2016 NFL Fair Catch Percentage Leaders

The share of a punter's punts that the returner fair caught instead of running back. Public play-by-play does not record hang time, so the fair-catch rate is the best available stand-in: a punt that hangs long enough for the coverage team to arrive leaves the returner no choice but to wave for a fair catch.

Higher usually means better hang time, though a returner who is no threat also calls for more fair catches. College punts whose play text does not say how they ended are left out of the count. In 2016, Ryan Quigley (52.9%) led NFL punters in fair catch percentage, ahead of Pat O'Donnell (45.6%) and Bryan Anger (41.4%). 34 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 27.0%.

Final 2016 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	FC %	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	Points
1	Ryan Quigley	Arizona Cardinals	52.9%	35	41.6	37.2	13	37%	6%	−3.2
2	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	45.6%	68	44.0	38.4	24	35%	7%	−7.9
3	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	41.4%	70	45.9	42.7	37	53%	7%	+19.3
4	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	41.0%	100	44.0	39.8	28	28%	4%	−7.1
5	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	40.8%	98	47.8	46.0	51	52%	1%	+32.5
6	Jeff Locke	Minnesota Vikings	37.8%	74	42.6	39.0	34	46%	4%	−3.6
7	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	36.4%	44	46.8	41.6	21	48%	2%	+1.6
8	Dustin Colquitt	Kansas City Chiefs	35.5%	76	45.1	40.7	38	50%	12%	+14.0
9	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	35.1%	77	44.2	38.6	32	42%	5%	−0.7
10	Jacob Schum	Green Bay Packers	32.1%	56	43.2	39.1	19	34%	7%	−9.6
11	Jon Ryan	Seattle Seahawks	31.0%	72	44.0	39.3	26	36%	4%	−6.7
12	Pat McAfee	Indianapolis Colts	30.9%	56	49.3	42.7	19	34%	16%	+3.4
13	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	29.3%	76	43.1	37.3	24	32%	5%	−22.2
14	Chris Jones	Dallas Cowboys	29.3%	59	45.9	40.5	25	42%	7%	−6.6
15	Matt Darr	Miami Dolphins	28.9%	90	44.3	39.9	32	36%	6%	−1.8
16	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	28.1%	89	45.7	41.3	28	31%	7%	+6.2
17	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	27.7%	83	45.3	40.3	22	27%	2%	+1.7
18	Ryan Allen	New England Patriots	26.4%	72	44.7	41.4	23	32%	7%	+15.0
19	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	25.6%	78	46.3	39.5	23	29%	10%	−8.6
20	Jordan Berry	Pittsburgh Steelers	25.0%	69	45.6	40.2	25	36%	4%	+0.1
21	Drew Butler	Arizona Cardinals	25.0%	32	42.2	35.6	10	31%	0%	−10.9
22	Brad Nortman	Jacksonville Jaguars	24.7%	77	46.6	39.5	27	35%	10%	+1.4
23	Donnie Jones	Philadelphia Eagles	23.8%	63	45.8	40.7	21	33%	10%	+3.5
24	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	22.6%	62	48.5	44.2	23	37%	5%	+7.1
25	Andy Lee	Carolina Panthers	19.4%	36	49.1	40.4	18	50%	11%	+1.4
26	Marquette King	Las Vegas Raiders	18.5%	81	48.6	41.4	34	42%	11%	+13.9
27	Shane Lechler	Houston Texans	18.1%	72	47.5	40.1	30	42%	4%	−11.4
28	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	17.5%	80	45.8	39.9	37	46%	6%	+2.2
29	Brad Wing	New York Giants	17.2%	93	46.2	40.9	28	30%	9%	+9.9
30	Drew Kaser	Los Angeles Chargers	16.9%	59	46.3	39.8	18	31%	8%	−5.1
31	Michael Palardy	Carolina Panthers	16.7%	36	42.5	37.9	13	36%	6%	+3.1
32	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	14.3%	49	45.1	38.9	15	31%	8%	−5.7
33	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	12.3%	57	48.3	42.4	22	39%	9%	−1.7
34	Colton Schmidt	Buffalo Bills	10.7%	75	42.4	38.1	20	27%	4%	−13.9

All 2016 NFL punter rankings

Fair Catch Percentage in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017

More 2016 NFL punter leaderboards

Other 2016 NFL rankings

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