Kickers struggling across the NFL

Posted by Michael David Smith on December 3, 2019, 10:19 AM EST
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Kickers in the NFL are worse this season.

The league-wide field goal success rate this season is 79.9 percent, down significantly from last season’s 84.7 percent. The success rate on extra points this season is 93.2 percent, down from last season’s 94.3 percent.

As noted by Nick Veronica of NBC Sports, the field goal accuracy decline of 4.8 percentage points is the steepest decline in NFL history from one season to the next.

The steepest decline is on field goals of 50 yards and longer, where kickers are making just 53.2 percent this year after making 63.8 percent last year.

Whether it’s arguably the best kicker in NFL history in Adam Vinatieri, whose struggles for the Colts this season have been noteworthy, or problems with injuries and ineffectiveness in New England, where the Patriots have gone through four kickers already this season, the position is having its worst year in a long time.

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44 responses to “Kickers struggling across the NFL”

  1. The Steelers know the feeling.. they dealt with this last year.. Boswell truly must have been hurt or in a terrible funk… either way he seems to have overcome!

  2. Millenial kickers. Where’d the barefoot kickers go? Those weirdo’s were MEN. Weird…but MEN.

    Now they’re just weird AND bad at kicking.

    Justin Tucker sings OPERA, lol. He’s lucky he’s good at kicking.

  3. Mason Crosby this season is 100% on extra points and has missed one FG for 93.3%.

    It is always nice to be fully confident in your kicker going into the playoffs.

    Mason also kicks well in the elements and that is also a huge advantage late in the season and the playoffs.

    #GoPackGo!🏈

  5. superfanentertainment says:
    December 3, 2019 at 10:28 am
    Justin Tucker sings OPERA, lol. He’s lucky he’s good at kicking.
    ——————————————————————-
    and he sings opera in 7 deferent languages
    1. English
    2. Spanish
    3. French
    4. German
    5. Italian
    6. Latin
    7. Russian

  6. superfanentertainment says:
    December 3, 2019 at 10:28 am
    Millenial kickers. Where’d the barefoot kickers go? Those weirdo’s were MEN. Weird…but MEN.

    Now they’re just weird AND bad at kicking.

    Justin Tucker sings OPERA, lol. He’s lucky he’s good at kicking.
    ———–
    I’d take a millenial, opera-singing kicker like Tucker any day over a “man” who tries to show he’s tough by kicking with his bare foot. You must be a boomer with a foot fetish.

  8. As someone who watches both the CFL and NFL religiously, I can honestly say that every kicker in the CFL is better than at least half of the kickers on NFL rosters.

  11. It is analytics. They should know that. Teams have identified spending money on kickers and punters does not pay off. But the reality is they do pay off for good teams. See Baltimore and Tucker. Look at the kickers that are at the top of the list for %. Most of them are experienced kickers on good teams and then look at the bottom of the list is where you find the cheap kicker on teams that are not so good. Problem solved. Case in point last week You got Carolina missing a short field goal by by Slye who is a rookie making 450K and then put him up against Lutz who make 4 times that. Who wins the game. New Orleans does that’s who.

  12. While it can’t just be about the rule changes that make kicks harder, it does raise the point about that change:

    Is it fun to watch kickers miss?

    It seems like every game has this happen more than it used to. Yes, it adds some drama, adds to the roller-coaster nature of games, helps keep games close in some cases. There’s a case to be made for it.

    But it’s not fun to watch a kicker miss. It’s a letdown, it makes the drive feel like a waste of time (more than does a failed TD attempt), and it means another commercial accompanied by an empty feeling.

    Is that fun? Does it make the product better?

  15. I’m thankful that the Saints have Wil Lutz for their kicker. Lutz is very accurate, and 50+ yard kicks don’t scare him at all. His 58-yarder against the Texans in Week 1, which was the longest game-winning FG with no time remaining in NFL history, shows he’s got the leg to make the long kicks even in high-stress, game-winning situations. The best gift the Saints ever got (besides Drew Brees, of course) was the recommendation from the Ravens to snatch Lutz off of waivers in 2016 after their choosing to keep Justin Tucker.

  16. “Whether it’s arguably the best kicker in NFL history in Adam Vinatieri…”

    You misspelled Justin Tucker

  17. I predict that Carli Lloyd will be in a NFL training camp next summer.

    It will be quite entertaining because it will trigger many here if a female makes it on a NFL team.

    We will see if she makes the final 53 on a NFL roster, but at least one team will have her in camp competing with their kicker for the job.

  21. Put all these kickers on commission only pay regardless of outdoor/indoor settings, weather and wind conditions, good turf/bad turf, good/bad placeholding then they will get better at their craft:

    Here is what I would do:
    PAT’s (33 yards): Each success Kicker gets $25K, each PAT miss kicker gives back $100K (No excuses anymore missing those, the offense earned the 6 points and each miss deflates that drive and changes coaches tactics, that’s why my proposal is not harsh but fair)
    Every successful field goal more than 60 yards kicker gets $250K per success
    Every successful field goal made less than 60 yards, kicker gets $150K per success
    Every miss on field goals attempted 0-50 yards,kicker pays back to team $200k
    Every miss on field goals attempted between 50-55 yards, kicker pays back to team $50K
    Every miss on field goals attempted between 55-60 yards, kicker pays back $10K
    Every miss on field goals attempted over 60 yards, kicker pays back $0

  23. coolzog says:
    December 3, 2019 at 10:46 am
    As someone who watches both the CFL and NFL religiously, I can honestly say that every kicker in the CFL is better than at least half of the kickers on NFL rosters.
    ____________

    Stop with this comparison. CFL kickers use a tee for field goals while NFL kickers kick off the ground. Not remotely the same thing.

  24. Carli Lloyd will never be in the NFL. Every single Division I college kicker in the country can make the kick she made. In shorts, with no pressure, running up like it’s a kickoff. People need to slow their roll on that kick.

  25. This is true. The kicker for my Giants, Rosas, was an all-pro last year….he may possibly be out of a job next year. I hope we keep him, but I wouldnt be stunned if he were cut.

  26. annapterp says:

    Stop with this comparison. CFL kickers use a tee for field goals while NFL kickers kick off the ground. Not remotely the same thing.

    ___________________

    Mike Vanderjagt was a CFL kicker who later had success in the NFL.
    Kickers in the CFL are from American colleges, who have to kick off the ground, not a tee.
    If a kicker has a strong leg and can be accurate off a tee, it’s not a huge stretch that they could be good without the tee.

  28. Carli has done more than that one kick little lavender boy.👌

    She is training for the NFL.

    I know it upsets you, but she has a good chance of making a roster.

  30. Speaking of kicks, did you see the Texans kick the Patriots’ butts Sunday night? Hahahahahahahaha!

  31. richc111 says: “Case in point last week You got Carolina missing a short field goal by by Slye who is a rookie making 450K and then put him up against Lutz who make 4 times that. Who wins the game. New Orleans does that’s who.”
    ———————

    Carolina has Graham Cano signed last year for 4yrs/$17m. He’s currently on INJURED RESERVED list and nothing to do with “analytics”…

  34. Here’s a great opportunity for those 2nd and 3rd string linemen. Either learn to snap the ball 10 yards in the air consistently and become a “long snapper”, or channel your inner Jerry Kramer, learn the straight ahead kick, and gainful employment will be yours. Wouldn’t we all love to see a 300 pound lineman kicking straight ahead field goals??? Couldn’t be much worse than some of the performances these guys are putting up, and it would be much more fun to watch.And yes, Jerry Kramer, HoF offensive lineman for the mighty Packers of the 60’s, kicked extra points and field goals.

  35. richc111 says: “Look at the kickers that are at the top of the list for %. Most of them are experienced kickers on good teams and then look at the bottom of the list is where you find the cheap kicker on teams that are not so good.”
    ————————-

    “Bottom of the list” includes Adam Vinatieri, Matt Bryant, Stephen Hauschka, Brett Maher – all worst than Joey Slye.

    On the other end, you got a bunch of good young kickers in the Top 10 on cheap contracts (Zane Gonzalez, Matt Gay, Austin Seibert) and a couple of guys (Wil Lutz, Jake Elliott, Harrison Butker) that JUST SIGNED their lucrative contract this year. (Which means they were one of the “cheap kickers” the last couple of years that you were disparaging about…)

  37. Too bad for Colin Kaepernick.
    He’d have a job if he could kick, considering how bad most kickers are this season.

  39. It is because the League has cut the width down from where they used to be. In the desire to increase scoring. The only thing it has done is increase punts! Put the damn things back to where they were, those 6 feet have turned exciting long field goals, to boring punts with more player impacts!

  40. “Stop with this comparison. CFL kickers use a tee for field goals while NFL kickers kick off the ground. Not remotely the same thing”

    Kicking tees are not required and some kickers don’t use them. In addition, all they are is a piece of plastic <1 inch in thickness (ie. shorter than grass/turf etc.)

    And they also play almost all their games outside, in Canada, in worse weather than the average NFL kicker. In addition the hash-marks are wider in the CFL, making angles more difficult.

    I'm not saying it's exactly the same, I'm saying that if I need a 45 year field goal to win the game, I'd rather rely on one of the CFL kickers vs most of the NFL kickers the last couple years.

  42. Wonder if the kicking ball is different this year? Just like MLB changes the baseball during the season.

  43. freedomofspeechyesway says:
    December 3, 2019 at 10:47 am
    If I had a son, I legit would just start training him to kick field goals at an early age. By the time he was 17 he’d be a stud.

    This may sound like a joke, but think about it.

    There are families-Gramatica, Zendejas, Colquitt that already do this. Smart. Same with DeOssie and long snappers.

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