2017 NFL Touchbacks Avoided (STOP Rank) Leaders

STOP (Saved Touchbacks Over Projection) is FootballKickingStats.com's touchback rating: how many touchbacks a punter avoided. Every punt gets an expected touchback chance: how often that season's punts from the same 5-yard stretch of the field went into the end zone. Add those chances up over a punter's season and subtract his real touchbacks. A punter who kicks often from midfield and keeps the ball out of the end zone climbs; one who punts from deep in his own end has few chances to gain or lose.

Higher is better. A STOP of +2.0 means two fewer touchbacks than an average punter would have had from the same spots. A short punt also avoids a touchback, so read it with net average. Blocked punts are left out. In 2017, Ryan Quigley (+5.3) led NFL punters in touchbacks avoided (STOP rank), ahead of Bradley Pinion (+3.7) and Sam Koch (+3.2). 32 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had −0.2.

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

Rk	Player	Team	STOP	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Ryan Quigley	Minnesota Vikings	+5.3	71	42.2	39.2	29	41%	0%	46%	−7.1
2	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	+3.7	75	43.4	41.2	31	41%	1%	31%	+7.6
3	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	+3.2	85	44.8	40.3	40	47%	4%	21%	+0.7
4	Jordan Berry	Pittsburgh Steelers	+2.2	64	43.2	39.8	26	41%	3%	38%	−1.7
5	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	+1.9	81	47.6	40.6	24	30%	3%	16%	−6.3
6	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	+1.7	60	47.0	42.2	26	43%	3%	30%	−0.7
7	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	+1.4	89	46.6	40.8	32	36%	3%	26%	−12.1
8	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	+1.2	85	44.8	42.6	28	33%	4%	32%	+12.6
9	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	+1.1	53	44.9	40.8	19	36%	4%	42%	−4.8
10	Justin Vogel	Green Bay Packers	+1.0	71	44.4	41.6	19	27%	3%	34%	−3.4
11	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	+0.9	94	46.6	40.5	33	35%	4%	24%	−10.4
12	Matt Haack	Miami Dolphins	+0.5	83	44.5	40.7	30	36%	6%	24%	+7.8
13	Ryan Allen	New England Patriots	+0.4	58	43.4	40.5	24	41%	5%	24%	+7.8
14	Michael Palardy	Carolina Panthers	+0.2	71	46.0	42.4	25	35%	6%	30%	+1.3
15	Chris Jones	Dallas Cowboys	+0.2	66	44.1	41.4	34	52%	8%	30%	+14.2
16	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	−0.1	75	45.6	40.2	23	31%	4%	32%	−10.1
17	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	−0.3	65	47.9	44.3	30	46%	6%	18%	+11.3
18	Dustin Colquitt	Kansas City Chiefs	−0.3	65	45.2	41.1	29	45%	8%	34%	+11.6
19	Shane Lechler	Houston Texans	−0.5	92	49.0	41.3	32	35%	5%	24%	−1.2
20	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	−0.5	83	45.7	39.0	33	40%	7%	31%	−12.4
21	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	−0.7	66	44.0	39.5	24	36%	8%	32%	+8.9
22	Jon Ryan	Seattle Seahawks	−0.9	92	45.0	38.8	29	32%	7%	21%	−4.3
23	Colton Schmidt	Buffalo Bills	−1.1	79	44.7	40.5	28	35%	8%	20%	+6.3
24	Donnie Jones	Philadelphia Eagles	−1.3	68	45.3	40.6	21	31%	7%	21%	+0.2
25	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	−1.3	87	47.0	39.7	27	31%	7%	17%	+2.3
26	Marquette King	Las Vegas Raiders	−1.6	69	47.4	42.7	28	41%	9%	22%	+22.4
27	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	−1.9	75	49.7	44.6	28	37%	7%	12%	+15.6
28	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	−2.3	88	47.3	39.7	29	33%	9%	15%	−5.7
29	Brad Nortman	Jacksonville Jaguars	−3.2	88	44.1	38.9	29	33%	10%	29%	−10.8
30	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	−3.2	41	43.4	37.6	13	32%	15%	29%	−9.4
31	Brad Wing	New York Giants	−3.7	97	44.1	36.7	19	20%	9%	21%	−36.2
32	Drew Kaser	Los Angeles Chargers	−4.2	74	48.1	41.3	27	36%	12%	8%	+2.8

All 2017 NFL punter rankings

Touchbacks Avoided (STOP Rank) 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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