2026 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 2026, Braden Mann (18) led NFL punters in punts returned, ahead of Blake Gillikin (15) and Jordan Stout (15). 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	Returns	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Braden Mann	Philadelphia Eagles	18	33	47.7	41.8	14	42%	3%	12%	+4.6
2	Blake Gillikin	Arizona Cardinals	15	28	45.2	38.2	8	29%	11%	25%	−8.0
3	Jordan Stout	New York Giants	15	23	52.0	44.5	11	48%	4%	17%	+4.2
4	Corey Bojorquez	Cleveland Browns	13	31	50.3	44.6	10	32%	6%	16%	+5.0
5	Tress Way	Washington Commanders	13	28	48.8	42.7	10	36%	7%	39%	−0.5
6	Tommy Townsend	Tennessee Titans	12	28	49.3	41.7	9	32%	18%	14%	−1.0
7	Cameron Johnston	Pittsburgh Steelers	12	26	49.5	44.2	13	50%	8%	19%	+8.7
8	Kai Kroeger	Houston Texans	12	23	48.1	43.4	8	35%	0%	26%	−2.7
9	Logan Cooke	Jacksonville Jaguars	12	19	47.6	42.1	7	37%	5%	11%	+3.0
10	Jeremy Crawshaw	Denver Broncos	11	32	49.0	44.7	14	44%	6%	22%	+1.2
11	Daniel Whelan	Green Bay Packers	11	25	49.7	45.0	14	56%	8%	20%	+2.9
12	Ryan Wright	New Orleans Saints	11	25	46.4	39.8	11	44%	0%	32%	−4.9
13	Austin McNamara	New York Jets	10	27	47.0	40.4	9	33%	7%	26%	−5.1
14	Ryan Eckley	Baltimore Ravens	10	26	46.9	42.5	13	50%	8%	35%	−0.6
15	Ethan Evans	Los Angeles Rams	10	19	48.3	38.1	6	32%	16%	32%	−7.9
16	Rigoberto Sanchez	Indianapolis Colts	10	15	52.1	40.3	6	40%	0%	29%	−6.1
17	Riley Dixon	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	9	27	43.7	38.0	5	19%	4%	44%	−10.1
18	J.K. Scott	Los Angeles Chargers	9	26	47.9	40.7	7	27%	12%	40%	−4.6
19	AJ Cole	Las Vegas Raiders	9	22	50.6	43.3	8	36%	9%	18%	−3.7
20	Jake Bailey	Atlanta Falcons	9	21	49.3	40.3	8	38%	14%	38%	−0.4
21	Tory Taylor	Chicago Bears	9	19	49.7	43.4	7	37%	11%	16%	+12.7
22	Bradley Pinion	Miami Dolphins	9	17	45.5	39.6	6	35%	0%	29%	−2.9
23	Jack Fox	Detroit Lions	8	19	47.8	43.3	8	42%	5%	32%	+1.2
24	Mitch Wishnowsky	New England Patriots	7	22	47.1	41.2	10	45%	14%	36%	+1.3
25	Ryan Rehkow	Cincinnati Bengals	7	16	44.9	39.8	9	56%	0%	44%	−2.3
26	Bryan Anger	Dallas Cowboys	6	13	48.5	42.8	9	69%	0%	46%	+0.1
27	Corliss Waitman	San Francisco 49ers	5	20	47.4	44.5	9	45%	5%	45%	+5.4
28	Brett Thorson	Minnesota Vikings	5	13	45.3	40.2	6	46%	8%	46%	−4.1
29	Michael Dickson	Seattle Seahawks	4	25	43.7	42.4	11	44%	4%	36%	+14.2
30	Matt Araiza	Kansas City Chiefs	4	14	52.4	45.1	9	64%	14%	21%	+1.3
31	Johnny Hekker	Minnesota Vikings	4	12	43.6	38.6	2	17%	8%	33%	−1.6
32	Sam Martin	Carolina Panthers	3	18	46.6	42.6	11	61%	11%	50%	+0.4
33	Tommy Doman Jr.	Buffalo Bills	3	12	48.7	46.0	6	50%	0%	58%	+0.3

All 2026 NFL punter rankings

Punts Returned in other seasons: 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

More 2026 NFL punter leaderboards

Other 2026 NFL rankings

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