2018 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 2018, Harrison Butker (72) led NFL kickoff specialists in kickoff touchbacks, ahead of Cody Parkey (65) and Wil Lutz (64). 41 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	TB	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Harrison Butker	Kansas City Chiefs	72	109	64.1	66%	35	+1.8
2	Cody Parkey	Chicago Bears	65	88	63.8	74%	22	−1.3
3	Wil Lutz	New Orleans Saints	64	101	64.4	63%	37	+0.2
4	Jason Myers	New York Jets	60	82	64.1	73%	22	+2.5
5	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	59	86	63.0	69%	27	−1.0
6	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens	58	92	62.5	63%	33	−0.8
7	Ka'imi Fairbairn	Houston Texans	58	92	63.6	63%	34	+4.7
8	Greg Zuerlein	Los Angeles Rams	57	75	64.6	76%	18	+3.8
9	Jake Elliott	Philadelphia Eagles	57	81	64.1	70%	24	−0.4
10	Dustin Hopkins	Washington Commanders	56	69	64.2	81%	13	−1.0
11	Jason Sanders	Miami Dolphins	55	69	63.5	80%	13	−5.2
12	Chandler Catanzaro	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	52	65	63.4	80%	13	−1.9
13	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	52	77	64.5	68%	25	−3.4
14	Brett Maher	Dallas Cowboys	52	77	64.7	68%	25	−4.9
15	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots	52	95	60.9	55%	43	−11.9
16	Aldrick Rosas	New York Giants	51	81	62.8	63%	28	+1.2
17	Chris Boswell	Pittsburgh Steelers	51	82	62.2	62%	31	+7.6
18	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	51	87	63.8	59%	36	−1.1
19	Graham Gano	Carolina Panthers	47	61	64.4	77%	14	−1.6
20	Greg Joseph	Cleveland Browns	47	68	63.7	69%	20	+0.4
21	Ryan Succop	Tennessee Titans	46	70	63.8	66%	24	−7.1
22	Randy Bullock	Cincinnati Bengals	45	78	63.6	58%	32	+1.0
23	Brandon McManus	Denver Broncos	42	70	63.3	60%	28	+2.9
24	Sebastian Janikowski	Seattle Seahawks	42	72	64.2	58%	30	−0.4
25	Mason Crosby	Green Bay Packers	41	80	64.2	51%	39	−3.0
26	Josh Lambo	Jacksonville Jaguars	36	52	62.6	69%	16	+2.9
27	Dan Bailey	Minnesota Vikings	35	65	63.0	54%	30	+0.1
28	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	34	68	64.3	50%	34	+4.6
29	Stephen Hauschka	Buffalo Bills	30	63	62.0	48%	33	+2.3
30	Daniel Carlson	Las Vegas Raiders	29	53	62.8	55%	23	−3.2
31	Cairo Santos	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	19	48	61.6	40%	29	−2.5
32	Caleb Sturgis	Los Angeles Chargers	18	34	64.6	53%	16	+2.4
33	Zane Gonzalez	Arizona Cardinals	17	28	64.4	61%	11	+0.2
34	Phil Dawson	Arizona Cardinals	14	31	63.6	45%	17	+2.5
35	Sam Ficken	Los Angeles Rams	11	13	61.8	85%	1	−2.0
36	Mike Badgley	Los Angeles Chargers	9	54	61.7	17%	45	+5.5
37	Mike Nugent	Las Vegas Raiders	6	13	65.1	46%	7	−0.3
38	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	5	10	62.5	50%	5	+0.3
39	Matt McCrane	Las Vegas Raiders	5	20	61.9	25%	15	+3.0
40	Matt Prater	Detroit Lions	3	6	57.2	50%	3	+0.6
41	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	2	6	63.5	33%	4	+0.8

All 2018 NFL kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Touchbacks in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2017 2016

More 2018 NFL kickoff specialist leaderboards

Other 2018 NFL rankings

Loading the interactive stats…