2016 NFL Fair Catches Forced Leaders

A fair catch means the returner gave up the chance to run. Punters who kick high and coverage teams who arrive quickly force more of them.

A sign of good hang time and coverage. In 2016, Bradley Pinion (41) led NFL punters in fair catches forced, ahead of Johnny Hekker (40) and Pat O'Donnell (31). 36 punters qualify.

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

Rk	Player	Team	FC	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	41	100	44.0	39.8	28	28%	4%	41%	−7.1
2	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	40	98	47.8	46.0	51	52%	1%	41%	+32.5
3	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	31	68	44.0	38.4	24	35%	7%	46%	−7.9
4	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	29	70	45.9	42.7	37	53%	7%	41%	+19.3
5	Jeff Locke	Minnesota Vikings	28	74	42.6	39.0	34	46%	4%	38%	−3.6
6	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	27	77	44.2	38.6	32	42%	5%	35%	−0.7
7	Dustin Colquitt	Kansas City Chiefs	27	76	45.1	40.7	38	50%	12%	36%	+14.0
8	Matt Darr	Miami Dolphins	26	90	44.3	39.9	32	36%	6%	29%	−1.8
9	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	25	89	45.7	41.3	28	31%	7%	28%	+6.2
10	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	23	83	45.3	40.3	22	27%	2%	28%	+1.7
11	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	22	76	43.1	37.3	24	32%	5%	29%	−22.2
12	Jon Ryan	Seattle Seahawks	22	72	44.0	39.3	26	36%	4%	31%	−6.7
13	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	20	78	46.3	39.5	23	29%	10%	26%	−8.6
14	Brad Nortman	Jacksonville Jaguars	19	77	46.6	39.5	27	35%	10%	25%	+1.4
15	Ryan Allen	New England Patriots	19	72	44.7	41.4	23	32%	7%	26%	+15.0
16	Jacob Schum	Green Bay Packers	18	56	43.2	39.1	19	34%	7%	32%	−9.6
17	Ryan Quigley	Arizona Cardinals	18	35	41.6	37.2	13	37%	6%	53%	−3.2
18	Jordan Berry	Pittsburgh Steelers	17	69	45.6	40.2	25	36%	4%	25%	+0.1
19	Chris Jones	Dallas Cowboys	17	59	45.9	40.5	25	42%	7%	29%	−6.6
20	Pat McAfee	Indianapolis Colts	17	56	49.3	42.7	19	34%	16%	31%	+3.4
21	Brad Wing	New York Giants	16	93	46.2	40.9	28	30%	9%	17%	+9.9
22	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	16	44	46.8	41.6	21	48%	2%	36%	+1.6
23	Marquette King	Las Vegas Raiders	15	81	48.6	41.4	34	42%	11%	19%	+13.9
24	Donnie Jones	Philadelphia Eagles	15	63	45.8	40.7	21	33%	10%	24%	+3.5
25	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	14	80	45.8	39.9	37	46%	6%	18%	+2.2
26	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	14	62	48.5	44.2	23	37%	5%	23%	+7.1
27	Shane Lechler	Houston Texans	13	72	47.5	40.1	30	42%	4%	18%	−11.4
28	Drew Kaser	Los Angeles Chargers	10	59	46.3	39.8	18	31%	8%	17%	−5.1
29	Colton Schmidt	Buffalo Bills	8	75	42.4	38.1	20	27%	4%	11%	−13.9
30	Drew Butler	Arizona Cardinals	8	32	42.2	35.6	10	31%	0%	25%	−10.9
31	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	7	57	48.3	42.4	22	39%	9%	12%	−1.7
32	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	7	49	45.1	38.9	15	31%	8%	14%	−5.7
33	Andy Lee	Carolina Panthers	7	36	49.1	40.4	18	50%	11%	19%	+1.4
34	Michael Palardy	Carolina Panthers	6	36	42.5	37.9	13	36%	6%	17%	+3.1
35	Matt Wile	Arizona Cardinals	3	13	46.1	39.7	2	15%	0%	25%	−3.3
36	Matt Bryant	Atlanta Falcons	2	2	33.5	33.5	0	0%	0%	100%	−0.7

All 2016 NFL punter rankings

Fair Catches Forced in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017

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