2021 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 2021, Mason Crosby (1283) led NFL kickoff specialists in kickoff return yards allowed, ahead of Chris Boswell (1090) and Jake Bailey (1038). 61 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 2021 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Ret yds	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Mason Crosby	Green Bay Packers	1283	94	63.8	46%	50	−4.4
2	Chris Boswell	Pittsburgh Steelers	1090	86	63.1	47%	45	−2.5
3	Jake Bailey	New England Patriots	1038	93	62.6	44%	49	+6.1
4	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	988	93	64.0	51%	46	+13.1
5	Jason Myers	Seattle Seahawks	959	81	62.2	38%	49	+13.0
6	Jake Elliott	Philadelphia Eagles	875	94	64.4	65%	33	−5.4
7	Randy Bullock	Tennessee Titans	794	89	63.8	56%	39	+8.8
8	Mitch Wishnowsky	San Francisco 49ers	768	53	63.2	40%	32	−5.3
9	Evan McPherson	Cincinnati Bengals	755	91	63.5	60%	35	+0.5
10	Cairo Santos	Chicago Bears	750	69	64.0	49%	35	+3.0
11	Chase McLaughlin	Cleveland Browns	747	68	63.8	46%	37	+6.4
12	Daniel Carlson	Las Vegas Raiders	742	87	63.5	61%	33	−3.2
13	Tyler Bass	Buffalo Bills	737	98	62.5	57%	40	+12.1
14	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens	721	87	61.8	54%	39	+0.3
15	Matthew Wright	Jacksonville Jaguars	711	30	62.1	17%	25	−11.3
16	Graham Gano	New York Giants	653	64	61.5	42%	36	+5.9
17	Matt Gay	Los Angeles Rams	646	99	62.3	66%	31	+0.4
18	Harrison Butker	Kansas City Chiefs	597	93	63.0	66%	32	−0.6
19	Zane Gonzalez	Carolina Panthers	559	55	64.9	64%	20	−6.7
20	Younghoe Koo	Atlanta Falcons	553	55	62.9	53%	25	+4.6
21	Brandon McManus	Denver Broncos	551	76	65.1	82%	14	−17.3
22	Ka'imi Fairbairn	Houston Texans	507	42	61.8	38%	25	+2.4
23	Dustin Hopkins	Los Angeles Chargers	490	98	64.0	72%	27	+7.3
24	Bradley Pinion	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	474	89	64.2	80%	17	−8.3
25	Greg Zuerlein	Dallas Cowboys	468	99	64.4	81%	18	−7.2
26	Joey Slye	Washington Commanders	464	58	63.6	64%	21	−1.8
27	Tristan Vizcaino	Los Angeles Chargers	438	31	64.4	42%	18	+0.5
28	Jason Sanders	Miami Dolphins	420	77	63.7	73%	20	+2.6
29	Matt Prater	Arizona Cardinals	390	91	64.9	80%	18	+0.3
30	Greg Joseph	Minnesota Vikings	383	93	64.4	82%	17	−0.6
31	Brett Maher	New Orleans Saints	379	35	63.7	51%	17	+1.6
32	Jack Fox	Detroit Lions	378	34	64.6	56%	15	+0.1
33	Brian Johnson	New Orleans Saints	342	34	62.7	47%	18	+0.3
34	Matt Ammendola	New York Jets	321	43	63.0	63%	16	−0.7
35	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	313	21	62.0	48%	10	−6.2
36	Austin Seibert	Detroit Lions	289	20	63.1	25%	15	+4.5
37	Robbie Gould	San Francisco 49ers	265	21	63.2	38%	13	+0.6
38	Cameron Nizialek	Atlanta Falcons	257	15	63.1	40%	9	−4.9
39	Sterling Hofrichter	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	195	14	63.9	43%	8	+0.1
40	Lirim Hajrullahu	Carolina Panthers	138	17	64.7	71%	5	−1.6
41	Nick Folk	New England Patriots	128	10	61.1	40%	6	−0.8
42	Elliott Fry	Kansas City Chiefs	110	11	62.7	55%	5	+0.6
43	Dominik Eberle	Houston Texans	105	8	63.0	38%	5	−1.0
44	Aldrick Rosas	New Orleans Saints	70	22	64.6	82%	4	+0.6
45	Ryan Santoso	Detroit Lions	68	15	64.3	80%	3	−0.4
46	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	54	2	62.0	0%	2	0.0
47	Brandon Zylstra	Carolina Panthers	49	3	48.7	0%	3	−1.5
48	Cody Parkey	New Orleans Saints	48	3	65.0	33%	2	+0.2
49	Josh Lambo	Jacksonville Jaguars	47	9	65.1	78%	2	+0.2
50	Chris Naggar	Cleveland Browns	44	5	63.4	60%	2	+0.4
51	Alex Kessman	New York Jets	39	4	61.5	25%	3	+1.3
52	Ryan Winslow	Carolina Panthers	39	2	65.0	0%	2	−1.3
53	Braden Mann	New York Jets	30	22	64.8	91%	2	−0.7
54	Michael Badgley	Indianapolis Colts	22	3	63.7	67%	1	+0.5
55	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	15	1	55.0	0%	1	−0.9
56	Michael Palardy	Miami Dolphins	15	1	58.0	0%	1	−0.7
57	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	14	1	58.0	0%	1	+0.4
58	Arryn Siposs	Philadelphia Eagles	13	1	58.0	0%	1	−0.6
59	Pressley Harvin	Pittsburgh Steelers	10	2	40.0	0%	1	−0.7
60	Riley Dixon	New York Giants	6	1	51.0	0%	1	−0.2
61	Matt Haack	Buffalo Bills	2	1	54.0	0%	1	−0.5

All 2021 NFL kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Return Yards Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

More 2021 NFL kickoff specialist leaderboards

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