2023 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 2023, Rigoberto Sanchez (+4.1) led NFL punters in touchbacks avoided (STOP rank), ahead of Jamie Gillan (+2.9) and Lou Hedley (+2.9). 33 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 0.0.

Final 2023 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	STOP	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	+4.1	69	48.3	42.3	21	30%	0%	19%	−8.1
2	Jamie Gillan	New York Giants	+2.9	95	46.0	42.3	35	37%	4%	38%	+6.2
3	Lou Hedley	New Orleans Saints	+2.9	75	43.0	39.7	31	41%	5%	32%	−8.8
4	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	+2.7	75	46.0	40.7	30	40%	3%	34%	−6.7
5	Mitch Wishnowsky	San Francisco 49ers	+2.4	52	47.7	42.7	26	50%	4%	25%	+6.7
6	J.K. Scott	Los Angeles Chargers	+1.9	75	46.3	42.3	30	40%	5%	41%	+0.3
7	Braden Mann	Philadelphia Eagles	+1.9	44	49.8	43.9	15	34%	2%	11%	+0.3
8	Bradley Pinion	Atlanta Falcons	+1.8	75	47.0	41.5	27	36%	4%	32%	−2.4
9	Cameron Johnston	Houston Texans	+1.8	66	47.7	44.0	30	45%	5%	38%	+6.2
10	Sam Martin	Buffalo Bills	+1.5	51	45.8	39.9	24	47%	6%	33%	−1.9
11	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	+1.2	61	47.4	43.8	29	48%	7%	36%	+17.4
12	Jake Bailey	Miami Dolphins	+1.2	53	45.7	40.7	20	38%	6%	36%	+7.5
13	Jordan Stout	Baltimore Ravens	+1.0	67	47.8	39.2	28	42%	8%	26%	+12.2
14	Bryan Anger	Dallas Cowboys	+0.8	44	51.4	44.9	17	39%	5%	30%	+1.6
15	Blake Gillikin	Arizona Cardinals	+0.4	51	50.6	43.6	11	22%	4%	18%	+14.5
16	Pressley Harvin	Pittsburgh Steelers	+0.2	78	43.8	39.2	30	38%	8%	33%	−17.4
17	Johnny Hekker	Carolina Panthers	0.0	82	46.8	43.0	25	30%	6%	32%	+10.0
18	Brad Robbins	Cincinnati Bengals	0.0	76	44.3	40.3	20	26%	7%	34%	−2.4
19	Daniel Whelan	Green Bay Packers	0.0	57	46.2	39.7	18	32%	9%	39%	−2.4
20	Jack Fox	Detroit Lions	−0.1	57	46.4	41.7	26	46%	9%	35%	−8.4
21	A.J. Cole	Las Vegas Raiders	−0.5	75	50.4	45.1	34	45%	8%	27%	+3.2
22	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	−0.5	79	46.3	42.3	27	34%	8%	34%	+8.5
23	Thomas Morstead	New York Jets	−0.5	99	48.8	41.8	36	36%	8%	28%	+10.9
24	Tommy Townsend	Kansas City Chiefs	−0.8	59	47.1	41.8	20	34%	8%	34%	−2.5
25	Bryce Baringer	New England Patriots	−0.9	98	46.9	40.8	38	39%	8%	24%	−11.6
26	Ty Zentner	Tennessee Titans	−1.1	38	44.9	40.4	10	26%	11%	42%	−3.2
27	Ethan Evans	Los Angeles Rams	−2.3	64	49.2	38.5	20	31%	11%	19%	−22.4
28	Trenton Gill	Chicago Bears	−2.4	67	46.1	38.0	18	27%	12%	19%	−19.0
29	Corey Bojorquez	Cleveland Browns	−2.6	87	49.4	42.5	31	36%	10%	18%	+10.2
30	Ryan Wright	Minnesota Vikings	−3.1	59	48.7	41.9	16	27%	12%	27%	−4.3
31	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	−3.5	66	50.0	44.1	25	38%	12%	18%	+4.3
32	Jake Camarda	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	−3.7	77	50.1	41.8	26	34%	12%	13%	−3.4
33	Ryan Stonehouse	Tennessee Titans	−6.0	54	53.1	43.9	28	52%	19%	13%	+2.9

All 2023 NFL punter rankings

Touchbacks Avoided (STOP Rank) in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

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