2026 College Punt Return Yards Allowed Leaders

Total yards the receiving team gained on returns of a punter's kicks. It combines the punter's placement and the coverage team's tackling.

Lower is better, but more returns means more yards. In 2026, Makenzie Ryan (279) led college football punters in punt return yards allowed, ahead of Ashton Logan (247) and Daniel Sparks (225). 143 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	Ret yds	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Makenzie Ryan	UL Monroe	279	33	41.4	31.8	7	22%	3%	39%	−23.5
2	Ashton Logan	Middle Tennessee	247	34	49.2	38.4	12	35%	18%	21%	−1.3
3	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	225	36	51.1	43.7	16	44%	6%	30%	+0.9
4	Trent Carrizosa	San José State	207	35	42.9	36.3	17	49%	9%	38%	−1.4
5	Alex Smith	Georgia Southern	197	29	42.7	33.8	8	28%	10%	50%	−13.9
6	Tashi Dorje	San Diego State	178	36	46.1	40.0	14	39%	6%	25%	+1.1
7	Cole Stumbaugh	Ball State	177	33	43.2	36.7	12	36%	6%	33%	−3.6
8	Brady Braun	UTEP	176	32	40.7	35.3	9	28%	6%	15%	−11.7
9	Damon Greaves	Colorado	175	29	45.3	37.9	13	45%	7%	22%	−3.0
10	Declan Duley	Central Michigan	174	32	43.9	37.2	11	34%	6%	31%	0.0
11	Ryan Kingston	Bowling Green	171	33	40.1	32.7	11	32%	6%	24%	−9.7
12	Ethan Stumpf	Buffalo	169	44	45.5	38.9	13	30%	14%	30%	+1.2
13	Mason Golding	Louisiana	157	28	40.1	34.5	14	50%	0%	40%	−10.4
14	Hunter Green	Washington	154	33	47.9	42.1	10	31%	6%	33%	+3.9
15	Jake Ference	Northern Illinois	148	29	41.8	34.4	6	21%	11%	32%	−13.7
16	Bryce LaFollette	Boston College	146	23	41.0	31.1	2	9%	17%	24%	−9.2
17	Cooper Heimbach	Marshall	141	29	46.0	39.7	11	39%	7%	33%	+0.8
18	Max Dean	Washington State	139	40	43.4	38.2	12	32%	8%	23%	−5.9
19	Christian Teeter	Georgia State	135	15	43.5	34.5	6	40%	0%	22%	−7.7
20	Nick McLarty	Arizona State	133	23	42.0	32.2	4	17%	13%	59%	−11.3
21	Joseph Castle	Akron	130	32	41.6	35.8	12	36%	3%	44%	−8.3
22	Aeron Burrell	North Carolina	126	21	42.8	36.8	10	48%	0%	24%	−2.2
23	Ian Kelly	Charlotte	125	26	45.0	39.4	10	38%	4%	50%	−5.9
24	Angus Davies	California	124	32	41.0	37.6	11	35%	3%	44%	−5.5
25	Aaron Bickerton	North Dakota State	121	24	45.5	37.9	9	38%	13%	22%	−1.0
26	Charlie Durkin	Rice	117	28	45.5	39.9	8	29%	7%	10%	−1.9
27	Bryce McFerson	Maryland	116	30	41.6	36.5	11	37%	0%	44%	−8.4
28	Jackson Smith	Western Kentucky	114	39	43.7	38.7	9	23%	10%	29%	+0.7
29	Cal Joseph	Sam Houston	114	45	44.2	39.9	18	40%	9%	55%	+1.8
30	Tyler Ebel	Vanderbilt	113	27	47.0	39.7	11	41%	8%	15%	−3.2
31	Jonah DuPont	Iowa State	113	22	44.4	39.2	4	19%	0%	33%	+0.8
32	Matt McKenzie	Kennesaw State	113	30	44.3	39.8	11	38%	3%	48%	−0.2
33	Bart Edmiston	Wyoming	110	27	48.0	40.9	11	41%	15%	42%	+8.2
34	Kade Reynoldson	Duke	107	26	45.9	39.7	13	48%	12%	11%	+3.1
35	Ian Brandt	Old Dominion	106	35	42.3	36.0	6	17%	11%	40%	−12.2
36	Dylan Joyce	Miami	105	16	44.6	36.8	5	31%	6%	60%	−0.7
37	Grant Chadwick	LSU	101	22	38.7	35.5	10	45%	0%	44%	−1.9
38	Stewart McDonald	Missouri State	98	23	41.2	36.0	7	30%	4%	41%	−3.6
39	Curtis Gerrand	UCLA	96	23	45.2	39.6	11	50%	5%	35%	+0.3
40	Alec Clark	Florida	96	22	47.4	42.1	12	55%	5%	56%	+1.8
41	Tomas O'Halloran	East Carolina	94	29	46.9	42.9	11	38%	3%	52%	+4.9
42	Nathan Sutcliffe	Colorado State	92	21	42.9	37.4	5	25%	5%	17%	−3.6
43	Evan Crenshaw	Troy	91	26	46.1	41.0	11	42%	8%	42%	−5.5
44	Gehrig Heil	Hawai'i	89	35	43.4	40.3	16	46%	3%	37%	+3.7
45	Caile Hogan	UTSA	84	27	41.4	37.8	10	36%	4%	33%	−3.3
46	Oliver Straw	UAB	83	21	45.4	41.4	12	57%	0%	28%	+0.7
47	Nathan Totten	Virginia Tech	80	24	41.4	35.3	9	39%	9%	29%	−5.8
48	Mac Chiumento	Texas	78	24	43.0	38.9	8	33%	4%	55%	−4.7
49	Josh Cupitt	Delaware	77	34	42.0	39.7	17	50%	0%	52%	+1.8
50	Alex Bacchetta	Georgia Tech	75	21	43.3	37.0	7	32%	5%	39%	−1.3
51	Jackson Ross	Tennessee	75	28	44.8	40.6	14	50%	7%	67%	+2.5
52	Atticus Bertrams	UCF	73	22	46.3	39.3	7	32%	18%	33%	+1.1
53	Edward Phillipson	Massachusetts	71	32	45.1	38.1	12	34%	6%	56%	−1.0
54	Aidan Flintoft	Stanford	65	43	43.0	40.6	13	30%	2%	66%	+3.4
55	Badger Hargett	UAB	65	3	48.7	27.0	1	33%	0%	0%	−2.8
56	Brody Richter	New Mexico State	64	26	40.3	38.4	10	37%	0%	60%	−1.9
57	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	64	18	46.8	41.1	11	61%	11%	59%	+3.5
58	Will Duncan	Air Force	61	15	46.1	40.7	7	47%	7%	38%	+2.4
59	Daniel Hull	Eastern Michigan	60	32	44.1	39.7	11	33%	6%	38%	0.0
60	Liam Dougherty	Houston	57	16	45.6	39.5	8	50%	13%	17%	+1.7
61	Jake Stoeckel	Kent State	56	30	42.8	39.6	12	40%	7%	41%	+0.8
62	Daniel Vuckovic	Arkansas State	56	23	39.2	37.8	10	43%	4%	42%	−1.1
63	Jacob Carlson	Navy	56	12	39.6	33.3	3	25%	8%	18%	−5.9
64	Magnus Haines	Ohio	56	18	43.3	39.1	8	44%	6%	50%	+0.9
65	Patrick Rea	James Madison	54	32	43.2	40.3	18	56%	6%	30%	+5.3
66	John Hoyet Chance	TCU	51	25	43.5	41.5	15	60%	0%	39%	+1.9
67	Wade McSparron	SMU	51	15	44.2	39.5	7	47%	7%	45%	−0.2
68	Ryan Millmore	Western Michigan	50	27	43.7	40.4	12	44%	7%	36%	+2.7
69	Lexington Matthews	Louisiana Tech	49	19	44.7	40.0	7	37%	11%	22%	+1.4
70	Nikola Dugandzic	Northwestern	48	19	38.8	35.3	7	37%	5%	50%	−3.9
71	AJ Winsor	Oregon State	47	18	42.7	40.1	8	44%	0%	60%	+4.5
72	Dusty Zimmer	Southern Miss	45	28	40.0	38.4	9	32%	0%	48%	+2.6
73	Dylan Drennan	Purdue	44	20	47.0	43.8	7	35%	5%	40%	+4.1
74	Joe McGuire	Ohio State	42	19	43.8	39.5	10	53%	11%	50%	+3.7
75	Sean West	Wisconsin	42	23	43.1	39.6	14	61%	9%	38%	+1.3
76	Max Tulen	Tulsa	41	36	42.9	39.6	11	30%	6%	42%	−2.1
77	Tom Weston	Minnesota	41	25	41.5	36.9	12	44%	0%	47%	−1.5
78	Dante Atton	Temple	40	23	42.5	40.8	9	39%	0%	47%	+1.1
79	Oscar Bird	Ole Miss	40	18	46.8	43.5	7	39%	6%	44%	+6.0
80	Harrison Tuck	Memphis	39	30	40.8	39.2	10	36%	0%	44%	−2.0
81	Cam Brown	Michigan	39	30	41.9	39.3	13	43%	7%	54%	+4.5
82	Alex Asparuhov	Alabama	37	23	43.1	41.3	13	59%	0%	56%	+7.2
83	Nick Verdugo	Fresno State	37	25	42.0	40.5	17	68%	0%	74%	+4.2
84	Jacob Ulrich	Oklahoma	36	19	44.4	41.5	4	21%	5%	50%	+2.4
85	Matt Choules	UNLV	36	30	42.3	38.5	15	50%	7%	50%	+0.5
86	Ian Ratliff	North Texas	36	13	41.1	35.2	5	38%	15%	45%	−3.0
87	Thomas O'Hara	Kentucky	35	17	40.7	37.5	4	24%	6%	31%	−2.0
88	Matthew Gill	Kansas	35	20	39.9	37.1	3	15%	5%	44%	−1.2
89	Nathan Tiyce	Penn State	35	31	41.1	37.4	11	35%	13%	54%	−3.8
90	Jaxson Dunn	App State	34	35	41.9	40.4	12	34%	3%	32%	+3.9
91	Palmer Williams	Baylor	34	22	51.4	43.5	7	32%	32%	47%	+5.2
92	Luke Goater	South Florida	33	24	45.5	42.5	13	54%	8%	40%	+4.9
93	James Wagenseller	Army	33	20	46.5	43.9	9	45%	5%	29%	+5.6
94	Markus Meincke	Toledo	33	22	42.0	40.5	9	41%	0%	58%	+0.4
95	Daniel Hughes	Florida State	32	21	44.0	42.6	10	48%	0%	33%	+4.5
96	Billy Gowers	Indiana	32	20	38.5	36.9	11	55%	0%	61%	+1.7
97	Wilson Berry	Kentucky	32	8	44.0	37.5	2	25%	13%	50%	−0.8
98	Niall Hayes	Louisville	31	25	40.0	38.0	7	28%	4%	35%	−5.1
99	Pierse Stainton	Miami (OH)	31	29	43.8	38.6	16	55%	21%	50%	+2.1
100	Lachlan Carrigan	USC	30	12	49.8	44.0	5	42%	17%	22%	+2.9
101	Ewan Baulch	Nevada	30	19	42.6	39.9	5	26%	5%	71%	+4.3
102	Jack Smith	Clemson	29	30	38.6	37.6	13	43%	0%	70%	−2.2
103	Rhys Dakin	Michigan State	28	17	51.0	41.1	7	39%	29%	33%	−0.5
104	Tyler White	Texas A&M	27	25	49.5	45.8	7	29%	13%	33%	+11.5
105	Jasper Scaife	Notre Dame	27	14	45.2	40.1	5	36%	0%	45%	+0.7
106	Sam Crossan	Liberty	27	25	40.9	37.4	11	44%	12%	55%	+1.2
107	Will Karoll	Texas Tech	26	20	50.8	48.5	10	50%	5%	43%	+9.9
108	Hudson Kaak	Auburn	24	27	40.3	39.4	14	52%	0%	55%	+2.1
109	Lars Rau	Illinois	24	10	42.3	40.2	5	45%	0%	50%	+1.1
110	Gavin Rush	Arkansas	23	27	40.5	38.2	9	32%	0%	74%	−4.5
111	Jimmy Gregg	Syracuse	23	17	42.2	39.6	6	35%	6%	67%	−0.3
112	Aleksi Pulkkinen	South Alabama	22	21	37.9	36.9	8	38%	0%	43%	−2.8
113	Gabe Russo	Pittsburgh	21	24	44.0	42.7	9	36%	8%	36%	+4.1
114	Conor Donaghy	Jacksonville State	21	16	47.3	45.9	9	56%	0%	55%	+7.1
115	Clay Lawrence	Fresno State	21	4	40.5	35.3	2	50%	0%	25%	−0.5
116	Bryan Hansen	West Virginia	21	28	42.9	40.0	10	36%	11%	60%	−0.6
117	Drew Miller	Georgia	20	19	46.1	38.7	7	37%	32%	35%	+1.1
118	Felix Visser	Florida International	18	20	38.6	36.7	7	35%	5%	56%	−3.7
119	Roland Podesta	Coastal Carolina	18	35	42.4	40.2	13	37%	9%	53%	+1.5
120	Mateen Bhaghani	UCLA	18	2	45.5	36.5	1	50%	0%	0%	−0.5
121	Tommy Warner	UConn	16	27	41.3	41.4	10	40%	4%	63%	+5.1
122	Elliot Huether	East Carolina	16	10	48.2	44.3	4	44%	11%	63%	+1.7
123	Grayson Miller	Oklahoma	15	10	45.0	43.5	4	40%	0%	56%	+1.8
124	Tom Flintoff	Texas State	14	11	35.0	33.7	3	27%	0%	43%	−5.7
125	Landon Rehkow	Utah State	12	31	42.1	38.7	15	48%	6%	48%	+4.3
126	Mason Love	South Carolina	12	18	42.7	42.1	5	28%	0%	44%	+0.3
127	Ethan Pulliam	Mississippi State	10	18	41.7	38.9	7	39%	11%	47%	+4.1
128	Lachie Pozzobon	Oklahoma State	10	10	42.9	39.9	4	40%	10%	50%	+2.3
129	Kolten Ford	Kent State	10	3	26.0	34.3	0	0%	0%	0%	−1.1
130	William Hudlow	Tulane	9	32	46.9	43.5	11	34%	16%	43%	+10.2
131	Archie Wilson	Nebraska	9	26	44.2	42.3	10	38%	8%	50%	+2.9
132	Reed Chandley	Florida Atlantic	9	14	40.6	39.9	6	43%	0%	33%	−1.6
133	Michael Kern	New Mexico	8	17	40.1	38.5	9	53%	6%	60%	+2.1
134	Brunno Reus	Missouri	8	33	44.8	40.9	14	42%	18%	58%	+6.2
135	Jackson Waller	NC State	7	26	42.0	40.9	10	38%	4%	69%	+1.9
136	Hamish Adams	Sacramento State	6	35	41.1	40.9	16	47%	0%	78%	+2.0
137	Ethan Schwartz	UNLV	5	3	51.7	43.3	2	67%	33%	0%	+1.4
138	Fuller Shurtz	BYU	5	18	44.4	44.2	5	28%	0%	92%	+7.9
139	Ethan Hyams	Wake Forest	4	21	45.2	44.0	8	38%	5%	64%	+3.7
140	Bailey Ettridge	Oregon	2	24	46.9	46.0	9	38%	4%	53%	+8.0
141	Boston Everitt	Iowa	2	27	43.0	41.6	17	61%	7%	59%	+4.5
142	Ethan Gurney	Iowa State	1	7	39.7	36.7	5	71%	14%	60%	0.0
143	Mikhail Iakovlev	Old Dominion	1	6	45.8	45.7	2	33%	0%	0%	+2.5

All 2026 College punter rankings

Punt Return Yards Allowed in other seasons: 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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