2017 NFL Kickoff Touchbacks Leaders

Kickoffs that reached the end zone and were kept there, giving the receiving team the ball at its own 25, 30 or 35, depending on the league and the rule that season. A touchback avoids a return but gives up field position.

More is better under this season's rules: a touchback ends the play with no return. Read with touchback percentage. In 2017, Greg Zuerlein (73) led NFL kickoff specialists in kickoff touchbacks, ahead of Graham Gano (70) and Bradley Pinion (64). 49 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	TB	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Greg Zuerlein	Los Angeles Rams	73	95	63.9	77%	20	−1.9
2	Graham Gano	Carolina Panthers	70	82	64.6	85%	12	−3.6
3	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	64	79	64.1	81%	14	+1.1
4	Harrison Butker	Kansas City Chiefs	61	78	64.2	78%	17	−0.9
5	Wil Lutz	New Orleans Saints	58	91	65.3	64%	32	+0.8
6	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens	55	88	63.4	63%	33	+0.2
7	Ka'imi Fairbairn	Houston Texans	49	74	63.6	66%	25	+1.0
8	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	49	82	64.4	60%	33	−4.4
9	Giorgio Tavecchio	Las Vegas Raiders	48	63	64.2	76%	15	+0.9
10	Ryan Succop	Tennessee Titans	47	79	64.6	59%	32	+1.3
11	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	46	69	63.3	67%	23	−0.4
12	Chris Boswell	Pittsburgh Steelers	46	90	63.1	51%	43	+2.9
13	Brandon McManus	Denver Broncos	45	66	62.3	68%	21	−8.1
14	Chandler Catanzaro	New York Jets	45	67	64.0	67%	22	+1.3
15	Kai Forbath	Minnesota Vikings	44	88	63.5	50%	44	−4.2
16	Jake Elliott	Philadelphia Eagles	42	83	62.7	51%	40	−0.5
17	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots	40	98	63.5	41%	58	+9.2
18	Blair Walsh	Seattle Seahawks	39	77	62.7	51%	37	+9.0
19	Stephen Hauschka	Buffalo Bills	37	70	61.2	53%	33	−3.1
20	Mason Crosby	Green Bay Packers	36	68	62.0	53%	32	−2.9
21	Phil Dawson	Arizona Cardinals	35	75	61.4	47%	40	+1.9
22	Zane Gonzalez	Cleveland Browns	33	52	62.4	63%	19	−6.9
23	Nick Rose	Washington Commanders	32	45	64.9	71%	13	+1.3
24	Dan Bailey	Dallas Cowboys	32	56	64.4	57%	24	+5.4
25	Randy Bullock	Cincinnati Bengals	30	65	62.6	46%	34	−2.4
26	Dustin Hopkins	Washington Commanders	29	40	64.3	73%	11	+2.4
27	Cody Parkey	Miami Dolphins	28	62	63.8	45%	34	+5.8
28	Jason Myers	Jacksonville Jaguars	26	34	61.9	76%	7	−8.4
29	Aldrick Rosas	New York Giants	26	60	62.2	43%	32	+0.7
30	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	25	50	64.8	50%	25	+6.7
31	Josh Lambo	Jacksonville Jaguars	22	55	59.8	40%	33	−1.5
32	Mike Nugent	Dallas Cowboys	18	36	62.8	50%	18	+5.9
33	Connor Barth	Chicago Bears	17	37	64.2	46%	20	−5.3
34	Jeff Locke	Detroit Lions	16	23	64.6	70%	7	−1.0
35	Patrick Murray	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	14	57	62.6	25%	43	−1.4
36	Nick Folk	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	13	17	65.1	76%	4	+2.0
37	Cairo Santos	Kansas City Chiefs	12	20	65.4	60%	8	+1.7
38	Nick Novak	Los Angeles Chargers	9	34	59.5	26%	25	−2.1
39	Younghoe Koo	Los Angeles Chargers	8	14	65.9	57%	6	−1.9
40	Matt Prater	Detroit Lions	6	16	60.5	38%	10	+3.2
41	Sam Ficken	Los Angeles Rams	5	8	63.9	63%	3	−3.1
42	Travis Coons	Los Angeles Chargers	4	15	62.9	27%	11	+0.2
43	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	2	4	65.0	50%	2	−1.1
44	Jeff Heath	Dallas Cowboys	2	5	61.6	40%	3	+0.5
45	Caleb Sturgis	Philadelphia Eagles	2	6	62.3	33%	4	+1.1
46	Drew Kaser	Los Angeles Chargers	2	7	64.1	29%	5	−2.6
47	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	1	1	65.0	100%	0	−0.1
48	Marshall Koehn	Cincinnati Bengals	1	2	69.5	50%	1	−0.1
49	Kamu Grugier-Hill	Philadelphia Eagles	1	4	62.0	25%	3	−1.7

All 2017 NFL kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Touchbacks 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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