2018 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 2018, Bradley Pinion (41.2%) led NFL punters in fair catch percentage, ahead of Jordan Berry (39.7%) and Michael Palardy (39.3%). 32 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 27.7%.

Final 2018 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	FC %	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	Points
1	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	41.2%	69	43.7	39.1	22	32%	6%	−2.6
2	Jordan Berry	Pittsburgh Steelers	39.7%	63	43.7	38.8	28	44%	6%	−6.8
3	Michael Palardy	Carolina Panthers	39.3%	61	45.2	41.0	24	39%	7%	+11.9
4	J.K. Scott	Green Bay Packers	38.0%	72	44.7	38.8	19	26%	13%	−5.4
5	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	35.0%	62	45.5	40.1	22	35%	5%	−7.3
6	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	34.9%	43	46.4	43.2	15	35%	9%	−2.7
7	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	33.8%	72	43.9	39.4	29	40%	4%	−0.2
8	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	33.8%	74	44.7	39.2	32	43%	5%	−9.1
9	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	32.9%	79	45.3	41.5	41	52%	0%	+11.1
10	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	32.3%	63	45.0	39.7	28	44%	11%	−4.5
11	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	31.6%	57	46.1	42.7	24	42%	9%	+6.6
12	Johnny Townsend	Las Vegas Raiders	31.4%	70	43.2	38.3	17	24%	7%	−9.9
13	Trevor Daniel	Houston Texans	31.1%	74	43.7	39.1	36	49%	7%	+8.3
14	Matt Haack	Miami Dolphins	28.7%	88	44.6	38.4	35	40%	7%	+4.8
15	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	28.1%	58	45.0	38.9	15	26%	7%	+3.0
16	Colby Wadman	Denver Broncos	27.7%	65	44.7	37.9	22	34%	11%	0.0
17	Donnie Jones	Los Angeles Chargers	27.7%	47	42.3	38.0	15	32%	6%	−4.0
18	Chris Jones	Dallas Cowboys	26.7%	60	44.5	39.6	17	28%	3%	−14.1
19	Dustin Colquitt	Kansas City Chiefs	26.7%	45	44.9	40.5	21	47%	11%	+11.9
20	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	26.5%	85	45.4	38.2	32	38%	7%	−8.8
21	Matt Wile	Minnesota Vikings	26.4%	73	45.2	41.5	27	37%	3%	+4.9
22	Cameron Johnston	Philadelphia Eagles	26.2%	61	48.1	42.7	24	39%	11%	+12.1
23	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	25.5%	94	48.6	42.6	32	34%	7%	+4.4
24	Riley Dixon	New York Giants	22.5%	71	45.4	41.5	20	28%	7%	+10.0
25	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	21.6%	75	47.1	41.7	39	52%	4%	+11.5
26	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	20.9%	86	45.0	41.3	37	43%	8%	+12.0
27	Corey Bojorquez	Buffalo Bills	20.0%	46	45.1	39.4	22	48%	9%	−6.7
28	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	18.3%	82	45.9	40.8	23	28%	6%	−1.8
29	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	16.7%	61	47.4	39.8	27	44%	8%	+0.7
30	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	16.3%	43	46.3	43.0	21	49%	5%	+3.8
31	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	12.8%	79	48.2	42.5	28	35%	6%	+7.6
32	Ryan Allen	New England Patriots	12.5%	64	45.1	39.5	21	33%	8%	−5.1

All 2018 NFL punter rankings

Fair Catch Percentage in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2017 2016

More 2018 NFL punter leaderboards

Other 2018 NFL rankings

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