2017 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 2017, Ryan Quigley (46.5%) led NFL punters in fair catch percentage, ahead of Matt Bosher (41.5%) and Jordan Berry (37.5%). 32 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 25.3%.

Final 2017 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	FC %	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	Points
1	Ryan Quigley	Minnesota Vikings	46.5%	71	42.2	39.2	29	41%	0%	−7.1
2	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	41.5%	53	44.9	40.8	19	36%	4%	−4.8
3	Jordan Berry	Pittsburgh Steelers	37.5%	64	43.2	39.8	26	41%	3%	−1.7
4	Dustin Colquitt	Kansas City Chiefs	33.8%	65	45.2	41.1	29	45%	8%	+11.6
5	Justin Vogel	Green Bay Packers	33.8%	71	44.4	41.6	19	27%	3%	−3.4
6	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	32.3%	66	44.0	39.5	24	36%	8%	+8.9
7	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	32.1%	85	44.8	42.6	28	33%	4%	+12.6
8	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	31.5%	75	45.6	40.2	23	31%	4%	−10.1
9	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	31.3%	83	45.7	39.0	33	40%	7%	−12.4
10	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	30.7%	75	43.4	41.2	31	41%	1%	+7.6
11	Chris Jones	Dallas Cowboys	30.3%	66	44.1	41.4	34	52%	8%	+14.2
12	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	30.0%	60	47.0	42.2	26	43%	3%	−0.7
13	Michael Palardy	Carolina Panthers	29.6%	71	46.0	42.4	25	35%	6%	+1.3
14	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	29.3%	41	43.4	37.6	13	32%	15%	−9.4
15	Brad Nortman	Jacksonville Jaguars	28.7%	88	44.1	38.9	29	33%	10%	−10.8
16	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	26.1%	89	46.6	40.8	32	36%	3%	−12.1
17	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	24.5%	94	46.6	40.5	33	35%	4%	−10.4
18	Ryan Allen	New England Patriots	24.1%	58	43.4	40.5	24	41%	5%	+7.8
19	Matt Haack	Miami Dolphins	24.1%	83	44.5	40.7	30	36%	6%	+7.8
20	Shane Lechler	Houston Texans	23.9%	92	49.0	41.3	32	35%	5%	−1.2
21	Marquette King	Las Vegas Raiders	21.7%	69	47.4	42.7	28	41%	9%	+22.4
22	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	21.4%	85	44.8	40.3	40	47%	4%	+0.7
23	Brad Wing	New York Giants	21.1%	97	44.1	36.7	19	20%	9%	−36.2
24	Donnie Jones	Philadelphia Eagles	20.9%	68	45.3	40.6	21	31%	7%	+0.2
25	Jon Ryan	Seattle Seahawks	20.7%	92	45.0	38.8	29	32%	7%	−4.3
26	Colton Schmidt	Buffalo Bills	20.3%	79	44.7	40.5	28	35%	8%	+6.3
27	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	18.5%	65	47.9	44.3	30	46%	6%	+11.3
28	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	17.2%	87	47.0	39.7	27	31%	7%	+2.3
29	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	16.3%	81	47.6	40.6	24	30%	3%	−6.3
30	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	14.8%	88	47.3	39.7	29	33%	9%	−5.7
31	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	12.0%	75	49.7	44.6	28	37%	7%	+15.6
32	Drew Kaser	Los Angeles Chargers	8.1%	74	48.1	41.3	27	36%	12%	+2.8

All 2017 NFL punter rankings

Fair Catch Percentage in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2016

More 2017 NFL punter leaderboards

Other 2017 NFL rankings

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