2021 NFL Fair Catches Forced Leaders

A fair catch means the returner gave up the chance to run. Punters who kick high and coverage teams who arrive quickly force more of them.

A sign of good hang time and coverage. In 2021, Michael Palardy (27) led NFL punters in fair catches forced, ahead of Logan Cooke (26) and Johnny Hekker (25). 41 punters qualify.

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

Rk	Player	Team	FC	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Michael Palardy	Miami Dolphins	27	78	44.7	40.1	31	40%	6%	35%	+3.8
2	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	26	65	47.3	43.6	28	43%	2%	41%	+5.8
3	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	25	51	44.2	42.6	23	45%	2%	49%	+2.3
4	Sam Martin	Denver Broncos	24	67	46.0	42.8	28	42%	4%	36%	+12.6
5	Bryan Anger	Dallas Cowboys	24	65	48.4	44.6	24	37%	6%	37%	+9.8
6	Cameron Johnston	Houston Texans	22	88	46.7	41.7	37	42%	5%	25%	+12.9
7	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	22	83	46.9	41.7	40	48%	12%	27%	+8.4
8	Pressley Harvin	Pittsburgh Steelers	19	70	42.6	38.0	25	36%	4%	27%	−10.7
9	Blake Gillikin	New Orleans Saints	18	83	47.7	42.0	29	35%	5%	22%	−0.1
10	A.J. Cole	Las Vegas Raiders	17	64	50.0	42.5	28	44%	11%	27%	+7.3
11	Bradley Pinion	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	17	56	42.5	38.9	23	41%	4%	30%	−1.8
12	Thomas Morstead	Atlanta Falcons	17	45	47.2	42.0	18	40%	4%	38%	+2.6
13	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	16	71	44.4	40.0	26	37%	6%	23%	+3.1
14	Jordan Berry	Minnesota Vikings	15	79	46.5	40.8	26	33%	4%	19%	−13.7
15	Riley Dixon	New York Giants	15	74	44.4	39.5	24	32%	8%	20%	−8.1
16	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	15	66	46.4	41.0	22	33%	9%	23%	−0.3
17	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	15	59	44.5	39.7	24	41%	2%	25%	+4.4
18	Mitch Wishnowsky	San Francisco 49ers	15	57	45.0	40.5	21	37%	9%	26%	+12.7
19	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	14	61	48.4	41.4	22	36%	12%	23%	+3.3
20	Joseph Charlton	Carolina Panthers	14	25	40.5	36.5	8	32%	4%	58%	−6.1
21	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	13	62	46.2	38.5	19	31%	8%	21%	−1.4
22	Jake Bailey	New England Patriots	13	52	47.3	39.6	23	44%	12%	27%	−9.0
23	Arryn Siposs	Philadelphia Eagles	12	55	43.9	38.7	17	31%	5%	22%	−6.7
24	Corey Bojorquez	Green Bay Packers	12	53	46.5	40.0	18	34%	8%	23%	+13.5
25	Jamie Gillan	Cleveland Browns	12	42	43.9	39.5	15	36%	2%	29%	+5.1
26	Matt Haack	Buffalo Bills	11	53	42.9	37.6	18	34%	13%	21%	−2.0
27	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	11	47	44.8	40.4	18	38%	2%	23%	−4.7
28	Jack Fox	Detroit Lions	10	65	49.2	42.3	17	26%	11%	15%	−1.3
29	Dustin Colquitt	Atlanta Falcons	10	49	44.5	38.3	13	27%	6%	21%	−14.4
30	Lachlan Edwards	Carolina Panthers	9	39	47.9	40.5	8	21%	5%	24%	−9.1
31	Tommy Townsend	Kansas City Chiefs	9	37	47.2	43.3	20	54%	11%	24%	+17.0
32	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	8	51	49.0	41.9	12	24%	10%	16%	−3.0
33	Braden Mann	New York Jets	6	42	45.7	40.6	14	33%	2%	15%	−1.4
34	Ty Long	Los Angeles Chargers	5	47	45.5	36.8	11	23%	4%	11%	−14.8
35	Johnny Townsend	Tennessee Titans	5	13	42.8	36.8	2	15%	8%	38%	−2.0
36	Sterling Hofrichter	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	4	6	37.8	34.2	3	50%	0%	67%	−2.4
37	J.K. Scott	Jacksonville Jaguars	4	4	39.8	39.8	0	0%	0%	100%	−1.2
38	Cameron Nizialek	Atlanta Falcons	3	18	45.4	39.8	6	33%	11%	17%	−3.5
39	Ryan Winslow	Carolina Panthers	3	16	39.1	37.4	3	19%	0%	19%	+0.1
40	Matt Ammendola	New York Jets	1	6	48.5	42.5	2	33%	0%	17%	+0.8
41	Robbie Gould	San Francisco 49ers	1	2	45.0	45.0	1	50%	0%	50%	0.0

All 2021 NFL punter rankings

Fair Catches Forced in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

More 2021 NFL punter leaderboards

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