NFL Kickers better than ever
I remember a couple years ago listening to the Dan Le Batard show, and they were discussing Jason Sanders’ accuracy after a game where he made multiple field goals.
We’re at a point now where all a team’s current kicker has to do is attempt enough field goals to qualify, and he’ll wind up as their most accurate kicker in team history.
For example, Anders Carlson, 2023 kicker for the Packers, went 27/33 on field goals last year, good enough to sneak him past Ryan Longwell and Mason Crosby for the top spot on their all-time list… but he also missed five XPs (Longwell and Crosby each only missed four on the shorter XP, with Crosby missing another 16 in the eight years he spent kicking the longer ones), and Carlson had some misses vs. SF in the playoffs last season, so they brought in competition this spring. Rookie Brayden Narveson has replaced him in 2024, and you can already find local beat articles preaching patience with him (he’s 6/8 on field goals for the year so far, and made all three of his XPs). Now imagine me not knowing any of this before randomly deciding to select the Packers to make this point. Kicking has come such a long way.