2024 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 2024, Matthew Hayball (27) led NFL punters in fair catches forced, ahead of Rigoberto Sanchez (25) and Jamie Gillan (25). 40 punters qualify.

Final 2024 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	FC	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Matthew Hayball	New Orleans Saints	27	75	44.0	40.4	41	55%	4%	36%	−15.4
2	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	25	68	49.7	42.6	27	40%	6%	37%	−5.2
3	Jamie Gillan	New York Giants	25	56	43.7	40.6	27	48%	4%	45%	+2.4
4	Riley Dixon	Denver Broncos	24	77	46.7	42.2	33	43%	6%	31%	+9.8
5	J.K. Scott	Los Angeles Chargers	24	72	46.7	41.9	28	39%	6%	33%	−9.5
6	Tory Taylor	Chicago Bears	23	82	47.7	41.6	34	41%	5%	28%	+5.4
7	Tommy Townsend	Houston Texans	23	77	48.0	44.0	39	51%	9%	30%	+14.8
8	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	22	76	49.4	43.3	31	41%	12%	29%	+8.2
9	Matt Araiza	Kansas City Chiefs	21	62	48.8	41.8	25	40%	15%	34%	+2.6
10	Johnny Hekker	Carolina Panthers	20	74	45.7	41.9	24	32%	4%	27%	−3.5
11	Bryan Anger	Dallas Cowboys	20	62	48.5	42.0	24	39%	5%	32%	−1.0
12	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	19	68	49.4	44.8	34	50%	4%	28%	+16.3
13	Corey Bojorquez	Cleveland Browns	17	89	49.3	41.8	36	40%	8%	19%	+5.1
14	Bryce Baringer	New England Patriots	17	70	49.8	41.7	31	44%	11%	24%	+4.6
15	Daniel Whelan	Green Bay Packers	17	56	46.1	40.2	22	39%	9%	30%	+7.0
16	Corliss Waitman	Pittsburgh Steelers	16	65	46.4	41.9	27	42%	8%	25%	+23.2
17	Jordan Stout	Baltimore Ravens	16	55	46.4	41.2	22	40%	11%	29%	+1.2
18	Ryan Rehkow	Cincinnati Bengals	16	53	49.1	42.9	25	47%	9%	30%	+7.0
19	Thomas Morstead	New York Jets	15	63	47.2	40.9	19	30%	11%	24%	+2.4
20	AJ Cole	Las Vegas Raiders	14	67	50.8	42.5	27	40%	12%	22%	−14.4
21	Bradley Pinion	Atlanta Falcons	14	47	47.0	38.8	14	30%	9%	30%	−5.8
22	Jack Fox	Detroit Lions	14	45	51.0	46.2	22	49%	9%	31%	+9.3
23	Sam Martin	Buffalo Bills	13	55	46.7	40.2	25	45%	9%	24%	−7.6
24	Blake Gillikin	Arizona Cardinals	13	38	49.7	44.3	19	50%	3%	34%	+1.6
25	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	12	50	46.9	43.1	22	44%	4%	24%	+9.3
26	Jake Bailey	Miami Dolphins	11	57	47.1	40.5	22	39%	9%	20%	−5.0
27	Ryan Wright	Minnesota Vikings	10	57	46.5	40.6	27	47%	9%	18%	−5.2
28	Ethan Evans	Los Angeles Rams	10	55	46.0	41.7	30	55%	4%	18%	−5.8
29	Ryan Stonehouse	Tennessee Titans	9	75	50.6	38.6	22	29%	10%	12%	−20.6
30	Matt Haack	New York Giants	9	21	47.0	39.5	9	43%	5%	43%	−2.2
31	Braden Mann	Philadelphia Eagles	8	55	48.8	42.1	20	36%	13%	15%	+1.5
32	Trenton Gill	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	8	27	43.3	38.9	9	33%	4%	30%	+8.1
33	Pat O'Donnell	San Francisco 49ers	8	24	45.1	40.0	8	33%	4%	33%	−3.3
34	Mitch Wishnowsky	San Francisco 49ers	6	23	45.2	36.3	11	48%	0%	27%	−12.1
35	Michael Palardy	Arizona Cardinals	5	13	43.0	39.1	1	8%	8%	38%	−6.4
36	Jake Camarda	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	3	13	45.3	36.5	5	38%	0%	23%	−5.9
37	Jack Browning	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	3	10	42.5	34.6	0	0%	10%	30%	−7.5
38	Ty Zentner	Los Angeles Rams	2	8	40.1	33.5	3	38%	0%	29%	−3.7
39	Chad Ryland	Arizona Cardinals	2	3	39.0	39.0	0	0%	0%	67%	−1.0
40	Cameron Johnston	Pittsburgh Steelers	1	2	51.5	37.5	1	50%	0%	50%	−0.8

All 2024 NFL punter rankings

Fair Catches Forced in other seasons: 2026 2025 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

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