2026 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 2026, Riley Dixon (12) led NFL punters in fair catches forced, ahead of Tress Way (11) and J.K. Scott (10). 33 punters qualify. This season is in progress (through Week 7), so the numbers change each week.

Data through Week 7 of the 2026 season, updated October 24, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	FC	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Riley Dixon	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	12	27	43.7	38.0	5	19%	4%	44%	−10.1
2	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	11	28	48.8	42.7	10	36%	7%	39%	−0.5
3	J.K. Scott	Los Angeles Chargers	10	26	47.9	40.7	7	27%	12%	40%	−4.6
4	Ryan Eckley	Baltimore Ravens	9	26	46.9	42.5	13	50%	8%	35%	−0.6
5	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	9	25	43.7	42.4	11	44%	4%	36%	+14.2
6	Corliss Waitman	San Francisco 49ers	9	20	47.4	44.5	9	45%	5%	45%	+5.4
7	Sam Martin	Carolina Panthers	9	18	46.6	42.6	11	61%	11%	50%	+0.4
8	Ryan Wright	New Orleans Saints	8	25	46.4	39.8	11	44%	0%	32%	−4.9
9	Mitch Wishnowsky	New England Patriots	8	22	47.1	41.2	10	45%	14%	36%	+1.3
10	Jake Bailey	Atlanta Falcons	8	21	49.3	40.3	8	38%	14%	38%	−0.4
11	Jeremy Crawshaw	Denver Broncos	7	32	49.0	44.7	14	44%	6%	22%	+1.2
12	Blake Gillikin	Arizona Cardinals	7	28	45.2	38.2	8	29%	11%	25%	−8.0
13	Austin McNamara	New York Jets	7	27	47.0	40.4	9	33%	7%	26%	−5.1
14	Ryan Rehkow	Cincinnati Bengals	7	16	44.9	39.8	9	56%	0%	44%	−2.3
15	Tommy Doman Jr.	Buffalo Bills	7	12	48.7	46.0	6	50%	0%	58%	+0.3
16	Kai Kroeger	Houston Texans	6	23	48.1	43.4	8	35%	0%	26%	−2.7
17	Ethan Evans	Los Angeles Rams	6	19	48.3	38.1	6	32%	16%	32%	−7.9
18	Jack Fox	Detroit Lions	6	19	47.8	43.3	8	42%	5%	32%	+1.2
19	Brett Thorson	Minnesota Vikings	6	13	45.3	40.2	6	46%	8%	46%	−4.1
20	Bryan Anger	Dallas Cowboys	6	13	48.5	42.8	9	69%	0%	46%	+0.1
21	Corey Bojorquez	Cleveland Browns	5	31	50.3	44.6	10	32%	6%	16%	+5.0
22	Cameron Johnston	Pittsburgh Steelers	5	26	49.5	44.2	13	50%	8%	19%	+8.7
23	Daniel Whelan	Green Bay Packers	5	25	49.7	45.0	14	56%	8%	20%	+2.9
24	Bradley Pinion	Miami Dolphins	5	17	45.5	39.6	6	35%	0%	29%	−2.9
25	Braden Mann	Philadelphia Eagles	4	33	47.7	41.8	14	42%	3%	12%	+4.6
26	Tommy Townsend	Tennessee Titans	4	28	49.3	41.7	9	32%	18%	14%	−1.0
27	Jordan Stout	New York Giants	4	23	52.0	44.5	11	48%	4%	17%	+4.2
28	AJ Cole	Las Vegas Raiders	4	22	50.6	43.3	8	36%	9%	18%	−3.7
29	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	4	15	52.1	40.3	6	40%	0%	29%	−6.1
30	Johnny Hekker	Minnesota Vikings	4	12	43.6	38.6	2	17%	8%	33%	−1.6
31	Tory Taylor	Chicago Bears	3	19	49.7	43.4	7	37%	11%	16%	+12.7
32	Matt Araiza	Kansas City Chiefs	3	14	52.4	45.1	9	64%	14%	21%	+1.3
33	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	2	19	47.6	42.1	7	37%	5%	11%	+3.0

All 2026 NFL punter rankings

Fair Catches Forced in other seasons: 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

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