2023 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 2023, Anders Carlson (47) led NFL kickoff specialists in kickoff returns allowed, ahead of Tyler Bass (41) and Jake Moody (34). 54 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 2023 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Returns	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Points
1	Anders Carlson	Green Bay Packers	47	85	63.8	44%	+2.5
2	Tyler Bass	Buffalo Bills	41	94	63.2	56%	+4.5
3	Jake Moody	San Francisco 49ers	34	90	62.5	60%	−2.9
4	Jason Myers	Seattle Seahawks	29	85	63.4	65%	+0.1
5	Jake Camarda	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	29	81	63.1	64%	+1.4
6	Daniel Carlson	Las Vegas Raiders	29	77	64.4	62%	+2.4
7	Nick Folk	Tennessee Titans	28	60	64.2	53%	+9.1
8	Jack Fox	Detroit Lions	27	84	64.5	68%	+7.1
9	Dustin Hopkins	Cleveland Browns	26	76	63.5	66%	−3.4
10	Chris Boswell	Pittsburgh Steelers	21	76	63.6	72%	−7.1
11	Chad Ryland	New England Patriots	21	60	63.6	65%	+8.7
12	Matt Gay	Indianapolis Colts	20	92	64.1	78%	−4.2
13	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens	19	99	64.4	81%	−1.4
14	Brandon McManus	Jacksonville Jaguars	19	84	64.3	77%	−4.2
15	Ka'imi Fairbairn	Houston Texans	19	56	64.3	66%	+0.5
16	Jake Elliott	Philadelphia Eagles	17	90	64.8	81%	−6.1
17	Evan McPherson	Cincinnati Bengals	17	80	64.3	79%	+3.3
18	Eddy Pineiro	Carolina Panthers	17	54	64.3	67%	−0.7
19	Greg Joseph	Minnesota Vikings	16	78	64.5	78%	+0.2
20	Blake Grupe	New Orleans Saints	14	90	64.7	84%	+4.5
21	Cairo Santos	Chicago Bears	14	74	65.0	81%	+4.8
22	Mason Crosby	New York Giants	14	16	60.8	13%	+6.9
23	Jason Sanders	Miami Dolphins	13	88	64.6	85%	−12.3
24	Cameron Dicker	Los Angeles Chargers	12	80	64.4	85%	+1.0
25	Bradley Pinion	Atlanta Falcons	12	79	64.5	84%	−2.2
26	Harrison Butker	Kansas City Chiefs	11	84	65.3	87%	−0.6
27	Brandon Aubrey	Dallas Cowboys	9	109	64.5	91%	−2.8
28	Ethan Evans	Los Angeles Rams	9	82	64.5	89%	−4.0
29	Riley Patterson	Detroit Lions	9	16	63.2	44%	+7.4
30	Matt Prater	Arizona Cardinals	8	74	64.6	89%	0.0
31	Ty Zentner	Tennessee Titans	8	10	64.0	20%	−1.2
32	Wil Lutz	Denver Broncos	7	78	65.2	91%	+0.5
33	Greg Zuerlein	New York Jets	6	64	64.8	91%	+0.5
34	Matt Ammendola	Houston Texans	6	22	63.7	73%	+0.9
35	Randy Bullock	New York Giants	6	20	61.6	65%	+5.3
36	Joey Slye	Washington Commanders	5	69	64.9	93%	−1.4
37	Graham Gano	New York Giants	5	28	65.0	82%	−0.9
38	Corey Bojorquez	Cleveland Browns	5	5	58.2	0%	+0.3
39	Mitch Wishnowsky	San Francisco 49ers	3	7	64.4	57%	−1.4
40	Dare Ogunbowale	Houston Texans	3	6	55.2	50%	+0.2
41	Thomas Morstead	New York Jets	3	5	62.8	40%	−0.1
42	Jordan Stout	Baltimore Ravens	3	4	54.5	0%	−1.9
43	Kamu Grugier-Hill	Carolina Panthers	3	3	47.3	0%	−1.1
44	Trenton Gill	Chicago Bears	2	13	61.1	85%	−1.8
45	Jake Bailey	Miami Dolphins	2	10	64.7	80%	+0.8
46	Lucas Havrisik	Los Angeles Rams	1	8	65.5	88%	−1.6
47	Austin Seibert	New York Jets	1	3	58.7	67%	0.0
48	Brett Maher	Los Angeles Rams	1	1	46.0	0%	0.0
49	Cameron Johnston	Houston Texans	1	1	67.0	0%	0.0
50	D'Anthony Bell	Cleveland Browns	1	1	42.0	0%	−0.5
51	Jamie Gillan	New York Giants	1	1	51.0	0%	−0.5
52	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	1	1	62.0	0%	0.0
53	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	1	1	67.0	0%	−0.5
54	Ryan Wright	Minnesota Vikings	1	1	47.0	0%	−0.8

All 2023 NFL kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Returns Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

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