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Shayne Graham played his final game in 2015 after 15 seasons as one of the best field goal kickers, statistically speaking, the NFL had seen.
He has devoted his post-kicking career to coaching the generation of kickers after him, and he can gauge the progress of his profession by the dwindling stature of his own accomplishments.
Recently, Graham studied the all-time list of NFL career field goal percentage. “I’m sitting at 18,” he said in late November. “For the longest time, I was number two. I may have even hit number one for a second. My 85.5 percent has been slowly dropping down the charts. As soon as these young guys hit 100 field goals, they qualify, and I just keep getting bumped down.”
On Sunday, Cleveland Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins made all three field goals he attempted and boosted his career percentage from 85.4 to 85.6. Graham dropped another spot, to 19th.
So it is for NFL field goal kicking in 2023: all-time performances occurring weekly but going largely unnoticed because of how routine they have become.
Kickers have made 85.8 percent of field goal attempts this season, the second-highest leaguewide rate behind 2013, which would make the composite 2023 NFL kicker the 15th-most-accurate ever. By career percentage among kickers with 100 field goal attempts, 11 of the top 21 — including seven of the top 10 and the entire top five — are active.
That doesn’t include Dallas rookie Brandon Aubrey, who has made all 26 field goals he has attempted, or second-year Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker, who has started his career 38 for 40.
What’s unique about kickers’ success this season is how frequently coaches have trusted them — with justification — from length.
NFL teams have attempted 177 field goals of at least 50 yards, already the third most ever and on pace to break the record set last year. Kickers have made 67.2 percent. Jan Stenerud, the first kicker elected to the Hall of Fame, made 66.8 percent of his field goals — from all distances.
Jake Elliott delivered one of the signature moments of the season when he drilled a 59-yard field goal off wet turf, through wind and driving rain to push the Philadelphia Eagles into overtime against the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 26. The circumstances heightened Elliott’s kick, but he is hardly alone.
Four kickers this season have made a field goal of at least 60 yards, and 11 have drilled at least one from at least 57.
“It’s scary,” said Jamie Kohl, who kicked at Iowa State in the late 1990s and owns Kohl’s Kicking Camps. “When I played, I could have never envisioned them getting this good.”
As it stands, Atlanta Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo (90.1 percent) tops the all-time list for accuracy. But that’s only because Justin Tucker, widely regarded as the best kicker ever and a rare placekicking lock for Canton, hooked a 44-yarder left in the Ravens’ Week 12 victory over the Chargers, dropping his career percentage to 89.9.
“Unless I retire tomorrow, I don’t think it’s going to matter,” Koo said last week in a phone conversation. “I’m going to look at that number maybe when I’m done playing. But everyone is still playing.”……..
He has devoted his post-kicking career to coaching the generation of kickers after him, and he can gauge the progress of his profession by the dwindling stature of his own accomplishments.
Recently, Graham studied the all-time list of NFL career field goal percentage. “I’m sitting at 18,” he said in late November. “For the longest time, I was number two. I may have even hit number one for a second. My 85.5 percent has been slowly dropping down the charts. As soon as these young guys hit 100 field goals, they qualify, and I just keep getting bumped down.”
On Sunday, Cleveland Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins made all three field goals he attempted and boosted his career percentage from 85.4 to 85.6. Graham dropped another spot, to 19th.
So it is for NFL field goal kicking in 2023: all-time performances occurring weekly but going largely unnoticed because of how routine they have become.
Kickers have made 85.8 percent of field goal attempts this season, the second-highest leaguewide rate behind 2013, which would make the composite 2023 NFL kicker the 15th-most-accurate ever. By career percentage among kickers with 100 field goal attempts, 11 of the top 21 — including seven of the top 10 and the entire top five — are active.
That doesn’t include Dallas rookie Brandon Aubrey, who has made all 26 field goals he has attempted, or second-year Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker, who has started his career 38 for 40.
What’s unique about kickers’ success this season is how frequently coaches have trusted them — with justification — from length.
NFL teams have attempted 177 field goals of at least 50 yards, already the third most ever and on pace to break the record set last year. Kickers have made 67.2 percent. Jan Stenerud, the first kicker elected to the Hall of Fame, made 66.8 percent of his field goals — from all distances.
Jake Elliott delivered one of the signature moments of the season when he drilled a 59-yard field goal off wet turf, through wind and driving rain to push the Philadelphia Eagles into overtime against the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 26. The circumstances heightened Elliott’s kick, but he is hardly alone.
Four kickers this season have made a field goal of at least 60 yards, and 11 have drilled at least one from at least 57.
“It’s scary,” said Jamie Kohl, who kicked at Iowa State in the late 1990s and owns Kohl’s Kicking Camps. “When I played, I could have never envisioned them getting this good.”
As it stands, Atlanta Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo (90.1 percent) tops the all-time list for accuracy. But that’s only because Justin Tucker, widely regarded as the best kicker ever and a rare placekicking lock for Canton, hooked a 44-yarder left in the Ravens’ Week 12 victory over the Chargers, dropping his career percentage to 89.9.
“Unless I retire tomorrow, I don’t think it’s going to matter,” Koo said last week in a phone conversation. “I’m going to look at that number maybe when I’m done playing. But everyone is still playing.”……..
