Complete 2026 NFL Draft P Rankings:
You are currently viewing our punter rankings for the 2026 NFL Draft. After a solid punting class the past two drafts, can anyone in this year’s class stack up?
Our top punter prospects are selected after thousands of hours carefully scouting the most talented special teamers in college football. Even though no more than 3 will get selected in the draft, several more are signed as free agents, and many more receive a training camp invite.
We’ll provide you with inside information to help you know who will be a star, who will be a bust, and which deep sleepers will shock the world.
BNB Football is the best place for in-depth analysis of 2026 NFL draft punter prospects at all levels of college football. To view other positions, follow the links below.
(Last Updated: April 22, 2026)
1. Brett Thorson, Georgia
P | 6’1″ | 237 lbs | 4th Year
Brett Thorson Scouting Report
Brett Thorson is a 26 year old Aussie punter who has dominated college football ever since his first year in 2022. He won the Ray Guy Award this season, and is a multiple time All-American.
Thorson has impressive power on his kicks, and is very consistent. He gets good hangtime and is very good with directional kicks, which contributed to him only allowing returns on 4 of his 42 punts this year (for a total of 15 years). Thorson also does a good job of avoiding touchbacks, effectively pinning opponents deep thanks to his accuracy.
He can occasionally be a bit slow to get his punt off, and he missed the end of the season with an injury which he’ll need to come back from. Most importantly, he isn’t the primary holder on field goals for Georgia. He’ll need to prove in private workouts that he can handle the role.
Brett Thorson 2025 Stats
46 punts: 45.3 yards per punt, 23 inside the 20, 4 touchbacks, 54.3% fair catch percentage, 43.5 net average, 91.3% no return allowed, 4.38s avg hang time
2. Jack Stonehouse, Syracuse
P | 6’2″ | 211 lbs | 5th Year
Jack Stonehouse Scouting Report
Anyone who knows punters will know the last name Stonehouse. Jack’s brother Ryan led the NFL in yards per punt in 2022 and 2023, and his dad was also an NFL punter. Jack Stonehouse got his first starting experience for Missouri in 2022 before transferring to Syracuse and playing for 3 more seasons.
Stonehouse set the Syracuse record in 2024 for yards per punt, then immediately broke it again in 2025. He has a fairly consistent, controlled kicking motion and generates good power. His hangtime and fair catch forced rate both improved this past season, and he started to get his punts off a little bit faster.
With all the power of his kicks, Stonehouse has a tendency to outkick his coverages. He also had 3 punts blocked in 2024, partially due to a slightly slower, deliberate punting motion. He’ll also need to improve his control near the red zone to deaden the ball inside the 10 and avoid touchbacks.
Jack Stonehouse 2025 Stats
60 punts: 46.5 yards per punt, 14 inside the 20, 6 touchbacks, 41.7% fair catch percentage, 41.9 net average, 73.3% no return allowed, 4.29s avg hang time
3. Tommy Doman, Florida
P | 6’4″ | 214 lbs | 5th Year
Tommy Doman Scouting Report
Tommy Doman spent his first 4 seasons with Michigan, where he closed his career with an iconic 68 yard, no return punt in their upset win over Ohio State. After transferring to Florida, Doman took a huge step forward in his consistency.
Doman is an exceptionally well-rounded special teamer. He’s obviously a great punter, he was the holder for one of the best kickers in the nation, he was a very good kickoff specialist at Michigan, and he was also one of the top rated place kickers in the nation coming out of high school. He has good overall leg strength, and is especially good at generating hang time. He led all of college football in average hang time this past season, and did a solid job of flipping the field without allowing returns.
Doman does a lot of things well, but he could stand to get a bit more distance on his kicks and will need to be better controlling his spin to down the ball deep.
Tommy Doman 2025 Stats
50 punts: 44.0 yards per punt, 17 inside the 20, 6 touchbacks, 34.0% fair catch percentage, 40.7 net average, 86.0% no return allowed, 4.52s avg hang time
4. Ryan Eckley, Michigan State
P | 6’1″ | 200 lbs | 4th Year
Ryan Eckley Scouting Report
After leading the Big Ten in punting average in 2024, Ryan Eckley one-upped himself this past season by leading all of college football in punting average. His 47.6 career yards per punt set a Big Ten career record, as well.
On paper he looks like the best punter in the nation, with his 48.5 average, and an incredible ratio of only 1 touchback with 20 punts downed inside the 20 yard line. His leg strength is obvious, and he did a really good job controlling his spin and the directions of his punts. He has decent form, but tends to contact the ball at a lower point which results in a more line drive kick.
A lot of big-legged punters tend to outkick their coverage, but Eckley really outkicks his coverage. He allowed returns on over 50% of his kicks this year which flat out won’t fly in the NFL. Generating more hangtime will require an adjustment to his mechanics which will make it a bit more difficult of a translation to the league than some other punters on this list.
Ryan Eckley 2025 Stats
49 punts: 48.5 yards per punt, 20 inside the 20, 1 touchback, 22.4% fair catch percentage, 40.6 net average, 49.0% no return allowed, 4.07s avg hang time
5. Nick Haberer, Vanderbilt
P | 6’2″ | 215 lbs | 5th Year
Nick Haberer Scouting Report
After some time with the Brisbane Lions in Australia, Nick Haberer started his college career off the right way, playing high level football right away for Washington State. After a few years there, he transferred to Vanderbilt where he held one of the highest punting averages in the nation this past season.
Vanderbilt didn’t punt much this season, but when they did they could consistently count on Haberer. He’s among the best in the nation with his hang time, forcing fair catches at a very high rate and rarely allowing returns. He’s incredibly consistent, averaging over 43 yards per punt in his 5 year career despite never having a punt longer than 62 yards. His fair catch rate on his career is over 50%, by far the highest career rate for anyone in the class, and he is good at avoiding touchbacks.
His directional kicks are decent but don’t jump off the screen, and past seasons saw him with a much lower average yards per punt. He’ll also want to speed up his punt, as his time to get the ball off is a bit slow.
Nick Haberer 2025 Stats
26 punts: 46.9 yards per punt, 11 inside the 20, 2 touchbacks, 38.5% fair catch percentage, 42.8 net average, 69.2% no return allowed, 4.07s avg hang time
Complete 2026 NFL Draft Punter Rankings
| RANK | NAME | SCHOOL | AGE | HT | WT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brett Thorson | Georgia | 4th | 6'1" | 237 |
| 2 | Jack Stonehouse | Syracuse | 5th | 6'2" | 211 |
| 3 | Tommy Doman | Florida | 5th | 6'4" | 214 |
| 4 | Ryan Eckley | Michigan State | 4th | 6'1" | 200 |
| 5 | Nick Haberer | Vanderbilt | 5th | 6'6" | 220 |
| 6 | Wes Pahl | Oklahoma State | 6th | 6'5" | 207 |
| 7 | Cole Maynard | Western Kentucky | 5th | 6'1" | 185 |
| 8 | Aidan Laros | Kentucky | 5th | 6'2" | 220 |
| 9 | Devin Bale | Arkansas | 5th | 6'3" | 206 |
| 10 | Connor Stutz | Connecticut | 6th | 6'2" | 205 |
| 11 | James Rendell | Notre Dame | 5th | 6'6" | 221 |
| 12 | James Platte | The Citadel | 5th | 5'11" | 211 |
| 13 | Gabe Nwosu | Penn State | 5th | 6'6" | 313 |
| 14 | Keegan Andrews | Massachusetts | 4th | 6'3" | 256 |
| 15 | Jeff Yurk | Elon | 5th | 6'1" | 225 |
| 16 | Marshall Nichols | Georgia Tech | 5th | 6'1" | 222 |
| 17 | Keelan Crimmins | Illinois | 4th | 6'3" | 221 |
| 18 | Nick Veltsistas | Virginia Tech | 5th | 6'2" | 203 |
| 19 | John McConnell | Mercer | 5th | 6'3" | 182 |
| 20 | Mitchell Tomasek | Eastern Michigan | 5th | 6'4" | 221 |
| 21 | Jack Bouwmeester | Texas | 7th | 6'2" | 205 |
| 22 | Jack Burgess | Texas Tech | 4th | 6'2" | 206 |
| 23 | Logan Lupo | Florida Atlantic | 7th | 5'11" | 196 |
| 24 | Luke Freer | Air Force | 4th | 6'4" | 225 |
| 25 | Tyler Perkins | Iowa State | 4th | 5'11" | 193 |
| 26 | Finn Lappin | Kansas | 4th | 5'11" | 188 |
| 27 | Mitch McCarthy | Indiana | 4th | 6'5" | 242 |
| 28 | Blake Doud | Alabama | 5th | 6'5" | 205 |
| 29 | Ben D'Aquila | Northern Arizona | 4th | 6'0" | 200 |
| 30 | Luke Akers | Northwestern | 6th | 6'2" | 187 |
| 31 | Caden Noonkester | NC State | 5th | 6'6" | 210 |
| 32 | Jack McCallister | Purdue | 5th | 6'0" | 216 |
| 33 | Leo Blumentritt | Northern Colorado | 4th | 6'6" | 193 |
| 34 | Jake Zeller | Washburn | 4th | 6'0" | 183 |
| 35 | Fabrizio Pinton | McNeese | 5th | 6'2" | 235 |
| 36 | Isaac Lovison | Arizona | 4th | 6'4" | 220 |
| 37 | Brendon Kilpatrick | Youngstown State | 5th | 6'2" | 220 |
| 38 | Trey Wilhoit | Florida International | 5th | 5'10" | 172 |
| 39 | James Ferguson-Reynolds | Oregon | 4th | 6'2" | 193 |
| 40 | Max Morgan | Liberty | 5th | 6'2" | 225 |
| 41 | Joshua Huiet | Kennesaw State | 5th | 6'2" | 210 |
| 42 | Tom Maginness | North Carolina | 4th | 6'0" | 244 |
| 43 | Caleb Junko | Pittsburgh | 5th | 6'1" | 198 |
| 44 | Connor Weselman | Missouri | 5th | 6'3" | 212 |
| 45 | Sam Johnson | USC | 6th | 6'3" | 222 |
| 46 | Caile Hogan | UTSA | 4th | 6'1" | 210 |
| 47 | Nate Brackett | ETSU | 6th | 6'4" | 220 |
| 48 | Noah Pettinger | Northern Iowa | 4th | 6'4" | 225 |
| 49 | Chase Leon | South Florida | 4th | 6'5" | 210 |
| 50 | Riley Thompson | Penn State | 4th | 6'3" | 217 |
| 51 | Sawyer Evans | North Texas | 6th | 6'3" | 205 |
| 52 | Brodie Eisenbraun | Chadron State | 5th | 6'0" | 187 |
| 53 | Oliver Straw | West Virginia | 4th | 6'2" | 213 |
| 54 | Trace Hrgich | Grand Valley State | 5th | 6'1" | 204 |
| 55 | Elliot Janish | South Carolina State | 5th | 6'2" | 192 |
| 56 | Mason Miller | Eastern Illinois | 6th | 5'11" | 180 |
| 57 | Patrick Foley | UAB | 5th | 6'3" | 225 |
| 58 | Reilly Mason | West Georgia | 4th | 6'3" | 185 |
| 59 | Ross James | Oregon | 5th | 6'2" | 183 |
| 60 | Ethan Craw | TCU | 4th | 6'3" | 220 |
| 61 | Noah Jones | Samford | 5th | 6'0" | 180 |
| 62 | Daniel King | Southern Utah | 6th | 5'10" | 175 |
| 63 | Owen Lawson | Albany | 5th | 6'1" | 185 |
| 64 | Austin McCready | West Alabama | 6th | 6'1" | 212 |
| 65 | David Nunez | Texas State | 6th | 5'10" | 180 |
| 66 | Landon Ogles | Eastern Washington | 5th | 6'3" | 247 |
| 67 | Nathan Torney | Louisiana | 4th | 6'2" | 196 |
| 68 | Harry Traum | Indiana State | 4th | 6'0" | 190 |
| 69 | Adam Saul | Ball State | 6th | 6'5" | 186 |
| 70 | Cal McGough | Sacramento State | 4th | 6'1" | 188 |
| 71 | Will Lynch | LIU | 4th | 6'3" | 180 |
| 72 | James Allen | Rhode Island | 5th | 6'3" | 179 |
| 73 | Clayton Taylor | Stony Brook | 4th | 6'1" | 205 |
| 74 | Ryan Shamburger | Incarnate Word | 6th | 6'2" | 195 |
| 75 | Matt Schearer | Bucknell | 4th | 5'11" | 185 |
| 76 | Noah Botsford | UTEP | 5th | 6'2" | 234 |
| 77 | David Chapeau | Louisville | 7th | 6'1" | 234 |
| 78 | Joe Weiers | Tiffin | 4th | 6'1" | 202 |
| 79 | Jaren Van Winkle | UT-Martin | 5th | 6'3" | 200 |
| 80 | Dyson Roberts | Delaware State | 6th | 6'0" | 170 |
| 81 | Trace Beard | Central Arkansas | 4th | 6'2" | 205 |
| 82 | Will Haslett | Fordham | 5th | 6'1" | 210 |
| 83 | Nate Millard | Kutztown | 4th | 5'11" | 160 |
| 84 | Aidan Cirulli | St. Francis (PA) | 5th | 5'11" | 175 |
| 85 | Brenden Lach | Delaware | 6th | 6'0" | 196 |
| 86 | Tony Johnson | Portland State | 4th | 6'3" | 165 |
| 87 | John Henderson | Bowling Green | 6th | 6'1" | 185 |
| 88 | Shamus Florio | Boston College | 6th | 6'3" | 200 |
| 89 | James Ingham | West Texas A&M | 5th | 6'5" | 225 |
| 90 | Vicente Lyon | Hobart | 4th | 6'4" | 200 |
| 91 | Drew Rader | Georgetown (KY) | 4th | 5'9" | 170 |
| 92 | Robert Cole | Alabama A&M | 5th | 5'11" | 215 |
| 93 | Gilbert Brown | Charleston Southern | 4th | 6'0" | 175 |
| 94 | Luke Larsen | Villanova | 6th | 6'2" | 235 |
| 95 | Michael Berarducci | Duquesne | 5th | 5'9" | 188 |
| 96 | Kip Warren | Morehead State | 5th | 6'2" | 195 |
| 97 | Sullivan Moon | Colorado-Mesa | 4th | 6'3" | 209 |
| 98 | Alyas Vigil | Southern Utah | 5th | 6'1" | 203 |
| 99 | Anthony Pecorella | Maine | 7th | 6'3" | 215 |
| 100 | Ryan Leavy | East Carolina | 6th | 6'1" | 200 |
| 101 | Anthony Beacom | Western Michigan | 5th | 5'8" | 225 |
| 102 | Joshua Brown | Wagner | 5th | 6'2" | 185 |
| 103 | Johnny Schifano | Grambling State | 5th | 5'8" | 181 |
| 104 | Jackson Dorr | Gardner-Webb | 5th | 6'0" | 190 |
| 105 | Anthony Frederique | Missouri State | 6th | 5'8" | 212 |
| 106 | Adam Atwell | Prairie View A&M | 4th | 6'1" | 195 |
| 107 | LJ Harm | Idaho | 4th | 6'0" | 185 |
| 108 | Donovan Warren | Jackson State | 5th | 6'0" | 215 |
| 109 | Santiago Sturla | Pennsylvania | 4th | 6'3" | 195 |
| 110 | Adrian Melesio | San Jose State | 5th | 5'10" | 203 |
MORE NFL DRAFT RANKINGS
Traits That Make a Punter Prospect Great
Punter is one of my favorite positions to scout because you get plenty of reps to evaluate. But there’s a lot more to being a punter than just kicking the ball far. Other than distance, you should consider hang time, speed to kick, placement near the end zone, and consistency when scouting the top punter prospects.
Some of the factors we consider when scouting are included below.
Leg Strength
Most importantly, draft eligible punters need to have a very strong leg. Keep in mind that leg strength is a lot more than just having a high punting average, you also need to translate that strength into hang time to prevent returns and avoid outkicking your coverage.
Placement
The best punter prospects are effective with directional punts, able to consistently down the ball inside the 20 yard line, and avoid touchbacks. They need to punt within the system and have good overall accuracy and consistency.
Technique
A lot of college punters use a rugby style, but that doesn’t really fly in the NFL. Future NFL punters need to have a clean, consistent technique to generate power and hang time. They also need to get the punt off incredibly fast to avoid getting blocked.
Holding
It might not be glamorous, but punters are almost always the holder on field goals and extra points. If your punter doesn’t cleanly catch and place the ball, your kicker will struggle. It might not be the hardest part of the job, but some players are significantly better than others.
2026 Punter Draft Prospects FAQs
Who is the best punter in the 2026 NFL Draft?
Brett Thorson from Georgia is heavily favored to be the first punter selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. Despite being a few years older than an average prospect, Thorson has a cannon for a leg that you rarely ever see at the college level.
How good is the punter draft class in 2026?
The 2026 punter class is pretty solid. It is boosted by having a couple great players at the top, but most of the next best players don’t get enough hang time for the NFL and will need to force more fair catches before getting a shot at the NFL.
