College Football Punt Returns Leaders

Which player has the most punt returns in college football in 2026?

Through games played October 29, 2026, Zay Robinson of Penn State & Javon Tracy of Minnesota are tied for the college football lead in punt returns at 19. Next are Ryan Niblett of Texas third at 18. Seven returns separate the leaders from the 25th-ranked player.

Ryan Niblett of Texas is the highest-ranked running back on the board at 18 returns, third overall. Next are Evan James of Iowa, Marco Beltran Jr. of New Mexico & Michael Scott of James Madison tied for fourth at 17, Tim Burns Jr. of Sam Houston, Kyler Pearson of East Carolina & Gerick Robinson of Nevada tied for seventh at 16 and Cataurus Hicks of Pittsburgh & Jacory Barney Jr. of Nebraska tied for tenth at 15.

One return separates fourth from seventh, the widest single step anywhere below the top four. Next are Jayden McGowan of Baylor & Yamir Knight of SMU tied 12th at 14 & Anthony Ivey of San José State, Phillip Bell of Ohio State, Bryant Wesco Jr. of Clemson, Vicari Swain of South Carolina, David Amador II of UTSA and Sacovie White-Helton of Georgia tied 14th at 13.

All 14 players are within 2 returns of each other. Next are Mana Carvalho of Utah, Cannon DeVries of BYU, Demetres Samuel Jr. of Syracuse, Que'Sean Brown of Virginia Tech, Victor Snow of NC State & Maguire Anderson of Florida International tied 20th at 12. Twenty of the 25 are wide receivers; the only running back is Niblett third; the only safety is Beltran fourth; the two defensive backs are Swain 14th & Samuel 20th; the only cornerback is DeVries 20th. Seven ranks inside the top 25 are shared by more than one player.

How this ranking is measured

Of the 1,034 college football players ranked in the 2026 regular season, the top 25 are listed above. No minimum punt return threshold is applied. Punt returns count punts returned by a player. Figures are as of October 29, 2026 & are recalculated on StatRankings after each game's play-by-play is processed.