2018 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 2018, Tress Way (+5.4) led NFL punters in touchbacks avoided (STOP rank), ahead of Matt Wile (+2.4) and Brett Kern (+2.4). 32 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had −0.4.

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

Rk	Player	Team	STOP	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	+5.4	79	45.3	41.5	41	52%	0%	33%	+11.1
2	Matt Wile	Minnesota Vikings	+2.4	73	45.2	41.5	27	37%	3%	26%	+4.9
3	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	+2.4	75	47.1	41.7	39	52%	4%	22%	+11.5
4	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	+1.9	72	43.9	39.4	29	40%	4%	34%	−0.2
5	Sam Martin	Detroit Lions	+1.9	74	44.7	39.2	32	43%	5%	34%	−9.1
6	Trevor Daniel	Houston Texans	+1.3	74	43.7	39.1	36	49%	7%	31%	+8.3
7	Chris Jones	Dallas Cowboys	+1.2	60	44.5	39.6	17	28%	3%	27%	−14.1
8	Matt Bosher	Atlanta Falcons	+1.1	62	45.5	40.1	22	35%	5%	35%	−7.3
9	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	+1.0	43	46.3	43.0	21	49%	5%	16%	+3.8
10	Jordan Berry	Pittsburgh Steelers	+0.9	63	43.7	38.8	28	44%	6%	40%	−6.8
11	Michael Palardy	Carolina Panthers	+0.5	61	45.2	41.0	24	39%	7%	39%	+11.9
12	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	+0.2	61	47.4	39.8	27	44%	8%	17%	+0.7
13	Bradley Pinion	San Francisco 49ers	+0.1	69	43.7	39.1	22	32%	6%	41%	−2.6
14	Bryan Anger	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	0.0	58	45.0	38.9	15	26%	7%	28%	+3.0
15	Matt Haack	Miami Dolphins	0.0	88	44.6	38.4	35	40%	7%	29%	+4.8
16	Donnie Jones	Los Angeles Chargers	−0.2	47	42.3	38.0	15	32%	6%	28%	−4.0
17	Johnny Townsend	Las Vegas Raiders	−0.6	70	43.2	38.3	17	24%	7%	31%	−9.9
18	Ryan Allen	New England Patriots	−0.6	64	45.1	39.5	21	33%	8%	13%	−5.1
19	Britton Colquitt	Cleveland Browns	−0.7	85	45.4	38.2	32	38%	7%	27%	−8.8
20	Corey Bojorquez	Buffalo Bills	−0.7	46	45.1	39.4	22	48%	9%	20%	−6.7
21	Lac Edwards	New York Jets	−0.8	82	45.9	40.8	23	28%	6%	18%	−1.8
22	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	−0.8	79	48.2	42.5	28	35%	6%	13%	+7.6
23	Thomas Morstead	New Orleans Saints	−0.9	43	46.4	43.2	15	35%	9%	35%	−2.7
24	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	−0.9	57	46.1	42.7	24	42%	9%	32%	+6.6
25	Riley Dixon	New York Giants	−1.0	71	45.4	41.5	20	28%	7%	23%	+10.0
26	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	−1.0	86	45.0	41.3	37	43%	8%	21%	+12.0
27	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	−1.4	63	45.0	39.7	28	44%	11%	32%	−4.5
28	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	−1.6	94	48.6	42.6	32	34%	7%	26%	+4.4
29	Dustin Colquitt	Kansas City Chiefs	−1.7	45	44.9	40.5	21	47%	11%	27%	+11.9
30	Colby Wadman	Denver Broncos	−2.0	65	44.7	37.9	22	34%	11%	28%	0.0
31	Cameron Johnston	Philadelphia Eagles	−2.9	61	48.1	42.7	24	39%	11%	26%	+12.1
32	J.K. Scott	Green Bay Packers	−4.4	72	44.7	38.8	19	26%	13%	38%	−5.4

All 2018 NFL punter rankings

Touchbacks Avoided (STOP Rank) in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2017 2016

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Other 2018 NFL rankings

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