2017 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 2017, Stephen Gostkowski (1095) led NFL kickoff specialists in kickoff return yards allowed, ahead of Patrick Murray (1073) and Kai Forbath (1009). 58 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 2017 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Ret yds	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots	1095	98	63.5	41%	58	+9.2
2	Patrick Murray	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1073	57	62.6	25%	43	−1.4
3	Kai Forbath	Minnesota Vikings	1009	88	63.5	50%	44	−4.2
4	Chris Boswell	Pittsburgh Steelers	906	90	63.1	51%	43	+2.9
5	Phil Dawson	Arizona Cardinals	863	75	61.4	47%	40	+1.9
6	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	863	82	64.4	60%	33	−4.4
7	Jake Elliott	Philadelphia Eagles	857	83	62.7	51%	40	−0.5
8	Wil Lutz	New Orleans Saints	788	91	65.3	64%	32	+0.8
9	Randy Bullock	Cincinnati Bengals	782	65	62.6	46%	34	−2.4
10	Ryan Succop	Tennessee Titans	750	79	64.6	59%	32	+1.3
11	Blair Walsh	Seattle Seahawks	733	77	62.7	51%	37	+9.0
12	Stephen Hauschka	Buffalo Bills	681	70	61.2	53%	33	−3.1
13	Cody Parkey	Miami Dolphins	665	62	63.8	45%	34	+5.8
14	Mason Crosby	Green Bay Packers	665	68	62.0	53%	32	−2.9
15	Aldrick Rosas	New York Giants	656	60	62.2	43%	32	+0.7
16	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens	615	88	63.4	63%	33	+0.2
17	Josh Lambo	Jacksonville Jaguars	601	55	59.8	40%	33	−1.5
18	Nick Novak	Los Angeles Chargers	564	34	59.5	26%	25	−2.1
19	Ka'imi Fairbairn	Houston Texans	534	74	63.6	66%	25	+1.0
20	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	526	50	64.8	50%	25	+6.7
21	Dan Bailey	Dallas Cowboys	519	56	64.4	57%	24	+5.4
22	Connor Barth	Chicago Bears	488	37	64.2	46%	20	−5.3
23	Chandler Catanzaro	New York Jets	455	67	64.0	67%	22	+1.3
24	Brandon McManus	Denver Broncos	455	66	62.3	68%	21	−8.1
25	Zane Gonzalez	Cleveland Browns	452	52	62.4	63%	19	−6.9
26	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	441	69	63.3	67%	23	−0.4
27	Greg Zuerlein	Los Angeles Rams	411	95	63.9	77%	20	−1.9
28	Mike Nugent	Dallas Cowboys	347	36	62.8	50%	18	+5.9
29	Harrison Butker	Kansas City Chiefs	318	78	64.2	78%	17	−0.9
30	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	300	79	64.1	81%	14	+1.1
31	Giorgio Tavecchio	Las Vegas Raiders	298	63	64.2	76%	15	+0.9
32	Nick Rose	Washington Commanders	274	45	64.9	71%	13	+1.3
33	Graham Gano	Carolina Panthers	254	82	64.6	85%	12	−3.6
34	Travis Coons	Los Angeles Chargers	254	15	62.9	27%	11	+0.2
35	Jason Myers	Jacksonville Jaguars	194	34	61.9	76%	7	−8.4
36	Dustin Hopkins	Washington Commanders	191	40	64.3	73%	11	+2.4
37	Jeff Locke	Detroit Lions	180	23	64.6	70%	7	−1.0
38	Younghoe Koo	Los Angeles Chargers	173	14	65.9	57%	6	−1.9
39	Cairo Santos	Kansas City Chiefs	168	20	65.4	60%	8	+1.7
40	Matt Prater	Detroit Lions	149	16	60.5	38%	10	+3.2
41	Drew Kaser	Los Angeles Chargers	130	7	64.1	29%	5	−2.6
42	Sam Ficken	Los Angeles Rams	109	8	63.9	63%	3	−3.1
43	Nick Folk	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	86	17	65.1	76%	4	+2.0
44	Kamu Grugier-Hill	Philadelphia Eagles	81	4	62.0	25%	3	−1.7
45	Caleb Sturgis	Philadelphia Eagles	77	6	62.3	33%	4	+1.1
46	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	54	4	65.0	50%	2	−1.1
47	Jon Ryan	Seattle Seahawks	52	2	62.5	0%	2	−2.4
48	Jeff Heath	Dallas Cowboys	50	5	61.6	40%	3	+0.5
49	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	37	2	59.0	0%	2	−1.8
50	Marshall Koehn	Cincinnati Bengals	29	2	69.5	50%	1	−0.1
51	Kasey Redfern	Detroit Lions	23	1	65.0	0%	1	+0.2
52	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	19	1	64.0	0%	1	−0.6
53	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	17	1	68.0	0%	1	+0.4
54	Ryan Quigley	Minnesota Vikings	14	1	51.0	0%	1	−1.2
55	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	12	1	61.0	0%	1	−0.4
56	Shane Lechler	Houston Texans	5	1	46.0	0%	1	−1.1
57	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	4	1	55.0	0%	1	−0.3
58	Robbie Gould	San Francisco 49ers	2	2	37.5	0%	2	−0.1

All 2017 NFL kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Return Yards Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2016

More 2017 NFL kickoff specialist leaderboards

Other 2017 NFL rankings

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