2018 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 2018, Stephen Gostkowski (1034) led NFL kickoff specialists in kickoff return yards allowed, ahead of Mason Crosby (1013) and Mike Badgley (962). 50 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 2018 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Ret yds	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots	1034	95	60.9	55%	43	−11.9
2	Mason Crosby	Green Bay Packers	1013	80	64.2	51%	39	−3.0
3	Mike Badgley	Los Angeles Chargers	962	54	61.7	17%	45	+5.5
4	Wil Lutz	New Orleans Saints	862	101	64.4	63%	37	+0.2
5	Sebastian Janikowski	Seattle Seahawks	826	72	64.2	58%	30	−0.4
6	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	818	87	63.8	59%	36	−1.1
7	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	797	68	64.3	50%	34	+4.6
8	Harrison Butker	Kansas City Chiefs	794	109	64.1	66%	35	+1.8
9	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens	745	92	62.5	63%	33	−0.8
10	Stephen Hauschka	Buffalo Bills	729	63	62.0	48%	33	+2.3
11	Dan Bailey	Minnesota Vikings	714	65	63.0	54%	30	+0.1
12	Randy Bullock	Cincinnati Bengals	705	78	63.6	58%	32	+1.0
13	Ryan Succop	Tennessee Titans	689	70	63.8	66%	24	−7.1
14	Ka'imi Fairbairn	Houston Texans	682	92	63.6	63%	34	+4.7
15	Brett Maher	Dallas Cowboys	662	77	64.7	68%	25	−4.9
16	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	650	77	64.5	68%	25	−3.4
17	Chris Boswell	Pittsburgh Steelers	640	82	62.2	62%	31	+7.6
18	Cairo Santos	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	624	48	61.6	40%	29	−2.5
19	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	589	86	63.0	69%	27	−1.0
20	Daniel Carlson	Las Vegas Raiders	583	53	62.8	55%	23	−3.2
21	Brandon McManus	Denver Broncos	576	70	63.3	60%	28	+2.9
22	Aldrick Rosas	New York Giants	570	81	62.8	63%	28	+1.2
23	Cody Parkey	Chicago Bears	548	88	63.8	74%	22	−1.3
24	Jake Elliott	Philadelphia Eagles	540	81	64.1	70%	24	−0.4
25	Jason Myers	New York Jets	531	82	64.1	73%	22	+2.5
26	Greg Joseph	Cleveland Browns	458	68	63.7	69%	20	+0.4
27	Greg Zuerlein	Los Angeles Rams	427	75	64.6	76%	18	+3.8
28	Caleb Sturgis	Los Angeles Chargers	360	34	64.6	53%	16	+2.4
29	Phil Dawson	Arizona Cardinals	357	31	63.6	45%	17	+2.5
30	Jason Sanders	Miami Dolphins	339	69	63.5	80%	13	−5.2
31	Graham Gano	Carolina Panthers	321	61	64.4	77%	14	−1.6
32	Matt McCrane	Las Vegas Raiders	302	20	61.9	25%	15	+3.0
33	Dustin Hopkins	Washington Commanders	295	69	64.2	81%	13	−1.0
34	Josh Lambo	Jacksonville Jaguars	287	52	62.6	69%	16	+2.9
35	Chandler Catanzaro	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	279	65	63.4	80%	13	−1.9
36	Zane Gonzalez	Arizona Cardinals	258	28	64.4	61%	11	+0.2
37	Mike Nugent	Las Vegas Raiders	180	13	65.1	46%	7	−0.3
38	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	93	8	49.0	0%	7	−0.4
39	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	87	10	62.5	50%	5	+0.3
40	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	49	6	63.5	33%	4	+0.8
41	Matt Prater	Detroit Lions	40	6	57.2	50%	3	+0.6
42	Sam Ficken	Los Angeles Rams	33	13	61.8	85%	1	−2.0
43	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	31	1	68.0	0%	1	−1.1
44	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	23	2	47.5	0%	2	+1.1
45	Dustin Colquitt	Kansas City Chiefs	15	2	30.0	0%	2	−0.3
46	Robbie Gould	San Francisco 49ers	12	2	40.5	0%	2	0.0
47	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	12	1	73.0	0%	1	+0.5
48	J.K. Scott	Green Bay Packers	9	1	61.0	0%	1	−0.1
49	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	8	1	56.0	0%	1	+0.4
50	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	7	1	43.0	0%	1	−1.2

All 2018 NFL kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Return Yards Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2017 2016

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