2016 NFL Return Yards Allowed per Punt Leaders

Total return yards allowed divided by every punt that was not blocked, so a fair catch or an out-of-bounds punt counts as zero. College punts whose play text records no outcome are left out. It is the fairest single measure of how much a returner gets to work with.

Lowest comes first. Coverage teams share the credit. In 2016, Johnny Hekker (1.6) topped NFL punters in return yards allowed per punt, ahead of Bryan Anger (1.8) and Ryan Allen (1.9). 34 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 3.5.

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

Rk	Player	Team	Ret yds/punt	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	1.6	98	47.8	46.0	51	52%	1%	41%	+32.5
2	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1.8	70	45.9	42.7	37	53%	7%	41%	+19.3
3	Ryan Allen	New England Patriots	1.9	72	44.7	41.4	23	32%	7%	26%	+15.0
4	Dustin Colquitt	Kansas City Chiefs	2.1	76	45.1	40.7	38	50%	12%	36%	+14.0
5	Ryan Quigley	Arizona Cardinals	2.2	35	41.6	37.2	13	37%	6%	53%	−3.2
6	Pat McAfee	Indianapolis Colts	2.5	56	49.3	42.7	19	34%	16%	31%	+3.4
7	Jacob Schum	Green Bay Packers	2.7	56	43.2	39.1	19	34%	7%	32%	−9.6
8	Jeff Locke	Minnesota Vikings	2.8	74	42.6	39.0	34	46%	4%	38%	−3.6
9	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	3.0	89	45.7	41.3	28	31%	7%	28%	+6.2
10	Donnie Jones	Philadelphia Eagles	3.2	63	45.8	40.7	21	33%	10%	24%	+3.5
11	Chris Jones	Dallas Cowboys	3.3	59	45.9	40.5	25	42%	7%	29%	−6.6
12	Matt Darr	Miami Dolphins	3.3	90	44.3	39.9	32	36%	6%	29%	−1.8
13	Jon Ryan	Seattle Seahawks	3.4	72	44.0	39.3	26	36%	4%	31%	−6.7
14	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	3.4	62	48.5	44.2	23	37%	5%	23%	+7.1
15	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	3.5	100	44.0	39.8	28	28%	4%	41%	−7.1
16	Colton Schmidt	Buffalo Bills	3.5	75	42.4	38.1	20	27%	4%	11%	−13.9
17	Michael Palardy	Carolina Panthers	3.5	36	42.5	37.9	13	36%	6%	17%	+3.1
18	Brad Wing	New York Giants	3.5	93	46.2	40.9	28	30%	9%	17%	+9.9
19	Jordan Berry	Pittsburgh Steelers	4.0	69	45.6	40.2	25	36%	4%	25%	+0.1
20	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	4.1	68	44.0	38.4	24	35%	7%	46%	−7.9
21	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	4.2	57	48.3	42.4	22	39%	9%	12%	−1.7
22	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	4.3	76	43.1	37.3	24	32%	5%	29%	−22.2
23	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	4.5	83	45.3	40.3	22	27%	2%	28%	+1.7
24	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	4.5	49	45.1	38.9	15	31%	8%	14%	−5.7
25	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	4.5	77	44.2	38.6	32	42%	5%	35%	−0.7
26	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	4.7	80	45.8	39.9	37	46%	6%	18%	+2.2
27	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	4.7	78	46.3	39.5	23	29%	10%	26%	−8.6
28	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	4.8	44	46.8	41.6	21	48%	2%	36%	+1.6
29	Drew Kaser	Los Angeles Chargers	4.8	59	46.3	39.8	18	31%	8%	17%	−5.1
30	Marquette King	Las Vegas Raiders	5.0	81	48.6	41.4	34	42%	11%	19%	+13.9
31	Brad Nortman	Jacksonville Jaguars	5.1	77	46.6	39.5	27	35%	10%	25%	+1.4
32	Andy Lee	Carolina Panthers	6.6	36	49.1	40.4	18	50%	11%	19%	+1.4
33	Drew Butler	Arizona Cardinals	6.6	32	42.2	35.6	10	31%	0%	25%	−10.9
34	Shane Lechler	Houston Texans	6.6	72	47.5	40.1	30	42%	4%	18%	−11.4

All 2016 NFL punter rankings

Return Yards Allowed per Punt in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017

More 2016 NFL punter leaderboards

Other 2016 NFL rankings

Loading the interactive stats…