2016 NFL Kickoff Returns Allowed Leaders

Kickoffs the receiving team brought out of the end zone. More returns mean more chances for a big return, but also more chances to be tackled short.

Compare with return yards allowed. In 2016, Sebastian Janikowski (46) led NFL kickoff specialists in kickoff returns allowed, ahead of Nick Novak (46) and Stephen Gostkowski (41). 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	Returns	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Points
1	Sebastian Janikowski	Las Vegas Raiders	46	89	63.3	48%	+10.3
2	Nick Novak	Houston Texans	46	70	62.7	33%	−7.5
3	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots	41	94	63.0	55%	+16.7
4	Mason Crosby	Green Bay Packers	41	88	63.5	53%	−13.2
5	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	40	105	64.6	62%	+6.5
6	Wil Lutz	New Orleans Saints	40	89	63.5	55%	−2.2
7	Pat McAfee	Indianapolis Colts	39	88	64.4	56%	+3.7
8	Dan Carpenter	Buffalo Bills	39	67	61.5	42%	−0.9
9	Caleb Sturgis	Philadelphia Eagles	38	84	64.3	55%	+8.8
10	Cairo Santos	Kansas City Chiefs	35	84	63.4	57%	+6.8
11	Connor Barth	Chicago Bears	35	61	64.4	43%	+4.5
12	Mike Nugent	Cincinnati Bengals	34	62	63.9	45%	+3.1
13	Phil Dawson	San Francisco 49ers	34	39	58.5	10%	+10.0
14	Dan Bailey	Dallas Cowboys	33	90	64.7	63%	+2.1
15	Stephen Hauschka	Seattle Seahawks	31	85	64.3	64%	−3.4
16	Andrew Franks	Miami Dolphins	31	73	64.4	58%	+1.3
17	Nick Folk	New York Jets	31	70	63.0	56%	+2.8
18	Chandler Catanzaro	Arizona Cardinals	29	81	64.1	64%	+1.8
19	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens	27	80	62.8	65%	+2.6
20	Chris Boswell	Pittsburgh Steelers	26	79	62.5	63%	−7.2
21	Dustin Hopkins	Washington Commanders	25	90	64.0	72%	−6.3
22	Brandon McManus	Denver Broncos	24	76	63.3	67%	+0.3
23	Roberto Aguayo	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	24	76	65.3	68%	−0.3
24	Graham Gano	Carolina Panthers	22	85	64.6	74%	+3.7
25	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	22	75	63.9	69%	+0.6
26	Greg Zuerlein	Los Angeles Rams	22	58	64.6	62%	+4.5
27	Robbie Gould	New York Giants	22	42	63.4	45%	−3.8
28	Blair Walsh	Minnesota Vikings	21	40	63.9	48%	−5.7
29	Josh Lambo	Los Angeles Chargers	20	89	63.7	75%	−6.2
30	Ryan Succop	Tennessee Titans	20	79	63.9	73%	−4.5
31	Cody Parkey	Cleveland Browns	19	54	63.7	63%	+0.1
32	Kai Forbath	Minnesota Vikings	17	36	64.9	53%	+0.8
33	Jason Myers	Jacksonville Jaguars	13	73	63.4	82%	−6.3
34	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	10	31	63.1	65%	−0.8
35	Randy Bullock	Cincinnati Bengals	9	23	63.0	61%	−3.0
36	Josh Brown	New York Giants	8	24	60.5	63%	−2.4
37	Jordan Gay	Buffalo Bills	7	14	62.5	50%	+0.3
38	Patrick Murray	Cleveland Browns	3	7	66.1	57%	−1.8
39	Brian Peters	Houston Texans	2	2	61.5	0%	+0.6
40	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	2	2	62.5	0%	−1.0
41	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	2	2	50.0	0%	−2.3
42	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1	2	48.5	0%	−1.9
43	Matt Prater	Detroit Lions	1	2	58.0	50%	−0.4
44	Andy Lee	Carolina Panthers	1	1	71.0	0%	−0.1
45	Brad Nortman	Jacksonville Jaguars	1	1	54.0	0%	−0.6
46	Brad Wing	New York Giants	1	1	67.0	0%	−0.8
47	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	1	1	59.0	0%	+0.3
48	Colton Schmidt	Buffalo Bills	1	1	45.0	0%	−3.8
49	Drew Kaser	Los Angeles Chargers	1	1	60.0	0%	−0.9
50	Jon Ryan	Seattle Seahawks	1	1	65.0	0%	−0.2
51	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	1	1	64.0	0%	−0.6
52	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	1	1	51.0	0%	−0.8
53	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	1	1	65.0	0%	−0.6

All 2016 NFL kickoff specialist rankings

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

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