2021 NFL Return Yards Allowed per Punt Leaders

Total return yards allowed divided by every punt that was not blocked, so a fair catch or an out-of-bounds punt counts as zero. College punts whose play text records no outcome are left out. It is the fairest single measure of how much a returner gets to work with.

Lowest comes first. Coverage teams share the credit. In 2021, Johnny Hekker (1.2) topped NFL punters in return yards allowed per punt, ahead of Tommy Townsend (1.7) and Matt Haack (1.8). 33 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 3.9.

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

Rk	Player	Team	Ret yds/punt	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Johnny Hekker	Los Angeles Rams	1.2	51	44.2	42.6	23	45%	2%	49%	+2.3
2	Tommy Townsend	Kansas City Chiefs	1.7	37	47.2	43.3	20	54%	11%	24%	+17.0
3	Matt Haack	Buffalo Bills	1.8	53	42.9	37.6	18	34%	13%	21%	−2.0
4	Sam Martin	Denver Broncos	2.3	67	46.0	42.8	28	42%	4%	36%	+12.6
5	Bryan Anger	Dallas Cowboys	2.5	65	48.4	44.6	24	37%	6%	37%	+9.8
6	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	2.7	65	47.3	43.6	28	43%	2%	41%	+5.8
7	Mitch Wishnowsky	San Francisco 49ers	2.7	57	45.0	40.5	21	37%	9%	26%	+12.7
8	Jake Bailey	New England Patriots	2.8	52	47.3	39.6	23	44%	12%	27%	−9.0
9	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	2.8	83	46.9	41.7	40	48%	12%	27%	+8.4
10	Bradley Pinion	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2.9	56	42.5	38.9	23	41%	4%	30%	−1.8
11	Riley Dixon	New York Giants	3.2	74	44.4	39.5	24	32%	8%	20%	−8.1
12	Sam Koch	Baltimore Ravens	3.2	71	44.4	40.0	26	37%	6%	23%	+3.1
13	Michael Palardy	Miami Dolphins	3.4	78	44.7	40.1	31	40%	6%	35%	+3.8
14	Kevin Huber	Cincinnati Bengals	3.6	66	46.4	41.0	22	33%	9%	23%	−0.3
15	Braden Mann	New York Jets	3.7	42	45.7	40.6	14	33%	2%	15%	−1.4
16	Pressley Harvin	Pittsburgh Steelers	3.7	70	42.6	38.0	25	36%	4%	27%	−10.7
17	Jamie Gillan	Cleveland Browns	3.9	42	43.9	39.5	15	36%	2%	29%	+5.1
18	Brett Kern	Tennessee Titans	3.9	47	44.8	40.4	18	38%	2%	23%	−4.7
19	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	4.0	61	48.4	41.4	22	36%	12%	23%	+3.3
20	Cameron Johnston	Houston Texans	4.0	88	46.7	41.7	37	42%	5%	25%	+12.9
21	Arryn Siposs	Philadelphia Eagles	4.1	55	43.9	38.7	17	31%	5%	22%	−6.7
22	Dustin Colquitt	Atlanta Falcons	4.1	49	44.5	38.3	13	27%	6%	21%	−14.4
23	Thomas Morstead	Atlanta Falcons	4.2	45	47.2	42.0	18	40%	4%	38%	+2.6
24	Jordan Berry	Minnesota Vikings	4.3	79	46.5	40.8	26	33%	4%	19%	−13.7
25	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	4.5	59	44.5	39.7	24	41%	2%	25%	+4.4
26	Blake Gillikin	New Orleans Saints	4.7	83	47.7	42.0	29	35%	5%	22%	−0.1
27	Jack Fox	Detroit Lions	4.7	65	49.2	42.3	17	26%	11%	15%	−1.3
28	Corey Bojorquez	Green Bay Packers	5.1	53	46.5	40.0	18	34%	8%	23%	+13.5
29	Andy Lee	Arizona Cardinals	5.2	51	49.0	41.9	12	24%	10%	16%	−3.0
30	Lachlan Edwards	Carolina Panthers	5.3	39	47.9	40.5	8	21%	5%	24%	−9.1
31	A.J. Cole	Las Vegas Raiders	5.3	64	50.0	42.5	28	44%	11%	27%	+7.3
32	Pat O'Donnell	Chicago Bears	6.0	62	46.2	38.5	19	31%	8%	21%	−1.4
33	Ty Long	Los Angeles Chargers	7.0	47	45.5	36.8	11	23%	4%	11%	−14.8

All 2021 NFL punter rankings

Return Yards Allowed per Punt 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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