2017 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 2017, Rigoberto Sanchez (1.0) topped NFL punters in return yards allowed per punt, ahead of Chris Jones (1.1) and Ryan Allen (1.8). 32 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 3.0.

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

Rk	Player	Team	Ret yds/punt	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	1.0	85	44.8	42.6	28	33%	4%	32%	+12.6
2	Chris Jones	Dallas Cowboys	1.1	66	44.1	41.4	34	52%	8%	30%	+14.2
3	Ryan Allen	New England Patriots	1.8	58	43.4	40.5	24	41%	5%	24%	+7.8
4	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	1.9	75	43.4	41.2	31	41%	1%	31%	+7.6
5	Justin Vogel	Green Bay Packers	2.3	71	44.4	41.6	19	27%	3%	34%	−3.4
6	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	2.3	65	47.9	44.3	30	46%	6%	18%	+11.3
7	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2.4	66	44.0	39.5	24	36%	8%	32%	+8.9
8	Michael Palardy	Carolina Panthers	2.5	71	46.0	42.4	25	35%	6%	30%	+1.3
9	Dustin Colquitt	Kansas City Chiefs	2.5	65	45.2	41.1	29	45%	8%	34%	+11.6
10	Donnie Jones	Philadelphia Eagles	2.6	68	45.3	40.6	21	31%	7%	21%	+0.2
11	Brad Nortman	Jacksonville Jaguars	2.6	88	44.1	38.9	29	33%	10%	29%	−10.8
12	Matt Haack	Miami Dolphins	2.7	83	44.5	40.7	30	36%	6%	24%	+7.8
13	Colton Schmidt	Buffalo Bills	2.7	79	44.7	40.5	28	35%	8%	20%	+6.3
14	Jordan Berry	Pittsburgh Steelers	2.8	64	43.2	39.8	26	41%	3%	38%	−1.7
15	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	2.8	41	43.4	37.6	13	32%	15%	29%	−9.4
16	Marquette King	Las Vegas Raiders	3.0	69	47.4	42.7	28	41%	9%	22%	+22.4
17	Ryan Quigley	Minnesota Vikings	3.0	71	42.2	39.2	29	41%	0%	46%	−7.1
18	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	3.3	85	44.8	40.3	40	47%	4%	21%	+0.7
19	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	3.4	53	44.9	40.8	19	36%	4%	42%	−4.8
20	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	3.5	75	45.6	40.2	23	31%	4%	32%	−10.1
21	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	3.8	75	49.7	44.6	28	37%	7%	12%	+15.6
22	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	4.2	60	47.0	42.2	26	43%	3%	30%	−0.7
23	Drew Kaser	Los Angeles Chargers	4.3	74	48.1	41.3	27	36%	12%	8%	+2.8
24	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	4.6	89	46.6	40.8	32	36%	3%	26%	−12.1
25	Brad Wing	New York Giants	4.7	97	44.1	36.7	19	20%	9%	21%	−36.2
26	Jon Ryan	Seattle Seahawks	4.9	92	45.0	38.8	29	32%	7%	21%	−4.3
27	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	5.2	94	46.6	40.5	33	35%	4%	24%	−10.4
28	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	5.2	83	45.7	39.0	33	40%	7%	31%	−12.4
29	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	5.8	88	47.3	39.7	29	33%	9%	15%	−5.7
30	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	5.9	87	47.0	39.7	27	31%	7%	17%	+2.3
31	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	6.0	81	47.6	40.6	24	30%	3%	16%	−6.3
32	Shane Lechler	Houston Texans	6.6	92	49.0	41.3	32	35%	5%	24%	−1.2

All 2017 NFL punter rankings

Return Yards Allowed per Punt 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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