2020 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 2020, Rigoberto Sanchez (43) led NFL kickoff specialists in kickoff returns allowed, ahead of Cairo Santos (41) and Graham Gano (40). 62 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 2020 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Returns	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Points
1	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	43	76	63.1	43%	+11.8
2	Cairo Santos	Chicago Bears	41	83	62.8	51%	+3.6
3	Graham Gano	New York Giants	40	70	61.8	43%	−5.8
4	Jason Myers	Seattle Seahawks	38	90	64.0	58%	+11.1
5	Jack Fox	Detroit Lions	38	58	62.9	33%	+2.3
6	Younghoe Koo	Atlanta Falcons	36	64	64.6	44%	+1.7
7	Cody Parkey	Cleveland Browns	35	81	63.5	56%	−7.3
8	Mason Crosby	Green Bay Packers	33	82	63.9	59%	−5.9
9	Daniel Carlson	Las Vegas Raiders	32	93	64.0	66%	+4.2
10	Stephen Gostkowski	Tennessee Titans	32	84	63.4	61%	+2.9
11	Ka'imi Fairbairn	Houston Texans	31	83	64.0	63%	+5.9
12	Ty Long	Los Angeles Chargers	31	80	64.7	61%	+2.5
13	Tyler Bass	Buffalo Bills	30	101	64.0	70%	+7.1
14	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens	30	95	64.1	68%	+4.6
15	Jake Bailey	New England Patriots	29	71	64.4	59%	+3.8
16	Chris Boswell	Pittsburgh Steelers	28	73	63.3	60%	+1.2
17	Zane Gonzalez	Arizona Cardinals	28	64	64.2	56%	+7.6
18	Greg Zuerlein	Dallas Cowboys	27	87	63.7	69%	+0.5
19	Dan Bailey	Minnesota Vikings	25	78	62.7	68%	−10.1
20	Jake Elliott	Philadelphia Eagles	24	70	63.8	66%	+1.0
21	Mitch Wishnowsky	San Francisco 49ers	23	65	64.8	65%	−1.6
22	Jason Sanders	Miami Dolphins	22	87	63.0	74%	+5.7
23	Harrison Butker	Kansas City Chiefs	21	95	63.4	76%	−7.1
24	Wil Lutz	New Orleans Saints	21	92	64.3	77%	+6.0
25	Sam Sloman	Los Angeles Rams	19	44	63.4	55%	−0.5
26	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	18	45	61.6	56%	+0.2
27	Mike Nugent	Arizona Cardinals	16	19	63.3	16%	+9.5
28	Brandon McManus	Denver Broncos	15	69	64.9	78%	−6.1
29	Bradley Pinion	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	14	100	64.8	85%	−9.3
30	Randy Bullock	Cincinnati Bengals	13	57	63.3	75%	+0.3
31	Matthew Wright	Pittsburgh Steelers	13	14	61.0	7%	0.0
32	Sam Ficken	New York Jets	12	31	63.3	58%	+0.1
33	Braden Mann	New York Jets	12	28	64.8	57%	−2.4
34	J.K. Scott	Green Bay Packers	12	16	60.3	25%	−0.5
35	Matt Prater	Detroit Lions	10	17	60.1	41%	−0.6
36	Dustin Hopkins	Washington Commanders	9	74	64.3	88%	−4.9
37	Robbie Gould	San Francisco 49ers	8	9	58.8	11%	−0.8
38	Joey Slye	Carolina Panthers	7	78	65.0	91%	+0.8
39	Austin Seibert	Cincinnati Bengals	7	20	64.5	65%	−4.4
40	Rodrigo Blankenship	Indianapolis Colts	7	20	63.4	65%	+0.7
41	Matt Gay	Los Angeles Rams	6	35	63.8	80%	−3.2
42	Sterling Hofrichter	Atlanta Falcons	5	22	62.9	73%	−1.0
43	Aldrick Rosas	Jacksonville Jaguars	5	20	63.3	75%	+0.2
44	Kai Forbath	Los Angeles Rams	5	9	65.0	44%	−3.8
45	Chase McLaughlin	Jacksonville Jaguars	3	3	59.0	0%	+1.9
46	Michael Badgley	Los Angeles Chargers	3	3	59.0	0%	−2.2
47	Nick Folk	New England Patriots	3	3	57.3	0%	−0.2
48	Taylor Russolino	Denver Broncos	3	3	64.3	0%	−2.0
49	Elliott Fry	Atlanta Falcons	2	4	64.8	50%	−1.2
50	Josh Lambo	Jacksonville Jaguars	2	4	53.8	50%	−1.4
51	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	2	2	60.5	0%	−1.9
52	Britton Colquitt	Minnesota Vikings	2	2	52.5	0%	−1.7
53	Bryan Anger	Houston Texans	2	2	63.0	0%	−0.5
54	Cameron Johnston	Philadelphia Eagles	2	2	59.0	0%	−2.6
55	Chris Jones	Dallas Cowboys	2	2	58.0	0%	−1.2
56	Sam Martin	Denver Broncos	2	2	57.0	0%	−1.6
57	Tommy Townsend	Kansas City Chiefs	2	2	51.5	0%	−0.8
58	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	1	1	48.0	0%	−1.1
59	Jamie Gillan	Cleveland Browns	1	1	55.0	0%	−0.5
60	Matt Haack	Miami Dolphins	1	1	49.0	0%	−2.0
61	Riley Dixon	New York Giants	1	1	50.0	0%	−1.0
62	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	1	1	33.0	0%	+6.4

All 2020 NFL kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Returns Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2019 2018 2017 2016

More 2020 NFL kickoff specialist leaderboards

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