2021 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 2021, Mason Crosby (50) led NFL kickoff specialists in kickoff returns allowed, ahead of Jake Bailey (49) and Jason Myers (49). 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	Returns	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Points
1	Mason Crosby	Green Bay Packers	50	94	63.8	46%	−4.4
2	Jake Bailey	New England Patriots	49	93	62.6	44%	+6.1
3	Jason Myers	Seattle Seahawks	49	81	62.2	38%	+13.0
4	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	46	93	64.0	51%	+13.1
5	Chris Boswell	Pittsburgh Steelers	45	86	63.1	47%	−2.5
6	Tyler Bass	Buffalo Bills	40	98	62.5	57%	+12.1
7	Randy Bullock	Tennessee Titans	39	89	63.8	56%	+8.8
8	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens	39	87	61.8	54%	+0.3
9	Chase McLaughlin	Cleveland Browns	37	68	63.8	46%	+6.4
10	Graham Gano	New York Giants	36	64	61.5	42%	+5.9
11	Evan McPherson	Cincinnati Bengals	35	91	63.5	60%	+0.5
12	Cairo Santos	Chicago Bears	35	69	64.0	49%	+3.0
13	Jake Elliott	Philadelphia Eagles	33	94	64.4	65%	−5.4
14	Daniel Carlson	Las Vegas Raiders	33	87	63.5	61%	−3.2
15	Harrison Butker	Kansas City Chiefs	32	93	63.0	66%	−0.6
16	Mitch Wishnowsky	San Francisco 49ers	32	53	63.2	40%	−5.3
17	Matt Gay	Los Angeles Rams	31	99	62.3	66%	+0.4
18	Dustin Hopkins	Los Angeles Chargers	27	98	64.0	72%	+7.3
19	Younghoe Koo	Atlanta Falcons	25	55	62.9	53%	+4.6
20	Ka'imi Fairbairn	Houston Texans	25	42	61.8	38%	+2.4
21	Matthew Wright	Jacksonville Jaguars	25	30	62.1	17%	−11.3
22	Joey Slye	Washington Commanders	21	58	63.6	64%	−1.8
23	Jason Sanders	Miami Dolphins	20	77	63.7	73%	+2.6
24	Zane Gonzalez	Carolina Panthers	20	55	64.9	64%	−6.7
25	Greg Zuerlein	Dallas Cowboys	18	99	64.4	81%	−7.2
26	Matt Prater	Arizona Cardinals	18	91	64.9	80%	+0.3
27	Brian Johnson	New Orleans Saints	18	34	62.7	47%	+0.3
28	Tristan Vizcaino	Los Angeles Chargers	18	31	64.4	42%	+0.5
29	Greg Joseph	Minnesota Vikings	17	93	64.4	82%	−0.6
30	Bradley Pinion	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	17	89	64.2	80%	−8.3
31	Brett Maher	New Orleans Saints	17	35	63.7	51%	+1.6
32	Matt Ammendola	New York Jets	16	43	63.0	63%	−0.7
33	Jack Fox	Detroit Lions	15	34	64.6	56%	+0.1
34	Austin Seibert	Detroit Lions	15	20	63.1	25%	+4.5
35	Brandon McManus	Denver Broncos	14	76	65.1	82%	−17.3
36	Robbie Gould	San Francisco 49ers	13	21	63.2	38%	+0.6
37	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	10	21	62.0	48%	−6.2
38	Cameron Nizialek	Atlanta Falcons	9	15	63.1	40%	−4.9
39	Sterling Hofrichter	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	8	14	63.9	43%	+0.1
40	Nick Folk	New England Patriots	6	10	61.1	40%	−0.8
41	Lirim Hajrullahu	Carolina Panthers	5	17	64.7	71%	−1.6
42	Elliott Fry	Kansas City Chiefs	5	11	62.7	55%	+0.6
43	Dominik Eberle	Houston Texans	5	8	63.0	38%	−1.0
44	Aldrick Rosas	New Orleans Saints	4	22	64.6	82%	+0.6
45	Ryan Santoso	Detroit Lions	3	15	64.3	80%	−0.4
46	Alex Kessman	New York Jets	3	4	61.5	25%	+1.3
47	Brandon Zylstra	Carolina Panthers	3	3	48.7	0%	−1.5
48	Braden Mann	New York Jets	2	22	64.8	91%	−0.7
49	Josh Lambo	Jacksonville Jaguars	2	9	65.1	78%	+0.2
50	Chris Naggar	Cleveland Browns	2	5	63.4	60%	+0.4
51	Cody Parkey	New Orleans Saints	2	3	65.0	33%	+0.2
52	Ryan Winslow	Carolina Panthers	2	2	65.0	0%	−1.3
53	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	2	2	62.0	0%	0.0
54	Michael Badgley	Indianapolis Colts	1	3	63.7	67%	+0.5
55	Pressley Harvin	Pittsburgh Steelers	1	2	40.0	0%	−0.7
56	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	1	1	55.0	0%	−0.9
57	Arryn Siposs	Philadelphia Eagles	1	1	58.0	0%	−0.6
58	Matt Haack	Buffalo Bills	1	1	54.0	0%	−0.5
59	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	1	1	58.0	0%	+0.4
60	Michael Palardy	Miami Dolphins	1	1	58.0	0%	−0.7
61	Riley Dixon	New York Giants	1	1	51.0	0%	−0.2

All 2021 NFL kickoff specialist rankings

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

More 2021 NFL kickoff specialist leaderboards

Other 2021 NFL rankings

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