UDD’s Top 20 FCS Specialists for 2026

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The 2026 FCS season is just eight short (or agonizingly long, depending on how you look at it) weeks away and now that July is officially here, it’s time to do what we here at Underdog Dynasty like to always do to pass the summer days away until kickoff; rank things. Last week we clocked the best coaches in the subdivision and now this week we take a look at the top specialists. There always are plenty of great ones to sift through and this year it’s no different. From kickers to punters to the guys that give them nightmares, here’s who are slated to be the best of the best in the FCS this season:

Honorable Mentions: Myles Sansted, K (Montana State), Markell Quick, KR (Southern Illinois), Soren McKee, K (Eastern Washington), Kaleb Robison, K (Campbell), Braden Reed, PR (Villanova)

20. T.J. Cadden, KR/PR – Bucknell

T.J. Cadden has quietly had one of the better careers as an FCS return man as he comes into his senior season with Bucknell. Although he did not find the end zone last year in the return game, Cadden did finish sixth in the country with 765 total return yards. Over his three seasons with the Bison he has taken three kicks (two punts and one kickoff) back for touchdowns and he averages 21.5 yards per runback. He saw career highs in total kick return yards (570) and kick return attempts (28) in 2025. Cadden is two years removed from being the top return man in the Patriot League and there is no reason to think he can’t get back to that caliber again this fall.

19. Hayden King, LS – UT Martin

The best long snapper in the land right now is UT Martin’s Hayden King and the proof was in the play last season. King was a first-team All-Big South-OVC selection after leading the country in blocked kicks and punts with zero. He started in all 12 games for the Skyhawks and the kickers behind him converted on over 95% of their kick attempts. He delivered the ball perfectly practically every time and the few flubs there were on UT Martin’s special teams unit were not because of him. He may not appear in the stat sheet much but he’s arguably one of the most important pieces on a UTM squad that has real playoff aspirations in 2026.

18. Brett Starling, K/P – Hampton

Starling pulled double duties for Hampton last fall serving as both the kicker and punter. He did very well at both. Starling drilled 11 of his 12 field goal tries while also averaging 42.3 yards per punt. A third-team All-CAA selection in 2025, Starling posted a dozen punts that went beyond 50 yards and pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line 10 times. He was also a perfect 26-for-26 on extra point attempts. He is just a redshirt sophomore and his upside is as good as any in the country right now. Having a steady leg in multiple facets of the kicking game is important and the Pirates have one of the best.

17. Stephon Hicks, DEF – William & Mary

One of the most tenacious defenders when it came to special teams last year was William & Mary linebacker Stephon Hicks. Hicks was one of just two players in the FCS to notch four blocked kicks by himself a season ago, putting him just one short of the FCS all-time record. That tremendous effort earned him a spot on the All-CAA First-Team when all was said and done. Hicks was a nightmare for opposing special teams units with an uncanny ability to penetrate the front on kicking plays. He has speed and awareness that make him an extremely valuable defender to put in on punts. It worked out incredibly well for the Tribe in 2025 and there should be no reason it won’t again this time around.

16. Ethan Loss, KR – Illinois State

The national runner-ups got a big boost in the return game this offseason with the addition of former Butler ace Ethan Loss. Loss was tremendous for the Bulldogs last year as a junior, returning 22 kicks for over 600 total yards and authoring two touchdowns. He was one of just five FCS return men to record multiple TDs by way of kickoff returns. Loss is shifty with the ball in his hands and the Redbirds will want to utilize his abilities on special teams as much as they will want to on the outside. He was an All-Pioneer League honorable mention last fall.

15. Isaiah Perez, DEF – Eastern Washington

Isaiah Perez proved last season that he isn’t just a force to be reckoned with as a defensive tackle. He is also a stonewaller on the Eastern Washington special teams coverage unit. Perez blocked four kicks last year for the Eagles, tying him for first in that category alongside the aforementioned Hicks. Not only does he have a big body that can move guys around up front, he also can shoot his hand up as good as anyone to disrupt the routine of opposing kickers. Perez was an honorable mention to the All-Big Sky team in 2025 and now comes into his redshirt senior season as maybe the most dangerous special teams defender out there.

14. Emiliano Salazar, K/P – San Diego

One of the best kickers in the Pioneer League last year, San Diego’s Emiliano Salazar finished his sophomore campaign with a 15-of-18 made field goals and was named the conference’s Special Teams Player of the Year. Salazar was also the Toreros’ primary punter, booting away 37 kicks with an average of 44.8 yards per attempt (11th best in the FCS). He only had four touchbacks in those punts and not have one blocked. Salazar also kicked the ball off 65 times and accumulated more than 4,000 yards in that department as well. He has one of the strongest legs in college football and it should only get stronger as he comes into his third season.

13. Isaiah Scott, PR – Wofford

Isaiah Scott was one of the best punt returners in the SoCon and in the country last year, putting up 16 yards per runback. Scott was only a sophomore in 2025 but he had the savvy of a veteran when it came to special teams. His lone house call came in Wofford’s Week 6 contest against Western Carolina and he was responsible for 272 total punt return yards last year. His speed and ability to change angles on a dime has him as a top returner heading into 2026 and, if he can keep pace from what he did a season ago, he should be in for another all-conference type year.

12. Ryan Marks, P – Utah Tech

Senior Ryan Marks has been one of the more steady punters in the FCS as of late and last year in particular he was lights out. Marks finished seventh in the nation with an average of 46.5 yards per punt and was named a finalist for the FCS’s National Punter of the Year award. He had 2,694 total punt yards for the Trailblazers and had 20 attempts go more than 50 yards. He currently is the Utah Tech record holder for career average. He’s only posted six touchbacks and has a career long of 63. Marks was one of the best special teamers in the UAC last season and now, with the team’s move to the Big Sky, he should stack up nicely among all of the great punters in that league as well.

11. Nehemiah Hixon, KR – Alabama State

Alabama State standout Nehemiah Hixon had one of the more special freshman seasons we’ve seen in a while in the FCS, specifically when it came to his prowess as a kickoff return man. Hixon was named to the All-SWAC second team for what he was able to do on special teams. He averaged a staggering 30.5 yards per kick return last fall and took one back 99 yards for a touchdown. In 11 games, Hixon was good for more than 44 return yards per contest and finished as one of the top HBCU special teamers in 2025. Instead of hitting the portal, he opted to stay with the Hornets and his presence will again make ASU one of the more feared kickoff units around.

10. Connor Poole, K/P – Lehigh

Connor Poole has served as Lehigh’s starting punter for two years now and his numbers have gone up each season. He has kicked away 89 punts for the Mountain Hawks, averaging 41.3 yards per boot. Poole flips the field as well as anyone with 31 of those going inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. He also took over field goals and extra points last fall and did quite well there too. He went 17-0f-17 on PATs and and made three of his four field goal attempts, putting up 26 points for a Lehigh squad that went undefeated in the regular season. Poole is also the kickoff man and saw drastic improvement in that department as well last year, dropping his touchbacks down to just 11 on 56 kicks. He shapes up to be one of the best special teamers in the Patriot League once more this fall.

9. Noah Piper, K – Yale

Yale’s Noah Piper was one of the best kickers in the FCS last year and he was a big player in the Bulldogs taking home the Ivy League championship. Piper, an incoming sophomore, nailed 13 of his 15 field goal tries with a long of 50. He also connected on 31 of his 32 PATs and tallied up 70 points when all was said and done. FCS Football Central dubbed him an All-American as a freshman and it feels like that is just the start of the accolades that could come piling in for the youngster from Texas. Piper was the Ivy League’s leader in field goal accuracy in 2025 (86.7%) and there’s no reason he shouldn’t at least be among the top in that category again this time out.

8. Ja’briel Mace, KR – Villanova

Doubling as one of ‘Nova’s starting running backs, junior Ja’Briel Mace is quite the return man for the Wildcats as well. As a sophomore last year, Mace ran back 23 kickoffs and took two of them the distance, one of which went 100 yards. He put up 32 yards per return and now has over 1,000 kickoff return yards since the 2024 campaign. After some scare that he would enter the transfer portal, Mace is back in Philly and is again looking to be a key contributor on both offense and special teams for a Villanova bunch that is fresh off their first appearance in the national semifinals in 15 years.

7.Luke Barnes, K – Elon

Luke Barnes was nails for Elon as a sophomore last year, hitting 15-of-18 field goal tries (83.3%) and he now sits at fifth place in school history with 21 career makes. His three field goals were the difference in one of the Phoenix’s biggest wins of the year when they toppled Western Carolina 37-31 in Week 3. Barnes was pretty much automatic on kicks from inside 50 yards, making 14 of 15. He also made all 40 of the extra points he attempted in 2025. All around he is one of the best kickers in the subdivision and chose to stay at Elon heading into his junior season. If Barnes can keep his career field goal percentage above 75% he’ll stay in the top three in program history in that category as well.

6. Max Pelham, P – South Dakota State

It was an up-and-down season in Brookings last year but one consistent was punter Max Pelham. Now a grad senior for the Jacks, Pelham was a first-team All-Missouri Valley pick in 2025. He averaged over 47 yards per boot and had a long of 68. He was as difficult as any to get a good return off of as 14 of his kicks came down inside the 20-yard line and another 14 were fair caught. Pelham did not have a single punt blocked out of 42 and he racked up nearly 2,000 total yards on his kicks. South Dakota State is hoping it won’t have to punt quite as much as it did last year but if it comes down to it they have one of the best punters out there. Pelham played in all 14 games for the Jackrabbits last year.

5. Andrew Lastovka, K – Youngstown State

It seems like Andrew Lastovka appears on this list every year and rightfully so. He is one of the top kickers in the country as he enters his fifth season. Aided by a Penguins offense that puts up a ton of points, Lastovka gets a ton of opportunities for field goals and extra points, neither of which he misses many of. On his career he’s connected on 44 field goals with a long of 51 and has hit a whopping 141 extra points. For those doing the math, that’s 273 points that have come for YSU off of Lastovka’s leg. The big change last season was that he was taken off kickoff duties and focused entirely on field goals and PATs. There is a lot of hype surrounding the Penguins this season and, although guys like Walter Payton Award winner Beau Brungard headline things, Lastovka is just as key a piece to the team’s success.

4. Elijah Kennedy, PR – North Carolina A&T

Kicking the ball to Elijah Kennedy proved to be a bad move for teams in 2025. North Carolina A&T’s electric receiver was a show stopper as a punt and kick returner last year, taking back two punts for touchdowns and housing a kickoff as well. He averaged 19.6 yards on kick runbacks and 16.3 on punts while piling up 999 yards of total return yardage (the most of any FCS player). Kennedy can bob and weave with the best of them and if he gets into space usually ends up making coverage units look silly. He stuck around for his senior season and again it appears that the Aggies will have one of the most dynamite return aces on their sideline in 2026.

3. Ben Shrewsbury, K/P – VMI

No one piled up the numbers last season quite like VMI’s Ben Shrewsbury when it came to punting the ball away. He was the only punter in the subdivision to have over 4,000 total yards and his average of 47.9 yards per boot were third in the FCS and fifth overall in Divsion I. Over two seasons with the Keydets, Shrewsbury has only had nine touchbacks and has forced 42 fair catches due to the terrific hangtime he leaves on the ball. He pinned the opposition inside the 20-yard line 22 times last fall and still has not had a single kick blocked. He was rightfully a First-Team All-SoCon selection in 2025 as a junior.

2. Taco Dowler, PR – Montana State

Montana State’s Taco Dowler is not only an ultra-talented receiver that made the game-winning catch in last year’s national championship but he’s really scary when he gets ahold of punts in the return game also. Dowler is not typically one to call for fair catches and usually it works out for him even if defenses are right in his grill. In four seasons returning for MSU, he’s diced his way through coverage units for 1,080 total yards and has four house calls. In 2025, Dowler averaged 13.2 yards per runback. Now he comes into his final season of eligibility with 77 career punts taken and is again looking to be the most dangerous returner in the Big Sky and maybe in the entire country.

1. Bugs Mortimer, PR – Stephen F. Austin

There are few more lethal with the ball in their hands on punt returns than Stephen F. Austin ace Bugs Mortimer. After transferring in as a junior last season, the electric Mortimer led the FCS in both punt return yards and touchdowns. He racked up 537 return yards in 12 games of action (the next closest mark over a 150 yards less) and found the end zone four times. Mortimer is as shifty as they come and it usually takes multiple tacklers to bring him down, if they are able to all. He’s a one-man highlight reel that makes the Lumberjacks special teams unit one of the best in the country on his own. He averaged over 21 yards per runback in 2025 and is in line to have another terrific season this fall.

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