8%	42%	−5.5
50	Ian Kelly	Charlotte	10	26	45.0	39.4	10	38%	4%	50%	−5.9
51	Tommy Warner	UConn	10	27	41.3	41.4	10	40%	4%	63%	+5.1
52	Bailey Ettridge	Oregon	10	24	46.9	46.0	9	38%	4%	53%	+8.0
53	Alec Clark	Florida	10	22	47.4	42.1	12	55%	5%	56%	+1.8
54	Alex Asparuhov	Alabama	10	23	43.1	41.3	13	59%	0%	56%	+7.2
55	Max Fletcher	Cincinnati	10	21	46.3	44.4	11	52%	10%	63%	+7.3
56	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	10	18	46.8	41.1	11	61%	11%	59%	+3.5
57	Jimmy Gregg	Syracuse	10	17	42.2	39.6	6	35%	6%	67%	−0.3
58	Oscar Doyle	Boise State	10	16	43.8	42.6	6	38%	6%	67%	+3.4
59	Jackson Smith	Western Kentucky	9	39	43.7	38.7	9	23%	10%	29%	+0.7
60	Jaxson Dunn	App State	9	35	41.9	40.4	12	34%	3%	32%	+3.9
61	Cole Stumbaugh	Ball State	9	33	43.2	36.7	12	36%	6%	33%	−3.6
62	Declan Duley	Central Michigan	9	32	43.9	37.2	11	34%	6%	31%	0.0
63	Archie Wilson	Nebraska	9	26	44.2	42.3	10	38%	8%	50%	+2.9
64	Stewart McDonald	Missouri State	9	23	41.2	36.0	7	30%	4%	41%	−3.6
65	Ethan Hyams	Wake Forest	9	21	45.2	44.0	8	38%	5%	64%	+3.7
66	Felix Visser	Florida International	9	20	38.6	36.7	7	35%	5%	56%	−3.7
67	Jacob Ulrich	Oklahoma	9	19	44.4	41.5	4	21%	5%	50%	+2.4
68	AJ Winsor	Oregon State	9	18	42.7	40.1	8	44%	0%	60%	+4.5
69	Michael Kern	New Mexico	9	17	40.1	38.5	9	53%	6%	60%	+2.1
70	Dylan Joyce	Miami	9	16	44.6	36.8	5	31%	6%	60%	−0.7
71	Chase Ridley	Arizona	9	15	41.5	38.9	6	40%	13%	75%	+1.1
72	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	8	36	51.1	43.7	16	44%	6%	30%	+0.9
73	Tashi Dorje	San Diego State	8	36	46.1	40.0	14	39%	6%	25%	+1.1
74	Cooper Heimbach	Marshall	8	29	46.0	39.7	11	39%	7%	33%	+0.8
75	Jake Ference	Northern Illinois	8	29	41.8	34.4	6	21%	11%	32%	−13.7
76	Ryan Millmore	Western Michigan	8	27	43.7	40.4	12	44%	7%	36%	+2.7
77	Tom Weston	Minnesota	8	25	41.5	36.9	12	44%	0%	47%	−1.5
78	Gabe Russo	Pittsburgh	8	24	44.0	42.7	9	36%	8%	36%	+4.1
79	Luke Goater	South Florida	8	24	45.5	42.5	13	54%	8%	40%	+4.9
80	Daniel Vuckovic	Arkansas State	8	23	39.2	37.8	10	43%	4%	42%	−1.1
81	Dante Atton	Temple	8	23	42.5	40.8	9	39%	0%	47%	+1.1
82	Grant Chadwick	LSU	8	22	38.7	35.5	10	45%	0%	44%	−1.9
83	Palmer Williams	Baylor	8	22	51.4	43.5	7	32%	32%	47%	+5.2
84	Joe McGuire	Ohio State	8	19	43.8	39.5	10	53%	11%	50%	+3.7
85	Nikola Dugandzic	Northwestern	8	19	38.8	35.3	7	37%	5%	50%	−3.9
86	Ethan Pulliam	Mississippi State	8	18	41.7	38.9	7	39%	11%	47%	+4.1
87	Max Dean	Washington State	7	40	43.4	38.2	12	32%	8%	23%	−5.9
88	Patrick Rea	James Madison	7	32	43.2	40.3	18	56%	6%	30%	+5.3
89	John Hoyet Chance	TCU	7	25	43.5	41.5	15	60%	0%	39%	+1.9
90	Niall Hayes	Louisville	7	25	40.0	38.0	7	28%	4%	35%	−5.1
91	Alex Bacchetta	Georgia Tech	7	21	43.3	37.0	7	32%	5%	39%	−1.3
92	Atticus Bertrams	UCF	7	22	46.3	39.3	7	32%	18%	33%	+1.1
93	Curtis Gerrand	UCLA	7	23	45.2	39.6	11	50%	5%	35%	+0.3
94	Matthew Gill	Kansas	7	20	39.9	37.1	3	15%	5%	44%	−1.2
95	Mason Love	South Carolina	7	18	42.7	42.1	5	28%	0%	44%	+0.3
96	Oscar Bird	Ole Miss	7	18	46.8	43.5	7	39%	6%	44%	+6.0
97	Ashton Logan	Middle Tennessee	6	34	49.2	38.4	12	35%	18%	21%	−1.3
98	Ryan Kingston	Bowling Green	6	33	40.1	32.7	11	32%	6%	24%	−9.7
99	Damon Greaves	Colorado	6	29	45.3	37.9	13	45%	7%	22%	−3.0
100	Caile Hogan	UTSA	6	27	41.4	37.8	10	36%	4%	33%	−3.3
101	Tyler White	Texas A&M	6	25	49.5	45.8	7	29%	13%	33%	+11.5
102	Sean West	Wisconsin	6	23	43.1	39.6	14	61%	9%	38%	+1.3
103	Aleksi Pulkkinen	South Alabama	6	21	37.9	36.9	8	38%	0%	43%	−2.8
104	Jonah DuPont	Iowa State	6	22	44.4	39.2	4	19%	0%	33%	+0.8
105	Dylan Drennan	Purdue	6	20	47.0	43.8	7	35%	5%	40%	+4.1
106	Will Karoll	Texas Tech	6	20	50.8	48.5	10	50%	5%	43%	+9.9
107	Drew Miller	Georgia	6	19	46.1	38.7	7	37%	32%	35%	+1.1
108	Magnus Haines	Ohio	6	18	43.3	39.1	8	44%	6%	50%	+0.9
109	Conor Donaghy	Jacksonville State	6	16	47.3	45.9	9	56%	0%	55%	+7.1
110	Bryce LaFollette	Boston College	5	23	41.0	31.1	2	9%	17%	24%	−9.2
111	Nathan Totten	Virginia Tech	5	24	41.4	35.3	9	39%	9%	29%	−5.8
112	Aeron Burrell	North Carolina	5	21	42.8	36.8	10	48%	0%	24%	−2.2
113	Daniel Hughes	Florida State	5	21	44.0	42.6	10	48%	0%	33%	+4.5
114	Oliver Straw	UAB	5	21	45.4	41.4	12	57%	0%	28%	+0.7
115	Rhys Dakin	Michigan State	5	17	51.0	41.1	7	39%	29%	33%	−0.5
116	Jakob Anderson	Rutgers	5	15	45.9	43.2	4	27%	13%	50%	+3.7
117	Wade McSparron	SMU	5	15	44.2	39.5	7	47%	7%	45%	−0.2
118	Jasper Scaife	Notre Dame	5	14	45.2	40.1	5	36%	0%	45%	+0.7
119	Ian Ratliff	North Texas	5	13	41.1	35.2	5	38%	15%	45%	−3.0
120	Grayson Miller	Oklahoma	5	10	45.0	43.5	4	40%	0%	56%	+1.8
121	Elliot Huether	East Carolina	5	10	48.2	44.3	4	44%	11%	63%	+1.7
122	Brady Braun	UTEP	4	32	40.7	35.3	9	28%	6%	15%	−11.7
123	Aaron Bickerton	North Dakota State	4	24	45.5	37.9	9	38%	13%	22%	−1.0
124	James Wagenseller	Army	4	20	46.5	43.9	9	45%	5%	29%	+5.6
125	Lexington Matthews	Louisiana Tech	4	19	44.7	40.0	7	37%	11%	22%	+1.4
126	Thomas O'Hara	Kentucky	4	17	40.7	37.5	4	24%	6%	31%	−2.0
127	Orion Phillips	Utah	4	16	42.3	42.3	8	50%	0%	31%	+1.5
128	Lars Rau	Illinois	4	10	42.3	40.2	5	45%	0%	50%	+1.1
129	Lachie Pozzobon	Oklahoma State	4	10	42.9	39.9	4	40%	10%	50%	+2.3
130	Tyler Ebel	Vanderbilt	3	27	47.0	39.7	11	41%	8%	15%	−3.2
131	Nathan Sutcliffe	Colorado State	3	21	42.9	37.4	5	25%	5%	17%	−3.6
132	Will Duncan	Air Force	3	15	46.1	40.7	7	47%	7%	38%	+2.4
133	Reed Chandley	Florida Atlantic	3	14	40.6	39.9	6	43%	0%	33%	−1.6
134	Tom Flintoff	Texas State	3	11	35.0	33.7	3	27%	0%	43%	−5.7
135	Wilson Berry	Kentucky	3	8	44.0	37.5	2	25%	13%	50%	−0.8
136	Bronson Long	Charlotte	3	7	41.7	38.9	2	29%	14%	60%	−0.6
137	Ethan Gurney	Iowa State	3	7	39.7	36.7	5	71%	14%	60%	0.0
138	Charles Steinkamp	New Mexico	3	5	46.8	34.5	1	25%	25%	75%	−0.7
139	Charlie Durkin	Rice	2	28	45.5	39.9	8	29%	7%	10%	−1.9
140	Kade Reynoldson	Duke	2	26	45.9	39.7	13	48%	12%	11%	+3.1
141	Liam Dougherty	Houston	2	16	45.6	39.5	8	50%	13%	17%	+1.7
142	Christian Teeter	Georgia State	2	15	43.5	34.5	6	40%	0%	22%	−7.7
143	Jacob Carlson	Navy	2	12	39.6	33.3	3	25%	8%	18%	−5.9
144	Lachlan Carrigan	USC	2	12	49.8	44.0	5	42%	17%	22%	+2.9
145	Lance Gossett	Navy	2	7	49.3	46.4	0	0%	14%	40%	+1.6
146	Cavan Craig	Colorado State	2	3	37.0	38.3	1	25%	0%	100%	−0.1
147	Ethan Post	Florida State	2	4	43.3	38.3	1	25%	25%	67%	+0.1
148	Landon Vargas	Georgia State	2	4	46.5	41.5	2	50%	25%	50%	+0.7
149	Clay Lawrence	Fresno State	1	4	40.5	35.3	2	50%	0%	25%	−0.5
150	Jesse Ehrlich	Arkansas	1	3	49.0	42.3	1	33%	33%	50%	+1.0

All 2026 College punter rankings

Fair Catches Forced in other seasons: 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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