Track which conferences produce the most NFL talent by analyzing return specialist kick return and punt return yards, touchdowns, and return performance during the 2026 NFL season. See detailed NFL statistics, rankings, and performance data for conference teams and their NFL alumni.
Kickoff Returns | Punt Returns | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference | FP | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | Players |
1  SEC | 53.98 | 37 | 1112 | 30.05 | 79 | 0 | 11 | 95 | 8.64 | 19 | 0 | 17 |
2  Big 12 | 39.62 | 30 | 738 | 24.60 | 42 | 0 | 11 | 101 | 9.18 | 17 | 0 | 13 |
3  Big Ten | 33.12 | 20 | 583 | 29.15 | 68 | 0 | 9 | 98 | 10.89 | 23 | 0 | 12 |
4  ACC | 24 | 16 | 400 | 25.00 | 37 | 0 | 7 | 80 | 11.43 | 19 | 0 | 7 |
5  CAA | 9.66 | 4 | 154 | 38.50 | 50 | 0 | 3 | 35 | 11.67 | 17 | 0 | 2 |
6  Big Sky | 6.06 | 5 | 129 | 25.80 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 9.00 | 9 | 0 | 2 |
7  American | 4.64 | 5 | 116 | 23.20 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
8  Mountain West | 3.82 | 3 | 78 | 26.00 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3.50 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
9  Pac-12 | 2.32 | 2 | 58 | 29.00 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
10  UAC | 2.16 | 2 | 54 | 27.00 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
11  CUSA | 1.36 | 1 | 34 | 34.00 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
12  SWAC | 2.1 | 1 | 25 | 25.00 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 11.00 | 11 | 0 | 1 |
12  Southern | 1 | 2 | 25 | 12.50 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
14  Patriot | 2.3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 23.00 | 23 | 0 | 1 |
14  MAC | 1.7 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 8.50 | 12 | 0 | 1 |