2016 NFL Kickoff Return Yards Allowed Leaders

Total return yards gained against a specialist's kickoffs. It reflects his kick and his coverage team.

Lower is better, but volume matters. In 2016, Nick Novak (1102) led NFL kickoff specialists in kickoff return yards allowed, ahead of Mason Crosby (1080) and Matt Bosher (905). 53 kickoff specialists qualify.

NFL rule from 2016 to 2023: a kickoff touchback started the receiving team at its 25 (from 2023 a fair catch inside the 25 did too), so a deep kick into the end zone was the safe, standard result. Kickoff Points Added accounts for the rule, so it is the fair way to compare kickoff specialists across leagues and seasons.

Final 2016 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Ret yds	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Nick Novak	Houston Texans	1102	70	62.7	33%	46	−7.5
2	Mason Crosby	Green Bay Packers	1080	88	63.5	53%	41	−13.2
3	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	905	105	64.6	62%	40	+6.5
4	Wil Lutz	New Orleans Saints	898	89	63.5	55%	40	−2.2
5	Sebastian Janikowski	Las Vegas Raiders	896	89	63.3	48%	46	+10.3
6	Cairo Santos	Kansas City Chiefs	843	84	63.4	57%	35	+6.8
7	Pat McAfee	Indianapolis Colts	825	88	64.4	56%	39	+3.7
8	Dan Carpenter	Buffalo Bills	815	67	61.5	42%	39	−0.9
9	Mike Nugent	Cincinnati Bengals	780	62	63.9	45%	34	+3.1
10	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots	771	94	63.0	55%	41	+16.7
11	Connor Barth	Chicago Bears	768	61	64.4	43%	35	+4.5
12	Dan Bailey	Dallas Cowboys	746	90	64.7	63%	33	+2.1
13	Caleb Sturgis	Philadelphia Eagles	712	84	64.3	55%	38	+8.8
14	Phil Dawson	San Francisco 49ers	685	39	58.5	10%	34	+10.0
15	Chandler Catanzaro	Arizona Cardinals	671	81	64.1	64%	29	+1.8
16	Nick Folk	New York Jets	665	70	63.0	56%	31	+2.8
17	Stephen Hauschka	Seattle Seahawks	642	85	64.3	64%	31	−3.4
18	Chris Boswell	Pittsburgh Steelers	639	79	62.5	63%	26	−7.2
19	Andrew Franks	Miami Dolphins	632	73	64.4	58%	31	+1.3
20	Roberto Aguayo	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	568	76	65.3	68%	24	−0.3
21	Blair Walsh	Minnesota Vikings	549	40	63.9	48%	21	−5.7
22	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens	540	80	62.8	65%	27	+2.6
23	Robbie Gould	New York Giants	540	42	63.4	45%	22	−3.8
24	Dustin Hopkins	Washington Commanders	534	90	64.0	72%	25	−6.3
25	Josh Lambo	Los Angeles Chargers	473	89	63.7	75%	20	−6.2
26	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	462	75	63.9	69%	22	+0.6
27	Ryan Succop	Tennessee Titans	452	79	63.9	73%	20	−4.5
28	Brandon McManus	Denver Broncos	440	76	63.3	67%	24	+0.3
29	Kai Forbath	Minnesota Vikings	431	36	64.9	53%	17	+0.8
30	Greg Zuerlein	Los Angeles Rams	430	58	64.6	62%	22	+4.5
31	Graham Gano	Carolina Panthers	389	85	64.6	74%	22	+3.7
32	Cody Parkey	Cleveland Browns	379	54	63.7	63%	19	+0.1
33	Jason Myers	Jacksonville Jaguars	261	73	63.4	82%	13	−6.3
34	Randy Bullock	Cincinnati Bengals	194	23	63.0	61%	9	−3.0
35	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	182	31	63.1	65%	10	−0.8
36	Josh Brown	New York Giants	146	24	60.5	63%	8	−2.4
37	Jordan Gay	Buffalo Bills	133	14	62.5	50%	7	+0.3
38	Patrick Murray	Cleveland Browns	103	7	66.1	57%	3	−1.8
39	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	86	2	50.0	0%	2	−2.3
40	Colton Schmidt	Buffalo Bills	51	1	45.0	0%	1	−3.8
41	Brian Peters	Houston Texans	33	2	61.5	0%	2	+0.6
42	Matt Prater	Detroit Lions	32	2	58.0	50%	1	−0.4
43	Drew Kaser	Los Angeles Chargers	31	1	60.0	0%	1	−0.9
44	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	28	2	62.5	0%	2	−1.0
45	Brad Wing	New York Giants	23	1	67.0	0%	1	−0.8
46	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	19	1	65.0	0%	1	−0.6
47	Andy Lee	Carolina Panthers	18	1	71.0	0%	1	−0.1
48	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	16	1	64.0	0%	1	−0.6
49	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	15	2	48.5	0%	1	−1.9
50	Brad Nortman	Jacksonville Jaguars	12	1	54.0	0%	1	−0.6
51	Jon Ryan	Seattle Seahawks	12	1	65.0	0%	1	−0.2
52	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	10	1	59.0	0%	1	+0.3
53	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	9	1	51.0	0%	1	−0.8

All 2016 NFL kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Return Yards Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017

More 2016 NFL kickoff specialist leaderboards

Other 2016 NFL rankings

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