2017 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 2017, Lac Edwards (49) led NFL punters in punts returned, ahead of Shane Lechler (49) and Pat O'Donnell (49). 34 punters qualify.

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

Rk	Player	Team	Returns	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	49	94	46.6	40.5	33	35%	4%	24%	−10.4
2	Shane Lechler	Houston Texans	49	92	49.0	41.3	32	35%	5%	24%	−1.2
3	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	49	87	47.0	39.7	27	31%	7%	17%	+2.3
4	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	48	88	47.3	39.7	29	33%	9%	15%	−5.7
5	Drew Kaser	Los Angeles Chargers	48	74	48.1	41.3	27	36%	12%	8%	+2.8
6	Jon Ryan	Seattle Seahawks	45	92	45.0	38.8	29	32%	7%	21%	−4.3
7	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	45	81	47.6	40.6	24	30%	3%	16%	−6.3
8	Brad Wing	New York Giants	43	97	44.1	36.7	19	20%	9%	21%	−36.2
9	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	43	89	46.6	40.8	32	36%	3%	26%	−12.1
10	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	40	75	49.7	44.6	28	37%	7%	12%	+15.6
11	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	39	83	45.7	39.0	33	40%	7%	31%	−12.4
12	Colton Schmidt	Buffalo Bills	38	79	44.7	40.5	28	35%	8%	20%	+6.3
13	Matt Haack	Miami Dolphins	35	83	44.5	40.7	30	36%	6%	24%	+7.8
14	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	34	85	44.8	40.3	40	47%	4%	21%	+0.7
15	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	33	75	43.4	41.2	31	41%	1%	31%	+7.6
16	Marquette King	Las Vegas Raiders	32	69	47.4	42.7	28	41%	9%	22%	+22.4
17	Brad Nortman	Jacksonville Jaguars	30	88	44.1	38.9	29	33%	10%	29%	−10.8
18	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	30	75	45.6	40.2	23	31%	4%	32%	−10.1
19	Michael Palardy	Carolina Panthers	30	71	46.0	42.4	25	35%	6%	30%	+1.3
20	Justin Vogel	Green Bay Packers	29	71	44.4	41.6	19	27%	3%	34%	−3.4
21	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	27	66	44.0	39.5	24	36%	8%	32%	+8.9
22	Donnie Jones	Philadelphia Eagles	25	68	45.3	40.6	21	31%	7%	21%	+0.2
23	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	25	65	47.9	44.3	30	46%	6%	18%	+11.3
24	Ryan Quigley	Minnesota Vikings	24	71	42.2	39.2	29	41%	0%	46%	−7.1
25	Dustin Colquitt	Kansas City Chiefs	24	65	45.2	41.1	29	45%	8%	34%	+11.6
26	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	24	60	47.0	42.2	26	43%	3%	30%	−0.7
27	Jordan Berry	Pittsburgh Steelers	23	64	43.2	39.8	26	41%	3%	38%	−1.7
28	Ryan Allen	New England Patriots	23	58	43.4	40.5	24	41%	5%	24%	+7.8
29	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	22	53	44.9	40.8	19	36%	4%	42%	−4.8
30	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	19	85	44.8	42.6	28	33%	4%	32%	+12.6
31	Chris Jones	Dallas Cowboys	18	66	44.1	41.4	34	52%	8%	30%	+14.2
32	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	14	41	43.4	37.6	13	32%	15%	29%	−9.4
33	Jeff Locke	Detroit Lions	11	27	45.3	42.2	11	41%	0%	41%	−3.6
34	Kasey Redfern	Detroit Lions	1	1	50.0	50.0	0	0%	0%	0%	+0.4

All 2017 NFL punter rankings

Punts Returned 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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