2026 College Gross Punting Average Leaders

Gross average is total punt yards divided by punts that were not blocked. It measures distance only and ignores returns and touchbacks.

Net average is a better measure of field position; use both. In 2026, Palmer Williams (51.4) led college football punters in gross punting average, ahead of Daniel Sparks (51.1) and Rhys Dakin (51.0). 130 punters qualify (minimum 15 punts). The median qualified punter had 43.2. 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	Avg	Punts	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Palmer Williams	Baylor	51.4	22	43.5	7	32%	32%	47%	+5.2
2	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	51.1	36	43.7	16	44%	6%	30%	+0.9
3	Rhys Dakin	Michigan State	51.0	17	41.1	7	39%	29%	33%	−0.5
4	Will Karoll	Texas Tech	50.8	20	48.5	10	50%	5%	43%	+9.9
5	Tyler White	Texas A&M	49.5	25	45.8	7	29%	13%	33%	+11.5
6	Ashton Logan	Middle Tennessee	49.2	34	38.4	12	35%	18%	21%	−1.3
7	Bart Edmiston	Wyoming	48.0	27	40.9	11	41%	15%	42%	+8.2
8	Hunter Green	Washington	47.9	33	42.1	10	31%	6%	33%	+3.9
9	Alec Clark	Florida	47.4	22	42.1	12	55%	5%	56%	+1.8
10	Conor Donaghy	Jacksonville State	47.3	16	45.9	9	56%	0%	55%	+7.1
11	Tyler Ebel	Vanderbilt	47.0	27	39.7	11	41%	8%	15%	−3.2
12	Dylan Drennan	Purdue	47.0	20	43.8	7	35%	5%	40%	+4.1
13	William Hudlow	Tulane	46.9	32	43.5	11	34%	16%	43%	+10.2
14	Bailey Ettridge	Oregon	46.9	24	46.0	9	38%	4%	53%	+8.0
15	Tomas O'Halloran	East Carolina	46.9	29	42.9	11	38%	3%	52%	+4.9
16	Oscar Bird	Ole Miss	46.8	18	43.5	7	39%	6%	44%	+6.0
17	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	46.8	18	41.1	11	61%	11%	59%	+3.5
18	James Wagenseller	Army	46.5	20	43.9	9	45%	5%	29%	+5.6
19	Max Fletcher	Cincinnati	46.3	21	44.4	11	52%	10%	63%	+7.3
20	Atticus Bertrams	UCF	46.3	22	39.3	7	32%	18%	33%	+1.1
21	Will Duncan	Air Force	46.1	15	40.7	7	47%	7%	38%	+2.4
22	Evan Crenshaw	Troy	46.1	26	41.0	11	42%	8%	42%	−5.5
23	Tashi Dorje	San Diego State	46.1	36	40.0	14	39%	6%	25%	+1.1
24	Drew Miller	Georgia	46.1	19	38.7	7	37%	32%	35%	+1.1
25	Cooper Heimbach	Marshall	46.0	29	39.7	11	39%	7%	33%	+0.8
26	Kade Reynoldson	Duke	45.9	26	39.7	13	48%	12%	11%	+3.1
27	Jakob Anderson	Rutgers	45.9	15	43.2	4	27%	13%	50%	+3.7
28	Liam Dougherty	Houston	45.6	16	39.5	8	50%	13%	17%	+1.7
29	Charlie Durkin	Rice	45.5	28	39.9	8	29%	7%	10%	−1.9
30	Ethan Stumpf	Buffalo	45.5	44	38.9	13	30%	14%	30%	+1.2
31	Luke Goater	South Florida	45.5	24	42.5	13	54%	8%	40%	+4.9
32	Aaron Bickerton	North Dakota State	45.5	24	37.9	9	38%	13%	22%	−1.0
33	Oliver Straw	UAB	45.4	21	41.4	12	57%	0%	28%	+0.7
34	Damon Greaves	Colorado	45.3	29	37.9	13	45%	7%	22%	−3.0
35	Curtis Gerrand	UCLA	45.2	23	39.6	11	50%	5%	35%	+0.3
36	Ethan Hyams	Wake Forest	45.2	21	44.0	8	38%	5%	64%	+3.7
37	Edward Phillipson	Massachusetts	45.1	32	38.1	12	34%	6%	56%	−1.0
38	Ian Kelly	Charlotte	45.0	26	39.4	10	38%	4%	50%	−5.9
39	Brunno Reus	Missouri	44.8	33	40.9	14	42%	18%	58%	+6.2
40	Jackson Ross	Tennessee	44.8	28	40.6	14	50%	7%	67%	+2.5
41	Lexington Matthews	Louisiana Tech	44.7	19	40.0	7	37%	11%	22%	+1.4
42	Dylan Joyce	Miami	44.6	16	36.8	5	31%	6%	60%	−0.7
43	Fuller Shurtz	BYU	44.4	18	44.2	5	28%	0%	92%	+7.9
44	Jacob Ulrich	Oklahoma	44.4	19	41.5	4	21%	5%	50%	+2.4
45	Jonah DuPont	Iowa State	44.4	22	39.2	4	19%	0%	33%	+0.8
46	Matt McKenzie	Kennesaw State	44.3	30	39.8	11	38%	3%	48%	−0.2
47	Wade McSparron	SMU	44.2	15	39.5	7	47%	7%	45%	−0.2
48	Cal Joseph	Sam Houston	44.2	45	39.9	18	40%	9%	55%	+1.8
49	Archie Wilson	Nebraska	44.2	26	42.3	10	38%	8%	50%	+2.9
50	Daniel Hull	Eastern Michigan	44.1	32	39.7	11	33%	6%	38%	0.0
51	Daniel Hughes	Florida State	44.0	21	42.6	10	48%	0%	33%	+4.5
52	Gabe Russo	Pittsburgh	44.0	24	42.7	9	36%	8%	36%	+4.1
53	Declan Duley	Central Michigan	43.9	32	37.2	11	34%	6%	31%	0.0
54	Joe McGuire	Ohio State	43.8	19	39.5	10	53%	11%	50%	+3.7
55	Pierse Stainton	Miami (OH)	43.8	29	38.6	16	55%	21%	50%	+2.1
56	Oscar Doyle	Boise State	43.8	16	42.6	6	38%	6%	67%	+3.4
57	Ryan Millmore	Western Michigan	43.7	27	40.4	12	44%	7%	36%	+2.7
58	Jackson Smith	Western Kentucky	43.7	39	38.7	9	23%	10%	29%	+0.7
59	Christian Teeter	Georgia State	43.5	15	34.5	6	40%	0%	22%	−7.7
60	John Hoyet Chance	TCU	43.5	25	41.5	15	60%	0%	39%	+1.9
61	Gehrig Heil	Hawai'i	43.4	35	40.3	16	46%	3%	37%	+3.7
62	Max Dean	Washington State	43.4	40	38.2	12	32%	8%	23%	−5.9
63	Alex Bacchetta	Georgia Tech	43.3	21	37.0	7	32%	5%	39%	−1.3
64	Magnus Haines	Ohio	43.3	18	39.1	8	44%	6%	50%	+0.9
65	Cole Stumbaugh	Ball State	43.2	33	36.7	12	36%	6%	33%	−3.6
66	Patrick Rea	James Madison	43.2	32	40.3	18	56%	6%	30%	+5.3
67	Sean West	Wisconsin	43.1	23	39.6	14	61%	9%	38%	+1.3
68	Alex Asparuhov	Alabama	43.1	23	41.3	13	59%	0%	56%	+7.2
69	Boston Everitt	Iowa	43.0	27	41.6	17	61%	7%	59%	+4.5
70	Mac Chiumento	Texas	43.0	24	38.9	8	33%	4%	55%	−4.7
71	Aidan Flintoft	Stanford	43.0	43	40.6	13	30%	2%	66%	+3.4
72	Max Tulen	Tulsa	42.9	36	39.6	11	30%	6%	42%	−2.1
73	Trent Carrizosa	San José State	42.9	35	36.3	17	49%	9%	38%	−1.4
74	Bryan Hansen	West Virginia	42.9	28	40.0	10	36%	11%	60%	−0.6
75	Nathan Sutcliffe	Colorado State	42.9	21	37.4	5	25%	5%	17%	−3.6
76	Jake Stoeckel	Kent State	42.8	30	39.6	12	40%	7%	41%	+0.8
77	Aeron Burrell	North Carolina	42.8	21	36.8	10	48%	0%	24%	−2.2
78	Mason Love	South Carolina	42.7	18	42.1	5	28%	0%	44%	+0.3
79	AJ Winsor	Oregon State	42.7	18	40.1	8	44%	0%	60%	+4.5
80	Alex Smith	Georgia Southern	42.7	29	33.8	8	28%	10%	50%	−13.9
81	Ewan Baulch	Nevada	42.6	19	39.9	5	26%	5%	71%	+4.3
82	Dante Atton	Temple	42.5	23	40.8	9	39%	0%	47%	+1.1
83	Roland Podesta	Coastal Carolina	42.4	35	40.2	13	37%	9%	53%	+1.5
84	Ian Brandt	Old Dominion	42.3	35	36.0	6	17%	11%	40%	−12.2
85	Orion Phillips	Utah	42.3	16	42.3	8	50%	0%	31%	+1.5
86	Matt Choules	UNLV	42.3	30	38.5	15	50%	7%	50%	+0.5
87	Jimmy Gregg	Syracuse	42.2	17	39.6	6	35%	6%	67%	−0.3
88	Landon Rehkow	Utah State	42.1	31	38.7	15	48%	6%	48%	+4.3
89	Nick Verdugo	Fresno State	42.0	25	40.5	17	68%	0%	74%	+4.2
90	Josh Cupitt	Delaware	42.0	34	39.7	17	50%	0%	52%	+1.8
91	Jackson Waller	NC State	42.0	26	40.9	10	38%	4%	69%	+1.9
92	Nick McLarty	Arizona State	42.0	23	32.2	4	17%	13%	59%	−11.3
93	Markus Meincke	Toledo	42.0	22	40.5	9	41%	0%	58%	+0.4
94	Cam Brown	Michigan	41.9	30	39.3	13	43%	7%	54%	+4.5
95	Jaxson Dunn	App State	41.9	35	40.4	12	34%	3%	32%	+3.9
96	Jake Ference	Northern Illinois	41.8	29	34.4	6	21%	11%	32%	−13.7
97	Ethan Pulliam	Mississippi State	41.7	18	38.9	7	39%	11%	47%	+4.1
98	Joseph Castle	Akron	41.6	32	35.8	12	36%	3%	44%	−8.3
99	Bryce McFerson	Maryland	41.6	30	36.5	11	37%	0%	44%	−8.4
100	Chase Ridley	Arizona	41.5	15	38.9	6	40%	13%	75%	+1.1
101	Tom Weston	Minnesota	41.5	25	36.9	12	44%	0%	47%	−1.5
102	Caile Hogan	UTSA	41.4	27	37.8	10	36%	4%	33%	−3.3
103	Nathan Totten	Virginia Tech	41.4	24	35.3	9	39%	9%	29%	−5.8
104	Makenzie Ryan	UL Monroe	41.4	33	31.8	7	22%	3%	39%	−23.5
105	Tommy Warner	UConn	41.3	27	41.4	10	40%	4%	63%	+5.1
106	Stewart McDonald	Missouri State	41.2	23	36.0	7	30%	4%	41%	−3.6
107	Hamish Adams	Sacramento State	41.1	35	40.9	16	47%	0%	78%	+2.0
108	Nathan Tiyce	Penn State	41.1	31	37.4	11	35%	13%	54%	−3.8
109	Angus Davies	California	41.0	32	37.6	11	35%	3%	44%	−5.5
110	Bryce LaFollette	Boston College	41.0	23	31.1	2	9%	17%	24%	−9.2
111	Sam Crossan	Liberty	40.9	25	37.4	11	44%	12%	55%	+1.2
112	Harrison Tuck	Memphis	40.8	30	39.2	10	36%	0%	44%	−2.0
113	Thomas O'Hara	Kentucky	40.7	17	37.5	4	24%	6%	31%	−2.0
114	Brady Braun	UTEP	40.7	32	35.3	9	28%	6%	15%	−11.7
115	Gavin Rush	Arkansas	40.5	27	38.2	9	32%	0%	74%	−4.5
116	Hudson Kaak	Auburn	40.3	27	39.4	14	52%	0%	55%	+2.1
117	Brody Richter	New Mexico State	40.3	26	38.4	10	37%	0%	60%	−1.9
118	Mason Golding	Louisiana	40.1	28	34.5	14	50%	0%	40%	−10.4
119	Ryan Kingston	Bowling Green	40.1	33	32.7	11	32%	6%	24%	−9.7
120	Michael Kern	New Mexico	40.1	17	38.5	9	53%	6%	60%	+2.1
121	Niall Hayes	Louisville	40.0	25	38.0	7	28%	4%	35%	−5.1
122	Dusty Zimmer	Southern Miss	40.0	28	38.4	9	32%	0%	48%	+2.6
123	Matthew Gill	Kansas	39.9	20	37.1	3	15%	5%	44%	−1.2
124	Daniel Vuckovic	Arkansas State	39.2	23	37.8	10	43%	4%	42%	−1.1
125	Nikola Dugandzic	Northwestern	38.8	19	35.3	7	37%	5%	50%	−3.9
126	Grant Chadwick	LSU	38.7	22	35.5	10	45%	0%	44%	−1.9
127	Jack Smith	Clemson	38.6	30	37.6	13	43%	0%	70%	−2.2
128	Felix Visser	Florida International	38.6	20	36.7	7	35%	5%	56%	−3.7
129	Billy Gowers	Indiana	38.5	20	36.9	11	55%	0%	61%	+1.7
130	Aleksi Pulkkinen	South Alabama	37.9	21	36.9	8	38%	0%	43%	−2.8

All 2026 College punter rankings

Gross Punting Average in other seasons: 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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