2025 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 2025, Brandon Aubrey (2027) led NFL kickoff specialists in kickoff return yards allowed, ahead of Jake Bates (2003) and Evan McPherson (1974). 49 kickoff specialists qualify.

NFL rule since 2025: a kickoff touchback starts the receiving team at its 35, so kickers aim for the landing zone short of the goal line and fewer touchbacks is better. Kickoff Points Added accounts for the rule, so it is the fair way to compare kickoff specialists across leagues and seasons.

Final 2025 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Ret yds	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Brandon Aubrey	Dallas Cowboys	2027	100	59.9	17%	81	−2.7
2	Jake Bates	Detroit Lions	2003	98	60.7	17%	78	−0.1
3	Evan McPherson	Cincinnati Bengals	1974	86	62.0	13%	75	+0.3
4	Cameron Dicker	Los Angeles Chargers	1965	90	61.2	18%	72	−2.8
5	Jason Myers	Seattle Seahawks	1941	103	61.1	17%	84	+25.7
6	Chris Boswell	Pittsburgh Steelers	1914	86	60.3	8%	78	+11.0
7	Tyler Loop	Baltimore Ravens	1890	93	57.1	11%	79	−1.0
8	Matt Prater	Buffalo Bills	1860	84	60.6	13%	72	−3.5
9	Harrison Butker	Kansas City Chiefs	1814	86	61.1	15%	72	+5.1
10	Wil Lutz	Denver Broncos	1791	88	62.0	24%	65	−2.2
11	Andy Borregales	New England Patriots	1723	95	60.5	26%	70	−5.7
12	Will Reichard	Minnesota Vikings	1723	82	60.8	18%	66	−0.9
13	Chase McLaughlin	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1693	82	61.3	26%	61	−13.9
14	Ka'imi Fairbairn	Houston Texans	1684	86	62.8	26%	64	+6.1
15	Riley Patterson	Miami Dolphins	1634	77	60.4	18%	62	−0.9
16	Jake Elliott	Philadelphia Eagles	1608	81	60.1	16%	68	+4.0
17	Chad Ryland	Arizona Cardinals	1607	79	60.7	25%	59	−12.2
18	Blake Grupe	New Orleans Saints	1606	70	60.9	14%	60	−4.3
19	Eddy Pineiro	San Francisco 49ers	1604	79	60.8	20%	62	−1.1
20	Cairo Santos	Chicago Bears	1528	79	60.7	23%	59	−1.0
21	Cam Little	Jacksonville Jaguars	1525	96	61.6	39%	57	+2.7
22	Andre Szmyt	Cleveland Browns	1447	65	61.0	20%	52	−5.2
23	Brandon McManus	Green Bay Packers	1366	69	62.3	22%	53	+2.0
24	Ryan Fitzgerald	Carolina Panthers	1355	71	58.6	14%	61	+11.8
25	Daniel Carlson	Las Vegas Raiders	1317	60	60.6	18%	49	−8.0
26	Joey Slye	Tennessee Titans	1140	67	60.4	25%	46	+2.2
27	Mike Badgley	Indianapolis Colts	1051	45	59.0	2%	44	+3.1
28	Austin McNamara	New York Jets	934	43	59.3	9%	38	−0.9
29	Matt Gay	Washington Commanders	910	55	60.5	24%	40	+6.9
30	Bradley Pinion	Atlanta Falcons	880	40	62.8	25%	30	−4.9
31	Jake Moody	Washington Commanders	791	42	60.8	24%	31	+5.8
32	Jamie Gillan	New York Giants	697	38	58.5	13%	32	+3.8
33	Zane Gonzalez	Atlanta Falcons	689	38	59.2	32%	25	−11.4
34	Spencer Shrader	Indianapolis Colts	601	27	58.1	7%	25	−2.3
35	Nick Folk	New York Jets	540	25	62.4	24%	19	−4.3
36	Younghoe Koo	New York Giants	532	25	60.4	12%	22	+1.5
37	Joshua Karty	Los Angeles Rams	425	36	59.5	31%	25	+9.6
38	Charlie Smyth	New Orleans Saints	364	31	61.2	52%	15	−3.8
39	Ethan Evans	Los Angeles Rams	313	61	64.2	75%	15	−4.4
40	Matthew Wright	Houston Texans	312	14	61.5	14%	12	+2.5
41	Lucas Havrisik	Green Bay Packers	286	16	62.8	31%	11	−1.9
42	Graham Gano	New York Giants	274	11	60.3	0%	11	+1.5
43	Ben Sauls	New York Giants	102	10	59.3	50%	4	−1.1
44	Harrison Mevis	Los Angeles Rams	99	6	61.7	33%	4	−0.3
45	Mitch Wishnowsky	Buffalo Bills	98	3	58.3	0%	3	−2.0
46	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	74	6	55.7	33%	3	0.0
47	Jude McAtamney	New York Giants	73	5	62.6	40%	3	−0.4
48	Tory Taylor	Chicago Bears	60	2	61.0	0%	2	−0.4
49	Thomas Morstead	San Francisco 49ers	25	2	62.5	50%	1	−0.5

All 2025 NFL kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Return Yards Allowed in other seasons: 2026 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

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