2021 NFL Punts Returned Leaders

Punts the receiving team fielded and ran back, including muffs. Fewer returns mean the punter and coverage team gave the returner less to work with.

Compare with return yards allowed. In 2021, Cameron Johnston (45) led NFL punters in punts returned, ahead of Blake Gillikin (43) and Jordan Berry (39). 41 punters qualify.

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

Rk	Player	Team	Returns	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Cameron Johnston	Houston Texans	45	88	46.7	41.7	37	42%	5%	25%	+12.9
2	Blake Gillikin	New Orleans Saints	43	83	47.7	42.0	29	35%	5%	22%	−0.1
3	Jordan Berry	Minnesota Vikings	39	79	46.5	40.8	26	33%	4%	19%	−13.7
4	Jack Fox	Detroit Lions	35	65	49.2	42.3	17	26%	11%	15%	−1.3
5	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	34	62	46.2	38.5	19	31%	8%	21%	−1.4
6	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	32	83	46.9	41.7	40	48%	12%	27%	+8.4
7	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	31	71	44.4	40.0	26	37%	6%	23%	+3.1
8	Michael Palardy	Miami Dolphins	30	78	44.7	40.1	31	40%	6%	35%	+3.8
9	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	30	51	49.0	41.9	12	24%	10%	16%	−3.0
10	Ty Long	Los Angeles Chargers	29	47	45.5	36.8	11	23%	4%	11%	−14.8
11	Riley Dixon	New York Giants	28	74	44.4	39.5	24	32%	8%	20%	−8.1
12	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	28	66	46.4	41.0	22	33%	9%	23%	−0.3
13	A.J. Cole	Las Vegas Raiders	28	64	50.0	42.5	28	44%	11%	27%	+7.3
14	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	28	59	44.5	39.7	24	41%	2%	25%	+4.4
15	Pressley Harvin	Pittsburgh Steelers	27	70	42.6	38.0	25	36%	4%	27%	−10.7
16	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	26	61	48.4	41.4	22	36%	12%	23%	+3.3
17	Bryan Anger	Dallas Cowboys	25	65	48.4	44.6	24	37%	6%	37%	+9.8
18	Sam Martin	Denver Broncos	24	67	46.0	42.8	28	42%	4%	36%	+12.6
19	Arryn Siposs	Philadelphia Eagles	24	55	43.9	38.7	17	31%	5%	22%	−6.7
20	Lachlan Edwards	Carolina Panthers	23	39	47.9	40.5	8	21%	5%	24%	−9.1
21	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	21	65	47.3	43.6	28	43%	2%	41%	+5.8
22	Bradley Pinion	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	21	56	42.5	38.9	23	41%	4%	30%	−1.8
23	Corey Bojorquez	Green Bay Packers	21	53	46.5	40.0	18	34%	8%	23%	+13.5
24	Dustin Colquitt	Atlanta Falcons	21	49	44.5	38.3	13	27%	6%	21%	−14.4
25	Mitch Wishnowsky	San Francisco 49ers	20	57	45.0	40.5	21	37%	9%	26%	+12.7
26	Thomas Morstead	Atlanta Falcons	19	45	47.2	42.0	18	40%	4%	38%	+2.6
27	Jamie Gillan	Cleveland Browns	19	42	43.9	39.5	15	36%	2%	29%	+5.1
28	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	18	47	44.8	40.4	18	38%	2%	23%	−4.7
29	Matt Haack	Buffalo Bills	17	53	42.9	37.6	18	34%	13%	21%	−2.0
30	Jake Bailey	New England Patriots	16	52	47.3	39.6	23	44%	12%	27%	−9.0
31	Braden Mann	New York Jets	16	42	45.7	40.6	14	33%	2%	15%	−1.4
32	Tommy Townsend	Kansas City Chiefs	15	37	47.2	43.3	20	54%	11%	24%	+17.0
33	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	9	51	44.2	42.6	23	45%	2%	49%	+2.3
34	Ryan Winslow	Carolina Panthers	9	16	39.1	37.4	3	19%	0%	19%	+0.1
35	Cameron Nizialek	Atlanta Falcons	7	18	45.4	39.8	6	33%	11%	17%	−3.5
36	Johnny Townsend	Tennessee Titans	5	13	42.8	36.8	2	15%	8%	38%	−2.0
37	Corliss Waitman	Pittsburgh Steelers	5	7	52.1	42.6	1	14%	14%	0%	−0.5
38	Joseph Charlton	Carolina Panthers	4	25	40.5	36.5	8	32%	4%	58%	−6.1
39	Matt Ammendola	New York Jets	3	6	48.5	42.5	2	33%	0%	17%	+0.8
40	Sterling Hofrichter	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2	6	37.8	34.2	3	50%	0%	67%	−2.4
41	Tristan Vizcaino	Los Angeles Chargers	1	1	32.0	26.0	1	100%	0%	0%	−0.3

All 2021 NFL punter rankings

Punts Returned 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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