2016 NFL Punts Returned Leaders

Punts the receiving team fielded and ran back, including muffs. Fewer returns mean the punter and coverage team gave the returner less to work with.

Compare with return yards allowed. In 2016, Shane Lechler (48) led NFL punters in punts returned, ahead of Britton Colquitt (45) and Bradley Pinion (40). 36 punters qualify.

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

Rk	Player	Team	Returns	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Shane Lechler	Houston Texans	48	72	47.5	40.1	30	42%	4%	18%	−11.4
2	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	45	83	45.3	40.3	22	27%	2%	28%	+1.7
3	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	40	100	44.0	39.8	28	28%	4%	41%	−7.1
4	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	40	89	45.7	41.3	28	31%	7%	28%	+6.2
5	Colton Schmidt	Buffalo Bills	39	75	42.4	38.1	20	27%	4%	11%	−13.9
6	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	38	78	46.3	39.5	23	29%	10%	26%	−8.6
7	Brad Wing	New York Giants	37	93	46.2	40.9	28	30%	9%	17%	+9.9
8	Matt Darr	Miami Dolphins	37	90	44.3	39.9	32	36%	6%	29%	−1.8
9	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	36	77	44.2	38.6	32	42%	5%	35%	−0.7
10	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	35	98	47.8	46.0	51	52%	1%	41%	+32.5
11	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	35	76	43.1	37.3	24	32%	5%	29%	−22.2
12	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	35	62	48.5	44.2	23	37%	5%	23%	+7.1
13	Marquette King	Las Vegas Raiders	33	81	48.6	41.4	34	42%	11%	19%	+13.9
14	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	33	80	45.8	39.9	37	46%	6%	18%	+2.2
15	Drew Kaser	Los Angeles Chargers	33	59	46.3	39.8	18	31%	8%	17%	−5.1
16	Brad Nortman	Jacksonville Jaguars	31	77	46.6	39.5	27	35%	10%	25%	+1.4
17	Dustin Colquitt	Kansas City Chiefs	30	76	45.1	40.7	38	50%	12%	36%	+14.0
18	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	29	57	48.3	42.4	22	39%	9%	12%	−1.7
19	Jon Ryan	Seattle Seahawks	28	72	44.0	39.3	26	36%	4%	31%	−6.7
20	Jordan Berry	Pittsburgh Steelers	28	69	45.6	40.2	25	36%	4%	25%	+0.1
21	Ryan Allen	New England Patriots	27	72	44.7	41.4	23	32%	7%	26%	+15.0
22	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	27	49	45.1	38.9	15	31%	8%	14%	−5.7
23	Jeff Locke	Minnesota Vikings	26	74	42.6	39.0	34	46%	4%	38%	−3.6
24	Donnie Jones	Philadelphia Eagles	25	63	45.8	40.7	21	33%	10%	24%	+3.5
25	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	24	70	45.9	42.7	37	53%	7%	41%	+19.3
26	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	22	68	44.0	38.4	24	35%	7%	46%	−7.9
27	Chris Jones	Dallas Cowboys	22	59	45.9	40.5	25	42%	7%	29%	−6.6
28	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	21	44	46.8	41.6	21	48%	2%	36%	+1.6
29	Michael Palardy	Carolina Panthers	21	36	42.5	37.9	13	36%	6%	17%	+3.1
30	Drew Butler	Arizona Cardinals	20	32	42.2	35.6	10	31%	0%	25%	−10.9
31	Pat McAfee	Indianapolis Colts	17	56	49.3	42.7	19	34%	16%	31%	+3.4
32	Andy Lee	Carolina Panthers	17	36	49.1	40.4	18	50%	11%	19%	+1.4
33	Jacob Schum	Green Bay Packers	16	56	43.2	39.1	19	34%	7%	32%	−9.6
34	Ryan Quigley	Arizona Cardinals	8	35	41.6	37.2	13	37%	6%	53%	−3.2
35	Matt Wile	Arizona Cardinals	7	13	46.1	39.7	2	15%	0%	25%	−3.3
36	Graham Gano	Carolina Panthers	2	4	45.0	29.8	0	0%	50%	0%	−2.6

All 2016 NFL punter rankings

Punts Returned in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017

More 2016 NFL punter leaderboards

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