2021 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 2021, Johnny Hekker (49.0%) led NFL punters in fair catch percentage, ahead of Logan Cooke (40.6%) and Thomas Morstead (37.8%). 33 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 23.7%.

Final 2021 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	FC %	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	Points
1	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	49.0%	51	44.2	42.6	23	45%	2%	+2.3
2	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	40.6%	65	47.3	43.6	28	43%	2%	+5.8
3	Thomas Morstead	Atlanta Falcons	37.8%	45	47.2	42.0	18	40%	4%	+2.6
4	Bryan Anger	Dallas Cowboys	36.9%	65	48.4	44.6	24	37%	6%	+9.8
5	Sam Martin	Denver Broncos	35.8%	67	46.0	42.8	28	42%	4%	+12.6
6	Michael Palardy	Miami Dolphins	34.6%	78	44.7	40.1	31	40%	6%	+3.8
7	Bradley Pinion	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	30.4%	56	42.5	38.9	23	41%	4%	−1.8
8	Jamie Gillan	Cleveland Browns	28.6%	42	43.9	39.5	15	36%	2%	+5.1
9	Pressley Harvin	Pittsburgh Steelers	27.1%	70	42.6	38.0	25	36%	4%	−10.7
10	A.J. Cole	Las Vegas Raiders	26.6%	64	50.0	42.5	28	44%	11%	+7.3
11	Jake Bailey	New England Patriots	26.5%	52	47.3	39.6	23	44%	12%	−9.0
12	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	26.5%	83	46.9	41.7	40	48%	12%	+8.4
13	Mitch Wishnowsky	San Francisco 49ers	26.3%	57	45.0	40.5	21	37%	9%	+12.7
14	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	25.4%	59	44.5	39.7	24	41%	2%	+4.4
15	Cameron Johnston	Houston Texans	25.0%	88	46.7	41.7	37	42%	5%	+12.9
16	Tommy Townsend	Kansas City Chiefs	24.3%	37	47.2	43.3	20	54%	11%	+17.0
17	Lachlan Edwards	Carolina Panthers	23.7%	39	47.9	40.5	8	21%	5%	−9.1
18	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	23.4%	47	44.8	40.4	18	38%	2%	−4.7
19	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	23.3%	61	48.4	41.4	22	36%	12%	+3.3
20	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	22.7%	66	46.4	41.0	22	33%	9%	−0.3
21	Corey Bojorquez	Green Bay Packers	22.6%	53	46.5	40.0	18	34%	8%	+13.5
22	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	22.5%	71	44.4	40.0	26	37%	6%	+3.1
23	Arryn Siposs	Philadelphia Eagles	21.8%	55	43.9	38.7	17	31%	5%	−6.7
24	Blake Gillikin	New Orleans Saints	21.7%	83	47.7	42.0	29	35%	5%	−0.1
25	Matt Haack	Buffalo Bills	21.2%	53	42.9	37.6	18	34%	13%	−2.0
26	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	21.0%	62	46.2	38.5	19	31%	8%	−1.4
27	Dustin Colquitt	Atlanta Falcons	20.8%	49	44.5	38.3	13	27%	6%	−14.4
28	Riley Dixon	New York Giants	20.3%	74	44.4	39.5	24	32%	8%	−8.1
29	Jordan Berry	Minnesota Vikings	19.2%	79	46.5	40.8	26	33%	4%	−13.7
30	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	15.7%	51	49.0	41.9	12	24%	10%	−3.0
31	Jack Fox	Detroit Lions	15.4%	65	49.2	42.3	17	26%	11%	−1.3
32	Braden Mann	New York Jets	14.6%	42	45.7	40.6	14	33%	2%	−1.4
33	Ty Long	Los Angeles Chargers	10.9%	47	45.5	36.8	11	23%	4%	−14.8

All 2021 NFL punter rankings

Fair Catch Percentage in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

More 2021 NFL punter leaderboards

Other 2021 NFL rankings

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