Bengals' Ryan Rehkow on Verge of Being Franchise's First Punter to Lead NFL in Average in More Than 4 Decades

CINCINNATI – Who says the last three games are meaningless for the Cincinnati Bengals?

An NFL title could be on the line.

A punting title, that is.

Bengals punter Ryan Rehkow moved into first place in average yards per punt after Week 5 against Detroit, and he’s stayed in first place ever since.

But now he has a roommate.

Green Bay’s Daniel Whelan has moved into a tie with Rehkow at 51.3 yards per punt, while Baltimore’s Jordan Stout (50.9) and Philadelphia’s Braden Mann (50.0) are close behind.

Arizona has two punters with impressive averages – Blake Gillikin (51.7) and Matt Haack (49.8).

But a punter needs to average 2.5 punts per team game played to qualify, and Gillikin only had 22 punts before getting injured in October. And Haack only has 16 punts since taking over the duties in Week 12.

Rehkow set the Cincinnati franchise record last year as a rookie with an average of 49.1 yards, which was nearly 2 yards more than Kevin Huber’s pervious mark of 47.2, set in 2020.

Rehkow’s net average of 43.8 last year also set a franchise record.

He has a 42.3-yard net this year, which is currently third (Huber had a 42.8 in 2020).

The last Cincinnati punter to lead the league in average was Pat McInally in the 1981 Super Bowl season, when he averaged 46.1 yards.

The only other Bengals punter to lead the league was Dave Lewis in 1970 with a mark of 46.2.

The NFL didn’t start tracking net average until 2000.

No Bengals punter has led the league in that category, and Rehkow won’t do it this year.

He currently sits in 11th place at 42.3, due in large part to the fact that he is tied for the league lead in touchbacks with 11.

Cleveland’s Corey Bojorquez also has 11.

But Bojorquez has punted 80 times this year to Rehkow’s 54.

The league started tracking touchbacks in 1991.

The Bengals record for most in a season is 17 by Lee Johnson in 1996.

He led the league that season and is the only Bengals punter to ever do so.

Johnson’s 17 came on 79 attempts, meaning 21.5 percent of his punts were touchbacks. That’s the fourth-highest percentage since at least 1991.

Rehkow’s touchback percentage of 20.4 is the eighth highest in that time span.

Green Bay’s Craig Hentrich set the record for most touchbacks (21) and touchback percentage (28.0) in 1997.

Rehkow is signed through 2026. He will earn a base salary of $1,075,000 next season after making $960,000 this season.

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