2017 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 2017, Ryan Quigley (33) led NFL punters in fair catches forced, ahead of Rigoberto Sanchez (27) and Tress Way (26). 34 punters qualify.

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

Rk	Player	Team	FC	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Ryan Quigley	Minnesota Vikings	33	71	42.2	39.2	29	41%	0%	46%	−7.1
2	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	27	85	44.8	42.6	28	33%	4%	32%	+12.6
3	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	26	83	45.7	39.0	33	40%	7%	31%	−12.4
4	Brad Nortman	Jacksonville Jaguars	25	88	44.1	38.9	29	33%	10%	29%	−10.8
5	Justin Vogel	Green Bay Packers	24	71	44.4	41.6	19	27%	3%	34%	−3.4
6	Jordan Berry	Pittsburgh Steelers	24	64	43.2	39.8	26	41%	3%	38%	−1.7
7	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	23	94	46.6	40.5	33	35%	4%	24%	−10.4
8	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	23	89	46.6	40.8	32	36%	3%	26%	−12.1
9	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	23	75	43.4	41.2	31	41%	1%	31%	+7.6
10	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	23	75	45.6	40.2	23	31%	4%	32%	−10.1
11	Shane Lechler	Houston Texans	22	92	49.0	41.3	32	35%	5%	24%	−1.2
12	Dustin Colquitt	Kansas City Chiefs	22	65	45.2	41.1	29	45%	8%	34%	+11.6
13	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	22	53	44.9	40.8	19	36%	4%	42%	−4.8
14	Michael Palardy	Carolina Panthers	21	71	46.0	42.4	25	35%	6%	30%	+1.3
15	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	21	66	44.0	39.5	24	36%	8%	32%	+8.9
16	Brad Wing	New York Giants	20	97	44.1	36.7	19	20%	9%	21%	−36.2
17	Matt Haack	Miami Dolphins	20	83	44.5	40.7	30	36%	6%	24%	+7.8
18	Chris Jones	Dallas Cowboys	20	66	44.1	41.4	34	52%	8%	30%	+14.2
19	Jon Ryan	Seattle Seahawks	19	92	45.0	38.8	29	32%	7%	21%	−4.3
20	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	18	85	44.8	40.3	40	47%	4%	21%	+0.7
21	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	18	60	47.0	42.2	26	43%	3%	30%	−0.7
22	Colton Schmidt	Buffalo Bills	16	79	44.7	40.5	28	35%	8%	20%	+6.3
23	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	15	87	47.0	39.7	27	31%	7%	17%	+2.3
24	Marquette King	Las Vegas Raiders	15	69	47.4	42.7	28	41%	9%	22%	+22.4
25	Donnie Jones	Philadelphia Eagles	14	68	45.3	40.6	21	31%	7%	21%	+0.2
26	Ryan Allen	New England Patriots	14	58	43.4	40.5	24	41%	5%	24%	+7.8
27	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	13	88	47.3	39.7	29	33%	9%	15%	−5.7
28	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	13	81	47.6	40.6	24	30%	3%	16%	−6.3
29	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	12	65	47.9	44.3	30	46%	6%	18%	+11.3
30	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	12	41	43.4	37.6	13	32%	15%	29%	−9.4
31	Jeff Locke	Detroit Lions	11	27	45.3	42.2	11	41%	0%	41%	−3.6
32	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	9	75	49.7	44.6	28	37%	7%	12%	+15.6
33	Drew Kaser	Los Angeles Chargers	6	74	48.1	41.3	27	36%	12%	8%	+2.8
34	Matt Prater	Detroit Lions	2	4	34.8	34.8	1	25%	0%	50%	−2.2

All 2017 NFL punter rankings

Fair Catches Forced 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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