2026 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 2026, Ethan Stumpf (17) led college football punters in punts returned, ahead of Tashi Dorje (16) and Charlie Durkin (16). 147 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	Returns	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Ethan Stumpf	Buffalo	17	44	45.5	38.9	13	30%	14%	30%	+1.2
2	Tashi Dorje	San Diego State	16	36	46.1	40.0	14	39%	6%	25%	+1.1
3	Charlie Durkin	Rice	16	28	45.5	39.9	8	29%	7%	10%	−1.9
4	Max Dean	Washington State	15	40	43.4	38.2	12	32%	8%	23%	−5.9
5	Hunter Green	Washington	15	33	47.9	42.1	10	31%	6%	33%	+3.9
6	Damon Greaves	Colorado	15	29	45.3	37.9	13	45%	7%	22%	−3.0
7	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	14	36	51.1	43.7	16	44%	6%	30%	+0.9
8	Trent Carrizosa	San José State	14	35	42.9	36.3	17	49%	9%	38%	−1.4
9	Ashton Logan	Middle Tennessee	14	34	49.2	38.4	12	35%	18%	21%	−1.3
10	Jackson Smith	Western Kentucky	13	39	43.7	38.7	9	23%	10%	29%	+0.7
11	Ryan Kingston	Bowling Green	13	33	40.1	32.7	11	32%	6%	24%	−9.7
12	Nathan Sutcliffe	Colorado State	13	21	42.9	37.4	5	25%	5%	17%	−3.6
13	Cal Joseph	Sam Houston	12	45	44.2	39.9	18	40%	9%	55%	+1.8
14	Gehrig Heil	Hawai'i	12	35	43.4	40.3	16	46%	3%	37%	+3.7
15	Declan Duley	Central Michigan	12	32	43.9	37.2	11	34%	6%	31%	0.0
16	Patrick Rea	James Madison	12	32	43.2	40.3	18	56%	6%	30%	+5.3
17	Bryce McFerson	Maryland	12	30	41.6	36.5	11	37%	0%	44%	−8.4
18	Mason Golding	Louisiana	12	28	40.1	34.5	14	50%	0%	40%	−10.4
19	Curtis Gerrand	UCLA	12	23	45.2	39.6	11	50%	5%	35%	+0.3
20	Aeron Burrell	North Carolina	12	21	42.8	36.8	10	48%	0%	24%	−2.2
21	Cole Stumbaugh	Ball State	11	33	43.2	36.7	12	36%	6%	33%	−3.6
22	Jake Stoeckel	Kent State	11	30	42.8	39.6	12	40%	7%	41%	+0.8
23	Cooper Heimbach	Marshall	11	29	46.0	39.7	11	39%	7%	33%	+0.8
24	Tyler Ebel	Vanderbilt	11	27	47.0	39.7	11	41%	8%	15%	−3.2
25	Max Tulen	Tulsa	10	36	42.9	39.6	11	30%	6%	42%	−2.1
26	Josh Cupitt	Delaware	10	34	42.0	39.7	17	50%	0%	52%	+1.8
27	Brady Braun	UTEP	10	32	40.7	35.3	9	28%	6%	15%	−11.7
28	Makenzie Ryan	UL Monroe	10	33	41.4	31.8	7	22%	3%	39%	−23.5
29	Angus Davies	California	10	32	41.0	37.6	11	35%	3%	44%	−5.5
30	Tomas O'Halloran	East Carolina	10	29	46.9	42.9	11	38%	3%	52%	+4.9
31	Harrison Tuck	Memphis	10	30	40.8	39.2	10	36%	0%	44%	−2.0
32	Kade Reynoldson	Duke	10	26	45.9	39.7	13	48%	12%	11%	+3.1
33	Bryce LaFollette	Boston College	10	23	41.0	31.1	2	9%	17%	24%	−9.2
34	Jonah DuPont	Iowa State	10	22	44.4	39.2	4	19%	0%	33%	+0.8
35	Lexington Matthews	Louisiana Tech	10	19	44.7	40.0	7	37%	11%	22%	+1.4
36	Ian Brandt	Old Dominion	9	35	42.3	36.0	6	17%	11%	40%	−12.2
37	William Hudlow	Tulane	9	32	46.9	43.5	11	34%	16%	43%	+10.2
38	Cam Brown	Michigan	9	30	41.9	39.3	13	43%	7%	54%	+4.5
39	Bart Edmiston	Wyoming	9	27	48.0	40.9	11	41%	15%	42%	+8.2
40	Ian Kelly	Charlotte	9	26	45.0	39.4	10	38%	4%	50%	−5.9
41	Aaron Bickerton	North Dakota State	9	24	45.5	37.9	9	38%	13%	22%	−1.0
42	Stewart McDonald	Missouri State	9	23	41.2	36.0	7	30%	4%	41%	−3.6
43	Grant Chadwick	LSU	9	22	38.7	35.5	10	45%	0%	44%	−1.9
44	Oliver Straw	UAB	9	21	45.4	41.4	12	57%	0%	28%	+0.7
45	Aidan Flintoft	Stanford	8	43	43.0	40.6	13	30%	2%	66%	+3.4
46	Edward Phillipson	Massachusetts	8	32	45.1	38.1	12	34%	6%	56%	−1.0
47	Joseph Castle	Akron	8	32	41.6	35.8	12	36%	3%	44%	−8.3
48	Alex Smith	Georgia Southern	8	29	42.7	33.8	8	28%	10%	50%	−13.9
49	Dusty Zimmer	Southern Miss	8	28	40.0	38.4	9	32%	0%	48%	+2.6
50	Jake Ference	Northern Illinois	8	29	41.8	34.4	6	21%	11%	32%	−13.7
51	Evan Crenshaw	Troy	8	26	46.1	41.0	11	42%	8%	42%	−5.5
52	Tyler White	Texas A&M	8	25	49.5	45.8	7	29%	13%	33%	+11.5
53	Jacob Ulrich	Oklahoma	8	19	44.4	41.5	4	21%	5%	50%	+2.4
54	Daniel Hull	Eastern Michigan	7	32	44.1	39.7	11	33%	6%	38%	0.0
55	Landon Rehkow	Utah State	7	31	42.1	38.7	15	48%	6%	48%	+4.3
56	Matt Choules	UNLV	7	30	42.3	38.5	15	50%	7%	50%	+0.5
57	Matt McKenzie	Kennesaw State	7	30	44.3	39.8	11	38%	3%	48%	−0.2
58	Caile Hogan	UTSA	7	27	41.4	37.8	10	36%	4%	33%	−3.3
59	Gabe Russo	Pittsburgh	7	24	44.0	42.7	9	36%	8%	36%	+4.1
60	Luke Goater	South Florida	7	24	45.5	42.5	13	54%	8%	40%	+4.9
61	Daniel Vuckovic	Arkansas State	7	23	39.2	37.8	10	43%	4%	42%	−1.1
62	Alex Asparuhov	Alabama	7	23	43.1	41.3	13	59%	0%	56%	+7.2
63	Atticus Bertrams	UCF	7	22	46.3	39.3	7	32%	18%	33%	+1.1
64	Dylan Drennan	Purdue	7	20	47.0	43.8	7	35%	5%	40%	+4.1
65	Jaxson Dunn	App State	6	35	41.9	40.4	12	34%	3%	32%	+3.9
66	Brody Richter	New Mexico State	6	26	40.3	38.4	10	37%	0%	60%	−1.9
67	Hudson Kaak	Auburn	6	27	40.3	39.4	14	52%	0%	55%	+2.1
68	Ryan Millmore	Western Michigan	6	27	43.7	40.4	12	44%	7%	36%	+2.7
69	Tom Weston	Minnesota	6	25	41.5	36.9	12	44%	0%	47%	−1.5
70	John Hoyet Chance	TCU	6	25	43.5	41.5	15	60%	0%	39%	+1.9
71	Niall Hayes	Louisville	6	25	40.0	38.0	7	28%	4%	35%	−5.1
72	Bailey Ettridge	Oregon	6	24	46.9	46.0	9	38%	4%	53%	+8.0
73	Mac Chiumento	Texas	6	24	43.0	38.9	8	33%	4%	55%	−4.7
74	Dante Atton	Temple	6	23	42.5	40.8	9	39%	0%	47%	+1.1
75	Nathan Totten	Virginia Tech	6	24	41.4	35.3	9	39%	9%	29%	−5.8
76	Alex Bacchetta	Georgia Tech	6	21	43.3	37.0	7	32%	5%	39%	−1.3
77	Daniel Hughes	Florida State	6	21	44.0	42.6	10	48%	0%	33%	+4.5
78	James Wagenseller	Army	6	20	46.5	43.9	9	45%	5%	29%	+5.6
79	Thomas O'Hara	Kentucky	6	17	40.7	37.5	4	24%	6%	31%	−2.0
80	Liam Dougherty	Houston	6	16	45.6	39.5	8	50%	13%	17%	+1.7
81	Jack Smith	Clemson	5	30	38.6	37.6	13	43%	0%	70%	−2.2
82	Jackson Ross	Tennessee	5	28	44.8	40.6	14	50%	7%	67%	+2.5
83	Nick Verdugo	Fresno State	5	25	42.0	40.5	17	68%	0%	74%	+4.2
84	Nick McLarty	Arizona State	5	23	42.0	32.2	4	17%	13%	59%	−11.3
85	Markus Meincke	Toledo	5	22	42.0	40.5	9	41%	0%	58%	+0.4
86	Felix Visser	Florida International	5	20	38.6	36.7	7	35%	5%	56%	−3.7
87	Matthew Gill	Kansas	5	20	39.9	37.1	3	15%	5%	44%	−1.2
88	Joe McGuire	Ohio State	5	19	43.8	39.5	10	53%	11%	50%	+3.7
89	AJ Winsor	Oregon State	5	18	42.7	40.1	8	44%	0%	60%	+4.5
90	Magnus Haines	Ohio	5	18	43.3	39.1	8	44%	6%	50%	+0.9
91	Conor Donaghy	Jacksonville State	5	16	47.3	45.9	9	56%	0%	55%	+7.1
92	Dylan Joyce	Miami	5	16	44.6	36.8	5	31%	6%	60%	−0.7
93	Jacob Carlson	Navy	5	12	39.6	33.3	3	25%	8%	18%	−5.9
94	Lachlan Carrigan	USC	5	12	49.8	44.0	5	42%	17%	22%	+2.9
95	Roland Podesta	Coastal Carolina	4	35	42.4	40.2	13	37%	9%	53%	+1.5
96	Hamish Adams	Sacramento State	4	35	41.1	40.9	16	47%	0%	78%	+2.0
97	Pierse Stainton	Miami (OH)	4	29	43.8	38.6	16	55%	21%	50%	+2.1
98	Boston Everitt	Iowa	4	27	43.0	41.6	17	61%	7%	59%	+4.5
99	Gavin Rush	Arkansas	4	27	40.5	38.2	9	32%	0%	74%	−4.5
100	Archie Wilson	Nebraska	4	26	44.2	42.3	10	38%	8%	50%	+2.9
101	Sam Crossan	Liberty	4	25	40.9	37.4	11	44%	12%	55%	+1.2
102	Sean West	Wisconsin	4	23	43.1	39.6	14	61%	9%	38%	+1.3
103	Alec Clark	Florida	4	22	47.4	42.1	12	55%	5%	56%	+1.8
104	Aleksi Pulkkinen	South Alabama	4	21	37.9	36.9	8	38%	0%	43%	−2.8
105	Billy Gowers	Indiana	4	20	38.5	36.9	11	55%	0%	61%	+1.7
106	Oscar Bird	Ole Miss	4	18	46.8	43.5	7	39%	6%	44%	+6.0
107	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	4	18	46.8	41.1	11	61%	11%	59%	+3.5
108	Jimmy Gregg	Syracuse	4	17	42.2	39.6	6	35%	6%	67%	−0.3
109	Orion Phillips	Utah	4	16	42.3	42.3	8	50%	0%	31%	+1.5
110	Wade McSparron	SMU	4	15	44.2	39.5	7	47%	7%	45%	−0.2
111	Will Duncan	Air Force	4	15	46.1	40.7	7	47%	7%	38%	+2.4
112	Jasper Scaife	Notre Dame	4	14	45.2	40.1	5	36%	0%	45%	+0.7
113	Lars Rau	Illinois	4	10	42.3	40.2	5	45%	0%	50%	+1.1
114	Jackson Waller	NC State	3	26	42.0	40.9	10	38%	4%	69%	+1.9
115	Tommy Warner	UConn	3	27	41.3	41.4	10	40%	4%	63%	+5.1
116	Ethan Hyams	Wake Forest	3	21	45.2	44.0	8	38%	5%	64%	+3.7
117	Max Fletcher	Cincinnati	3	21	46.3	44.4	11	52%	10%	63%	+7.3
118	Will Karoll	Texas Tech	3	20	50.8	48.5	10	50%	5%	43%	+9.9
119	Drew Miller	Georgia	3	19	46.1	38.7	7	37%	32%	35%	+1.1
120	Ewan Baulch	Nevada	3	19	42.6	39.9	5	26%	5%	71%	+4.3
121	Nikola Dugandzic	Northwestern	3	19	38.8	35.3	7	37%	5%	50%	−3.9
122	Mason Love	South Carolina	3	18	42.7	42.1	5	28%	0%	44%	+0.3
123	Rhys Dakin	Michigan State	3	17	51.0	41.1	7	39%	29%	33%	−0.5
124	Michael Kern	New Mexico	3	17	40.1	38.5	9	53%	6%	60%	+2.1
125	Christian Teeter	Georgia State	3	15	43.5	34.5	6	40%	0%	22%	−7.7
126	Clay Lawrence	Fresno State	3	4	40.5	35.3	2	50%	0%	25%	−0.5
127	Nathan Tiyce	Penn State	2	31	41.1	37.4	11	35%	13%	54%	−3.8
128	Bryan Hansen	West Virginia	2	28	42.9	40.0	10	36%	11%	60%	−0.6
129	Palmer Williams	Baylor	2	22	51.4	43.5	7	32%	32%	47%	+5.2
130	Ethan Pulliam	Mississippi State	2	18	41.7	38.9	7	39%	11%	47%	+4.1
131	Oscar Doyle	Boise State	2	16	43.8	42.6	6	38%	6%	67%	+3.4
132	Reed Chandley	Florida Atlantic	2	14	40.6	39.9	6	43%	0%	33%	−1.6
133	Tom Flintoff	Texas State	2	11	35.0	33.7	3	27%	0%	43%	−5.7
134	Grayson Miller	Oklahoma	2	10	45.0	43.5	4	40%	0%	56%	+1.8
135	Lachie Pozzobon	Oklahoma State	2	10	42.9	39.9	4	40%	10%	50%	+2.3
136	Elliot Huether	East Carolina	2	10	48.2	44.3	4	44%	11%	63%	+1.7
137	Wilson Berry	Kentucky	2	8	44.0	37.5	2	25%	13%	50%	−0.8
138	Mateen Bhaghani	UCLA	2	2	45.5	36.5	1	50%	0%	0%	−0.5
139	Brunno Reus	Missouri	1	33	44.8	40.9	14	42%	18%	58%	+6.2
140	Fuller Shurtz	BYU	1	18	44.4	44.2	5	28%	0%	92%	+7.9
141	Ian Ratliff	North Texas	1	13	41.1	35.2	5	38%	15%	45%	−3.0
142	Bronson Long	Charlotte	1	7	41.7	38.9	2	29%	14%	60%	−0.6
143	Ethan Gurney	Iowa State	1	7	39.7	36.7	5	71%	14%	60%	0.0
144	Mikhail Iakovlev	Old Dominion	1	6	45.8	45.7	2	33%	0%	0%	+2.5
145	Badger Hargett	UAB	1	3	48.7	27.0	1	33%	0%	0%	−2.8
146	Ethan Schwartz	UNLV	1	3	51.7	43.3	2	67%	33%	0%	+1.4
147	Kolten Ford	Kent State	1	3	26.0	34.3	0	0%	0%	0%	−1.1

All 2026 College punter rankings

Punts Returned in other seasons: 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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