Top 10 Best Punters in College Football 2025-2026

Ranking the best punters in College Football for the 2025-2026 NCAA season as Brett Thorson of the Georgia Bulldogs leads the way

By Sunday Umoh | February 10, 2026

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Top 10 Best Punters in College Football | NFL Draft 2026 Rankings

In a season defined by explosive offenses, dynamic defensive performances, and video-game box scores, field position has quietly become college football’s hidden currency. As you look at the Top 10 College Football Punters 2025-2026 rankings each specialist showcased their ability to flip field position and change momentum swings with each punt.

Across the country, from SEC pressure cookers to late-night Mountain West grinders, punters answered the call with booming averages north of 45 yards, coffin-corner precision, and net numbers that made special teams coordinators look like geniuses. Many of them were more than safety valves; they were momentum shifters, pinning top offenses inside their own 10 and forcing opposing coordinators to sweat at the start of each new drive.

Among those standout punters the list includes Brett Thorson of the Georgia Bulldogs, Evan Crenshaw of the Troy Trojans, and Palmer Williams of the Baylor Bears. From volume workhorses in struggling offenses to precision snipers on playoff contenders, these punters helped change field-position battle in 2025, and shaped the story of Saturdays more than the box score ever shows

Here is a look at the Top 10 College Football Punters 2025-2026 Rankings

Here is a look at the Top 10 NCAAF Punters 2025-2026 Rankings:

Honorable Mention

James Ferguson-Reynolds

School: Boise State Broncos

Draft Status: NFL Draft

No discussion of the Top 10 College Football Punters 2025-2026 rankings feels complete without mentioning the thunderous right leg anchoring the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers special teams star Cole Maynard.

Maynard turned every stalled Hilltoppers drive into a hidden-yardage win, averaging 48.4 yards per punt and the seventh best net yard per punt average at 43.2 yards per punt. The talented senior capped off his final season setting a career high with a 71 yard punt, while also adding 20 punts of 50 plus yards and 15 of his 57 punts inside the 20 yard line.

While Maynard went under the radar most of the season, the talented punter has the talent to take his game to the next level.

Bryan Hansen

School: Colorado State Rams

Draft Status: NFL Draft

Another strong punter that came up just short of the Top 10 is the Colorado State Rams junior Bryan Hansen.

Hansen who took over as the team’s primary punter during the 2025-2026 College Football season did not disappoint while emerging as a special team’s weapon. After posting just nine punts last season, the Rams relied on Hansen all season with the talented punter delivering from his first punt of the season to his final punt of the year. Overall Hansen capped off the season posting 2,730 yards while averaging 47.9 yards per punt with a staggering 44.2 yard net average. Hanson also managed to pin opponents inside the 20 over 13 times.

For a Rams team constantly hunting for hidden edges in the Mountain West, his leg fundamentally changed the geometry of the field every Saturday.

Top 10 Best Punters in College Football 2025-2026 Rankings

10. Billy Gowers

School: Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors

Draft Status: Returning to Hawai’i

Closing out the Top 10 College Football Punters 2025-2026 rankings list is the talented freshman Billy Gowers of the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors.

On island time, field position hits different, and Gowers gave the Rainbow Warriors a legitimate weapon in the territorial battle every single week. The talented freshman capped off a strong first season posting 25 punts that landed inside the 20 while also averaging 46.2 yards per punt to go along with a 40.3 net average punt mark.

Add in his knack for bailing out the offense after negative plays, and you get a punter who might not have the gaudiest stat line, but absolutely passed the eye test for impact among the best punters in College Football.

9. Marshall Nichols

School: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Draft Status: NFL Draft

When the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets needed a stabilizer in the field-position game, their veteran senior transfer delivered with ruthless efficiency.

Marshall Nichols brought a Power 5-ready résumé into 2025 and backed it up with an average pushing nearly 48 yards per punt (47.9) while also delivering 13 punts inside the 20 over 34 total punts. Nichols, who built a strong resume in his first three seasons with the UNLV Rebels, lived up to that hype setting a career high in average punt yards while ranking third among all punters with at least 20 punts in net average per punt (43.0).

With his collegiate career coming to an end, Nichols has showcased his abilities to flip field position and be a game changer on the special teams side of the football.

8. John Hoyet Chance

School: Louisana Tech Bulldogs

Draft Status: NFL Draft

As special teams is often overlooked at the college football level, the true impact is often a key contributor for each team each Saturday while looking to stay competitive among the best teams in the game.

One punter that went under the radar for most of, if not the entire 2025-2026 season is the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs talented freshman John Hoyet Chance. Chance broke out on the scene and ranked among the best punters in every statistical category including posting a staggering 28 punts that landed inside the 20 while also posting a career long 72 yard punt during his freshman season.

The Bulldogs talented punter also finished the season ranked fifth in the nation with a 47.3 yards per punt average while averaging the seventh best net average mark (43.3) in the nation. With the Bulldogs leaning on Chance to flip field position, the talented freshman routinely delivered punts deep into opponents territory setting up long fields for opposing offenses.

7. Wes Pahl

School: Oklahoma State Cowboys

Draft Status: NFL Draft

In a season where the Oklahoma State Cowboys often played from behind, Wes Pahl’s leg kept games from spiraling completely out of control while delivering the team one of their few bright spots.

Paul entered the season coming off just 52 career punts over the previous two seasons, however the limited production did not slow him down as the Cowboys senior posted a career high 64 punts while setting a career long with a 71 yard punt during the season. The production did not stop there as the Cowboys punter posted a career high 21 punts inside the 20 while also averaging 46.5 yards per punt with a solid 42.9 net average per punt.

Even in losses, he gave the Cowboys’ defense breathing room, routinely launching towering spirals that forced opponents to march the length of the field and masking offensive inconsistency with field-position wins.

6. Oscar Bird

School: Ole Miss Rebels

Draft Status: Returing to Ole Miss

When high-octane SEC shootouts came down to one simple play, field position played a key role in the success with the Ole Miss Rebels benefitting from having one of the top punters in the nation Oscar Bird doing the punting.

The Rebels who put together one of the most remarkable performances of the season while making a deep College Football Playoff run, Bird was an unsung hero posting a 46 yard per put average to go along with a 43.6 net average mark during his freshman season. Over the course of the season, the talented freshman punter logged 41 punts on a Rebels team that ranked among the top offensive teams in the country.

Ultimately Bird delivered the team a weapon that could flip the field with each kick while precise enough to pin the opponent inside their 20 after posting 14 over the course of the season. Entering next season Bird will arrive ranked among the best punters in College Football.

5. Ryan Eckley

School: Michigan State Spartans

Draft Status: Returing to Michigan State

Landing at the number five spot among the Top 10 College Football Punters 2025-2026 rankings list is the talented Michigan Spartans punter Ryan Eckley.

Eckley capped off a strong third season leading the nation in average punt distance while posting a 48.5 yard per punt average across 49 total punts this season. Where he truly separated himself was in directional punting and inside-the-20 placement (20), routinely forcing opponents to start inside their own 15 and giving Michigan State’s physical defense the runway to attack. Eckley’s tape looks like a clinic in how to be a defense’s best friend when points are at a premium in the talented Big Ten Conference.

To go along with those numbers the Spartans punter also averaged a 40.6 net average per punt mark while pinning his opponents inside the 20 on 40.82 percent of his punts this season.

4. Grayson Miller

School: Oklahoma Sooners

Draft Status: NFL Draft

Special teams in Norman often get overshadowed by fireworks on offense, but Grayson Miller made sure his work demanded attention.

Transferring elite production from the Division II level, Miller brought a big leg and nuanced control to Oklahoma’s punting game, while averaging 45.8 yards per punt over the course of 59 punts during his first season with the Sooners. The talented punt posted a strong 2025-2026 resume that included 20 punts over 50 yards while also pinning 25 of his 59 punts inside the 20 yard line.

Even on a team chasing championships, Miller’s ability to pin high-powered offenses deep and limit return opportunities turned special teams from an afterthought into a strategic edge.

3. Palmer Williams

School: Baylor Bears

Draft Status: NFL Draft

When it comes to the top three punters in the nation, each one made a strong run for the Ray Guy Award handed out to the best punter in College Football.

Ultimately however, Palmer Williams came up short after being named a finalist for the Award during his junior season in Waco. Williams posted a solid 46.9 yard average per punt over 27 total punts however, his strong 45 yard per net average mark led the nation among punters with at least 20 punts. In addition to the strong averages, Williams posted nine of 27 punts of at least 50 yards to go along with 11 punts inside the 20 yard line.

As his inside the 20 punts don’t jump out in the stat column, it is hard to look past the fact that 40.7 percent of his punts landed within that zone. Overall, Williams played a key vital role in field position and the strategic landscape of the Bears defensive formula during the 2025-2026 season.

2. Evan Crenshaw

School: Troy Trojans

Draft Status: NFL Draft

Sun Belt coaches knew game-planning for the Troy Trojans meant preparing to drive 75–80 yards all night, and Evan Crenshaw was the reason why.

His 2025 stat line reads like a prototype Ray Guy résumé: 68 punts for 3,107 yards and a staggering 45.7 yards per punt and 42.8 net average mark per punt. He combined that volume with precision, dropping 29 punts inside the 20 and showcasing a long boot north of 60 yards, all while helping Trojans control tempo and tilt the field in tight, lower-scoring battles.

Crenshaw’s blend of power, consistency, and situational excellence made him the standard-bearer for Group of 5 punters and a legitimate candidate for national hardware.

1. Brett Thorson

School: Georgia Bulldogs

Draft Status: NFL Draft

At the very top of the Top 10 College Football Punters 2025-2026 rankings stands the steady, explosive leg that quietly powered the Georgia Bulldogs playoff push.

Brett Thorson delivered the rare combination of SEC-pressure poise and elite efficiency, finishing the season with 46 punts 2,094 yards while averaging 45.5 yards per punt with a net average mark of 43.5 yards. The performance did not stop there however, as the talented Bulldogs punter posted 23 punts inside the 20 while forcing 22 fair catches over the course of his 6 punts.

Just as important, he consistently pinned offenses deep, over half his punts landing in the shadow of the opponent’s goal line, allowing Georgia’s defense to unleash exotic pressures with the comfort of extra grass behind it. In a talented and loaded SEC conference, Thorson provided some special teams magic to the Bulldogs while helping him take home the Ray Guy Award handed out to the nation’s top punter.

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