Fantasy Football Kickers Guide by Bill Shaw

The Complete Guide to Kickology 3rd edition by Mike Herman and Guests exclusive to Footballguys

Contributing FBG Staff members • Mike Herman • Mike Anderson • Will Grant • Jeff Pasquino • Chase Stuart • Maurice Tremblay Contributing Freelance Writer • Andrew Brecher

Featuring interview material from the following NFL kickers • Connor Barth • Mason Crosby • Jay Feely • Robbie Gould • Ryan Longwell • Joe Nedney • Jeff Reed

Table of Contents 1. Preface.........................................................................................................................................................3 2. The History of Kicking ..................................................................................................................................4 3. Fantasy Kicker Scoring Systems ...............................................................................................................11 4. How Many Points Do Kickers Score Each Year? ......................................................................................12 5. How Many Points Do Kickers Score Each Week? ....................................................................................14 6. What Happens in 1.3 Seconds? ................................................................................................................15 7. Which Teams Are Scoring Kicking Points? ...............................................................................................17 8. Top Kickers: Where Do They Come From and Where Do They Go? .......................................................19 9. The Greatest Field Goal Kickers Ever .......................................................................................................20 Section by guest FBG staff member Chase Stuart 10. Bonus Scorers .........................................................................................................................................29 11. Consistent Scorers...................................................................................................................................32 12. Squandered Scoring Opportunities..........................................................................................................34 13. Field Goal Opportunities ..........................................................................................................................36 14. Accuracy ..................................................................................................................................................38 15. Why Do They Keep Getting Better? ........................................................................................................40 16. Attempts-Adjusted Accuracy (AAA) .........................................................................................................44 Section by guest freelance writer Andrew Brecher 17. The K-ball.................................................................................................................................................47 18. The Kickoff ...............................................................................................................................................50 19. Do Good Offenses Produce High Scoring Kickers? ................................................................................51 20. Do Poor Red Zone Offenses Produce High Scoring Kickers? ................................................................53 21. Do Good Defenses Produce High Scoring Kickers? ...............................................................................55 22. Do Personnel Changes Impact Kicker Scoring? .....................................................................................57 23. Domes vs. Outdoor Stadiums..................................................................................................................58 24. Weather Report........................................................................................................................................60 25. Kickers vs. Mother Nature .......................................................................................................................66 26. Grass vs. Synthetic Turfs.........................................................................................................................68 27. Profile of a Top Five Kicker......................................................................................................................73 28. Profile of the Year Prior to Being a Top Five Kicker ................................................................................74 29. Drafting a Kicker ......................................................................................................................................77 30. Buying a Kicker in an Auction ..................................................................................................................79 31. Dynasty Leagues .....................................................................................................................................80 Section by guest FBG staff members Mike Anderson, Will Grant, Maurice Tremblay, and Jeff Pasquino 32. The Stadiums: Vital Statistics ..................................................................................................................82 33. The Stadiums According to Kickers?.......................................................................................................84 34. The Stadiums: Kicking Results ................................................................................................................86 35. K-defensive Factors .................................................................................................................................90 36. The Lesser Known ...................................................................................................................................91 37. Bibliography and Other Kicking Information Resources ..........................................................................92

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1. Preface kick⋅ol⋅o⋅gy [kik-ol-uh-jee] - noun 1. The science devoted to the study of striking, driving, forcing, etc., with the foot or feet. 2. Football: The science devoted to the study of scoring (a field goal or a conversion) by place-kicking or dropkicking the ball. Introduction “Your toddler's barely learned to walk -but you could swear you just saw her kicking a rubber ball. It's true: By age two, she'll have the balance and foot-eye coordination necessary to do this. But don't expect her to bend it like Beckham anytime soon. At first, all she'll be able to do is hold her foot in front of her body and swiftly swat at the ball to push it forward. By age three, she'll figure out how to swing her leg like a pendulum to send the ball soaring. It'll take her another couple of years to have the coordination to run up to the ball before punting it.” - Parenting

Small Boy Kicking a Football, 1916

Kicking a ball appears to be a human instinct. It surfaces at an early age in children in cultures all around the world. It continues throughout childhood and into adulthood, as evidenced by the games we play. Consequently, it is not surprising that placekicker is the favorite position of most fans of American football. A Few Notes and Disclaimers

Welcome to the third edition of the Complete Guide to Kickology. Like the first two editions, it contains plenty of dehumanizing statistical fantasy analyses of NFL kickers. New to the third edition however are several sections that take a look at kicking and kickers in the real world.

Analysis on season total statistics typically date back to 1990

Analysis on individual game statistics typically date back to 2001

Top 5 kicking numbers are highlighted in yellow, 6th thru 10th are highlighted in lime green

More than one section of this article explores statistical correlations between kicking and other factors. Whether there is truly a cause and effect relationship for each of these, we cannot be certain. Each reader will have to decide for themselves whether they feel a correlation is a relationship or just a statistical coincidence.

The Complete Guide to Kickology attempts to be a fairly comprehensive source on pro football kicking, although that is probably an impossible task. If you have any information to add, requests for additions, comments, or questions please contact Footballguys’ Department of Kickology by e-mail at herman@footballguys.com

Follow Kickology on Twitter: http://twitter.com/HermanKickology

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2. The History of Kicking “If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development.” - Aristotle

Timeline of kicking history, milestones, and rule changes that impacted the NFL kicking game: 2500 B.C. The ancient Egyptians played a game involving kicking a ball. It is believed that the balls were typically made from seeds wrapped in linen and that the games were part of fertility rituals involving a very large number of participants. 2500 B.C. The Chinese game of Tsu Chu (or Cuju) is documented in military manuals of the Han Dynasty which started in 206 B.C., although many historians believe it may have originated several centuries early. Tsu translates as "to kick the ball with feet" and Chu as "a ball made of leather and stuffed." The game involved two teams trying to kick the ball through an approximately 12” diameter hole in silk nets strung between two 30 foot tall bamboo poles. Use of hands was not allowed. 1600 B.C. Discovered in Mexico, the oldest Mesoamerican ball court dates back this far. The Mayans adopted the earlier game of Pitz as Pok-A-Tok, which involves trying to get a rubber ball through a small vertical stone hoop approximately 23 feet in the air without the use of hands. After a game, the captain of the winning team was sometimes beheaded. The ritual sacrifice was a highly desirable and honorable goal, and possibly served as a shortcut to heaven.

Chinese game of Tsu Chu

1000 B.C. Australian Aborigines have played the game of Marngrook for a long time, although no one has a clear idea of just how long. The game involves trying to catch a kicked ball. Mayan Pok-A-Tok court

500 B.C. The rules of the ancient Greek game of Episkyros are unclear, but it apparently allowed the use of hands. Some suggest it may have been similar to Rugby. Two teams played on a field and it involved a ball. Another ancient Greek game, Harpaston, was played on a field with a center line and end goal line. The object of the game was to pass, kick, or run the ball past the opposing team's goal. 50 B.C. The Roman game of Harpastum likely evolved from the similarly named Greek predecessor. The word means "the small ball game". The object of the game was to pass the ball, either by hand or by foot, across the opposing team’s goal line. Another version involved a team trying to keep the ball on its half of the field as long as possible. Tackling was allowed. Julius Caesar utilized the game for military training. th Harpastum remained popular into the 6 century A.D. It may have influenced subsequent ball games throughout Medieval Europe. 300 A.D. The Japanese game of Kemari was a non-competitive sport using a ball made of deerskin stuffed with sawdust. Players tried to keep the ball from hitting the ground by juggling it with their feet and passing it from one to another. The playing field, Kikutsubo, was marked at the corners by four different trees: cherry, maple, willow and pine. www.footballguys.com

Greek games Harpaston & Episkyros A few theorists believe that all ball games descended from either the Egyptian or Chinese game, whichever came first. It appears likely however that most of the ancient games developed independent of each other. This attests to the essential importance to the human race of kicking a ball in a game.

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1100 Of the various medieval ball games that developed in the areas that would eventually become Great Britain, the especially violent Mob Football was the most popular. It was typically played between neighboring villages, with each teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s town square essentially serving as the goal. Each team/mob tried to force the ball into the opponentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s village center. 1314 King Edward II of England issued the first ban of football. Several subsequent kings also tried to ban it. The game was considered to be unchristian and it distracted people from the traditional sports of fencing and archery. 1527 The first documented reference to Celtic football (Caid) was found in the Statute of Galway, which allowed the playing of football and archery but banned hurling and handball. The field version of Caid, as opposed to the cross country version, involved kicking a ball through a goal formed by two tree boughs. Caid may have derived from the Welsh game of Knappan, which may have descended from the Viking game of Knattleikr. 1600 Native North Americans played a kicking-game / mock-battle called Pasuckuakohowog, which translates as "they gather to play ball with the foot." The game often included hundreds of participants, playing on a mile long field or beach with goals at each end.

Native American game of Pasuckuakohowog

The Rugby School

When the European settlers arrived in America, they found the Native Americans already playing a kicking game of a grand scale. The hours or days long event would conclude with a great feast. Two centuries later back in England at the Rugby School, William Webb Ellis played a key role in the development of Rugby, which in turn would play a role in the development of American Football several decades later.

1823 Legend has it that William Webb Ellis, a student at the Rugby School in England, illegally picked up a ball during a football/soccer game and ran with it, inadvertently leading to the development of the game which would be named after the school. They also added goalpost with a cross bar, with scoring coming by kicking the ball over the crossbar. Around the same time period, the six other major public schools in England were starting to standardize the rules of their game (soccer). 1846 Dr. Thomas Arnold, the head of Rugby School, made the first truly standardized rugby rules. 1855 Charles Goodyear's vulcanized rubber was used in the first manufactured soccer ball. 1860 Yale banned football in 1860 and Harvard did so the following year. The game at the time resembled the violent Mob Football from England. 1862 The Oneida Football Club was formed in Boston. The played a combined version of earlier Colonial and American game formats that included both kicking and carrying. The games were dubbed the "Boston Game". 1863 Eleven London football clubs/schools met at the Freemason's Tavern, forming The Football Association and began the first official standardization of soccer rules. www.footballguys.com

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1867 In the late 1860’s football returned to college campuses. Yale, Princeton, Rutgers, and Brown played a kicking-based game akin to soccer, while Harvard played the “Boston Game” and Canadian schools played a running-based game all more akin to rugby. 1869 Princeton played at Rutgers in what is considered to be the first intercollegiate football/soccer game. At this time, virtually every school still had its own variations and rules. A home team’s rules were typically used for a game. 1871 The Rugby Football Union in England was formed to standardize rugby rules and remove some of the violence from the game. 1875 Harvard and Yale played for the first time. At this time Harvard was the lone American school using rugby-like rules, however as other schools played against or watched Harvard, they too began to shift away from the soccer-like rules. 1876 Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia met to establish standardized rules. The results were very similar to the Rugby Football Union rules from England, except for the primary difference of the kicked goal was replaced with the touchdown. 1883 Points were added to the game of football, with field goals valued at five points, touchdowns at two points, and conversions after touchdowns at four points.

Unknown kick attempt

1892 Touchdown value was changed from two points to four and conversions after touchdowns value changed from four points to two. 1892 William "Pudge" Heffelfinger became the first “pro” football player when he was paid $500 to play in a game for the Allegheny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. By comparison, today’s top kickers are paid several million dollars a year, and players at other positions earn even significantly higher amounts. 1897 Touchdown value was changed from four points to five and conversions after touchdowns value changed from two points to one. 1902 Teams had to change ends of the field following a touchdown or field goal. 1904 FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) was founded in Paris. It is the international governing body of association football (soccer), which is the most popular kicking game in the large majority of countries throughout the world. 1904 Field goal value was changed from five points to four. 1909 Field goal value saw its final reduction when it was changed from four points to three. 1912 Touchdown value changed from five points to six; the starting point of all kickoffs was moved back from the 50 to the 40-yard line. 1920 The American Professional Football Association was formed, and then changed its name to the National Football League (NFL) in 1922.

Walter Camp The “Father of American Football”, Walter Camp, was instrumental in many of the early rules and scoring changes. As the game evolved from its rugby and soccer origins, kicking was significantly de-emphasized.

1922 The line-of-scrimmage on conversion attempts after touchdowns was moved to the five yard line. 1929 The line-of-scrimmage on conversion attempts after touchdowns was moved to the two yard line. 1933 The NFL, which had previously used the same rules as college football, began to adopt their own rules. Subsequent rules noted in this timeline are specific to the NFL.

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1933 Goal posts were moved from the end lines to the goal lines in an effort to increase scoring, and inbounds lines or hashmarks where the ball would be put in play were placed 10 yards from the sidelines. 1935 Hashmarks were moved nearer the center of the field, 15 yards from the sidelines. 1937 Following an out-of-bounds kickoff, rather than re-kicking, the opposing team was awarded the ball on the 20-yard line. 1943 Helmets became mandatory for all players. 1944 Chicago Bears scored 258 points, second in the league that year, yet did not attempt a single field goal. 1945 Hashmarks were moved from 15 yards away from the sidelines to nearer the center of the field, 20 yards from the sidelines; three inch dirt tee was permitted on kickoffs.

Yankee Stadium with goal posts on goal line

1948 Pat Harder made nine PATs (3-way tie for most in one game) for Chicago Cardinals against NY Giants. 1948 A flexible artificial tee was permitted on kickoffs. 1950 Bob Waterfield made nine PATs (3-way tie for most in one game) for Los Angeles against Baltimore. 1956 Use of an artificial medium to assist in the execution of a kick is no longer allowed (a.k.a. the Lou Groza Rule). Qwest Field with slingshot goal posts (uprights above the end line and base post behind the end line) The location and/or configuration of goal posts were changed in 1933, 1966, 1967, and 1974. The changes were made to either increase or decrease field goal scoring, and also for safety reasons when the posts were moved out of the field of play. 1958 The CFL (Canadian Football League) was founded. Its roots go back to the rugby version of football played in Canada in the 1860s. Some kicking rules differences from the NFL include: scoring of one point for a Single or Rouge (if the player receiving a live kick fails to return it out of the end zone, or (except on a kickoff) if the ball was kicked through the end zone); following a field goal, opposing teams can opt to receive a kickoff or take the ball at their own 35-yard line; a free kick is allowed from anywhere on the field (not just behind the line of scrimmage); goal posts are on the goal line. 1960-1969 AFL included the option of the two-point conversion after touchdowns.

The first soccer style kicker Gogolak’s “funny” kicking style would eventually become the NFL norm. The old straight-ahead style of kicking would disappear completely by 1987. www.footballguys.com

1964 Buffalo signs Pete Gogolak, the first soccer style kicker. 1966 Goal posts offset from the goal line, painted bright yellow, and with uprights 20 feet above the crossbar were made standard in the NFL.

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1966 Charlie Gogolak made nine PATs (3-way tie for most in one game) for Washington against NY Giants.

Pro Football Hall of Fame

1966 Bruce Gossett attempted 49 FGs (2-way tie for most in a season) for Los Angeles. 1967 "sling-shot" goal posts (with one curved support from the ground) were made standard in the NFL. 1967 Jim Bakken attempted nine FGs (most in one game) and made seven (5-way tie for second most) for St. Louis against Pittsburgh. 1968 First NFL game ever played on artificial turf, Kansas City at Houston (on the Astrodome’s Astroturf). 1970 Tom Dempsey made a 63 yard FG (2-way tie for longest) for New Orleans against Detroit. 1971 Curt Knight attempted 49 FGs (2-way tie for most in a season) for Washington. 1972 Hashmarks were moved nearer the center of the field, 23 yards, 1 foot, 9 inches from the sidelines… the hashmarks were now 18 feet, 6 inches apart (the same width as the goalposts), cutting down on severe angles for short field goal attempts. 1974 The goal posts were moved from the goal line to the end lines and the uprights would be extended to 30 feet above the crossbar in an effort to decrease the number of field goals; kickoffs were moved from the 40 back to the 35-yard line; and after missed field goals from beyond the 20, the ball was to be returned to the line of scrimmage.

Lou “The Toe” Groza, class of ‘74 Became the first kicking specialist, after a back injury ended his dual role as an offensive lineman.

1974 OL/K Lou Groza elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame. 1976 Gus the Miracle Mule (California Atoms) proves to arguably be the greatest kicker ever. 1979 Prohibited players on the receiving team from blocking below the waist during kickoffs, punts, and field-goal attempts. 1979 Tony Franklin (Philadelphia) was the first kicker to kick barefoot. 1981 QB/K George Blanda elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame.

George “The Fossil” Blanda, class of ‘81 He was the ultimate scoring threat, a starting QB and a starting kicker.

1983 Mark Mosely attempted 204 kicking points (probably the most in a season). His 161 points at the time was a record, although it is now third. 1983 Ali Haji-Sheikh made 35 FGs (most by a rookie in a season) for NY Giants. 1984 Uwe von Schamann attempted 70 PATs and was successful on 66 (second most in a season) for Miami. 1985 Kevin Butler scored 144 points (most in a season by a rookie) for Chicago. 1986 Mark Moseley, the last full-time straight-ahead place kicker, retired. 1987 Punter Steve Cox kicked the last straight-ahead field goal. 1989 Rich Karlis made seven FGs (5-way tie for second most in one game) for Minnesota against LA Rams (OT). 1991 Jan Stenerud elected to Hall of Fame (only player that was solely a kicker). www.footballguys.com

The Complete Guide to Kickology III

Jan Stenerud, class of ‘91 One of the early soccer style kickers; his accuracy placed him well ahead of his contemporaries. Page 8

1993-2002 Jason Elam was successful on 371 straight PAT attempts (2-way tie for second most consecutive) for Denver. 1994 Added the option of the two-point conversion after touchdowns; the starting point of all kickoffs was moved back from the 35 to the 30-yard line; kickoff tees used can be no more than one inch in height (previously 3 inches); all field goals attempted and missed when the spot of the kick is beyond the 20 yard line, the defensive team taking possession will get the ball at the spot of the kick; on any field goal attempted and missed with the spot of the kick is on or inside the 20, the ball will go to the defensive team taking possession at the 20; and the 11 players on the receiving team are prohibited from blocking below the waste during a play in which there is a kickoff, safety kick, punt, field goal attempt or extra point kick with one exception, immediately at the snap on these plays those defenders on the line of scrimmage lined up on or inside the normal tight end position can block low.

The Most, part 1

Matt Stover has not missed an extra point in over 12 years (389 straight PATs and counting).

1995 Morten Andersen made eight 50+ yard FGs (2-way tie for most in a season) for Atlanta. Three were against New Orleans (3-way tie for most in one game). 1996 Chris Boniol made seven FGs (5-way tie for second most in one game) for Dallas against Green Bay. 1996-2008 Matt Stover was successful on 389 straight PAT attempts (most consecutive) for Baltimore… the streak was still alive heading into 2009. 1998 Gary Anderson was perfect on all 35 FGs. He scored 164 points (most in a season). 1998 Jason Elam made a 63 yard FG (2-way tie for longest) for Denver against Jacksonville. 1999 K-ball implemented for all kicking plays in a game… see separate section regarding the K-ball. 1999-2001 Matt Stover made at least one FG in 38 straight games (most consecutive games) for Baltimore. 1999-2007 Jeff Wilkins was successful on 371 straight PAT attempts (2-way tie for second most consecutive) for St. Louis.

Gary Anderson spent the majority of his career in Pittsburgh. During his perfect 1998 season with Minnesota, he scored 164 points, the most ever in the NFL in one year.

2000 Sebastian Janikowski becomes the fourth (fifth if you count the 1984 supplemental USFL draft) and most recent kicker to be drafted in the first round. 2000 First game ever played on FieldTurf, St. Louis at Seattle (at the University of Washington’s Husky Stadium). 2002 The chop-block technique is illegal on kicking plays; and after a kickoff, the game clock will start when the ball is touched legally in the field of play (previously, the clock started immediately when the ball was kicked). 2002 Jeff Wilkins (St. Louis) was the last kicker to kick barefoot, resurrecting the 80’s fad for the first part of the 2002 season. 2002-2004 Mike Vanderjagt was successful on 42 straight FG attempts (most consecutive) for Indianapolis. 2003 If an onside kick inside the final five minutes of the game does not go 10 yards, goes out of bounds, or is touched illegally, the receiving team will have the option of accepting the penalty and getting the ball immediately (previously, the kicking team was penalized, but had another chance to kick again from five yards back). www.footballguys.com

The Complete Guide to Kickology III

In 1970 on the final play of a game, Tom Dempsey’s 63 yard FG gave New Orleans a come from behind victory over Detroit, and set the NFL record for longest field goal. In 1998, Denver’s Jason Elam tied the record with a 63 yard FG at the end of halftime against Jacksonville. Page 9

2003 Jeff Wilkins scored 163 points (second most in a season) for St. Louis. 2003 Mike Vanderjagt was perfect on all 37 FGs. He scored 157 points (third most in a season) for Indianapolis. 2003 Billy Cundiff made seven FGs (5-way tie for second most in one game) for Dallas vs. NY Giants (OT). 2004 A punt or missed field goal that is untouched by the receiving team is immediately dead once it touches either the end zone or any member of the kicking team in the end zone (previously, a punt or missed field goal that lands in the end zone before being controlled by the kicking team could be picked up by a member of the receiving team and immediately run the other way). 2004 Neil Rackers made three 50+ yard FGs (3-way tie for most in one game) for Arizona against Seattle.

The Most, part 2

2005 Unnecessary roughness will be called for blocks away from the play on punters or kickers; during field goal and extra point attempts, the defensive team will be penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct if it calls consecutive timeouts in an attempt to "ice" the kicker (previously, the second timeout request was only denied by officials, and thus could be used to distract the kickers); if the kicking team commits a penalty, the receiving team can have the option of adding five yards to the return or taking a penalty and forcing the kicking team to re-kick the ball. 2005 The NFL granted a special exception to New Orleans for the year, allowing them to use offset goalposts (two base legs) in addition to the league standard slingshot goalposts (single base leg)â&#x20AC;Ś this was necessitated when they had to play some of their home games at LSU following Hurricane Katrina. 2005 Neil Rackers made 40 FGs (most in a season) for Arizona. 2004 Kris Brown made three 50+ yard FGs (3-way tie for most in one game) for Houston against Miami. 2006 Defensive players cannot line up directly over the long snapper during field goal and extra point attempts. 2006 Matt Bryant made a 62 yard FG (2-way tie for second longest) for Tampa Bay against Philadelphia.

Rob Bironas celebrates with his holder Craig Hentrich after making his eighth field goal in the same game, an NFL record.

2006 Rob Bironas made a 62 yard FG (2-way tie for second longest) for Tennessee against Indianapolis. 2007 Modified the K-ball usage in a gameâ&#x20AC;Ś see separate section regarding the K-ball. 2007 Shayne Graham made seven FGs (5-way tie for second most in one game) for Cincinnati against Baltimore. 2007 Rob Bironas made eight FGs (most in one game) for Tennessee against Houston. 2007 Stephen Gostkowski attempted and was successful on all 74 PATs (most in a season) for New England. 2007 Morten Andersen finishes his NFL career with 2544 points (most ever). 2008 Field goal attempts that bounce off the goal post are now reviewable under instant replay (courtesy of the previous seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s game tying FG by Phil Dawson for Cleveland against Baltimore). 2008 Sebastian Janikowski was short and wide right on a 76 yard FG attempt (longest attempt in documented history) for Oakland. 2008 Jason Hanson made eight 50+ yard FGs (2-way tie for most in a season) for Detroit. www.footballguys.com

The Complete Guide to Kickology III

Morten Andersen finished his long, storied, and productive career with Atlanta, his sixth team. He set numerous NFL records, including the most career points (2544).

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3. Fantasy Kicker Scoring Systems “If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?” – Vince Lombardi

With each passing year, the number of unique fantasy scoring systems increases. Most fall into the following basic categories for kicker scoring. STANDARD Straight-up scoring is the same as in the real world. All field goals (FG) are worth three points. All points-aftertouchdown (PAT), a.k.a. extra points, are worth one point. This is the most common scoring system. The stats and analysis in this guide are based on standard scoring, except where noted otherwise. BONUS Additional points are scored for longer FGs. Shorter FGs typically remain the same as standard, medium range FGs are worth a little more, and long FGs are worth even more. The numbers can be adjusted for a wide variety of variations. Example: FGs under 40 yards are worth three points, FGs from 40 to 49 yards are worth four points, and FGs of 50 or more yards are worth five points. PENALTY Points are deducted for missed kicks. Missed longer FGs typically are not penalized, medium range FG misses are a small deduction, and missed short FGs are worth a moderate deduction. The numbers can be adjusted for a wide variety of variations. The penalty approach can be used in conjunction with any other scoring system; however it is most commonly used in conjunction with bonus scoring. Example: Missed FGs under 30 yards are a two point deduction, missed FGs from 30 to 39 yards are a one point deduction, missed FGs of 40 or more yards are not penalized, and missed PATs are a one point deduction. DECIMAL Decimal scoring has become fairly common for many fantasy positions, although less so for kickers. Example: FGs are scored by multiplying the FG distance by 0.1 KICKER IMPORTANCE The value of the kicker position is increased (or decreased) relative to other positions, by increasing (or decreasing) the points awarded for PATs and/or FGs.

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4. How Many Points Do Kickers Score Each Year? “If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed.” - Confucius ANNUAL TEAM KICKER SCORING (each year sorted from high to low) avg. total

avg. ppg

‘08

‘07

‘06

‘05

‘04

‘03

‘02

‘01

‘00

‘99

‘98

‘97

‘96

‘95

149

141

143

149

141

163

138

127

135

145

164

134

145

141 141.8

8.9

148

137

136

148

129

157

133

125

131

144

140

134

135

132 135.5

8.5

144

133

131

124

139

130

124

131

134

136

126

131

132 129.0 130.8 8.1 8.2

131

125

124

137

128

124

126

130

128

125

130

128 125.6

7.9

130

121

122

125

128

122

124

127

120

127 122.3

7.6

129

127

119

121

122

125

128

121

127

120

126 121.1

7.6

127

126

117

120

123

115

121

118

125

117

118

122 118.4

7.4

127

122

116

117

116

122

115

118

116

120

117

118

121 116.7 117.1 7.3 7.3

127

120

116

115

117

114

120

114

118

116

120

117

118 115.7

7.2

127

118

115

113

114

117

113

117

115

114 113.7

7.1

125

118

115

113

109

112

117

113

111

115

114

113

114

114 112.2

7.0

124

118

115

112

109

106

115

112

109

113

108

113

111

114 110.1

6.9

124

116

111

110

106

114

108

109

108

105

110

113 108.2 108.5 6.8 6.8

121

115

109

108

105

111

104

107

108

104

107

109

111 106.4

6.7

119

114

109

107

104

105

110

104

106

108

103

106

108

109 105.4

6.6

119

113

107

100

102

108

102

106

107

101

104

106

109 104.2

6.5

119

110

107

106

100

102

107

101

105

106

104

105

108 103.2

6.4

117

110

106

102

101

107

100

102

106

103

106 101.2 101.2 6.3 6.3

114

109

103

101

100

103

101

106

105

99.6

6.2

113

109

102

100

101

105

103

98.0

6.1

112

108

102

100

103

102

96.2

6.0

108

107

101

103

94.3

5.9

103

100

92.0 92.4 5.8 5.8

103

100

90.8

5.7

103

100

88.7

5.5

102

86.9

5.4

102

82.6

5.2

77.9 78.3 4.9 4.9

80.1

5.0

76.1

4.8

72.3

4.5

72.4

4.5

Avg. 115.8 107.0 107.8 102.8 105.6 105.0 102.8 102.2 106.2 105.2 103.9 105.8 108.1 100.4 www.footballguys.com

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General Observations The bold numbers in the end columns are the averages for the various tiers. At best, there's a difference of a couple points per game between a high scoring kicker and a mediocre kicker. Most weeks it probably doesn't impact the outcome. However, once or twice a year it could be the difference in your fantasy game. That game could be the difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs. That game could be in the playoffs. Kickers may not matter as much as the other more glamorous positions in the majority of leagues, however they do matter just enough to not completely ignore them. Specific Observations •

The difference in average points-per-game between each of the middle four tiers is an identical 0.5 points. The difference is bigger at the top and bottoms however, as the uppermost and lowermost tiers are each 0.9 ppg different than the adjoining tier. That enforces the rather obvious statement: you ideally want a top five kicker on your fantasy team, and you definitely don’t want a bottom five kicker on your team.

•

The annual top point total has now exceeded 140 points for six consecutive years.

•

In 2008, overall kicker scoring (and accuracy) took a jump to an unprecedented high. All but five teams scored at least 100 points. The median score was 119, which in years past would have been a top ten score. The 2009 season will be under close scrutiny, to determine if increased kicker scoring is a continuing trend or if 2008 was simply an aberration.

No. 4’s in the 100 Club (diminishing returns and sustained success)

Jason Hanson In 2004, two teams each scored 100 kicking points: Detroit (Jason Hanson) and Cleveland (Phil th Dawson). They tied for 16 in kicker scoring.

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John Kasay In 2006, three teams each scored 100 kicking points: Miami (Olindo Mare), Carolina (John Kasay), and Atlanta (Morten Andersen and Michael Koenen). They tied for 23rd In kicker scoring.

The Complete Guide to Kickology III

Adam Vinatieri In 2008, no teams scored exactly 100 kicking points. If they had, they would have ranked 28th in kicker scoring. On an individual level, two kickers continued their mark of scoring at least 100 points in every year of their career: Adam Vinatieri (13 years) and Jason Elam (16 years).

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5. How Many Points Do Kickers Score Each Week? "You've got to dig from week to week, to get results or roses.â&#x20AC;? - Edgar Albert Guest 2008 WEEKLY KICKER SCORING (each week sorted from high to low)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

14 11 11 10 10 10 9 8 8 8 7 7 7 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 1

15 15 13 13 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 10 9 8 8 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 4 1 0

14 13 12 11 11 11 10 10 10 9 9 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 4 4 4 3 2

15 14 13 12 12 12 12 11 11 10 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 7 6 6 6 6 5 3 3 2

14 12 12 11 11 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 7 7 7 7 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 1 0

16 16 14 13 12 11 10 9 9 9 8 8 7 6 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2

12 12 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 9 9 8 8 7 7 7 5 4 4 4 4 3 2 2 2 2 1 1

13 13 12 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 7 7 7 6 6 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 2 2

14 14 14 13 13 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 7 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 1 1 0

17 12 12 11 10 10 9 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 4 3 3 3 2 2 1

17 15 14 13 13 12 11 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 5 5 4 4 4 3 2 2 2

18 15 13 12 12 11 11 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 6 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 1

17 15 12 12 12 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 9 8 8 8 7 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 1

11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 8 8 8 8 7 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 1

12 12 12 11 10 9 9 9 9 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 5 4 4 4 4 3 2 2 2 2 2

17 15 12 11 11 10 10 9 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 0

15 14 13 11 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 3 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0

average 14.8 13.5 12.4 11.5 11.2 10.6 10.3 9.7 9.5 9.1 8.8 8.4 8.1 7.5 7.1 6.9 6.5 6.2 6.0 5.6 5.2 5.0 4.6 3.9 3.7 3.2 2.7 2.3 2.4 1.8 1.9 1.1

12.7

9.8

8.0

6.2

4.5

2.2

Once again, the bold numbers in the end column are the averages for the various tiers. The differences in kicker scoring over the course of an entire year are modest, as seen in the preceding section. When we look at the range of kicker scoring in any given week in the NFL however, the variation becomes more substantial. In fantasy leagues where rules provide the ability to work the waiver wire on a weekly basis or in contests where you can select a different kicker each week, there is a potential for greater reward from the kicker position. For those willing to take that leap, looking for high scoring kickers each week is discussed later in this guide in the Weekly Management section.

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The Complete Guide to Kickology III

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6. All in 1.3 Seconds “People come out to see you perform and you've got to give them the best you have within you. The lives of most men are patchwork quilts. Or at best one matching outfit with a closet and laundry bag full of incongruous accumulations. A lifetime of training for just ten seconds.” – Jesse Owens We asked some NFL kickers to describe the fundamentals of a typical field goal. Here are their answers: Ryan Longwell “I would say the two most important things [regarding the hold] are hitting the spot every time and getting the lean correctly. I like the ball to lean forwards and towards the holder. It lets you see a lot of the ball and gets a very, very true straight ball flight. The biggest thing with kicking a field goal is obviously you have a snapper and a holder, and we all to have to be on the same rhythm and the same cadence to be efficient. The bottom line is between the three of us and the protection unit, you only have 1.3 seconds to snap, to hold, to place it, and to put the ball through the uprights. It’s a pretty quick thing.” Robbie Gould “I find a spot, usually on the corner of the hash (mark), and that gives the holder a point where he can put the ball. From there I take two steps back and two steps to the left, find my target behind the upright, wait for the snap and the hold, and then I attempt the kick.” Mason Crosby

Ryan Longwell

“My steps are three back. I am at about two and a half yards from the ball, and I take two steps to the left. As I’m set the holder will have the spot and call “ready-set” and raise his right hand. I begin my approach as the holder’s left hand goes to catch the ball. It all takes between 1.2 to 1.4 seconds, making it a very fast process.”

“You only have 1.3 seconds to snap, to hold, to place it, and to put the ball through the uprights.”

Kris Brown sets up for a PAT attempt, several steps back and several steps over from the holder.

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Connor Barth “When we get onto the field, our snapper is the guy who spots the ball. My holder’s job is to go and find the spot for me, so he counts off eight yards, because in the NFL from the snap to the hold is eight yards. When you see where the ball is snapped from that is not the actual yard line. The field goal is actually [measured] from where the ball is held. After my holder spots off the eight yards for me, I go up to the spot where he is, then I take my steps. I take three steps back and two steps over. That’s kind of the normal routine that most kickers do in the NFL. Some other guys are a little bit different. Everyone has their own kind of fundamentals that they like to do. What the special teams coaches are looking for is about 1.3 seconds from snap to kick. So from when my center snaps it and the holder gets it down and then I kick it, it should be about 1.3 seconds. The line is only supposed to block for so long, and that’s about the average time you want to get the ball off in the NFL game. We practice it so much during the week, that when we go out there it’s just like clockwork. For me, all I really worry about is the kick. The holder will check the clock and make sure there’s time on the clock. Our snapper will yell out where he is on the field so my holder knows where to set up the eight yards. It’s a good process. When I get back there I just try to let it fire.”

Olindo Mare kicks a field goal:

Jeff Reed “My job is in the hands of those guys (snapper and holder); not only those guys but the guys protecting for me because if they don’t do their jobs, no matter what my time is, unless it is ridiculously fast - mine is not the fastest in the NFL, then I don’t even get to get the kick off. Basically, I put my trust in my snapper and my holder and try to have a good unity with those guys. I totally trust the guys protecting me because they do that for a living.” Joe Nedney “The holder and kicker set up 8 yards from the line of scrimmage. The kicker gives the holder a spot where he'd like the ball to be placed. The kicker takes his steps back and over, nods to the holder when he's ready, and the holder signals for the snap. The snapper snaps, the holder holds, and the kicker kicks, hopefully successfully, all in under 1.3 seconds.”

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7. Which Teams Are Scoring Kicking Points? “Grades are almost completely relative, in effect ranking students relative to others in their class. Thus extra achievement by one student not only raises his position, but in effect lowers the position of others.” - James S. Coleman ANNUAL TEAM KICKER SCORING RANKINGS ‘08

‘07

‘06

‘05

‘04

‘03

‘02

‘01

‘00

‘99

‘98

‘97

‘96

‘95

‘94

‘93

‘92

‘91

‘90

Ari

Atl

Bal

Buf

Car

Chi

Cin

Cle

Dal

Den

Det

Hou

Ind

Jac

Mia

Min

NYG

NYJ

Oak

Phi

Pit

Sea

Stl

Ten

Was

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Notes and Observations:

There is a significant amount of turnover at the top spots on a yearly basis, or conversely, sustaining kicker scoring success is very difficult.

Never say never. Through 2004, only two non-expansion teams had never placed in the top ten during this period… Arizona and the NY Giants. Then in 2005 they were the top two teams. Through 2005 Chicago had ten consecutive mediocre to poor seasons. Then in 2006 they were the top team.

Never say always. Through 2007, Indianapolis had five consecutive top ten rankings. In 2008, they dropped to 23rd. Through 2007, Cincinnati had our consecutive top ten rankings. In 2008, they dropped to 31st.

Four expansion teams entered the league during this period. Carolina and Jacksonville both placed in the top ten in just their second year. Cleveland finally made the top ten after nine years. Houston has not placed in the top ten after seven years, although they came close in 2008. The Streaks (what is, what was, and what hasn’t)

Nate Kaeding The San Diego Chargers ranked in the top ten in kicker scoring from 2006 to 2008, the longest active streak in the league heading in to the 2009 season.

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Matt Prater Over the past two decades, the Denver Broncos have ranked in the top ten in kicker scoring more than any other team. In 2008 they ranked eighth in attempted kicking points, however Prater could not capitalize, th and they team placed only 19 in actual kicker scoring.

The Complete Guide to Kickology III

Jay Feely Twice in his career, Feely has been the top scoring annual kicker: in 2002 with Atlanta and in 2005 with the NY Giants. He enters 2009 in his second year with the NY Jets, who have the current longest streak of ranking outside the top ten in kicker scoring. The last time they finished in the top ten was 1998.

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8. Top Kickers: Where Do They Come From and Where Do They Go? “If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.” - Lewis Carroll “If you aren't going all the way, why go at all?” - Joe Namath Where Top Five and Top Ten Kicking Teams Ranked in the Year Prior and the Year After: 26-32, 11.5%

26-32, 7.2% 21-25, 10.3%

1-5, 19.8%

1-5, 19.6% 21-25, 16.7%

16-20, 14.4% 6-10, 23.7%

16-20, 13.5%

11-15, 24.7%

6-10, 26.0%

11-15, 12.5%

Top Five Kickers - The Year Before

Top Five Kickers - The Year After

26-32, 10.8%

26-32, 14.0%

21-25, 7.5% 1-5, 24.7%

1-5, 28.0% 21-25, 12.9%

16-20, 15.1% 16-20, 11.8% 6-10, 25.8%

6-10, 25.8% 11-15, 16.1%

11-15, 7.5% Top Ten Kickers - The Year Before

Top Ten Kickers - The Year After

Observations regarding the preceding charts: •

A top five kicker is more likely to remain in the top ten; however they could wind up just about anywhere the following year.

•

Over half of the sixth thru tenth ranked kickers remain in the top ten the following year.

•

Two-thirds of top five kickers come from the top fifteen the prior year.

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9. The Greatest Field Goal Kickers Ever “Possibly more importantly, the blog has kept Chase off the street.” - Doug Drinen Section by guest FBG staff member Chase Stuart Note: the following section first appeared as a three part blog post on Pro-Football-Reference.com Part I Part II Part III The Greatest Field Goal Kickers Ever, Part I, by Chase Stuart Last summer, I wrote a five part series on the Greatest QBs of All Time; since then I’ve studied the Greatest WRs Ever and the Most Dominant RBs in history. I’ve taken quick looks at Great coaching records, and really talented Defensive Line units, Linebacker Corps, and front sevens. While my examination of real football players is not finished, for the next three days bear with me as I take a less popular, less interesting, and less noteworthy look at the kicker position. I don’t hate kickers as much as Doug Drinen, but I don’t anticipate this being the most exciting thing you’ll ever read. That said, if we’re going to rank all the kickers, we’re going to do it correctly. There have been many rules changes throughout the history of the NFL. Let’s examine some of the more notable changes that have impacted the kicking game. [A complete list can be found in section 2. The History of Kicking] •

1904: Field goal value was changed from five points to four

•

1909: Field goal value was changed from four points to three

•

1945: Hashmarks were moved nearer to the center of the field, from 15 yards to 20 yards away from the sidelines.

•

1966: Goal posts offset from the goal line, painted bright yellow, and with uprights 20 feet above the crossbar were made standard in the NFL.

•

1967: “sling-shot” goal posts (with one curved support from the ground) were made standard in the NFL

•

1972: Hashmarks were moved nearer to the center of the field, 23 yards, 1 foot, 9 inches from the sidelines; the hashmarks were now 18 feet, 6 inches apart (the same width as the goalposts), cutting down on severe angles for short field goal attempts

•

1974: The goal posts were moved from the goal line to the end lines and the uprights were extended to 30 feet above the crossbar; for missed field goals from beyond the 20, the ball was now returned to the line of scrimmage

•

1994: On all missed field goals when the spot of the kick was beyond the 20 yard line, the defensive team taking possession received possession at the spot of the kick; on any field goal attempted and missed when the spot of the kick was on or inside the 20, the defensive team took possession at the 20. The twopoint conversion option was introduced this year as well.

•

1999: K-ball implemented for all kicking plays in a game

Before going on, I should note that this post is really Part I-B, because Doug wrote Part I-A almost exactly one year ago. That’s strongly recommended reading before reading the rest of this post. Here at PFR, we’ve got complete data on all kickers since the merger, incomplete data on kickers from 1960-1970, and data on kickers from pre-1960 but without distance breakdowns. Keep that in mind whenever I use phrases like “greatest X of all time” or “worst Y ever.” Roughly complete data is what we’re dealing with here, but there always exists the possibility that something crazy happened in 1955. In particular, Lou Groza may be the best kicker of all time, but until we get some distance breakdowns on his field goal attempts, I’m unfortunately going to have to ignore him. So how do we grade kickers? Obviously we’re going to need to adjust for era and for field goal length when rating the kickers, but we’ll also need to note some of those rule changes that impact the value of a field goal. From 19601973, a 30 yard field goal was attempted when the line of scrimmage was the 23-yard line. When Steve Myhra kicked the 20-yard-FG that sent the ‘58 championship game into overtime, the LOS was the 13-yard line. www.footballguys.com

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Since1974, the line of scrimmage has always been 17-18 yards shorter than the length of the field goal, as opposed to seven or eight yards. Why does this matter? Because to measure the value of a successful field goal, we need to measure the value of an unsuccessful one; to do that, we need to know where the ball will be placed following a missed field goal. It’s also important to keep in mind the rule change about missed field goals from beyond the 20-yard-line. The table below should help; it shows where the ball would be spotted following some sample missed field goals across three eras: Year 1960-1973 1974-1993 1994-current

25-yard FG 20 20 20

33-yard FG 26 20 23

50-yard FG 43 33 40

While the differences aren’t significant, they’re worth noting if we want to be accurate. What this means is we’re going to need three separate formulas for ranking field goal kickers, depending on whether the season was between ‘60 and ‘73 (”early”), ‘74 and ‘93 (”middle”) or since 1994 (”late”). The average starting field position following a kickoff is around the 27-yard-line. The NFL moved the kickoff back from the 35 to the 30 starting in 1994, so I’m going to simply declare the average kickoff return will take you to the 22-yard-line from 1960-1993 and to the 27-yard-line for any kickoffs since 1994. What’s this all mean? A 33-yard-FG has always been worth three points, but the value of the alternative field position has changed. In the Early period, a missed 33-yard FG cost you three points and four yards of field position. In the Middle Period, it cost you three points but you picked up two yards of field position. Now, a missed 33-yarder costs you three points but you gain four yards in field position. Fascinating stuff, indeed. We’ve got data on field goal tries in ten yard increments (that might be changing, soon). As a result, I’m going to have to approximate how long each field goal attempt actually was. All missed field goals from 10-19 yards have always brought you back to the 20-yard-line. Attempts from 20-29 yards, 30-39 yards, 40-49 yards, and over 50 yards will be considered 26, 36, 46 and 54 yard attempts. Here’s where missed field goals from each era would take you: Year 1960-1973 1974-1993 1994-current

10-19 20 20 20

26 20 20 20

36 29 20 26

46 39 29 36

54 47 37 44

Those numbers can then be compared to where the opposition would take over following a successful field goal (the 22 in the Early and Middle years, the 27 in the Late years), and we can use Romer point values to show the difference. Year 1960-1973 1974-1993 1994-current

10+ 0.13 0.13 0.46

26 0.13 0.13 0.46

36 -0.46 0.13 0.07

46 -1.09 -0.46 -0.57

54 -1.49 -0.97 -1.02

To explain what that means, a missed 54 yard field goal in 2009 gives the opponent the ball at the 44, which would put them in a +1.73 position according to Romer. A successful 54-yarder gives the other team the ball at the 27, a +0.71 position; therefore the miss is worth -1.02 points of field position. Of course, a miss also costs you three points on the scoreboard — the table below incorporates that: Year 1960-1973 1974-1993 1994-current

10+ -2.87 -2.87 -2.54

26 -2.87 -2.87 -2.54

36 -3.46 -2.87 -2.93

46 -4.09 -3.46 -3.57

54 -4.49 -3.97 -4.02

Berkeley Economist David Romer

One more example. A missed 46 yarder in 1968 occurred when the LOS was the 39, and that’s where the other team would gain possession. Having the ball at the 39 is a +1.47 situation. A successful field goal would give the opponent possession at the 22, a +0.38 situation. So the average difference between a successful and unsuccessful 46 yard field goal in the Early period is 3 points on the board and 1.09 points of field position, or 4.09 points total. www.footballguys.com

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Now all we need to do is figure out how likely it is that the average kicker would make any given field goal, and we can then compare every kicker to the league average. The Greatest Field Goal Kickers Ever, Part II We’re going to examine every attempt from every distance (in ten-yard increments) in every year and compare each kicker to the league average. A missed 50-yard field goal in 1965 was very common; a missed 36-yard field goal today is very rare. My method adjusts all kicks for distance and era. Further, we’re not going to just consider the ability of the kicker but also his value to the team — missing a 50-yard field goal is more costly to a team than missing a 20-yard field goal because of the cost in field position. We can do that with the help of Professor Romer. To be clear, this won’t be perfect — kickers in Denver and domed stadiums have an advantage, while kickers who play a bunch of games in particularly tough environments will be at a disadvantage. But this sure beats the heck out of every other method to rank kickers. One last embarrassing note (in addition to me devoting three days to kicker research). I’ve excluded the 2008 season. That’s because I performed this study originally in September, but it being kicker-related, never got around to writing it until the ‘08 season ended. If I was to wait until I incorporated the ‘08 data, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t finish until the ‘09 season ended. If you really need ‘08 kicker data, you’ll sadly have to wait to the updated version of this post. Let’s get to the analysis. Jan Stenerud had arguably the two best seasons in kicker history. (And if you want to hear Kansas City Chiefs writer Jonathan Rand explain why he voted for Stenerud to make the HOF, go to the very end of this podcast.) Let’s examine his 1969 season, which culminated in three field goals in a Super Bowl victory. Stenerud went 9/9 from inside of 20 yards; the NFL average from that distance was 90%, meaning the average kicker would have hit 8.1 field goals from inside of 20 yards. Therefore, Stenerud made 0.9 more FGs than average from that distance. Since every FG made under 20 yards in the “Early” era was worth 2.87 points, Stenerud gets +2.58 points of value for his work inside of 20 yards that season. Stenerud was 4/6 from 20-29 yards, which was slightly below the league average. He hit 0.4 fewer field goals than we’d expect; field goals are also worth 2.87 at this distance and in this era, which gives him a score of -1.28 from this distance. From 30-39 yards, he made six of eight attempts when the average kicker would have converted 4.4/8; these field goals were worth 3.46 points in the Early era, so another +5.48 for the HOFer. He was even better from 40-49, where he connected on 6/9 attempts while the league average was just 29%; he made 3.4 more field goals than average from this distance, and these field goals were worth, on average, 4.09 points; +13.97 for Stenerud. Finishing up, he was 2/3 from 50+; the average kicker would have made just 0.5 field goals out of three tries. These kicks are worth 4.49 points each, so +6.91 goes in his 50+ value column. He also made every extra point, giving him an extra 0.6 points up on the average kicker.

Jan Stenerud

Add all those scores up and you get a rating of +28.3 for Stenerud. That’s the highest rating for any kicker since 1960, although it’s possible that Lou Groza (or another pre-1960 kicker) had a higher single-season rating. Finally, we make one more adjustment, to pro-rate for games played. I pro-rated each kicker’s score as if he was playing a N game season, where N equals the average of 16 and the actual number of team games played. That gives him a score of 30.3, obviously the highest in the study. Stenerud ‘68 is the second highest score in the study. In 1968, he had a season better than any kicker has ever had in the last 50 or so years; then, somehow, he managed to top it in 1969.

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Here are the top 50 seasons in kicker history. The raw column shows the kicker’s score before pro-rating for the number of games on the schedule, but the group is listed by the “value” column which does pro-rate for the number of games. Kicker 1. Jan Stenerud 2. Jan Stenerud 3. Neil Rackers 4. Garo Yepremian 5. Fred Steinfort 6. Jim Turner 7. Gary Anderson 8. Morten Andersen 9. Raul Allegre 10. Gene Mingo 11. Mark Moseley 12. Jan Stenerud 13. Gino Cappelletti 14. Toni Fritsch 15. Mike Vanderjagt 16. Sam Baker 17. Nick Lowery 18. Jim Turner 19. Chester Marcol 20. Pete Stoyanovich 21. Tony Franklin 22. Cary Blanchard 23. George Blair 24. Eddie Murray 25. Horst Muhlmann 26. Fred Cox 27. Mac Percival 28. Fred Cox 29. Nick Lowery 30. Bruce Gossett 31. Jim Bakken 32. Jeff Wilkins 33. Dean Biasucci 34. Norm Johnson 35. Mike Mercer 36. Garo Yepremian 37. Nick Lowery 38. Mark Moseley 39. Morten Andersen 40. Mark Moseley 41. Jan Stenerud 42. George Blanda 43. Dean Biasucci 44. Bruce Gossett 45. Gino Cappelletti 46. Jan Stenerud 47. Ali Haji-Sheikh 48. Al Del Greco 49. Nick Lowery 50. Nick Lowery

Year 1969 1968 2005 1970 1980 1969 1998 1985 1983 1962 1979 1970 1964 1979 2003 1966 1985 1968 1972 1997 1979 1996 1962 1989 1970 1969 1968 1965 1980 1973 1967 2003 1987 1993 1966 1971 1988 1977 1986 1982 1981 1967 1988 1964 1963 1967 1983 1995 1983 1990

Team KAN KAN ARI MIA DEN NYJ MIN NOR BAL DEN WAS KAN BOS HOU IND PHI KAN NYJ GNB KAN PHI IND SDG DET CIN MIN CHI MIN KAN SFO STL STL IND ATL KAN MIA KAN WAS NOR WAS GNB OAK IND RAM BOS KAN NYG HOU KAN KAN

Raw 28.3 27.7 26.5 24.5 26.2 22.5 23.2 23.1 23.1 20.8 22.2 20.4 20.4 21.4 21.3 19.6 20.9 19.3 19.1 20.3 20.1 19.9 18.5 19.5 17.9 17.8 17.7 17.3 18.1 16.7 16.7 17.8 17.1 17.7 16.5 16.3 17.4 16.1 16.9 12.1 16.7 15.4 16.5 15.3 15.2 15.1 16.1 16.1 15.9 15.8

Value 30.3 29.7 26.5 26.3 26.2 24.1 23.2 23.1 23.1 22.3 22.2 21.9 21.8 21.4 21.3 21.0 20.9 20.7 20.5 20.3 20.1 19.9 19.8 19.5 19.1 19.1 18.9 18.6 18.1 17.9 17.9 17.8 17.7 17.7 17.7 17.5 17.4 17.2 16.9 16.8 16.7 16.5 16.5 16.4 16.3 16.2 16.1 16.1 15.9 15.8

13. Gino Cappelletti

32. Jeff Wilkins

Stenerud leads the way with five top-50 seasons, tied with fellow Chief Nick Lowery. Mark Moseley proves he wasn’t a one-hit-wonder as he has two other top-50 performances in addition to his MVP season in 1982. (On a per game basis or if you performed a straight pro-rating of his 9-game season, it would rank as the 17th best since 1960; obviously it is lower than that using the formula above, which pro-rates his performance to a 12.5 game season.) Garo Yepremian shows he was a better kicker than passer with two top-50 seasons on the list; Morten www.footballguys.com

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Andersen, Gino Cappelletti, Jim Turner, Fred Cox, Bruce Gossett and Dean Biasucci join him with a pair of stellar seasons. If you don’t remember, I’ve already discussed Cappelletti’s 1964 season on this blog. And believe it or not, the great Gary Anderson has just one top-50 season, his not-exactly-perfect 1998 performance. And, for what it’s worth, only 14 of the above 50 seasons came from kickers whose teams were in Denver or played in domed stadiums. What about the worst seasons by any kicker? You already knew which season was going to come out on bottom: Kicker 50. Jim Gallery 49. Gary Anderson 48. Eric Schubert 47. John Hall 46. Neil Rackers 45. Kris Brown 44. Todd Peterson 43. Curt Knight 42. Tony Franklin 41. Wade Richey 40. Jerry DePoyster 39. Tim Mazzetti 38. Wade Richey 37. Steve McLaughlin 36. Richie Cunningham 35. Dave Green 34. Mike Mercer 33. Jack Spikes 32. Martin Gramatica 31. Dick Guesman 30. Mark Moseley 29. Matt Bahr 28. Booth Lusteg 27. Gene Mingo 26. Martin Gramatica 25. Neil Rackers 24. Chuck Nelson 23. Tommy Brooker 22. Mike Cofer 21. Dale Livingston 20. Happy Feller 19. Jan Stenerud 18. Don Chandler 17. Joe Nedney 16. Bob Timberlake 15. Gino Cappelletti 14. Larry Barnes 13. Happy Feller 12. Greg Davis 11. Uwe von Schamann 10. Chip Lohmiller 9. Ray Wersching 8. Seth Marler 7. Ali Haji-Sheikh 6. Bill Capece 5. Scott Sisson 4. Jim O'Brien 3. Ken Vinyard 2. Fred Steinfort 1. Paul Hornung

Year 1987 1999 1986 2000 2001 2001 2002 1973 1980 1998 1968 1979 2001 1995 1999 1975 1969 1963 2004 1964 1970 1982 1968 1970 2003 2000 1987 1965 1991 1970 1973 1985 1966 1996 1965 1969 1960 1971 1992 1984 1993 1973 2003 1984 1983 1993 1972 1970 1983 1964

Team STL MIN STL NYJ CIN PIT PIT WAS PHI SFO DET ATL SDG STL 2TM CIN GNB KAN 2TM DEN PHI CLE PIT PIT TAM CIN MIN KAN SFO GNB NOR MIN GNB MIA NYG BOS OAK PHI PHO MIA WAS SDG JAX NYG TAM NWE BAL ATL 2TM GNB

Raw -13.3 -13.7 -13.8 -13.8 -13.9 -14.0 -14.2 -13.5 -14.5 -14.6 -13.7 -14.8 -14.8 -14.9 -15.2 -14.2 -14.3 -14.3 -15.4 -14.5 -14.7 -11.4 -14.8 -14.9 -16.1 -16.2 -15.9 -15.4 -16.6 -15.5 -15.9 -17.3 -16.5 -18.0 -16.9 -17.1 -17.2 -17.2 -18.5 -18.9 -19.3 -18.7 -20.2 -20.8 -20.9 -21.9 -21.1 -22.6 -25.7 -29.9

Value -13.7 -13.7 -13.8 -13.8 -13.9 -14.0 -14.2 -14.4 -14.5 -14.6 -14.7 -14.8 -14.8 -14.9 -15.2 -15.2 -15.3 -15.3 -15.4 -15.6 -15.7 -15.8 -15.9 -16.0 -16.1 -16.2 -16.4 -16.4 -16.6 -16.6 -17.0 -17.3 -17.7 -18.0 -18.1 -18.3 -18.4 -18.4 -18.5 -18.9 -19.3 -20.1 -20.2 -20.8 -20.9 -21.9 -22.6 -24.2 -25.7 -32.0

Paul Hornung

Did you happen to catch that Mr. HOF is on the list? Stenerud was 43 and in his 19th season in 1985 — he should have hung up his cleats a year earlier. In ‘84, he was the second best kicker in the NFL (although he was in a dome), behind the Eagles’ Paul McFadden. www.footballguys.com

The Complete Guide to Kickology III

Page 24

Finally, here’s a big table showing the league average success ratio in each season since 1960, from the distances we’ve discussed: Year 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960

XP 99% 99% 99% 99% 98% 99% 98% 99% 99% 98% 99% 99% 98% 99% 97% 98% 98% 97% 98% 96% 97% 97% 96% 97% 96% 95% 95% 95% 91% 93% 92% 91% 92% 92% 98% 97% 98% 97% 98% 97% 97% 97% 98% 96% 96% 95% 96% 95%

10-19 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 92% 90% 95% 100% 91% 100% 100% 95% 100% 100% 100% 97% 97% 100% 96% 100% 93% 95% 100% 96% 95% 93% 95% 70% 93% 81% 96% 96% 81% 96% 94% 91% 91% 90% 94% 77% 89% 77% 78% 71% 78% 61% 64%

20-29 95% 96% 95% 96% 96% 94% 95% 94% 94% 95% 94% 95% 92% 96% 92% 90% 93% 95% 94% 90% 92% 88% 87% 93% 90% 85% 85% 89% 88% 85% 79% 78% 83% 81% 77% 75% 73% 70% 74% 77% 64% 68% 74% 67% 62% 65% 60% 60%

30-39 90% 86% 85% 80% 82% 83% 85% 80% 80% 85% 85% 84% 81% 84% 84% 75% 78% 79% 78% 77% 73% 79% 79% 75% 75% 70% 69% 67% 66% 61% 62% 63% 66% 65% 64% 69% 56% 64% 55% 56% 56% 56% 52% 53% 54% 56% 40% 42%

40-49 73% 73% 71% 71% 69% 63% 60% 71% 66% 70% 62% 64% 64% 67% 61% 58% 60% 62% 54% 56% 54% 53% 59% 60% 57% 62% 52% 48% 45% 50% 44% 44% 49% 44% 39% 38% 38% 41% 29% 28% 35% 35% 28% 37% 30% 34% 21% 27%

50+ 47% 47% 52% 58% 48% 52% 52% 55% 48% 54% 53% 52% 51% 36% 51% 51% 44% 35% 35% 40% 40% 35% 37% 42% 38% 26% 31% 29% 30% 18% 18% 18% 24% 13% 16% 25% 24% 23% 15% 14% 9% 14% 11% 19% 23% 15% 30% 29%

The Greatest Field Goal Kickers Ever, Part III Now, we’ll look at the best kickers by career. The table below shows each kicker’s career grade, using the familiar weight of 100% of the player’s best season, 95% of his second best, 90% of his third best, etc. This is useful because when we think of Jan Stenerud, we’re not thinking of his awful 1985 season — we’re thinking of him at his best. If you have a bunch of good seasons and several more average ones, a bad season as a very young or old player won’t kill your career rating, and I think that is appropriate. Here’s the list of the top 75 kickers from ‘60 to ‘07.

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The Complete Guide to Kickology III

Page 25

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Kicker Jan Stenerud Nick Lowery Morten Andersen Gary Anderson Eddie Murray Garo Yepremian Mark Moseley Fred Cox Jim Turner Jason Hanson Mike Vanderjagt Norm Johnson Matt Stover John Carney Jim Bakken George Blanda Don Cockroft Jason Elam John Kasay Al Del Greco Jeff Wilkins Pete Stoyanovich Horst Muhlmann Bruce Gossett Sam Baker Pat Leahy Errol Mann Tom Dempsey Mike Mercer Rafael Septien Ryan Longwell Doug Brien Efren Herrera Toni Fritsch Gene Mingo Gino Cappelletti Ray Wersching Raul Allegre Paul McFadden Don Chandler Rolf Benirschke Mick Luckhurst Shayne Graham Donald Igwebuike Joe Nedney Chester Marcol John Smith Adam Vinatieri Tony Zendejas John Leypoldt Todd Peterson Mike Hollis David Akers Dean Biasucci Chris Jacke Cary Blanchard Nate Kaeding George Blair Steve Christie Tony Franklin

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Value 136.2 124.6 109.6 100.4 83.7 82.7 76.0 73.6 73.1 68.5 65.8 65.1 63.7 63.1 61.9 58.5 54.9 54.3 54.2 49.9 47.0 43.2 41.3 39.7 38.1 37.2 36.0 35.2 35.1 35.0 34.5 33.8 33.1 32.9 32.4 31.7 31.4 30.5 29.2 28.8 27.6 27.5 26.2 25.5 24.9 24.9 24.0 22.0 21.3 20.2 19.9 19.3 18.7 18.6 17.6 16.9 16.5 16.5 16.5 15.5

rkyr 1967 1978 1982 1982 1980 1966 1970 1963 1964 1992 1998 1982 1991 1988 1962 1949 1968 1993 1991 1984 1994 1989 1969 1964 1953 1974 1968 1969 1961 1977 1997 1994 1974 1971 1960 1960 1973 1983 1984 1956 1977 1981 2001 1985 1996 1972 1974 1996 1985 1971 1994 1995 1998 1984 1989 1992 2004 1961 1990 1979

The Complete Guide to Kickology III

14. John Carney

52. Mike Hollis

Page 26

61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75

Matt Bahr Olindo Mare Rian Lindell Fuad Reveiz Pete Gogolak Rich Karlis Jeff Jaeger Jim Breech Josh Brown Mike Clark Bob Thomas Sebastian Janikowski George Fleming Pat Summerall Paul Edinger

15.5 13.8 13.1 12.9 12.8 12.1 11.4 11.0 10.9 10.2 9.7 9.4 9.2 8.9 8.4

1979 1997 2000 1985 1964 1982 1987 1979 2003 1963 1975 2000 1961 1952 2000

When I ranked the RBs, I had a separate formula which awarded 10 points each year to the best RB, 9 points to the second best, and so on. We can do the same thing for kickers. Lowery had two seasons as the NFLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top kicker (+20), four seasons as runner up (+36), two more seasons in the top three (+16), along with a #5, #7, two #9 and a #10 finish. That totals 87, the most in this system. Stenerud had three seasons atop the charts (+30), two more seasons at #2 (+18) or #3 (+16), one season at #5, one at #8, and three where he rounded out the top ten. Here are the rankings in this scoring system: Kicker 1. Nick Lowery 2. Morten Andersen 3. Jan Stenerud 4. Gary Anderson 5. Eddie Murray 6. Mark Moseley 7. Jason Hanson 8. Norm Johnson 9. Garo Yepremian 10. Jim Turner 11. Fred Cox 12. Matt Stover 13. George Blanda 14. Don Cockroft 15. Mike Vanderjagt 16. Jason Elam 17. Jim Bakken 18. John Carney 19. Gene Mingo 20. Gino Cappelletti 21. Bruce Gossett 22. John Kasay 23. Al Del Greco 24. Errol Mann 25. Pete Stoyanovich 26. Don Chandler 27. Jeff Wilkins 28. Sam Baker 29. Mike Mercer 30. Pat Leahy 31. Ryan Longwell 32. Adam Vinatieri 33. Tom Dempsey 34. Doug Brien 35. Toni Fritsch 36. Tony Zendejas 37. Efren Herrera www.footballguys.com

VALUE 124.6 109.6 136.2 100.4 83.7 76.0 68.5 65.1 82.7 73.1 73.6 63.7 58.5 54.9 65.8 54.3 61.9 63.1 32.4 31.7 39.7 54.2 49.9 36.0 43.2 28.8 47.0 38.1 35.1 37.2 34.5 22.0 35.2 33.8 32.9 21.3 33.1

rkyr 1978 1982 1967 1982 1980 1970 1992 1982 1966 1964 1963 1991 1949 1968 1998 1993 1962 1988 1960 1960 1964 1991 1984 1968 1989 1956 1994 1953 1961 1974 1997 1996 1969 1994 1971 1985 1974

Rk Score 87 77 76 70 63 56 53 53 52 52 51 51 50 49 47 46 45 44 42 39 38 37 36 33 32 32 30 29 29 27 26 26 24 24 24 22 21

The Complete Guide to Kickology III

1. Nick Lowry

Page 27

38. John Smith 39. Ray Wersching 40. Rolf Benirschke 41. David Akers 42. Dean Biasucci 43. Tony Franklin 44. Horst Muhlmann 45. Chester Marcol 46. Chris Jacke 47. Steve Christie 48. Paul McFadden 49. John Leypoldt 50. Fuad Reveiz 51. Paul Hornung 52. Rafael Septien 53. Raul Allegre 54. Todd Peterson 55. Jeff Jaeger 56. Joe Danelo 57. Joe Nedney 58. George Blair 59. Pete Gogolak 60. Bob Thomas 61. Paul Edinger 62. Martin Gramatica 63. Roger Ruzek 64. Rian Lindell 65. Scott Norwood

24.0 31.4 27.6 18.7 18.6 15.5 41.3 24.9 17.6 16.5 29.2 20.2 12.9 - 4.4 35.0 30.5 19.9 11.4 - 8.2 24.9 16.5 12.8 9.7 8.4 3.4 -10.2 13.1 3.3

1974 1973 1977 1998 1984 1979 1969 1972 1989 1990 1984 1971 1985 1957 1977 1983 1994 1987 1975 1996 1961 1964 1975 2000 1999 1987 2000 1985

21 20 20 20 20 20 19 19 19 19 18 18 18 18 17 17 17 17 17 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 15

62. Martin Gramatica

I want to make three quick Pro Football Hall of Fame notes: •

Nick Lowery’s HOF case is pretty strong. Comparing across positions is very difficult, but if you want to assume that Stenerud is a worthy HOFer, then I think Lowery should be considered one, as well. Stenerud may be slightly better, and he likely had a greater impact on the game (as Gary alluded to in the comments to Monday’s post, Stenerud was one of the first soccer style kickers and he changed the way many viewed the kicker position). But still, Lowery was so accurate and successful for so long, that he should be a HOFer. And, of course, his numbers are not inflated by playing in a domed stadium or a particularly nice climate. Lowery kicked Stenerud out of KC in 1980 — the placekicker’s version of Young replacing Montana.

•

At least for now — before we break field goal length down into even smaller increments and before we introduce some sort of weather variable to our formula — I feel confident in stating that Morten Andersen was better than Gary Anderson. This seems to be the prevailing opinion, at least among those who can separate out which was which. What’s more important, though, is that both are clearly ahead of everyone not named Stenerud or Lowery. Those four kickers are in a tier of their own. Is Andersen a HOFer? He’s got the career records (points, field goals made, games) but I would still put Lowery in before Andersen.

•

Some will make a case for Vinatieri for the HOF one day. He certainly will look much better once I figure out how to include some sort of variable to boost up cold weather kickers. But outside of that, Vinatieri’s HOF case is absurd. Even if he didn’t have the two missed field goals in Super Bowl XXXVIII, his history of clutch performances is not nearly enough to boost an otherwise weak resume. Vinatieri will get some love from those who don’t know how to grade kickers, from those who love the Patriots, and from those who enjoy sparking controversy, but he’s not a legitimate candidate when there’s just one pure placekicker in the HOF.

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The Complete Guide to Kickology III

Page 28

10. Bonus Scorers “The seagull sees farthest who flies highest” - French proverb BONUS POINTS SCORED ANNUALLY (last five years) The bonus points are in addition to the standard three points for a FG. Every successful FG from 40 to 49 yards is worth an additional point, and every 50+ yard FG is worth two additional points. Avg/yr

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

4049

50+

Brown, Josh

14.2

Rackers, Neil

13.8

Crosby, Mason

13.0

Hanson, Jason

13.0

Folk, Nick

12.5

Bironas, Rob

12.3

Kasay, John

11.6

Elam, Jason

11.4

Carpenter, Dan

11.0

Janikowski, Sebastian

11.0

Longwell, Ryan

11.0

Brown, Kris

10.8

Nedney, Joe

10.3

Akers, David

9.4

Lindell, Rian

Kicker

9.2

Scobee, Josh

9.2

Graham, Shayne

9.0

Stover, Matt

9.0

Gould, Robbie

8.8

Kaeding, Nate

8.4

Dawson, Phil

8.2

Mare, Olindo

8.2

Feely, Jay

8.0

Prater, Matt

8.0

Nugent, Mike

7.7

Reed, Jeff

7.0

Suisham, Shaun

7.0

Tynes, Lawrence

6.8

Carney, John

6.6

Bryant, Matt

6.4

Vinatieri, Adam

6.4

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The Complete Guide to Kickology III

Page 29

Kicker

Avg/yr

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

4049

50+

Gostkowski, Stephen

6.0

Hartley, Garrett

4.0

Rayner, Dave

3.8

Gramatica, Martin

3.5

Hauschka, Steven

2.0

Novak, Nick

2.0

Koenen, Michael

1.3

Barth, Connor

1.0

Mehlhaff, Taylor

1.0

0 3

Notes and Observations:

Josh Brown and Jason Hanson both climbed in the rankings thanks to a big 2008.

Mason Crosby and Nick Folk are both off to a good start after just two years.

Matt Stover Akers and Kris Brown are heading in opposite directions.

John Kasay, Jason Elam, and Ryan Longwell have been fairly consistent in this category from year to year.

Rob Bironas might be the current safest bet.

Stephen Gostkowski showed signs of improvement in his third year.

We asked some NFL kickers to discuss any differences in attempting a long field as compared to a medium or short range kick. Here are their answers: Robbie Gould “No you keep everything the same. The only thing I would say about long field goals is, if you have a 60-plus yarder you are going to have to hit it a little bit lower.” Mason Crosby “I try to kick every ball exactly the same way, no matter the distance. That keeps me from over swinging in long field goal situations.”

Josh Brown scored in double digits in bonus points the last four consecutive years. John Kasay is the only other player to have done the same.

Jeff Reed “If you hit a 35-yard field goal good, it is going to go 50 yards. Sometimes you think about kicking a longer field goal, and that is when you screw up. It is not because of the distance, it is because in your head you think that you have to kick it harder. Once, I attempted a 65-yarder in a game before; that one, if you get too much height on it, you are not going to make it. You have to drive it a little more. There is a point where when you try a really long field goal, they are going to bring a rush up the middle and jump to try to block it. That is when things can go bad for you.”

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The Complete Guide to Kickology III

Page 30

Connor Barth “You don’t try to, unless you’re really hitting a bomb, like maybe outside of 60 yards. Maybe like a potential game winner or something before the half, then you might just try to really give it all you’ve got. When we’ve been taught to kick, it’s always pretty much the same thing. You want to kick an extra point the same as you would kick a 50 yard field goal. You don’t want to change up your stroke at all. You want to keep the same leg swing as you do when you’re kicking a 30 yarder as you’re kicking a 50 yarder. It’s all about mental reps and continuing to have the same leg swing over and over again. That’s why for kicking a football they try to use golf for a lot of the different situations. It’s the same thing in golf; you want to have the same motion every time. With kicking you really don’t want to try to get out of your rhythm unless you’re kicking maybe a long 50 yard field goal into the wind. Then you might lower the trajectory and hit more of a line drive, but for the most part if you’re kicking on a normal day, no wind, you just want to keep your stroke the same from that extra point all the way out to 50 yards. You never want to break out of your routine, because that’s what got you there. You want to keep doing the same thing every time.”

Josh Scobee sets up for a field goal attempt.

Joe Nedney “I make no technique adjustments on long field goals.” Ryan Longwell “None.”

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The Complete Guide to Kickology III

Page 31

11. Consistent Scorers “Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are dead.” - Aldous Huxley TEAM KICKING POINTS WEEKLY HIGHS AND LOWS 2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

ppg

low

high

ppg

low

high

ppg

low

high

ppg

low

high

ppg

low

high

Ari

7.4

6.9

7.3

9.3

5.9

Atl

8.1

6.1

6.3

6.7

5.9

Bal

7.8

6.7

7.6

7.1

7.3

Buf

7.8

6.0

6.4

7.1

7.3

Car

8.1

6.2

6.3

7.6

6.2

Chi

7.4

7.9

8.9

5.8

4.2

Cin

5.3

8.1

7.2

8.2

7.6

Cle

6.8

7.5

5.5

6.3

Dal

6.4

8.2

6.8

5.9

5.7

Den

7.1

7.2

8.1

Det

5.5

7.6

7.3

5.3

6.3

7.9

8.8

6.8

5.6

7.5

Hou

7.8

7.2

5.2

6.4

5.3

Ind

6.4

7.4

7.8

7.6

7.8

Jac

5.6

6.8

7.4

6.7

5.8

4.9

6.7

7.8

6.8

Mia

6.4

5.6

6.3

6.8

5.2

Min

7.9

6.2

5.6

6.6

6.2

9.3

8.6

6.4

6.3

8.8

7.4

5.4

7.2

6.1

6.5

NYG

9.3

6.8

6.7

9.3

6.2

NYJ

7.1

6.9

6.6

5.6

6.6

Oak

6.1

4.4

5.6

6.6

Phi

9.0

6.8

6.4

6.1

7.6

Pit

7.3

7.1

6.3

7.3

7.8

7.9

7.4

8.5

7.0

7.1

Sea

6.4

7.9

6.9

6.8

7.6

4.6

7.3

6.2

4.8

Stl

7.0

6.1

8.2

7.3

5.6

8.2

7.4

4.6

6.1

4.8

Ten

7.9

8.3

6.1

6.2

6.0

Was

6.4

7.3

6.1

5.8

5.1

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The Complete Guide to Kickology III

Page 32

Notes and Observations: •

In certain fantasy leagues and competition formats, finding a kicker that has steady weekly production and that doesn’t have a dud week (one or zero points) can be an important consideration. Unfortunately, over the course of a year, even most good players have an off week.

•

The “low” columns above are highlighted with yellow for teams that scored four of five kicking points in their worst week of the year. Green highlighting indicates three kicking points in their worst week of the year. Blue is the dreaded zero.

•

The overall increase in kicker scoring in 2008 was also reflected in the fact that only four teams had games where they scored zero kicking points. That was the fewest of this decade. In both 2003 and 2006 there were twelve teams that had that dubious distinction.

•

A tale of two cities in Ohio. Up until 2008, Cincinnati had one of the stronger streaks going. Cleveland has really struggled in this category.

Stephen Gostkowski The Patriots scored at least four kicking points in every game over two consecutive years (2007 - 2008). They are the only team to have done so during the last five years.

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The Complete Guide to Kickology III

Page 33

12. Squandered Scoring Opportunities “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him split the uprights.” – author unknown ANNUAL TEAM MISSED KICKING POINTS ‘08

‘07

‘06

‘05

‘04

‘03

‘02

‘01

‘00

‘99

‘98

‘97

‘96

‘95

‘94

‘93

‘92

Ari

-9

-28

-27

-6

-21

-25

-18

-15

-22

-24

-30

-31

-26

-27

-24

-21

-40

Atl

-6

-24

-27

-9

-15

-25

-24

-18

-16

-12

-21

-22

-12

-3

-12

Bal

-21

-15

-6

-15

-9

-18

-15

-12

-15

-21

-24

-19

-12

-6

-18

-25

Buf

-24

-9

-6

-18

-12

-21

-24

-34

-27

-24

-18

-15

-29

-12

-28

-19

Car

-9

-12

-9

-25

-16

-19

-30

-16

-12

-10

-23

-12

-25

-22

Chi

-9

-15

-12

-28

-27

-30

-18

-15

-18

-46

-16

-15

-21

-24

-28

-21

Cin

-9

-17

-12

-9

-11

-34

-27

-24

-14

-15

-21

-16

-24

-27

Cle

-18

-13

-24

-8

-15

-16

-19

-10

-9

-13

Dal

-6

-15

-24

-25

-18

-19

-21

-33

-24

-36

-18

-9

-13

-5

-21

-22

-34

Den

-28

-12

-6

-25

-15

-12

-31

-15

-24

-21

-13

-33

-21

-28

-15

Det

-4

-19

-12

-16

-12

-4

-15

-27

-18

-19

-14

-10

-15

-18

-28

-27

-15

-21

-24

-28

-22

-12

-9

-18

-34

-15

-14

-18

-20

-24

-23

-18

-21

Hou

-12

-19

-24

-21

-12

-21

Ind

-15

-20

-10

-9

-19

-24

-19

-6

-12

-27

-12

-30

-24

-16

-39

Jac

-18

-11

-18

-22

-21

-39

-24

-32

-6

-21

-15

-18

-22

-18

-24

-22

-19

-20

-13

-12

-25

-21

-15

-4

-21

-15

-18

-6

Mia

-12

-6

-30

-15

-13

-22

-7

-10

-21

-16

-24

-34

-21

-24

-23

Min

-15

-13

-27

-12

-21

-10

-3

-33

-25

-21

-30

-15

-28

-18

-12

-9

-19

-16

-6

-28

-9

-19

-18

-22

-24

-12

-27

-30

-24

-36

-20

-16

-21

-10

-21

-15

-25

-12

-18

-16

-6

-12

-35

-33

-21

-16

NYG

-9

-14

-12

-21

-18

-21

-17

-16

-18

-15

-18

-32

-9

-24

-22

-19

-15

NYJ

-15

-22

-10

-18

-16

-15

-26

-21

-33

-20

-31

-39

-22

-12

-10

-27

-33

Oak

-19

-27

-21

-30

-10

-21

-19

-30

-39

-30

-29

-21

-19

-18

-29

-33

Phi

-21

-24

-15

-22

-16

-15

-12

-16

-14

-33

-23

-27

-12

-25

-12

-25

-31

Pit

-13

-6

-21

-15

-28

-35

-45

-16

-13

-18

-9

-21

-15

-6

-26

-15

-9

-16

-15

-25

-39

-21

-16

-12

-16

-21

-16

-12

-29

-18

Sea

-9

-18

-22

-6

-24

-18

-36

-15

-18

-15

-18

-15

-13

-15

-24

-12

-6

-18

-9

-12

-36

-9

-21

-23

-7

-29

-21

-12

-27

-17

-32

-28

Stl

-15

-24

-15

-12

-15

-9

-18

-6

-24

-19

-36

-13

-34

-15

-23

-15

-19

-15

-16

-15

-28

-31

-21

-18

-15

-22

-15

-22

-21

-36

-18

-30

Ten

-12

-18

-20

-14

-19

-18

-25

-19

-12

-9

-24

-18

-12

-16

-18

Was

-30

-19

-24

-12

-24

-25

-28

-21

-26

-31

-24

-18

-27

-26

-38

-30

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Notes and Observations:

In fantasy leagues that penalize for missed kicks, avoiding kickers that squander scoring opportunities is an important consideration.

In recent years, Green Bay, Kansas City, Oakland Philadelphia, and Washington have struggled the most in this aspect.

Washington’s struggles extend back throughout much of the past two decades.

Arizona and Atlanta both rebounded in 2008, after two backto-back difficult years.

Baltimore and the NY Giants have the best streaks going of not squandering lots of points.

Cincinnati’s missed point totals have been in single digits each of the last two years.

In 2008, nine different teams kept their missed kicking points in single digits.

Looking at the entire chart emphasizes the increasing accuracy of kickers over the years.

In 1999, the Chicago Bears triumvirate of Chris Boniol, Jeff Jaeger, and Brian Gowins had a rough year, missing a combined 15 field goals and one extra point leaving 46 points on the table.

Garrett Hartley In 2008, The New Orleans Saints also used three different kickers; however they fared better as a group on the strength of Hartley’s performance (13 of 13 on field goals).

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13. Field Goal Opportunities “Ability is nothing without opportunity.” - Napoleon Bonaparte COMPARISON OF ATTEMPTED FIELD GOALS TO TOTAL KICKER SCORING pts 2007

2008

pts 2006

pts 2005

pts 2004

pts 2003

pts 2002

pts

FGA Arnk rnk FGA Arnk rnk FGA Arnk rnk FGA Arnk rnk FGA Arnk rnk FGA Arnk rnk FGA Arnk rnk 40

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COMPARISON OF ATTEMPTED FIELD GOALS RANKING TO TOTAL KICKER SCORING RANKING pts.

top 5 FGA

top 6-10 FGA top 11-15 FGA top 16-20 FGA top 21-25 FGA

bottom FGA

rank

total

pct.

total

pct.

total

pct.

total

pct.

total

Pct.

total

pct.

1-5

64%

21%

6-10

23%

34%

20%

16%

11-15

21%

23%

18%

13%

10%

16-20

10%

27%

28%

13%

14%

21-25

12%

13%

20%

33%

21%

26-32

15%

30%

53%

Notes and Observations: •

It probably goes without saying that there is a strong correlation between number of field goal attempts and kicker scoring. But since this is the complete guide, we’ll mention it anyway.

•

The largest amount of attempted field goals each year is typically around 40. The least is typically around 20.

•

The table above does highlight that there are always a couple exceptions to the rule...

•

For example, the team that despite ranking only 27th in number of field goals attempted in 2007, nonetheless ranked second in actual kicker scoring. How did they do it? A record seventy-four extra points by Gostkowski.

•

Conversely, Miami ranked only 23rd in kicker scoring in 2006 despite having the third most field goal attempts. How did they do it? They had very few extra points and Olindo Mare missed ten of those field goal attempts. In 1966, the Los Angeles Rams’ Bruce Gossett attempted a record 49 field goals. He made 28 of them (57.1%).

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14. Accuracy "Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything." - Wyatt Earp COMPARISON OF ANNUAL FG% (ACCURACY) RANKING TO POINTS SCORED RANKINGS 2008 FG%

pts 2007

pts 2006

pts 2005

pts 2004

pts 2003

pts

%rnk rnk FG% %rnk rnk FG% %rnk rnk FG% %rnk rnk FG% %rnk rnk FG% %rnk rnk

95.5%

30 92.0%

16 93.3%

95.6%

93.9%

100%

93.5%

91.3%

29 93.1%

10 93.1%

20 92.0%

11 95.7%

92.3%

91.2%

92.0%

20 89.7%

21 90.6%

92.9%

90.9%

26 89.7%

89.7%

88.9%

15 89.3%

13 88.5%

90.3%

89.5%

32 89.7%

88.5%

87.1%

88.0%

90.0%

88.9%

28 88.9%

23 87.5%

85.7%

88.0%

89.7%

15 88.9%

10 88.9%

87.5%

12 85.7%

16 87.5%

89.3%

15 87.5%

19 88.9%

18 87.1%

85.7%

86.5%

88.9%

26 87.5%

88.5%

10 85.7%

10 85.3%

85.0%

88.0%

31 87.1%

15 87.9%

83.3%

14 84.8%

84.4%

87.9%

12 86.7%

86.5%

83.3%

84.4%

84.2%

87.9%

14 86.2%

14 85.2%

16 82.9%

10 82.8%

16 82.8%

87.9%

86.1%

84.0%

28 82.8%

82.8%

14 82.1%

87.1%

18 85.7%

24 83.3%

10 81.8%

82.6%

28 81.8%

86.1%

21 85.2%

19 82.9%

81.5%

23 81.8%

18 80.0%

85.3%

84.8%

10 81.3%

81.0%

27 81.8%

30 79.3%

84.4%

22 80.6%

13 80.0%

19 81.5%

15 75.9%

84.2%

83.9%

78.6%

26 79.3%

21 80.0%

18 75.8%

84.0%

23 83.3%

24 78.3%

20 79.2%

32 80.0%

10 75.0%

83.3%

22 82.9%

77.4%

16 78.6%

29 79.2%

26 74.1%

82.8%

20 82.9%

13 77.3%

31 78.1%

25 78.6%

18 73.5%

82.5%

82.4%

76.9%

19 76.7%

15 78.3%

22 73.3%

81.5%

15 80.6%

17 76.0%

30 76.5%

77.4%

24 73.3%

80.0%

11 79.5%

75.7%

76.5%

18 76.9%

25 72.2%

80.0%

23 79.3%

10 74.3%

14 75.9%

23 76.9%

72.0%

80.0%

28 76.5%

23 74.1%

22 75.0%

75.9%

22 71.9%

79.4%

75.0%

21 73.3%

27 74.1%

29 73.9%

11 70.8%

78.9%

12 75.0%

26 72.4%

29 73.5%

17 70.8%

27 70.4%

76.0%

29 71.9%

26 72.2%

23 72.0%

13 70.4%

21 70.3%

73.5%

19 70.4%

31 72.0%

32 71.4%

26 70.4%

29 69.2%

72.7%

32 70.0%

17 71.9%

23 71.0%

28 62.5%

32 61.5%

72.2%

23 68.2%

30 71.4%

14 66.7%

29 62.5%

30 60.6%

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90-100% Rank

85-89.9%

80-84.9%

75-79.9%

70-74.9%

50-69.9%

total

avg.

total

avg.

total

avg.

total

avg.

total

avg.

total

avg.

1-5

32%

18%

11%

6-10

21%

26%

21%

12%

11-15

11%

15%

18%

16%

16-20

18%

11%

15%

25%

18%

21-25

18%

19%

18%

16%

26-32

11%

18%

39%

66%

Notes and Observations: •

Similar to number of field goals attempted, there is an obvious correlation between field goal accuracy and kicking points scored, although the correlation is not quite as strong.

•

The strongest correlation to being a top ten scorer is to have a field goal percentage in the upper 80’s, although last year the near perfectionists staked their claim to many of the top spots.

•

Kickers down at the low end of the accuracy range are almost assured of not scoring many points.

•

In 2003, half the teams were connecting on less than 80% of their field goal attempts. In 2008, there were only six teams.

Neil Rackers In 2005, Rackers had a career year, leading the Arizona Cardinals to the top spot in both field goal accuracy and kicker scoring.

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15. Why Do They Keep Getting Better? “They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds.” - Winston Churchill Note: special thanks to Footballguys staff member David Yudkin, who raised this question in The Shark Pool, FBG’s online football discussion forum… and thanks to all who contributed to that discussion. The question had been half lingering in the back of my mind the last few years, but this prompted me to finally start organizing the answers. What do we mean by “better”? In 2008, NFL kickers as a collective group were successful on 84.5% of their field goal attempts. That is the highest rate ever. Six teams connected on at least 90% of their field goal attempts. That is the most ever. Over the past two decades, the best annual field goal percentage has been in the 90s. In 1998 it went all the way to 100% with the perfect season by Minnesota’s Gary Anderson, and again in 2003 by Indianapolis’ Mike Vanderjagt. But as we starting heading back in time, we can see where those numbers are better. Keep in mind these are the best numbers, which means the league averages were obviously less. In the 1980s, the highest annual field goal percentage was typically in the mid to upper 80s, although Jan Stenerud did achieve the first ever 90+ season with 91.7% (22 of 24) in 1981 with Green Bay. In the 1970’s it was typically in the upper 70s or low 80s. In the 1950s and 1960s it was in the mid 60s to mid 70s. In the 1940s the best annual numbers ranged from 33.3% to 75.0%. In simple terms, kickers’ accuracy has climbed steadily throughout the history of the NFL. Why do kickers keep getting better?

Top Ten Most Accurate Kickers Ever (minimum 100 successful field goals; through then end of the 2008 season) 1. 86.466% Mike Vanderjagt 2. 86.131% Nate Kaeding 3. 85.938% Robbie Gould 4. 85.644% Shayne Graham 5. 84.496% Rob Bironas 6. 83.696% Matt Stover 7. 82.813% Phil Dawson 8. 82.653% Jeff Reed 9. 82.585% John Carney 10. 82.222% Ryan Longwell

Specialization th

When American football developed in the latter part of the 19 century, there was no separate kicker position. Kicking tasks were handled by players who also had full time roles on both offense and defense. Needless to say, the players spent little to no time studying, practicing, and perfecting kicking. It wasn’t until 1961 that a true kicking specialist surfaced, and that was only a result of injury. Cleveland Browns’ Lou “The Toe” Groza was a Pro Bowl offensive lineman and kicker. A back injury the previous year ended his ability to play on the line, but he continued to kick until 1967. The idea of having a player dedicated solely to kicking quickly caught on. It was also not until recent decades, that professional football players, and especially kickers, made enough money to make a living playing football. Previously players had to work other jobs during the off-season and in many cases also during the football season. Now that the position of kicker actually exists and can afford to work on kicking year round, they are able to focus on studying, practicing, and perfecting kicking.

Mike Vanderjagt remains atop the list, but with each passing year more kickers are getting closer.

Specialization of others has also helped to improve kicking. While the kicker is the one who puts his foot on the ball in the end, the long snapper and holder are vital members of the placekicking process. While holding is still handled as a secondary task by someone with another job, long snapping became a specialized role back in the 1970’s. It was not until 2005 that long snapping was recognized for a Pro Bowl spot. In a few instances, teams also divide placekicking and kickoffs in to two separate jobs.

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The creation of specialized roles also spread to the coaching ranks. In 1969, The Los Angeles Rams hired Dick Vermeil as their special teams coordinator – a position that had never previously existing in the NFL. More recently, some teams have also included a separate kicking coach. Steve Hoffman is probably the most notable example. All these people can now spend all their time devoted to one thing – kicking. Perfecting Their Craft Once players had time, they were then able to start perfecting. They could perfect what to do with every part of their body, from their head to their toe, before, during, and after a kick. Possibly more important than anything else, they could perfect the timing between themselves and their long snapper and holder. With advances in science, they could perfect their nutrition and conditioning. They could perfect how to adapt what they do as they aged. They could perfect how to adjust for the less extreme things that Mother Nature might throw at them. While many of the improvements evolved gradually over time, the largest fundamental change surfaced in the 1960’s and spread quickly. It linked back to the origins of the game. When American football emerged out of English Football (or what Americans call soccer) and out of Rugby, it soon diverged significantly in many ways. Nearly a century later, soccer resurfaced when a few Europeans discovered that they could kick a football more effectively soccer style, than Americans were able to do in their straight ahead approach. Pete Gogolak, drafted by the AFL’s Buffalo Bills in 1964b and then signed away by the NFL’s New York Giants two years later, is credited with being the first soccer style football kicker. Given his success, others quickly followed and the straight ahead kicker was soon extinct. Somewhat unique to kickers’ perfection of their craft is the fact that there is really nothing opposing teams can do to counter it. They’ve tried icing the kicker with a timeout, but most agree that doesn’t really work. The rules and methods don’t provide an opportunity for teams to find new ways of blocking kicks. Conversely, when offenses or defenses start perfecting their craft or come up with something new and effective, the opposition soon finds a way to stop it. The only one that can stop kickers from splitting the uprights is the NFL – by changing rules, the goalposts, or the ball.

With a tripod holder and several balls, Kris Brown is ready to practice. The mismatched shoes are more than just a fashion statement.

Technology Just like virtually every aspect of life, technology has also helped to advance the kicking of footballs. Although they are relatively lo-tech, practice equipment allows kickers more control over when they can and cannot practice. The tripod holder allows them to practice whenever they want, even if a human holder is not around. The JUGS machine allows them to not over kick, even when their team mates need to practice kick returns. Video technology provides kickers the opportunity to go back and watch every little detail of their kicks, over and over and over. They can pinpoint small adjustments to be made in their quest for perfection.

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The short-lived fad a barefoot kicking notwithstanding, the direct component of interaction with the ball is the shoe. Rather than wearing the same exact shoes as their team mates, kickers now have shoes specifically for their task. An individual kicker has shoes matched to his feet, typically differentiated between the kicking foot and the plant foots specific needs. Along the path leading to the ball, the kicker’s feet interact with the ground below, which has also been advanced by technology. Care and maintenance of grass has improved, for those stadiums that still have the natural surface. Recent decades have seen the advancement of artificial surfaces, which provide a uniform carpet for more uniform kicking. Expectations I don’t have any stats to support this but I believe as kicking accuracy has improved, that in turn has increased the expectations of the owners and coaches. In the old days I suspect teams settled more so for whatever their kicker happened to make (and miss). Now, if a kicker doesn’t produce he is dumped, and teams are more willing to search far and wide for a kicker than can produce. Competition There is plenty of competition for the 32 placekicking jobs in the NFL. The pool of available kickers has grown exponentially over the years. As the popularity of the sport grew, so did the number of kids playing the game from an early age. This created an increasing pool of football players, including kickers.

David Akers practices kicking off

While soccer has no where near the popularity in the USA as it does in the rest of the world, and that is an understatement, it had risen from the dead to a certain degree – especially at the youth level. This has created a large pool of potential football kickers. Many current NFL kickers played soccer, not football, during their early childhood years. Teams can now readily find their soccer style kicker without having to go to Europe. With the proliferation of sports camps, including many specific to kicking, the younger players have access and exposure to many of the kicking developments.

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Page 42

We asked NFL kickers why they keep getting better. Following are their answers: Mason Crosby “Kicking is becoming a very refined, detailed skill. There is more interest in the details and specialty of kicking. There is truly a high level of veteran kickers in the NFL. The guys who have been around improving the field goal percentages for years are becoming more and more accurate and pushing younger kickers to keep pace. It is a great challenge to have. Now the precedent has been set… we have no choice to but to keep accuracy at an all time high level.” Robbie Gould “It’s just a matter of kickers becoming more specialized. Guys are now kicking more often year round. We are really getting a grasp of wind conditions and surface conditions.” Jeff Reed “It is kind of crazy. I look at my own stats because as a competitor you compare yourself to other guys no matter where they kick. At times you like to use the excuse ‘he made all of those kicks because he plays in a dome,’ but you still have to make them. It can definitely be a helping factor, but sometimes it won’t make a difference where you kick. Either way, with human error, nobody is perfect. To see guys kicking the way they are, and I think I have a great percentage the past two years, sometimes I have not even been considered for the Pro Bowl and other times I’m an alternate when I thought that I had an awesome year and our team had a great year. If you are under 80% you are not considered very good, and that is crazy because 80% is 4-of-5, and I would take that all day. If I finish at 80% - that is my goal every year. Obviously you want to be at 100%, but as a human you realize that you are not going to make everything. There are 31 other kickers in the NFL and 500 guys waiting to do your job, so I guess you just put a little bit of pressure on yourself because so many games come down to field goals.” Joe Nedney “Field goal accuracy has improved simply because placekickers have improved. The entire kicking position has become more of a craft and the kickers in the NFL are all very good at what they do. Also, teams don't tolerate a 70% kicker anymore like in decades past so there had to be improvement. The quality of the playing surfaces has helped too. We're kicking off fairways today as opposed to some of the conditions years ago.” Ryan Longwell “It's a more specialized position now, and teams that want to win tend to leave the kicker, holder, snapper combination together from year to year so there is no learning curve in starting each year. Plus games are so close now in the league you need a proven guy who can make the ones he's supposed to.” Where Do We Go From Here? Rich McKay, NFL Competition Committee Co-chairman "I think there was [such a discussion about again narrowing the goal post]. Maybe it's been eight or nine years. There has not been since then. I have not really heard much discussion of it. I think that the numbers have increased at a pretty high rate here with the accuracy.... It's just incredible how accurate the kickers have become. Does that mean there will be some discussion of it going forward? I don't know. But I wouldn't doubt that somebody is going to bring it back up because the accuracy is very impressive. I'll give them that. And maybe that's something, because we're always going to look at the ratio of touchdowns to field goals, and one of the things about accuracy of field goals is that ratio tends to go in the wrong direction. And so at some point I'm sure somebody will bring it back up and we'll be back talking about it."

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16. Attempts-Adjusted Accuracy (AAA) “Philosophy is like trying to open a safe with a combination lock: each little adjustment of the dials seems to achieve nothing, only when everything is in place does the door open.” - Ludwig Wittgenstein Section by guest freelance writer Andrew Brecher Even more than other fantasy football positions, kickers are a product of talent and opportunity. Both are important when ranking kickers, but just looking at kicker points in past years doesn’t help you distinguish between the two, which is important considering how much scoring opportunity can change from year to year. However, a closer look at kicker statistics can tell you a lot about a kicker’s talent – if you know what to look for. Because missed PATs are so rare, field goal percentage is commonly used to measure kickers’ talent. But very few people realize that it’s not a very good measure at all. Understanding what’s missing in that simple percentage is the key to discovering a kicker’s actual value. Let’s compare two hypothetical kickers. Suppose Kicker A makes 18 of 20 FGs (90%), while Kicker B makes 20 of 25 FGs (80%). Is it possible that Kicker B is really more talented? The answer is yes. A straight percentage does not differentiate between short and long FGs. All kickers are more accurate at shorter distances than at longer distances, so a kicker who only attempts shorter FGs will have a higher percentage than a kicker who attempts longer FGs, even if the talent is the same. So if Kicker A’s attempts tended to be of much shorter distance than Kicker B’s, comparing overall FG% doesn’t tell you anything about their talent. Understanding this, many people look at short-distance accuracy, such as attempts of less than 40 yards, separately from accuracy at longer distances. But this gets you only halfway there. Adjusting for distance is certainly better than looking at aggregate FG% alone, but it misses one crucial element of kicker performance. Let’s go back to our hypothetical Kicker A and Kicker B: Kicker A

Kicker B

0-39 yds

40-49 yds

50+ yds

0-39 yds

40-49 yds

50+ yds

16/17 (94%)

2/3 (67%)

0/0 (-)

14/15 (93%)

4/6 (67%)

2/4 (50%)

Looking just at just the percentages, it is not obvious which kicker is better. So let’s take a look behind the numbers. You can see that Kicker A is good at the short distances, but he only attempted a handful of FGs of 40 yards or more. Kicker B had more than three times as many attempts at long distances. What does this tell us? Most likely, Kicker A’s coach must not trust him to make a long FG! Kicker A’s coach probably knows that he is not very accurate at long distances, or may not have a strong enough leg to even try for a long FG. This is certainly not the case with Kicker B. Once you realize this, it becomes obvious that Kicker B is the better talent, and it’s not even very close. So how can you get a handle on this kind of talent differential without swimming in numbers? The solution is a rating measure called Attempts-Adjusted Accuracy (AAA). The AAA rating automatically adjusts for the extra attempts that good kickers get to make to give you a better picture of kicker talent. The AAA rating accounts for FG% under 40 yards (FG%[<40]) – attempts that every kicker should be expected to make – as well as FG% of 40+ yards (FG%[40+]), but includes an adjustment for the ratio of attempts that are 40+ yards (FGA[40+]) to attempts under 40 yards (FGA[<40]). For the mathematically inclined, the exact formula is: AAA = 100 * ((2/3 * FG%[<40]) + (1/3 * FG%[40+] * FGA[40+]/FGA[<40])) Kicker B has an AAA of 75.6, which is about average for NFL kickers, but Kicker A has a terrible AAA rating of 66.7. www.footballguys.com

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This is not a perfect measure of talent; for example, a coach may avoid a long FG attempt because of bad weather, not kicker talent. But unless a kicker changes teams, or a team is scheduled for a lot more outdoor December games above the Mason-Dixon Line than in the past, the effect of weather does not change much from one year to the next. So, for evaluating kickers for your fantasy team, this is not really a flaw. The list below ranks kickers based on AAA rating for field goals over the past few years. Using this ranking, along with your estimate of team scoring opportunities, will help you squeeze a few extra points from the kicker position throughout the year

AAA

Kicker

1-39 1-39 made att

1-39 pct

4049

40- 50+ 50+ 49 made att

total FGM

total FGA

Pct

97.0%

Carpenter, Dan

100.0%

84.0%

86.4%

Brown, Josh

94.7%

125

151

82.8%

85.3%

Kasay, John

98.7%

121

142

85.2%

84.5%

Folk, Nick

89.3%

86.8%

83.3%

Hanson, Jason

93.6%

122

142

85.9%

83.1%

Elam, Jason

96.6%

136

157

86.6%

82.0%

Rackers, Neil

93.3%

136

166

81.9%

Bironas, Rob

94.4%

109

129

84.5%

81.5%

Hartley, Garrett

100.0%

79.5%

Nedney, Joe

94.3%

101

115

87.8%

78.5%

Longwell, Ryan

91.1%

114

138

82.6%

78.4%

Janikowski, Sebastian

90.9%

110

145

75.9%

78.1%

Gould, Robbie

94.9%

110

128

85.9%

77.7%

Stover, Matt

103

96.1%

141

161

87.6%

77.5%

Kaeding, Nate

95.3%

118

137

86.1%

77.5%

Bryant, Matt

95.9%

101

122

82.8%

77.4%

Akers, David

91.7%

118

149

79.2%

77.3%

Suisham, Shaun

89.4%

77.9%

77.2%

Scobee, Josh

89.0%

104

131

79.4%

76.2%

Graham, Shayne

93.9%

132

151

87.4%

76.2%

Crosby, Mason

90.5%

79.5%

76.0%

Brown, Kris

86.6%

116

145

80.0%

75.9%

Prater, Matt

83.3%

68.4%

75.5%

Lindell, Rian

93.9%

130

153

85.0%

72.4%

Reed, Jeff

92.9%

122

145

84.1%

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72.2%

Feely, Jay

90.6%

121

143

84.6%

72.2%

Tynes, Lawrence

88.9%

115

80.0%

72.2%

Vinatieri, Adam

92.7%

119

140

85.0%

71.6%

Mare, Olindo

85.3%

126

77.0%

71.5%

Dawson, Phil

103

90.3%

128

153

83.7%

71.2%

Gramatica, Martin

81.8%

67.4%

71.2%

Carney, John

91.7%

117

136

86.0%

71.0%

Nugent, Mike

90.2%

81.5%

67.6%

Gostkowski, Stephen

89.7%

85.6%

66.7%

Rayner, Dave

80.0%

71.2%

63.3%

Barth, Connor

90.0%

83.3%

56.1%

Novak, Nick

68.4%

63.3%

55.6%

Mehlhaff, Taylor

66.7%

75.0%

Dan Carpenter In his rookie season of 2008, Carpenter crushed the AAA competition and landed way atop the list.

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17. The K-ball “Just as there is a trend toward high tech today, there is another trend toward high touch - homemade and wholesome.” - Meryl Gardner The Official Game Balls “In 1941, with "Slingin'" Sammy Baugh of the Washington Redskins fast becoming the NFL's first great passing quarterback, Wilson purchased "The Duke" name from rival Spalding. Ever since, Wilson has been the official manufacturer of all NFL footballs. The Duke, also used by the American Football League from 1960 to 1969, received a name change in 1969 when the two leagues merged. It is now simply called the NFL ball. Wilson continued to improve the ball with such innovations as hand-sewn ends, triple lining and lock-stitch seams. In 1951, rubber footballs were tried briefly, and in 1956, the NFL approved the use of easier-to-see white footballs for night games. This evolved into special night footballs with white stripes around each end—banned in 1976 because the paint made the balls slick. In 1955, Wilson developed the TD football, which featured a new Tanned-in-Tack material, also known as Grip-Tite. This material has a tacky feel that makes the ball easier to grip, especially when wet. The exclusive Tanned-in-Tack cowhide leather is supplied by the Horween Leather Co., and has been since 1941. That's right. No pigskin. In 1981, a new Ultra Pebble design for the leather, which further enhanced the grip, was introduced. Inside the ball is a high-tech three-ply polyurethane bladder. Two of the layers are standard polyurethane but the third is a unique material, which is secret. In fact, Wilson's bladder recipe is such a well-kept secret that factory tours in that area of the facility are forbidden. The lacing, once fragile cotton, like shoelaces, is now made of an extruded polyvinyl chloride, which is more durable. The process of fabricating a ball, whether it's for the shelf at Wal-Mart or the next Super Bowl, is surprisingly simple and has remained basically unchanged since 1941. The four panels of the ball are cut cookie-cutter style from a large sheet of leather. The panels are then checked for blemishes and weighed to make sure they meet specifications. Linings for each panel and reinforcements for the bladder opening and valve ring are then added. After the panels are hand-sewn together inside out, the ball is turned through the lace opening using an iron post and a bit of muscle. The bladder is inserted and the ball is double laced by hand. It's then over-inflated to 80 psi so its appearance, stitching and shape can be examined. If it passes inspection, it's stamped "NFL," deflated and delivered.” - from Popular Mechanics article by Scott Oldham, 2001 Behind the Scenes Modifications Prior to 1999, all game balls were sent to a team during the week prior to a game. Equipment managers would then prep the balls, typically by rubbing them down with a brush or towel, and possibly using a little rubbing alcohol to get rid of the slickness. Anything more than that might create issues for the quarterbacks. But some kickers had other ideas in a quest to create the ideal kicking ball. There are numerous stories regarding their methods to try to make the ball softer, a little rounder, with looser seams and an inflated bladder. What did they allegedly do? Soak them in water, lemonade, or evaporated milk. Bake them in an oven, either as is or wrapped in aluminum foil. Nuke them in a microwave. Steam them in a sauna. Run them through clothes dryer cycles. Bath them for several hours in a hot tub. Bash them against hard surfaces. Repeatedly drop heavy weights on them. Over-inflate them for several days, and then deflate them back to regulation pressure prior to the game. Deluxe treatments combined several of the methods, such as over-inflating, followed by rubbing alcohol, then baking them, and finally deflating. In 1994 the league made an attempt to curb the illegal doctoring of balls. They implemented levying a $15,000 fine against the equipment manager of any team caught with a doctored ball. While this may have reduced occurrences of tampering, it did not eliminate the problem. The K-ball Arrives The K-ball rule was implemented in 1999, and ensures that all kicking plays in games will use a brand new ball, rather than one that has been “broken in” or possibly tampered with. They are the same regulation size, shape, and weight as all other balls. From the NFL Rules: The home club shall have 36 balls for outdoor games and 24 for indoor games available for testing with a pressure gauge by the referee two hours prior to the starting time of the game to meet with League requirements. Twelve (12) new footballs, sealed in a special box and shipped by the manufacturer, will be www.footballguys.com

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opened in the officials’ locker room two hours prior to the starting time of the game. These balls are to be specially marked with the letter "K" and used exclusively for the kicking game. The night before a game, 12 balls marked with a "K" are delivered straight from Wilson Sporting Goods to the officials. Two hours before the game, the officials were to prepare the balls by rubbing them down and brushing them off. They would then check the air pressure and put the balls in a bag until needed for kicking plays in the game. The minimal pre-game preparation often didn’t occur at all, and in 2002 the rule was modified to allow the home teams' equipment personnel 20 minutes to wipe down the balls. More Rule Changes The K-ball rules were modified prior to the 2007 season, primarily as a result of QB/holder Tony Romo’s mishandled snap on a field goal attempt in the 2006 playoffs. The NFL now hired 16 people with officiating backgrounds (all are on the league's candidates list), to serve as K-ball Coordinators. They travel to and from games with that day's crew and that day's footballs. There are 12 K-balls, however the ball coordinator takes only two with him to the sidelines. The rest remain in another area, available if and when they're needed. The balls are marked K-1, K-2, K-3 and so forth, with the K-ball coordinator introducing them in sequence. K-ball No. 1 will be used on the opening kickoff and on every kicking play it's no longer available. Then the No. 2 K-ball will be put into play, and subsequently used on every kicking play until it is no longer available. And so forth. Also changed for 2007 was the pre-game preparation of the balls. The time allotment was increased to 45 minutes and both teams, rather than just the home team, were allowed to do the rub down. During Footballguys’ interviews with various NFL kickers, they discussed the K-ball’s impact: Ryan Longwell “Yea, it’s a huge difference. I always use the example: it’s the equivalent of going out to short stop and having someone hit you ground balls while wearing a broken in baseball glove, and then giving you a brand new glove right of the rack and taking the same ground balls. The leather’s just harder; it’s not as flexible. When you’re kicking something like that, it doesn’t fly as far. A broken in football gets some moisture in the leather, so there’s a little more weight to it, so it can cut through wind and fly a little farther. The K-ball was a big difference. I think that’s why you see, over the seven or eight years it’s been in the league, that a lot more of the teams are going with veteran kickers and proven guys that can hit the ball solid, than a lot more of the young guys with big legs. Because the big leg doesn’t necessarily translate into accuracy with the new K-ball like it did with the old broken in balls.” “We get brand new balls basically every week [in practice]. I don’t think we kick enough to break them in totally over the course of a week. We’ll always use brand new balls. It’s changed probably more for the equipment guys around the league than it has for anybody else, because they’re probably going through a lot more rotatings. It’s just a factor that when I first got in the league it wasn’t there and then they changed it. It’s something you’ve got to deal with.” Joe Nedney “The K-ball has improved over the years, but it varies from ball to ball. Not all leather panels are the same. Some balls are knobbier, more rigid, and just plain hard while others can be smoother, softer and more pliable. The referees give equipment guys about 15 to 20 minutes of supervised time to rub down the 12 K-balls. That translates to a little over a minute per ball. That's nowhere near enough time. A bad K-ball can cost a kicker five yards on field goal distance. The sweet spot on a bad K-ball is much smaller which increases the chance of a miss-hit.” Robbie Gould “The K-balls are brand new balls so they don’t travel as far. If you have a ball that is more worked in, it is going to travel a lot further. The good thing about a new ball is that it doesn’t move quite as much. An older ball that is a little more deflated will move right or left a bit more.”

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Mason Crosby “K-Balls are brand new footballs for each game and are only worked in for 45 minutes before a game. This makes them less forgiving, but you will get a few really nice ones. It all depends on the quality of the ball and how well it is worked in. You don’t get much consistency from ball to ball and I think that is a big reason we use a K-ball.” Jeff Reed “There is definitely a difference. I can’t speak for the NFL, but I have heard stories. I never paid attention to or heard of a K-ball until I got to the NFL. You were able to practice with the balls all week in practice and then use them in games – that is what I did in college. Luckily, our quarterbacks chose the balls in college and they liked the older ones to throw. That benefited me with hang time and distance. It definitely affects it because you never know what you are going to get. For home games, your equipments guys rub the balls down. Our guy knows what we like and what other teams like because I talk to other kickers. When it comes to away games, it is either hit or miss because you get fantastic balls because the kicker and punter know what they are doing and they tell the guys (rubbing the balls) or you get the guys who don’t know what they are doing or they don’t care about the football, and it could be terrible. It can be hit or miss. I think that K-balls definitely affect kickers no matter what anybody says.” Jay Feely “The interesting thing is that you can get a good K-ball or a bad K-ball. A k-ball is not a different ball in anyway than the regular game ball; it’s just a ball that has not been broken in. The balls the quarterbacks use, they’ll take them down, they’ll rub them, they’ll break them in, and use them throughout the week to have them not be so new. The K-balls are brand new right out of the box. You’re not allowed to do anything to them. You’re not allowed to kick them at all before the game. You can get a good new ball, or a bad new ball. The difference between a good new ball and a bad new ball is probably about ten yards on a kickoff or a field goal. If you get a bad ball when you go to kickoff, I’ll even tell our guys on our kickoff team, “Hey it’s a bad ball, be ready for a short kick.” Because I know regardless of how well I kick it, it’s not gonna come down probably any deeper than the ten yard line.” “You can tell when you hold it. You can tell by feeling it, because the seams ridge up. The ends, which are supposed to be round, are kind of square. The difference between a nubby ball and a smooth ball, the nubby balls are bad balls that are not going to go as far. The smooth balls, the way they’re supposed to be, they going to go a lot farther.” Connor Barth “It was definitely an adjustment at first. Kicking in college we used Nike balls and for the most part it was pretty broken in compared to what we kick in the NFL now. When I first started kicking the NFL ball I was struggling getting the ball to the five yard line on kickoffs. Barely kicking 50 yards. But it’s all about finding the sweet spot on that new ball. It takes a couple months. But once I got into a rhythm towards the latter part of my workouts for the draft and then when I got to minicamp, I found out how to kick the NFL ball and where that new sweet spot was. For the most part it’s kind of like kicking in college again, because once you find out where to hit the NFL ball, on what sweet spot, it goes pretty far, especially if you have the wind behind you. In the beginning it was kind of frustrating because I wasn’t hitting the ball very far, but once I got used to it, it was an easy adjustment.”

Rian Lindell and a referee admire a K-ball.

Fantasy Impact The effect of the K-ball on fantasy football can be seen on rookies or players new to the NFL coming from some other league. Many have difficulty adjusting to the ball. The statistics regarding their accuracy and range in college or in another league often have no bearing on how they will perform in the NFL. The K-ball may also lead to a significant drop in their effectiveness on kickoffs. That doesn’t matter during the regular season for fantasy players (unless your fantasy league incorporates kickoffs in its scoring); however it can be a significant factor for kickers competing for a job in the pre-season. www.footballguys.com

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18. The Kickoff “All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.” - Swami Vivekananda We asked NFL kickers to discuss any technique differences between kicking off and placekicking. Following are their answers: Ryan Longwell “I think they’re both very unique. Field goals are much more precise than kicking off, meaning that you’re probably not going to be as successful swinging 100% at a field goal as you will be swinging at 85% or 90%. It’s very similar to what they say on the golf course; what the pros say about swinging a golf club. Kicking off, however, is basically about how much power you can put into the ball without over-kicking it. So they’re two different things. Like I said, with the new K-balls you’re not seeing the guys who are just pounding the ball eight to ten yards deep. I think that’s why you’re seeing a lot more kickers that are great field goal kickers and good kickoff guys, instead of the kickoff specialists with big legs because there’s just not that big a difference anymore with the K-ball.” Connor Barth “It’s a big adjustment. That’s where a lot of people don’t understand the kicking game as much. There’s a huge difference between kicking off and kicking field goals. Kicking field goals from a body and technique perspective, you want to stay more upright and not crunch as much. That’s going to let your leg extend up and it’s going to give you more height. When you kickoff, you want to almost do a hurdling motion and a crunching motion. You’re pretty much trying to be as aggressive as you can when you hit the ball, but you don’t want to be overly aggressive where you’re out of control. It’s almost like controlled aggression. That’s what I call it when you attack that ball. You hit it really well, but you’re under control and you know what you’re doing and you have good technique. The main thing with kickoffs, when you make contact with the football you want to hurdle through it and land on your actual kicking foot. I’m right footed so when I kickoff, when I hit the ball I land on the same foot that I kick with. It’s like a hurdling motion while I’m crunching. On a field goal you want to skip through the ball. When you plant your foot, you want to skip through that same foot. That keeps your momentum through the ball. If you don’t skip through the ball when kicking a field goal, all your momentum goes into the ground and you lose the distance. You want to make sure you take all your body weight and get it through the ball. The main difference between kicking off and kicking field goals is when you hit the ball, when you make contact, on field goals you’re kind of skipping through, but when you kickoff you’re almost doing a crunch kind of like a hurdle.”

Jay Feely “When you’re kicking a field goal you come down on your plant foot. When you’re kicking off you actually land on your kicking leg, because you want to explode through the ball. When you’re kicking a field goal it’s a controlled movement, where you’re working on consistency. When you’re kicking off, it’s an explosive movement where you’re trying to kick the ball as high and as far as you can.”

Mason Crosby “It’s mainly in the approach. Kickoffs are more steps and the ability to tee the ball up allows for more hang time.”

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19. Do Good Offenses Produce High Scoring Kickers? “Bobby Knight told me this: 'There is nothing that a good defense cannot beat a better offense.' In other words a good offense wins.” - Dan Quayle KICKER SCORING RANK COMPARED TO OFFENSIVE SCORING AND YARDAGE RANKS 2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

rnk O-pt O-yd ∆O rnk O-pt O-yd ∆O rnk O-pt O-yd ∆O rnk O-pt O-yd ∆O rnk O-pt O-yd ∆O 1

(2)

(10)

(4)

(1)

(4)

(5)

(1)

(2)

(1)

(5)

(3)

(1)

(2)

(1)

(4)

(3)

(1)

(3)

(2)

(5)

(10) 14

(13) 15

(1)

(2)

(5)

(4)

(1)

(3)

(6)

(11) 20

(4)

(5)

(2)

(5)

(4)

(2)

(6)

(13) 23

(3)

(2)

(3)

(7)

(2)

(9)

(11) 25

(8)

(12)

(3)

(13) 26

(4)

(7)

(2)

(6)

(11)

(3)

(4)

(1)

(2)

(8)

(5)

(7)

(2)

(3)

(1)

(6)

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Top 5 Kickers rnk

O-pt

1-5

42%

6-10

34%

11-15

16-20

Top 6-10 Kickers

O-yd

rnk

O-pt

O-yd

38%

1-5

25%

28%

25%

6-10

30%

24%

17%

13%

11-15

23%

12%

16-20

14%

17%

21-25

15%

21-25

13%

26-32

The numbers in the lower two tables date back to 1990. They confirm what most of us already suspected. There appears to be a strong correlation between kicker scoring and offensive rankings. 73% of top five kickers came from top ten scoring offenses, while 60% came from top ten yardage offenses.

Shayne Graham From 2004 to 2007, the Cincinnati Bengals were a top ten offense, and they also ranked in the top ten in kicker scoring each year. In 2008 the offense dropped to last st place and kicker scoring dropped to 31 place.

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20. Do Poor Red Zone Offenses Produce High Scoring Kickers? “The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a white zone.” - male airport PA announcer “No, the white zone is for loading. There is no stopping in the red zone.” - female airport PA announcer “The red zone has always been for loading.” - male announcer “Don't you tell me which zone is for loading and which zone is for unloading.” - female announcer THREE YEAR STUDY OF RED ZONE STATISTICS 2005 K-rnk trips RZ%

2004 nil K-rnk trips RZ%

2003 nil K-rnk trips RZ% TD FG nil

Ari

51.6% 13

61.4% 18

43 55.8% 18

Atl

72.5% 31

66.9% 27

46 67.1% 24

Bal

54.4% 16

68.2% 20

50 62.6% 21

Buf

53.1% 17

60.4% 28

45 60.0% 21

Car

72.2% 31

72.8% 31

42 60.9% 17

Chi

62.5% 20

52.3% 16

45 62.2% 22

Cin

70.3% 35

64.9% 28

47 72.3% 28

Cle

50.2% 11

63.1% 19

42 60.5% 19

Dal

66.6% 28

65.4% 21

46 59.3% 20

Den

71.4% 35

59.8% 24

56 69.1% 31

Det

64.3% 18

62.1% 19

38 58.3% 17

59.9% 22

69.2% 30

52 77.7% 34

Hou

62.9% 16

67.9% 26

34 75.6% 21

Ind

71.9% 37

72.3% 42

62 68.2% 32

Jac

72.3% 29

59.4% 19

45 56.8% 20

67.7% 28

74.3% 40

54 86.5% 42

Mia

55.2% 21

59.8% 18

43 61.8% 21

Min

59.4% 23

66.5% 33

55 66.5% 31

74.9% 37

72.3% 37

50 61.1% 22

55.4% 16

65.7% 27

40 68.9% 22

NYG

61.7% 27

60.1% 26

47 50.2% 18

NYJ

59.1% 19

70.1% 25

40 64.6% 19

Oak

61.9% 21

65.0% 20

34 58.0% 15

Phi

66.2% 22

72.0% 30

51 77.0% 32

Pit

76.8% 34

60.7% 28

44 59.1% 20

80.3% 35

78.7% 44

46 57.1% 22

Sea

79.5% 43

72.2% 31

50 74.0% 31

63.8% 11

62.4% 20

62 58.5% 29

Stl

63.0% 24

67.0% 23

68 67.0% 34

66.7% 20

64.3% 21

40 67.9% 22

Ten

60.9% 22

66.0% 25

60 66.9% 32

Was

72.9% 30

67.9% 23

45 67.6% 24

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Top 5 Kickers Quan

RZ%

Top 6-10 Kickers Quan

RZ%

75%+

70-74.9%

65-69.9%

60-64.9%

55-59.9%

54.9%-

A common assumption is that poor red zone offenses are good sources for kicker scoring, since the team would be scoring more field goals than touchdowns. The numbers do not support that. More top ten kickers tend to come from average to slightly above average red zone teams.

Dallas Cowboys kicker Nick Folk attempts a field goal over the outstretched arms of the Philadelphia Eagles defenders.

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21. Do Good Defenses Produce High Scoring Kickers? “I always root for the defense.” - Wellington Mara KICKER SCORING RANK COMPARED TO DEFENSIVE SCORING AND YARDAGE RANKS rnk

2007 D-pt D-yd ∆D

rnk

2006 D-pt D-yd ∆D

rnk

2005 D-pt D-yd ∆D

rnk

2004 D-pt D-yd ∆D

rnk

2003 D-pt D-yd ∆D

(18)

(6)

(10)

(3)

(5)

(4)

(2)

(6)

(1)

(6)

(5)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(1)

(7)

(10)

(9)

(13) 15

(1)

(9)

(10) 16

(1)

(6)

(10) 20

(4)

(1)

(3)

(16) 22

(2)

(10) 22

(4)

(1)

(7)

(4)

(1)

(14) 25

(11)

(12)

(4)

(2)

(8)

(10) 27

(3)

(6)

(12)

(7)

(13) 29

(2)

(4)

(1)

(11) 30

(8)

(1)

(4)

(3)

(15) 32

(1)

(8)

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Top 5 Kickers rnk

D-pt

1-5

29%

6-10

23%

11-15

16-20

Top 6-10 Kickers

D-yd

rnk

D-pt

D-yd

28%

1-5

21%

20%

23%

6-10

21%

16%

21%

20%

11-15

15%

20%

13%

16-20

13%

15%

21-25

12%

21-25

17%

12%

26-32

10%

26-32

13%

17%

The numbers in the lower two tables date back to 1990. There appears to be a slight correlation between kicker scoring and defensive rankings. 50% of top five kickers came from top ten scoring defenses, while 49% came from top ten yardage defenses.

Jeff Reed (being held aloft) In 2007 and 20087, the Pittsburgh Steelers had the top ranked defense, th th however they only ranked 16 and 18 in kicker scoring.

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22. Do Personnel Changes Impact Kicker Scoring? "Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely." - Karen Kaiser Clark A common assumption is that a team is more likely to succeed if there is continuity in their players and personnel from one year to the next. Does that also apply to kicker scoring? The following table looks at turnover since 1990 for three key positions: the kicker himself, the head coach, and the quarterback. The “total” column is the yearly turnover percentage for the entire NFL during that span at that position. The last two columns are the turnover for teams that end up in the top ten in kicker scoring in that year. In all cases, the turnover in teams that ended up in the top ten in kicker scoring was less than the NFL average. That is even truer for teams that ended up in the top five. total

top 5 K

top 6-10 K

24.4%

16.5%

17.2%

22.8%

10.3%

17.2%

38.2%

21.6%

22.6%

There are two other important personnel changes to watch which relate to kickers. The first involves the two other players that are most directly involved in placekicking: the longsnapper and the holder. These two along with the kicker need to develop a precise rhythm for the snapping-holding-kicking process. That development can take weeks, more likely months, and possibly even years to reach full effect. When one or more of those three players changes, the learning process starts over. It’s not unheard of for the decline in numbers by a normally reliable and productive kicker to be partially or significantly attributed to working with a new holder. The other important change of personnel to watch is the entire offensive line. Much like the three players involved on a kick, the five players on the offensive line need time working together to develop into a cohesive effective unit. If they haven’t then the entire offense can be hindered, which in turn limits scoring opportunities for the kicker. A top five kicker from the previous year could look like he would be strong bet to repeat that performance. If his team’s offensive is breaking in a new rookie or two, and/or a new free agent or two, and/or shifting players within the line to a different position, then the repeat performance may be highly unlikely. The impact of the last two personnel change categories are fairly simple and straight forward, however they are often overlooked factors. Paying attention to these changes during the off-season, pre-season, and during the regular season if they occur, can help identify kickers that are more likely to under-perform.

Ryan Plackemeier and Shaun Suisham With a new holder in 2008, the Washington Redskins’ field goal accuracy declined.

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23. Domes vs. Outdoor Stadiums “The sky's the limit if you have a roof over your head.” - Sol Hurok During discussions on drafting kickers, someone usually suggests to draft a kicker from a team with a domed stadium. Sounds reasonable. At least half their games will be indoors, without interference from Mother Nature. Do kickers actually perform better indoors, or is it just a kickers' wives' tale? DOMES vs. OUTDOORS vs. RETRACTABLE ROOF STADIUMS FG Total avg

FG 1-19

FG 20-29

Stadium

att

md att md

Dome visitors

563

683 82.4%

Dome Home

598

712 84.0%

Dome total

att

FG 30-39 md

att

FG 40-49 md

att

FG 50+

POINTS

md att XPm XPa

Total

ppg

180 186 160 180 164 219

862

866

2551

6.9

199 202 180 206 161 218

915

925

2709

7.3

1161 1395 83.2% 15

15 379 388 340 386 325 437 102 167 1777 1791

5260

7.1

Outdoors visitors

2245 2824 79.5% 33

33 753 794 720 850 611 894 127 250 3101 3142

9836

6.2

Outdoors home

2427 3041 79.8% 37

38 831 871 800 943 633 928 126 258 3695 3748 10976

7.0

Outdoors total

4672 5865 79.7% 70

71 1584 1665 1520 1793 1244 1822 253 508 6796 6890 20812

6.6

Retractable visitors

151

178 84.8%

199

652

7.3

Retractable home

126

151 83.4%

221

599

6.7

Retractable total

277

329 84.2%

420

1251

7.0

The numbers support the assumption. Both field goal percentage and points-per-game were higher in domes during the eight year span from 2001 to 2008. What if the numbers are skewed because some of the better kickers (e.g. Vanderjagt & Wilkins) happened to kick in domes during that time? If we look just at the visitors, which provide a broader spectrum of kickers, they also have better numbers in the domes. The retractable roof numbers are limited since only the Texans’, Cardinals’, and Colts’ stadiums fell into that category for a portion of the time. The Cowboys’ new stadium will also start adding to that category.

Metrodome, Minnesota www.footballguys.com

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ANNUAL TEAM KICKER SCORING RANKINGS (w/ DOME TEAMS SHADED IN GRAY) Ari Atl Bal Buf Car Chi Cin Cle Dal Den Det GB Hou Ind Jac KC Mia Min NE NO NYG NYJ Oak Phi Pit SD Sea SF Stl TB Ten Was

‘08

‘07

‘06

6 11 12 5 15 31 22 26 19 30 7

23 22 28 24 7 5 9 4 15 8 1

23 5 20 23 1 10 29 14 10 7 14

29 32 23 7 2 15 1 20 28 3 18 7 26 14 21 4 7 23

10 19 31 29 24 2 30 19 17 26 21 16 10 6 32 26 10 3 13

4 6 16 23 28 19 10 16 18 32 20 22 2 13 8 3 31 26 27

‘05 1 15 10 10 5 28 3 20 26 9 32 29

‘04 22 22 8 8 18 32 5 16 25 2 16 7

‘03 32 26 4 31 5 14 12 23 20 5 23 7

‘02 29 1 22 12 29 23 28 20 32 9 20 4

‘01 21 7 7 29 25 13 30 21 26 3 27 15

‘00 28 21 1 12 5 26 31 30 18 2 19 2

‘99 27 29 8 13 6 30 28 31 23 8 17 12

‘98 13 8 25 2 21 24 28

‘97 26 16 13 20 22 27 28

‘96 18 19 25 17 1 21 13

‘95 15 4 13 6 19 10 8

‘94 22 17 7 7

‘93 18 10 22 15

22 9

17 21

5 5 11 4

3 1 7 5

5 14 30 11

5 2 2 17

6 3 18 14

2 7 2 4

5 15 4 14 17 19

3 24 11 28 18 1 15 18 14 13 5 3 10 11 30 26 30 21 29

2 25 12 20 16 11 16 27 14 22 9 19 28 9 8 1 28 3 18

19 25 7 13 15 10 3 16 17 4 2 8 26 17 10 24 4 14 27

2 28 14 20 31 11 11 19 15 6 7 3 5 24 17 1 10 23 18

6 17 23 10 11 15 15 25 19 8 6 14 27 22 24 12 4 8 28

1 4 13 2 21 16 25 21 13 7 26 20 10 3 24 5 17 17 10

14 12 10 17 1 7 23 20 8 27 30 16 19 18 15 26 21 3 29

7 1 11 7 24 10 22 20 5 29 19 15 16 18 4 14 30 11 25

2 9 27 26 20 5 28 22 29 15 10 16 7 12 4 23 23 3 7

20 26 18 9 7 23 26 25 30 21 22 1 24 15 14

11 10 2 4 5 18 24 15 16 13 1 25 11 27 21 28 20

13 11 15 23 8 13 23 1 25 9 6 19 12 28 26 5 27

2 29 29 23 7 12 13 21 7 23 21 27

28 10 10

What does the slightly higher field goal accuracy and points per game inside domes translate into in the fantasy world? The average year end fantasy rank for kickers with a home dome is 14.7, while outdoor kickers average a 15.5 ranking. The Texans, Cardinals, and Colts retractable dome seasons were omitted, as were any instances where a team split its home games between two stadium types within one year.

Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis (retractable) www.footballguys.com

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24. Weather Report â&#x20AC;&#x153;Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.â&#x20AC;? - Mark Twain A Conversation About Weather Weather is probably the one and only universal topic that can enter any conversation. It can be the main topic or a sub-topic. And of course, as a last resort, it can be the topic when there is no actual conversation. Relative to fantasy football, weather potentially impacts the performance of teams and the individual players. Weather comes in many shapes and sizes, each with varied results. Poor weather can be conducive to a sloppy defensive battle. Field conditions may lead an offense to alter their play calling. Strong winds can deter deep passes and long kicks. Heavy rain can create a challenge for any players that handle the ball. While the specific ways in which weather can hinder players is certainly important, it is not the thrust of this particular conversation. The primary question of this section is where and when does weather typically strike? The simple answer that often quickly surfaces is in the north in December. Is the answer truly that simple? Northern cities and December obviously do not have a monopoly on inclement weather, but are they the only ones with a high enough probability of bad weather to merit the concern of fantasy owners? The tables on the following pages show weather data in three key categories: temperature, precipitation and wind. The monthly averages, September through December, are NOAA Virtual Weather Map based on years of accumulated data. Numbers were compiled from Weather.com and the NOAA National Data Center. Values towards the extremes are highlighted. Weather data is shown for all NFL cities, including those that presently have domed stadiums. The indoor venue locations are included 1) in the interest of thoroughness, 2) for anyone doing tailgating research, and 3) for those rare occasions when there are structural problems with the stadium roof and the team has to temporarily play games at the outdoor stadium of a nearby university.

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TEMPERATURE

PRECIPITATION

WIND

Avg. Days Mean Avg. Days Avg. Avg. Avg. Wind Wind High above Record High Temp. Low below Record low Precip. Snow Precip. Speed Speed (°F) 90°F (°F) (°F) 32°F (inches) (inches) Days Avg. Max.

Arizona Cardinals Sep

116°F (1950)

47°F (1965)

0.75

0.0

6.3

Oct

107°F (1980)

34°F (1971)

0.79

trace

5.8

Nov

96°F (1924)

27°F (1931)

0.73

0.0

5.3

Dec

87°F (1950)

22°F (1911)

0.92

trace

5.1

Atlanta Falcons Sep

102°F (1925)

36°F (1967)

4.09

0.0

8.1

Oct

95°F (1954)

28°F (1976)

3.11

trace

8.5

Nov

84°F (1961)

3°F (1950)

4.10

trace

9.1

Dec

79°F (1991)

0°F (1983)

3.82

0.2

9.8

Baltimore Ravens Sep

102°F (1998)

40°F (1974)

4.06

0.0

7.6

Oct

97°F (1941)

30°F (1974)

3.19

trace

7.9

Nov

87°F (1950)

12°F (1929)

3.45

1.0

8.6

Dec

85°F (1998)

-2°F (1917)

3.69

3.3

8.8

Buffalo Bills Sep

98°F (1953)

32°F (1991)

3.84

trace

10.2

Oct

92°F (1927)

20°F (1965)

3.19

0.7

11.1

Nov

80°F (1961)

2°F (1875)

3.92

10.9

12.5

Dec

74°F (1982)

-10°F (1980)

3.80

24.4

13.1

Sep

104°F (1954)

38°F (1888)

3.83

0.0

6.6

Oct

98°F (1954)

24°F (1962)

3.66

trace

6.7

Nov

85°F (1961)

11°F (1950)

3.36

0.1

6.9

Dec

80°F (2007)

-5°F (1880)

3.18

0.5

7.3

Sep

99°F (1953)

37°F (1974)

3.21

trace

8.9

Oct

92°F (1971)

24°F (1981)

2.71

0.4

10.0

Nov

80°F (1950)

0°F (1950)

3.32

2.1

11.1

Dec

69°F (1982)

-20°F (1983)

2.63

8.6

11.0

7.4

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals Sep

101°F (1954)

Oct

92°F (1951)

Nov

83°F (1950)

Dec

75°F (1982)

32°F (1942)

3.04

0.0

20°F (1925)

2.80

0.3

8.1

1°F (1929)

3.49

2.0

9.7

-13°F (1917)

3.02

3.8

10.0

Cleveland Browns Sep

101°F (1953)

32°F (1942)

3.77

trace

8.9

Oct

90°F (1946)

19°F (1988)

2.74

0.6

9.9

Nov

82°F (1950)

3°F (1976)

3.38

5.1

11.7

Dec

77°F (1982)

-15°F (1989)

3.14

12.6

12.0

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TEMPERATURE

PRECIPITATION

WIND

Avg. Days Mean Avg. Days Avg. Avg. Avg. Wind Wind High above Record High Temp. Low below Record low Precip. Snow Precip. Speed Speed (°F) 90°F (°F) (°F) 32°F (inches) (inches) Days Avg. Max.

Dallas Cowboys Sep

110°F (2000)

43°F (1983)

2.65

0.0

9.3

Oct

100°F (1979)

27°F (1993)

4.65

trace

9.7

Nov

89°F (1989)

17°F (1950)

2.61

0.1

10.7

Dec

89°F (1955)

1°F (1989)

2.53

0.2

10.8

Sep

100°F (1990)

14°F (1985)

1.16

1.6

8.0

Oct

94°F (1991)

2°F (1993)

1.32

3.8

7.8

Nov

84°F (1990)

-5°F (1993)

1.18

8.8

8.3

Dec

75°F (1998)

-24°F (1990)

0.86

7.9

8.4

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions Sep

100°F (1953)

33°F (2000)

3.27

trace

8.4

Oct

92°F (1963)

24°F (1988)

2.23

0.2

9.7

Nov

81°F (1950)

5°F (1958)

2.66

2.5

11.0

Dec

68°F (1982)

-5°F (1983)

2.51

10.2

11.3

Green Bay Packers Sep

97°F (1931)

24°F (1949)

3.11

trace

8.9

Oct

88°F (1963)

12°F (1925)

2.17

0.2

9.8

Nov

74°F (1999)

-9°F (1976)

2.27

4.3

10.7

Dec

64°F (2001)

-27°F (1983)

1.41

11.4

10.3

Houston Texans Sep

101°F (1956)

50°F (1967)

5.62

0.0

6.5

Oct

96°F (1962)

33°F (1993)

5.26

0.0

6.9

Nov

90°F (1973)

25°F (1976)

4.54

trace

7.6

Dec

84°F (1975)

9°F (1989)

3.78

0.0

7.7

Sep

100°F (1954)

30°F (1995)

2.56

0.0

7.9

Oct

90°F (1954)

20°F (1981)

2.85

0.2

8.9

Nov

82°F (1986)

0°F (1958)

3.66

1.9

10.5

Dec

73°F (1982)

-20°F (1989)

2.78

5.5

10.5

Sep

99°F (1925)

48°F (1967)

7.28

0.0

7.5

Oct

96°F (1941)

33°F (1989)

3.30

0.0

7.7

Nov

91°F (1931)

22°F (1959)

2.35

0.0

7.6

Dec

88°F (1913)

13°F (1962)

2.45

trace

7.6

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs Sep

106°F (2000)

34°F (1989)

4.17

trace

9.5

Oct

97°F (1963)

21°F (1972)

3.28

0.1

10.5

Nov

82°F (1980)

7°F (1991)

2.30

1.3

11.2

Dec

73°F (1982)

-19°F (1989)

1.45

4.5

10.9

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TEMPERATURE

PRECIPITATION

WIND

Avg. Days Mean Avg. Days Avg. Avg. Avg. Wind Wind High above Record High Temp. Low below Record low Precip. Snow Precip. Speed Speed (°F) 90°F (°F) (°F) 32°F (inches) (inches) Days Avg. Max.

Miami Dolphins Sep

97°F (1987)

62°F (1903)

8.38

0.0

8.2

Oct

95°F (1980)

51°F (1943)

6.19

0.0

9.2

Nov

91°F (2002)

36°F (1914)

3.43

0.0

9.7

Dec

89°F (1902)

30°F (1989)

2.18

0.0

9.1

Sep

104°F (1931)

26°F (1974)

2.69

trace

10.0

Oct

90°F (1997)

10°F (1925)

2.11

0.5

10.6

Nov

77°F (1999)

-25°F (1875)

1.94

7.6

11.0

Dec

68°F (1998)

-39°F (1879)

1.00

9.6

10.4

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots Sep

97°F (1983)

30°F (2000)

3.78

0.0

11.2

Oct

87°F (2007)

20°F (1974)

3.98

trace

11.8

Nov

78°F (1982)

4°F (1989)

4.29

1.3

12.5

Dec

76°F (1998)

-14°F (1980)

4.19

8.2

13.3

New Orleans Saints Sep

101°F (1980)

42°F (1967)

5.55

0.0

7.3

Oct

94°F (1998)

35°F (1993)

3.05

0.0

7.6

Nov

89°F (1936)

24°F (1970)

5.09

trace

8.7

Dec

84°F (1995)

11°F (1989)

5.07

0.1

9.0

New York Giants and Jets Sep

99°F (1953)

38°F (1980)

4.05

trace

9.0

Oct

85°F (1954)

27°F (1988)

3.50

trace

9.4

Nov

81°F (1974)

14°F (1955)

4.00

0.6

10.2

Dec

70°F (1982)

0°F (1989)

3.86

5.8

10.8

Sep

109°F (1971)

48°F (1986)

0.33

0.0

11.1

Oct

103°F (1980)

43°F (2007)

1.33

0.0

9.4

Nov

84°F (1997)

36°F (1975)

3.14

0.0

7.5

Dec

75°F (1979)

26°F (1972)

3.23

0.0

7.1

Sep

102°F (1881)

35°F (1963)

3.88

0.0

8.3

Oct

96°F (1941)

25°F (1969)

2.75

trace

8.8

Nov

84°F (1950)

8°F (1875)

3.16

0.7

9.6

Dec

73°F (1998)

-5°F (1880)

3.31

3.4

10.0

Oakland Raiders

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers Sep

92°F (2002)

35°F (1991)

3.13

trace

7.3

Oct

88°F (2007)

22°F (1988)

2.35

0.4

8.3

Nov

79°F (2004)

13°F (1991)

3.05

3.4

9.5

Dec

74°F (2006)

2°F (1988)

2.86

8.3

10.1

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TEMPERATURE

PRECIPITATION

WIND

Avg. Days Mean Avg. Days Avg. Avg. Avg. Wind Wind High above Record High Temp. Low below Record low Precip. Snow Precip. Speed Speed (°F) 90°F (°F) (°F) 32°F (inches) (inches) Days Avg. Max.

San Diego Chargers Sep

111°F (1963)

51°F (1948)

0.21

0.0

7.1

Oct

107°F (1961)

43°F (1971)

0.44

0.0

6.5

Nov

97°F (1976)

38°F (1964)

1.07

trace

5.9

Dec

88°F (1963)

34°F (1987)

1.31

trace

5.6

Sep

91°F (1988)

41°F (1985)

1.61

0.0

8.0

Oct

82°F (1991)

31°F (1991)

3.24

trace

8.3

Nov

71°F (1980)

13°F (1985)

5.67

0.7

9.0

Dec

65°F (1980)

12°F (1983)

6.06

2.2

9.6

Seattle Seahawks

San Francisco 49ers Sep

101°F (1971)

48°F (1955)

0.28

0.0

11.1

Oct

102°F (1987)

45°F (1949)

1.19

0.0

9.4

Nov

86°F (1966)

40°F (1994)

3.31

0.0

7.5

Dec

76°F (1958)

28°F (1990)

3.18

0.0

7.1

St. Louis Rams Sep

99°F (1990)

35°F (1969)

2.69

0.0

8.2

Oct

94°F (2006)

28°F (1987)

2.81

trace

8.9

Nov

83°F (2003)

7°F (1976)

4.06

1.4

10.2

Dec

78°F (1970)

-17°F (1989)

2.56

4.1

10.3

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sep

96°F (1991)

57°F (1981)

6.54

0.0

7.6

Oct

95°F (1941)

40°F (1964)

2.29

0.0

8.3

Nov

90°F (2006)

23°F (1970)

1.62

0.0

8.2

Dec

86°F (1994)

18°F (1962)

2.30

trace

8.3

Sep

105°F (1954)

36°F (1983)

3.59

0.0

6.5

Oct

94°F (1953)

26°F (1987)

2.87

0.0

6.8

Nov

85°F (1935)

-1°F (1950)

4.45

0.4

8.4

Dec

79°F (1982)

-10°F (1989)

4.54

1.4

8.9

Sep

104°F (1881)

36°F (1904)

3.79

0.0

8.3

Oct

96°F (1941)

26°F (1917)

3.22

0.0

8.7

Nov

86°F (1974)

11°F (1929)

3.03

0.8

9.4

Dec

79°F (1998)

-13°F (1880)

3.05

3.0

9.6

Tennessee Titans

Washington Redskins

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Assorted observations, confirmations and thoughts based on the historical weather data shown on the preceding pages: 1. It’s hot in the desert. There’s a decent chance on any given day, even into November, that temperatures will climb into the 90’s in Phoenix. 2. Also not surprisingly, it’s warm in September in the south, i.e. Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. 3. Many cities experience frequent cold temperatures in December. Colder temperatures tend to arrive a little earlier (November) in Denver, Green Bay, and Minnesota. 4. Where is it wet during the first half of the season? Houston and Miami. Tampa and Jacksonville get honorable mentions in September. 5. Where is it wet during the Second half of the season? New Orleans, Seattle and Tennessee. 6. The Lake Effect: snow can be found in December in any of the cities in range of the Great Lakes. Being located a mile up in the Rockies also seems to be effective for bringing snow. 7. Brutal cold may be more poetic, rain and snow may paint a more vivid picture, but wind can be equally if not more artistic. Chicago is nicknamed accordingly. The other Lake cities are also breezy during the second half of the season. The wind also picks up in November and December in the scattered locations of Dallas, Kansas City, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and the swamplands of New Jersey.

Weather comes in many shapes and sizes

8. Both sides of the Bay (San Francisco and Oakland) are breezy in September. 9. It can be windy throughout the entire football season in Minnesota, Buffalo, and New England. 10. Intrastate rivalries: Pittsburgh’s weather is a little worse than Philadelphia’s, and Cleveland’s weather is a little worse than Cincinnati’s. 11. While a few other cities may come to mind as the worst weather locations, the numbers give the honors to Buffalo. It’s got it all: cold, rain, snow, wind, and then more snow.

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25. Kickers vs. Mother Nature “Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” - John Ruskin We asked NFL kickers to discuss any technique differences between kicking in different adverse weather conditions. Following are their answers: Ryan Longwell “You’ve just got to hit the ball solid, whether it’s wind or rain or snow or a perfect day. You gotta hit the ball solid and you’ve got to start it on the line you’re aiming at. Whether that’s in Lambeau or in the Metrodome it really doesn’t differ. It’s just a lot less elements to factor in when you’re kicking in a covered stadium.” “Bitter cold is more mental than anything else. You just have to understand that the ball is not gonna fly. That same field goal that’ll fly 55 or 60 yards in August is probably going about 40 yards in December. You have to realize that the ball is going to be hard and it’s not going to fly very far.” Jay Feely “In rain you have to slow down your approach a little bit, because of the time for the snapper and the holder to get a good snap and to catch it and put it down. Other than that you don’t kick it any differently. With wind you definitely do. You have to pick a spot maybe out wider because the wind is blowing across. If it’s in your face you’ve got to kick the ball a little lower, with a lower trajectory so that it doesn’t get up in the wind, to just die in the wind. There’s a lot of different things you have to do.” Joe Nedney “All adjustments to the elements are made during the pre-game warm-up. Wind direction and intensity will alter the flight of the ball, and it's the responsibility of the kicker to figure all that out before game time so he can do his job successfully during the game. Rain usually affects the snapper and holder more because they are handling the ball. Field conditions vary in wet or cold weather and footing can be challenging. Again, this should be handled during pre-game.” Robbie Gould “When kicking in the rain, you have to be aware of your plant foot. With the wind you have to judge it and play the ball according to how far the wind may pull the ball left or right. In bitter cold, you just have to hit a low-ball when you are further out.” Mason Crosby “The adjustments are all slight. I may change plant shoe cleats to longer ones for rain. It all depends on the field. In windy conditions the main thing is to not over play the wind or over think it. Inside 40 yards, most winds will not affect the ball an extreme amount. Bitter cold is mainly controlling and containing body warmth and staying loose on the sidelines. It is all about focus in the cold and making sure you do not over swing trying to get more power.” Jeff Reed “Whether it is windy or raining, the ball is not going to travel as far in cold weather. Depending on your strategy going into the game as far as kickoffs go, you can either drive the ball if you are looking for a deeper kick, although that won’t have as much of a hang time, or use your normal kick and the guys know that your deep kick is going to be right around the eight-to-ten-yard line. As far as the wind, it is windy everywhere, whether it is Florida or Pennsylvania. You have to adjust. If you are a teacher and you are teaching a young kid to kick, you would say ‘don’t play the wind – use your fundamentals.’ When you get older, you have to realize that sometimes when the uprights are moving, if you don’t aim a little right or left depending on the wind conditions, you won’t make it. As far as field goals, you don’t necessarily have to change the way you kick in the cold, but when the field gets soggy, I take shorter steps so that I don’t slip.”

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Connor Barth When it’s raining out, although the only game it really rained at was our preseason game against Arizona, our head coach (Coach Edwards last year) would come up to me before the game and during the game and ask me where I feel comfortable from. When you go out on the field the conditions completely change and the fields a lot softer, especially on grass. If you look at other teams, a lot of places like New England or Cincinnati where there’s FieldTurf, it doesn’t really matter as much because the footing is pretty much the same. But when you get on grass, like Kansas City, it gets a lot softer and it starts getting muddy. You really gotta worry about your cleats and stuff. The main thing I do if it gets wet out is I really try to be conscious of my steps, try to be a little bit lighter on my feet. When I plant my foot right before I kick it I don’t want to be quite as heavy on it. I want to be lighter on it so that way I don’t slide through the grass as much. That in turn kind of takes a little bit from your distance. The main thing is that we as a kicker try to relay to our special teams coach and then the head coach what we think our distance is now. Because when we go out in the rain and it’s a little bit soggier on the field we have to make sure our footing is okay. For the most part we have good enough cleats to where it shouldn’t affect us too much, but if there’s a really heavy rain you really gotta be careful about slipping, so you gotta be a little lighter on your feet. “Windy yea, that’s Kansas City right there for you. I’ve experienced many games this year where it’s been windy. With the wind it’s the same thing. You get out there, especially in pregame, and really kind of test where that wind is at. For the most part when you get out in pregame warm-ups it’s not going to change too much from then until the game time. For me it’s just getting a bunch of repetitions before the game, throwing a lot of grass up, and seeing where it blows. Every stadium is different. The one thing I learned, especially in the San Diego game, is that for the most part winds blowing in Kansas City, no matter what end of the field you’re on, you have to aim to the right upright. The wind blows in a different direction at both ends of the field. You just really gotta make sure to trust yourself. If the winds blowing from right to left I gotta make sure I put the ball to the right upright a little bit. Or if it’s blowing from left to right I gotta make sure I aim to the left of the upright. It all depends on the wind speed too. If it’s blowing 25 to 30 miles an hour, you have to be conscious of it. But I think anything under 15 miles an hour you really don’t have to change too much, except maybe if you get outside of 50 yards. For the most part, unless you have a really gusty game, it’s not going to affect you too much. With the Miami game at the end of the season and especially when it gets colder out, the ball doesn’t quite travel as well through the air, that’s when you really gotta make sure you are consistent with where you want to put the ball and where you’re aiming.” “Regarding bitter cold temperatures: Well, the last two games at Kansas City were eight degrees and minus twenty with the wind chill. I’ve definitely kicked in a few of them. The main thing there is again really making sure you’re on the same page with your special teams coach and your head coach about where you feel comfortable kicking from. If it’s 60 or 70 degrees out, then 60 yards and in you’re usually pretty good. But when you get into the colder situations, the ball’s harder. Especially when it gets below freezing, the ball is just completely different. It impacts your foot; it [the ball] doesn’t come off quite as well. What I did against San Diego and Miami, I went out in pre-game and got back as far as I could and saw where I felt comfortable. Usually it was around 50 or 53 yards in that cold weather. In regular sunny conditions where it’s 70 degrees I can probably hit 60 yarders. You really gotta make sure you test out the ball, because a ball in practice is not the same as the game ball. The game ball is going to be a little bit harder because they’re newer. So you have to take that into to account too. When you get that ball you really have to test it out and see how you like it and see how it feels off your foot. In the end for the most part it’s probably going to take maybe ten yards off your kick in freezing weather like that.”

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Connor Barth With a wind chill of minus 12 degrees at kickoff, the December 21, 2008 game was the second coldest game in Arrowhead Stadium’s history.

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26. Grass vs. Synthetic Turfs “When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled” - African proverb SURFACE TYPES Grass Grass is the stuff that grows naturally and has been around for a long, long time. For purists, it is real (not manmade). It is typically cooler, softer, and more forgiving than the artificial surfaces, which supports the general belief that it “causes” fewer injuries. It is generally more sustainable (environmentally friendly) than the fake stuff, however it does need water, which can be an issue in dry climates. It needs sunlight, which means it cannot grow indoors. It typically requires more maintenance than artificial surfaces. It also does not hold up as well under heavy use or some types of adverse weather. Grass belongs to the Gramineae plant family, which includes most plants grown as grains, and for lawns and playing surfaces (turf). Commonly used grass types for football fields include Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, Tall Fescue, and Bermudagrass, depending on the climate zone in which the field is located. See the following links for additional information on how grass works and on athletic field turf grasses. Astroturf The old generation of synthetic turf, Astroturf was one of the brand names; however the term became generically utilized when referring to artificial turf. It was invented by two employees of Monsanto in 1964, and was initially called ChemTurf. The product has since changed owners countless times. In essence, it was a carpet, typically installed over concrete. While it made indoor stadiums a viable venue, its abrasive and unforgiving nature became an issue. Consequently its use declined and the newer artificial turf technologies took hold. In the NFL, Indianapolis and St. Louis were the last to still use Astroturf. They both finally switched over to FieldTurf for the 2005 season.

The Astrodome (the Eighth Wonder of the World) The first dome stadium opened in 1965 and featured a newly developed artificial surface, which would hence also use the Astro name.

Fieldturf The new generation of synthetic turf, FieldTurf is one of the brand names; however it has already become a generically used term. The product more closely simulates grass, as opposed to carpeting. The synthetic “grass blades” are typically made of polyethylene. The synthetic “earth” is made of sand and ground up rubber (FieldTurf and Momentum Turf), or just the rubber bits (Astroplay and RealGrass).

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In their product literature, FieldTurf describes their system as follows: “Stable, firm not spongy, non-abrasive and uniform in traction, FieldTurf is engineered to play and feel like natural grass. On FieldTurf, players perform with confidence - and never experience the accelerated fatigue and muscle / joint stress associated with lightweight, rubber- filled systems. Like blades of natural grass, FieldTurf's fibers are soft and easy to slide on. They are surrounded and stabilized by FieldTurf's patented, heavy fill - the «artificial earth» that so clearly sets FieldTurf apart. Composed of smooth, rounded silica sand and cryogenically frozen and smashed rubber particles, FieldTurf's patented infill is engineered to stay «in suspension» providing years of proper biomechanics, shock absorbency and durability. A patented process of precision layering ensures infill uniformity. The result is a stable, resilient, predictable place to play - grass-like performance of the highest quality.”

In their product literature, Sportexe describes their Momentum Turf system as follows: “Sand / Rubber infill creates a fast, dense, firm surface. Exclusive Strenexe fiber is more durable and less abrasive than previous slit-film fibers. Low G-Max means Momentum is safe, yet firm. High Fiber Density helps make Momentum a lush, long-lasting surface. Equal Fiber Matrix provides stability and consistency. QuadbackT provides durability and improved tuft bind. Seams sewn edge-to-edge to eliminate bumps.”

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2008 NFLPA Field Surface Rankings The National Football League Players Association bi-annually ranks the field surfaces of all the NFL stadiums. The following 2008 results are based on the votes from 1565 active NFL players from all 32 teams. The top four spots were all grass fields, although the artificial surfaces made a strong showing thereafter with seven of the next eight slots. 1. Arizona 2. Tampa Bay 3. San Diego 4. Carolina 5. Indianapolis (FieldTurf) 6. Seattle (FieldTurf) 7. Baltimore (Momentum) 8. Jacksonville 9. Atlanta (FieldTurf) 10. Detroit (FieldTurf) 11. New Orleans (Momentum)

12. New England (FieldTurf) 13. Denver 14. Green Bay 15. Washington 16. St. Louis (FieldTurf) 17. Miami 18. Houston 19. New York Giants/Jets (FieldTurf) 20. Tennessee 21. San Francisco

22. Cincinnati (FieldTurf) 23. Kansas City 24. Minnesota (FieldTurf) 25. Cleveland 26. Philadelphia 27. Buffalo (Astroplay) 28. Chicago 29. Dallas (RealGrass) 30. Pittsburgh 31. Oakland

University of Phoenix Stadium NFL players voted the Arizona Cardinals’ home field as the best playing surface in the league. The stadium features a retractable roof and the first ever retractable field. The grass field sits in a single massive tray which typically resides outside the stadium. The tray is rolled into the stadium for games. View a video of the retractable field system here.

We asked NFL kickers to discuss any differences between kicking on grass versus artificial surfaces. Following are their answers: Connor Barth “To my surprise, when I kicked in the ACC in North Carolina, for the most part all the fields in the ACC were pretty nice. Only one field I think, Wake Forest, was FieldTurf when I played in college. Mostly I kicked all on grass surfaces. And I love kicking off grass, because in North Carolina and South Carolina the ground has a lot of time to grow, they’re just a lot of fun, and the weather is usually pretty mild. Now that I kick in the NFL, the stadiums are only nice for about the first three games or four games. Then they start getting torn up because of the weather and stuff. I love kicking off FieldTurf now. I wish that Kansas City would go to it just because it’s a flat surface; there are no bumps. It doesn’t matter how much you play on it, it always stays the same. The big adjustment with the grass in the NFL now is... I don’t know what it is, perhaps there’s more play on it, I guess maybe because the hashes are closer together in the NFL, it gets torn up more. It’s a lot harder to find good spots on the NFL fields I feel. Kicking on FieldTurf, like when I got to kick in Cincinnati and places like that, it was so easy because every spot on the field was nice. It was all flat and there were no disruptions from when people were running around on it. I’m a grass guy, I like kicking off grass because I feel more comfortable. But now that I’ve kicked on more and more FieldTurf fields now that I’ve been in the NFL, I’m kind of leaning towards the FieldTurf just because it’s more of a flat surface and you never have the bumps and divots that you get in grass fields.”

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Ryan Longwell “Kicking in the Metrodome, not having to worry about your foot sticking in the ground is a big advantage.” “The biggest is whether or not your plant foot is going to slip or not. On wet or soft grass you have to be able to adjust on the fly if it slips.” Jay Feely “It’s [FieldTurf] helpful because you get better footing, you get consistent footing. On a grass field, even if it’s a real nice grass field, you may hit a loose spot and lose your footing, and that makes it tough to kick and be consistent. Probably the easiest stuff to kick off of is the old Astroturf that nobody has anymore. Sometimes FieldTurf gets thick and you kind of chunk it, like you would hit a golf shot thick.” Mason Crosby “The only difference is in the plant shoe. I wear longer cleats in grass and shorter on turf. Other than that, I do not make big adjustments.” Jeff Reed “It depends on the kind of grass and the field you are playing on. It is easier on your body, whether you are a player or a kicker, when you play on grass. At times, when you get mud or sand, you have to adjust your steps because I attack the ball so I don’t want to slip. Field turf is nice because you can always attack the ball whether there is rain or snow. Sometimes, when it snows, if the field turf isn’t heated, there is snow on top of the field, so it is interesting, to say the least. I have had some crummy games dealing with that. Overall, as a kicker, I want grass. If the grass is slick, or it doesn’t hold over an entire season, artificial turf is better for me because I can trust it more.” Joe Nedney “Field turf is different than grass, obviously. Some field turf has longer, thicker synthetic grass blades which makes striking the ball "clean" a little more difficult. Natural surfaces "give" so if a kicker strikes the ground before the ball, he will make a divot. Field turf doesn't allow for that. A kicker's foot may skip off the turf if he hits the ground before the ball, causing a miss-hit. There is, in my opinion, less margin for error on field turf and striking the ball "clean" becomes that much more important.”

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Jeff Reed kicks a field goal on the grass surface of Heinz Field.

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KICKING RESULTS ON VARIOUS SURFACES The big question of course, is how do the various surfaces affect the kicking game?

FG Total Stadium Astroplay visitors Astroplay home Astroplay total Astroturf Visitors Astroturf home Astroturf total FieldTurf visitors FieldTurf home FieldTurf total Grass visitors Grass home Grass total grass (heated) visitors grass (heated) home grass (heated) total Momentum Turf visitors Momentum Turf Home Momentum Turf total RealGrass visitors RealGrass home RealGrass total

avg

FG 1-19

att

84 77.4% 0

104 76.9% 0

FG 20-29

md att md

FG 30-39

FG 40-49

FG 50+

POINTS

att

att md att

md att XPm XPa Total ppg

292

5.7

110

350

6.9

145 188 77.1% 0

207

642

6.3

258 309 83.5% 3

365

367

1139

6.9

266 331 80.4% 2

74 111

412

417

1210

7.4

524 640 81.9% 5

171 177 158 178 149 207

777

784

2349

7.2

630 769 81.9% 7

214 224 181 210 179 244

914

918

2804

6.7

682 797 85.6% 10

10 220 225 231 263 176 221

1018 1028 3064

7.3

1312 1566 83.8% 17

17 434 449 412 473 355 465

94 159 1932 1946 5868

7.0

1550 1957 79.2% 26

26 536 558 480 578 414 617

94 177 2178 2208 6828

6.2

1666 2104 79.2% 22

24 561 588 533 630 456 665

94 196 2621 2659 7619

6.9

3216 4061 79.2% 48

50 1097 1146 1013 1208 870 1282 188 373 4799 4867 14447 6.6

224 289 77.5% 2

316

322

988

6.5

207 272 76.1% 8

282

290

903

5.9

431 561 76.8% 10

10 138 149 155 189 111 176

598

612

1891

6.2

128 148 86.5% 3

150

534

6.8

144 166 86.7% 4

198

199

630

8.0

272 314 86.6% 7

348

349

1164

7.4

111 82.9% 1

119

122

395

6.7

104 77.9% 2

153

154

396

6.7

173 215 80.5% 3

272

276

791

6.7

Surface Notes and Observations

The field goal percentage numbers are typically better on artificial surfaces than they are on grass.

FieldTurf and Momentum Turf are the only two surfaces where the home kickers’ field goal percentage is better than the opponents’ kickers.

The numbers for Astroplay, RealGrass, and Momentum Turf are limited since they are only used in one or two stadiums each.

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27. Profile of a Top Five Kicker “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.” - Aristotle In summary of various sections above, a Top Five kicker can be profiled as follows:

Could end up just about anywhere in the rankings the year afterwards

Nearly half of them ranked between 6th and 15th the preceding year

87% of them ranked in the top ten in number of field goal attempts

Kickers with a field goal completion percentage from 85%-90% have the best odds of being a top five scorer

73% come from top ten scoring offenses

60% come from top ten yardage offenses

52% come from top ten scoring defenses

51% come from top ten yardage defenses

A team with a new kicker is less likely to be in the top five in kicker scoring than one with an incumbent

A team with a new quarterback is less likely to be in the top five in kicker scoring than one with an incumbent

A team with a new head coach is less likely to be in the top five in kicker scoring than one with an incumbent

Kickers with a home dome stadium do slightly better than those outdoors, but the difference is small

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28. Profile of the Year Prior to Being a Top Five Kicker “We basically can take the people who have already purchased a product, profile those people compared to the base and identify people who have similar traits that would buy that product.” - Tim Barnes From 1991 to 2007, there were 45 instances of a team scoring at least 130 kicking points. Following is a look at the statistics from the prior year for those teams. TEAMS THAT SCORED AT LEAST 130 KICKING POINTS IN A YEAR The Year Team

year

pts

The Year Before

rnk K HC QB XPA FGA

Min

1998 164

Stl

2003 163

Ind

pts

rnk

O-pt O-yd D-pt D-yd

Rec

Post LD

70.4%

9-7

76.0%

7-9

2003 157

74.2%

103

10-6

LWC

Was

1991 149

75.0%

131

10-6

Ari

2005 149

75.9%

6-10

NYG

2005 148

78.6%

6-10

Car

1996 145

78.8%

105

7-9

Ind

1999 145

87.1%

104

3-13

Mia

1999 144

81.5%

10-6

Chi

2006 143

71.0%

11-5

Pit

1995 141

82.8%

104

12-4

2004 141

73.5%

112

14-2

WSB

2007 141

74.3%

109

8-8

Buf

1998 140

80.0%

6-10

Atl

2002 138

78.4%

115

7-9

Bal

2003 137

80.8%

7-9

2007 137

76.9%

103

12-4

Ten

1998 136

77.1%

113

8-8

Ten

2003 136

80.6%

111

11-5

2006 136

87.5%

112

9-7

1994 135

77.5%

124

8-8

Ind

1996 135

69.7%

103

9-7

Bal

2000 135

84.8%

116

8-8

Den

1997 134

75.0%

109

13-3

Jac

1997 134

83.3%

117

9-7

Sea

1999 134

79.2%

8-8

Mia

1991 133

84.0%

100

12-4

Phi

2002 133

83.9%

115

11-5

Ten

2007 133

78.6%

8-8

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FG%

N N N N

N N N

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Oak

1993 132

57.7%

7-9

Min

1994 132

74.3%

105

9-7

Den

1995 132

81.1%

119

7-9

Det

1995 132

66.7%

9-7

Ten

1996 131

87.1%

114

7-9

Den

2000 131

80.6%

116

6-10

2000 131

83.3%

113

8-8

Cin

2005 131

87.1%

122

8-8

Stl

2006 131

87.1%

117

6-10

Dal

2007 131

71.4%

109

9-7

LWC

Dal

1993 130

68.6%

119

13-3

WSB

Det

1993 130

80.8%

5-11

1996 130

71.4%

111

11-5

Jac

1999 130

80.8%

108

11-5

2002 130

87.1%

113

7-9

Cin

2007 130

83.3%

115

8-8

N N

LWC LWC

In summary of the known items before a team scored at least 130 kicking points in a season:

Of the 45 teams, 38 had the same kicker as the prior season, 38 had the same head coach, and 35 had the same primary quarterback

They averaged 35.2 extra point attempts the prior year

They averaged 30.6 field goal attempts the prior year

They averaged scoring 107 kicking point the previous season

Four ranked in the top five in kicker scoring the prior year, nine ranked from sixth to tenth, and the other 32 ranked outside the top ten

Sixteen ranked in the top ten in offensive scoring, and fifteen in offensive yardage the previous season

Sixteen ranked in the top ten in defensive scoring, and nineteen in defensive yardage the previous season

Twenty-one had winning records, nine at .500, and fifteen had losing records the year before

Twenty were in the playoffs, although none were the Super Bowl loser the year before

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Identifying which kickers are likely to score points in the forthcoming year is a difficult task, but it is one of the most important goals from a fantasy perspective. Looking at not just those teams listed above, but at all kickers over a 15 year span, the following statistical scenarios stood out more than any others: HISTORICAL PRECEDENT METHOD This is by far the simplest approach. Simply draft the kicker from a team that has had sustained kicking success in recent years, and that returns with the same coaches and players. Unfortunately there are very few kickers that meet these criteria in a given year. SUPER BOWL SPECIAL METHOD In reviewing how playoff teams fared the following year (including the kicker), only the Super Bowl participants yielded any significant patterns. Super Bowl winners: if the SB winner was a top 10 offense that year, and has the same HC and QB heading into the next year, consider drafting their kicker. Ten teams met these criteria and resulted in 5 top five kickers, 2 top ten, 1 top fifteen, and 1 top twenty. Super Bowl losers: don’t draft their kicker the next year. Very often they flop. The exception is if they were also in the SB two years prior (win or lose). EXTRA POINT METHOD Teams that scored an unusually high number of touch downs, and that have the same QB the following year, have a strong tendency to score lots of kicking points the following year. Perhaps it’s just the law of averages (TDs one year, followed by FG’s the next)? 50 or more TDs and same QB: Eleven teams met these criteria and resulted in 6 top five kickers, and 5 top fifteen. 44 or more TDs and same QB: 24 teams met these criteria and resulted in 16 top five kickers, 2 top ten, 4 top fifteen, and 2 in the bottom half. COMBO METHOD This method combines the yearly ranking turnover and surrounding team information discussed earlier. Start th th with the turnover information to see where top 5 kickers come from. Half of them come from the 6 – 15 ranks the prior year. The best odds are to target those from that tier. 9-thru-14: list the teams whose kicker ranked 9-14 last year. Eliminate any that have a new head coach or quarterback this year. Eliminate any whose team ranked below 15 on offense or below 20 on defense (exception: kickers who connected on 84% or better of their field goals can remain on the list). Thirty-one teams met these criteria and resulted in 16 top five kickers, 5 top ten, 7 top fifteen, and 3 in the bottom half. 6-thru-15 alternate: exactly the same as above except expand the initial list to teams whose kicker ranked 615 last year. 54 teams met these criteria and resulted in 24 top five kickers, 8 top ten, 12 top fifteen, and 8 in the bottom half.

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29. Drafting a Kicker “An architect's most useful tools are an eraser at the drafting board, and a wrecking bar at the site.” - Frank Lloyd Wright INTRODUCTION There are various approaches to drafting a kicker. There are no right or wrong answers, although some have greater potential rewards and risks than others. In the end, selecting which approach to use is just as much about comfort level as it is about drafting a high scoring kicker. The question of WHO to draft is based upon the scoring system for kickers in your league, in conjunction with the information discussed in many of the preceding sections. This section looks at WHEN to draft a kicker. Like many fantasy football questions, all answers are prefaced with knowing your league’s rules. First answer the following questions: How many teams are in the league? How many players are on each team’s roster? Are there a minimum or set number of kickers required to be carried on a roster? How many kickers must be started each week? Can a kicker(s) be picked up on the weekly waiver wire? Can a kicker(s) be picked up on the waiver wire before the first game? Must a kicker(s) be drafted, or can one be added later? EARLY STUD Each year there are usually one to three highly ranked kickers heading into drafts. To get one of those, you’ll need to draft him early. The ADP for those kickers the last two years in a typical 12 team league is the tenth and eleventh rounds. The top kicker can go as early as the sixth or seventh round in a few leagues. One potential concern is that these kickers are highly ranked most likely because of a big year they had the year before. You’ll be spending an early round pick on them assuming they have a very good chance of duplicating those results. Unfortunately, that usually doesn’t happen. Since 1991, teams kicking over 140 points in a given year average only 109 points the following year (high of 126, low of 91). The decrease in points averages 41 the following year (minimum 17, maximum 74). Sebastian Janikowski

SECOND WAVE Once the flavor-of-the-year kickers are gone, there will be a handful of kickers that get drafted scattered over the next few rounds. These are typically the kickers that have been in or near the top ten in scoring the last few years, but didn’t have an exceptionally big year the year before.

Kickers are not typically taken early in fantasy drafts, nor are they in the real world. Back in 2000 was the last time a kicker was drafted in the first round, when Oakland th selected Janikowski with the 17 overall pick.

NEAR THE END One of the most common drafting “rules” is to just wait until the last round to draft a kicker. Before getting to that point, you need to answer the league rule questions listed above, to get an idea of just how many kickers are probably going to be drafted in your league. There are only 32 starting kickers in the NFL. In fantasy leagues with many teams and larger rosters, there will be fewer available kickers at the end. Drafting one a round or two before the final round will eliminate having to pick from the scraps. www.footballguys.com

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LAST ROUND Again, depending on your league size and rules, there could be many good kicker bargain kickers available in the final round. If you did your homework on who to draft, some of the less obvious choices will probably still be available towards the end. EARLY STRENGTH-OF-SCHEDULE If your league allows for weekly waiver pickups throughout the regular season, you can elect to work the waiver wire to find a kicker that has a good matchup every week. This approach assumes that your league structure provides enough available kickers to select from each week. It also assumes that you’re willing to believe that weekly kicker scoring can be predicted to some degree. If that’s not the case, skip over this paragraph. For drafting purposes, target kickers that have a favorable matchup(s) or SOS (Strength of Schedule) in the first week or two of the regular season. After that, you’ll just work the waiver wire to cycle through kickers. NO KICKER This is the same as the previous Early SOS approach, except as follows. It assumes that you are not required to draft a kicker, and that you can pickup up a waiver wire kicker prior to week one. If those are true, then you can elect to not draft a kicker at all, and add one later. TWO KICKERS If you’re in a league that requires two or more kickers, then you’ll need to adjust the above approaches accordingly. There will be less available kickers to select from towards the end of the draft.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

As with every position, remember to pay attention to bye weeks. In some leagues you may need to draft a second kicker to cover your starter’s bye week. In some leagues you can opt to not bother with a replacement kicker on the bye week, assuming you’re willing to take the zero kicking points that week. In most leagues you can handle the bye week via the waiver wire. If you don’t want to ever tie up more than one roster spot with a kicker, then considering drafting one with late bye week. By the time his bye arrives, you can swap him for one of the kickers who already had his bye week.

Some fantasy owners who prefer to counter-balance their weekly scoring options may elect to draft a kicker from the same team as their quarterback or goal line running back. The thinking is that once the team gets into scoring range, one or the other is likely to score.

Some fantasy owners like to draft players whom they think will perform particularly well during the fantasy playoffs, typically weeks 14 through 16. This again assumes that you’re willing to believe that weekly kicker scoring can be predicted, and that it can be done months in advance.

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30. Buying a Kicker in an Auction “Competitive bidding will be increasingly utilized as a method to sell all types of goods in all segments of the economy. The National Auctioneers Association (NAA) will unify and lead the competitive bidding industry to fulfill this vision.” - from NAA Code of Ethics Just like Drafting a Kicker, knowing your league rules is the first step. The two main criteria to determine are:

How many of the 32 starting kickers are likely to be bought during the auction?

What is the potential for obtaining kickers off the waiver wire during the season?

And just like drafting, there are not necessarily any wrong or right approaches. Work with what you’re comfortable from the following ideas:

In a typical fantasy auction league ($1 minimum bid, with a $200 cap), the top kickers will probably not go for more than $4 or $5. The same risks of overpaying for a kicker in hopes of their having a second career year apply, as discussed for Early Studs in the drafting section above.

Most Kickers will go for either $2 or the minimum $1. Some people go by the rule of never paying more than the minimum for a kicker, while others are willing to splurge with an extra dollar.

If you’re willing to spend $2 on a kicker, consider starting the bid at $2 for a particular kicker that interests you. Unless they’re one of the top prospects, it’s unlikely someone will go to $3. If they do, you’ve then pushed them to spend an extra dollar. If you open at $1, there’s a greater chance someone else will go to $2, then forcing you to bid $3 or to pass on the player.

If the league includes a waiver wire system, consider using that to obtain a backup kicker, or even your starting kicker if rules allow it.

Consider nominating a kicker very early in the auction. Most people are focused on the skill positions early, and not interested in kickers at that stage of an auction. You might have better odds of getting a higher ranked kicker at a better value or even the minimum in the beginning.

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31. Dynasty Leagues Section by guest FBG staff members Mike Anderson, Will Grant, Maurice Tremblay, and Jeff Pasquino

“From nobody to upstart. From upstart to contender. From contender to winner. From winner to champion. From champion to Dynasty.” – Pat Riley FBG’s own dynastic staff members provided the following thoughts on kickers in dynasty leagues: MIKE ANDERSON

Dynasty kickers are a tough nut to crack. Every year there is going to be a kicker on a team that gets stalled in the red zone that will explode in points. However, long term you can't bank on that as teams change personnel, and most importantly, those kickers get so many attempts that if they hit a slump, they end up as the scapegoat for the entire offense.

I rank those kickers on year in and year out high powered offenses that get TONS of XPs (that I know can be counted on) at the top of my list. The Colts, Patriots and Rams kickers have been higher in my rankings over the past number of years based on this. They will get points, they seem to stay in place long term, and the XPs keep them up towards the top year in and year out. The next group for me is the kickers that are on poorer teams that get a ton of opportunities for short to mid range FGs. Lastly, the Kickers on average teams that don't get as many FG attempts, or as many Automatic XPs. At the end of the day, I would say that my dynasty kicker rankings have been based on their team’s offense as my heaviest weight.

Know your league rules!

If I remember correctly, the LAST ROOKIE kicker drafted in the annual draft of rookies in ANY of my leagues was Sebastian Janikowski and before that Jason Hansen. That's how rare that is from my experience. There are always kickers to pick up on the waiver wire, I'd take a shot at a "1% chance of making it" RB over a starting kicker every time unless it is a phenom (Janikowski).

I STRONGLY believe more than... well, anyone I seem to have ever played against... that the key to a dynasty kicker is to get an accurate one on a high powered offense, and know that you will be getting 4 XPs a game for years to come while still getting an average if not better than average number of FGs. I value the kicker position in dynasty more than others might.

I never carry a defense in the off-season, and have gone without a kicker and even a TE in the off-season many times when I didn't have one really worth keeping. However, if I could keep my choice of Vanderjagt or a team’s #3 RB, I kept Vanderjagt.

WILL GRANT

Kicker in a dynasty league is a position that you want a guy that will be solid to good and then you forget about him and move to the rest of your team.

I take a kicker higher than most, and in a 'draft from scratch' league, here is what it shook out to in a 53 man IDP roster. In 2006, I took Rackers as the first kicker overall taken... at 19.04, 220 overall. Next kicker was Feely at 235. Next was Graham (me again!) at 267. Next came Tynes at 290. Akers next at 314 and then people started taking them pretty regularly. To me, I took two guys who would be solid and I wouldn't have to worry about... at least for a couple years. To everyone else, even with a 53 man roster, backup defensive guys were more important than a starting kicker.

In '06, the only rookie kicker that anyone drafted was Gostkowski... and he was a 6th round 'flyer' type of pick. This is about what you would expect drafting a rookie kicker in a dynasty league. In a 12 team league, I wouldn't spend anything higher than a 4th rounder on a rookie kicker. There are just too many variables and too many guys who come out of nowhere. Once you have an established roster, it's much easier just to grab a kicker off the waiver wire.

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MAURILE TREMBLAY

I'll never use a roster spot on a kicker during the offseason (including during/after the draft) unless the rules of the league force me to. I'd rather forego kickers and defenses completely, and use all my roster spots on QBs/RBs/WRs/TEs, then pick up a kicker/defense off of waivers before the first game.

JEFF PASQUINO

Kickers are one of the least coveted players, even in dynasty. Keeping a solid kicker is easier in many leagues, as in a true dynasty you'd have 12-16 teams (typically) with one solid K and then each owner could claim a waiver wire guy for his bye week that year.

Granted, money kickers are desired more, but they aren't that big of a commodity. Similarly, on dynasty draft day, few kickers (if any) are selected due to rookie uncertainty and so few job opportunities - just like in the real NFL. For every Vinatieri or Vanderjagt, there are vets who surprise (Rackers, Feely) and newcomers every year.

As for what to look for - I'd like youth and a big leg, as well as teams that have a lot of FG chances, but that varies each year. Teams that stall in the Red Zone often work to fix that the next season, so lots of opportunities in one year can lead to fewer the next. It is more important to me that the kicker has the confidence of both his team and his coach. Having a big leg means nothing if the coach is afraid to try from 50+ yards.

I'd rather take a flyer on a rookie / young RB, QB or WR than take a kicker. I can always find a kicker on the waiver wire. Starting offensive players are harder to find.

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32. The Stadiums: Vital Statistics “A multi-purpose stadium is an absolute must in order to invigorate our downtown and, simultaneously, let the rest of the country witness that we can get things done.” - Alan Autry Team

Stadium

Capac

Opened

Ari

University of Phoenix Stadium

63,000 9/10/2006

Atl

Georgia Dome

Bal

Prior Stadium Sun Devil Stadium 9/12/88 thru 2005

In/out

Surface

Old Surface

retractable Grass

Grass thru 2005

71,149 9/6/1992

dome

FieldTurf

Astroturf thru 2002

M&T Bank Stadium

69,084 9/6/1998

outdoor

Momentum grass thru 2002 Turf

Buf

Ralph Wilson Stadium

75,339 8/17/1973

outdoor

Astroplay

Car

Bank of America 73,250 9/14/1996 Stadium

outdoor

Grass

63,000 9/29/2003

Memorial Stadium 2002, outdoor Soldier Field thru 2001

Grass

01 grass, 02 Astroturf Grass (heated) thru 2003

Chi Soldier Field II

Astroturf thru 2002

Cin

Paul Brown Stadium

65,600 9/10/2000

outdoor

FieldTurf

Cle

Cleveland Stadium

72,300 9/12/1999

outdoor

Grass (heated)

Dal

Cowboys Stadium

80,000 6/6/2009

Texas Stadium thru 2008

retractable RealGrass Astroturf thru 2001

Den Invesco Field

76,125 9/10/2001

Mile High Stadium thru 2000

outdoor

Grass

Det Ford Field

65,000 9/22/2002 Silverdome thru 2001

dome

FieldTurf

GB Lambeau Field

72,515 9/29/1957

outdoor

Grass

Hou Reliant Field

69,500 9/8/2002

retractable Grass

63,000 9/7/2008 RCA Dome thru 2007

retractable FieldTurf

73,000 8/18/1995

outdoor

Grass

79,409 8/12/1972

outdoor

Grass

Ind

Lucas Oil Stadium

Jacksonville Jac Municipal Stadium KC

Arrowhead Stadium

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Astroturf thru 2001

Astroturf thru 2004

Astroturf thru 1993

Page 82

Team Mia

Stadium Dolphins Stadium

Min Metrodome

Capac

Opened

Prior Stadium

Surface

Old Surface

75,000 8/16/1987

outdoor

Grass

64,035 9/12/1982

dome

FieldTurf

Astroturf thru 2003

outdoor

FieldTurf

Grass thru 11-14-06

Gillette Stadium 68,000 9/9/2002 Foxboro thru 2001

NO Superdome

In/out

2005 Katrina temps: 69,082 9/28/1975 Alamodome (RealGrass) dome LSU Tiger Stadium

astroturf thru 10-26Momentum 03 Turf Astroplay remainder

NYG Giants Stadium 79,469 10/10/1976

outdoor

FieldTurf

grass 2000-02, Astroturf prior

NYJ Giants Stadium 79,469 10/10/1976

outdoor

FieldTurf

grass 2000-02, Astroturf prior

outdoor

Grass

Oak

Oakland Coliseum

63,146 9/18/1966

Phi

Lincoln Financial Field

68,500 9/8/2003

Veterans Stadium thru 2002

outdoor

Grass

Pit

Heinz Field

64,500 10/7/2001 Three Rivers thru 2000

outdoor

Grass

Qualcomm Stadium

71,294 8/20/1967

outdoor

Grass

Candlestick Park

64,450 10/10/1971

outdoor

Grass

Sea Qwest Field

68,000 9/15/2002

Husky Stadium 2000-01, outdoor Kingdome thru 1999

StL

Edward Jones Dome

Raymond 65,657 9/20/1998 James Stadium

66,000 11/12/1995

FieldTurf

grass 2001

dome

FieldTurf

Astroturf thru 2004

outdoor

Grass

Ten LP Field

67,000 9/12/1999

outdoor

Grass

Was FedEx Field

80,000 9/14/1996

outdoor

Grass (heated)

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33. The Stadiums According to Kickers? “San Francisco has always been my favorite booing city. I don't mean the people boo louder or longer, but there is a very special intimacy. When they boo you, you know they mean you. Music, that's what it is to me. One time in Kezar Stadium they gave me a standing boo.” - George ‘Papa Bear’ Halas We asked NFL kickers to discuss any stadiums that are more challenging to kick in than others. Following are their answers: Ryan Longwell “Probably Lambeau, Soldier Field, and up in Foxboro. Those are three stadiums that I think are toughest to kick at. It’s a combination in all three of the field, the wind, and the temperatures which are always a factor in those three stadiums.” “The obvious things with kicking in Lambeau were the wind and the temperature, which were always a factor. Probably a bigger factor that no one really realizes is that the field was always pretty torn up. A lot of the times it was just painted green for TV, and there was really no grass on it. So your footing wasn’t really stable there at times, which was a factor depending on the kick.” Jay Feely “There are some that are easy and some that are tough. Dallas is one that’s pretty easy, because it’s usually hot down there and the way their stadium is shaped it keeps most of the wind out. I would say that the hardest stadium to kick in is probably Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. They have an open end, it’s on the river, and it’s windy like Giants Stadium. On top of that they don’t have FieldTurf, they have grass there. The high school teams use that field, Pitt uses that field, so a lot of teams are using that field and it gets chewed up. Towards the end of the year you’re basically just kicking on sand there.” “Giants Stadium is probably one of the windier stadiums in the NFL. It took a while throughout the off-season last year to really get a handle on that. The approach we took was let’s turn it into an advantage for us rather than a disadvantage, because we get a lot more time in that stadium than the visiting team does obviously. We know the wind better, and so that way we understand what that wind is going to do and how tricky it is, whereas they’re getting one warm-up session before the game to try and figure it out.” Connor Barth “I’ve heard that New York, the Jets and the Giants stadium, is a tough place to kick, but luckily when I played there this year the wind wasn’t too bad. I would probably say the worst stadium I’ve kicked in so far has been Kansas City’s, just because the winds are so much different. From the goal line out to the 30 yard line out to midfield, there are all different winds and different patterns, so it’s really hard to get used to it. So far my home field’s actually one of the harder places I’ve kicked. Denver, we got lucky out there. I love kicking out there because it’s a mile high, and it was 60 degrees out so it was nice. For the most part I haven’t kicked in too many stadiums yet, but Kansas City has been the most difficult just because the winds are so different all the time. And that’s been the big difference between college and the NFL. Kicking over here on the east coast [during college], I played in some windy games, but nothing like what it’s like kicking in the Midwest.” Robbie Gould “Pittsburgh, Chicago, Green Bay, or any cold weather place that has a lot of wind is pretty tough.” Mason Crosby “It’s game to game on this one. Each stadium holds its own challenges. Any outdoor stadium may cause problems with wind and weather. NFL fans are die hard, so playing away games are always loud. Lambeau is a great place to play and can pose many weather related issues and our fans know how to bring it to keep opposing teams on edge.” Shaun Suisham “It really depends on what the weather is like on gameday. So it could be tough to kick in a certain stadium one day and not as tough the next day. The weather is a much bigger factor than the stadium.”

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Jeff Reed “I think that ours is the worst – not because I play here and that is an excuse for me - but because of how I can go from happy to play to ‘oh, it’s going to be one of these days.’ Other kickers compliment me (about having such success at Heinz Field), but I am not looking for compliments. They say ‘you can have this job’ and stuff like that. Miami and Oakland have the baseball dirt – that is brutal. I have seen (Sebastian) Janikowski and Olindo Mare kick fine on it, while I have only kicked on it once. I didn’t know how to play it but I made my only kick from the dirt, but I really didn’t know how to play that. In our division, Cleveland is just as tricky as our field because of the lake (Lake Erie). There can be hurricanes and tornadoes in Miami so just because it is (usually) 90 degrees doesn’t mean that it is always ideal conditions for a kicker to kick in.” Joe Nedney “Any outdoor stadium with grass in November and December can be a challenge. Some that stand out are Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Arrowhead Stadium in K.C., Candlestick Park in S.F., Soldier Field, Lambeau, Meadowlands, and Buffalo. Love those domes....”

Heinz Field, Pittsburgh When Heinz Field first opened in 2001, it was brutal on kickers. Although it has improved somewhat since then, it is still not kicker friendly. It remains the stadium most often mentioned by kickers as a difficult stadium in which to kick.

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34. The Stadiums: Kicking Results â&#x20AC;&#x153;Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.â&#x20AC;? - Albert Einstein Following are monthly breakdowns since 2001 for each stadium. The numbers include both the home and visiting kickers combined. MONTHLY KICKING RESULTS FOR STADIUMS FG Total Team Ari

Month

Stadium

md att

POINTS

md att md att md att Total ppg

82.4%

6.6

University of Phoenix Stadium

79.2%

8.1

Ari

November University of Phoenix Stadium

81.8%

7.3

Ari

December University of Phoenix Stadium

83.3%

123

7.7

Atl

September Georgia Dome

67.9%

164

6.3

Georgia Dome

88.3%

236

7.4

Atl

November Georgia Dome

84.1%

262

7.3

Atl

December Georgia Dome

79.2%

221

6.5

Bal

September M&T Bank Stadium

74.5%

165

6.9

M&T Bank Stadium

85.2%

178

6.4

Bal

November M&T Bank Stadium

93.2%

270

8.4

Bal

December M&T Bank Stadium

87.4%

322

7.3

Buf

September Ralph Wilson Stadium

76.8%

183

6.5

Ralph Wilson Stadium

87.0%

193

6.4

Buf

November Ralph Wilson Stadium

72.6%

231

6.8

Buf

December Ralph Wilson Stadium

81.4%

218

6.4

Buf

December Rogers Centre (Toronto)

80.0%

6.5

Car

September Bank of America Stadium

81.0%

150

5.8

Bank of America Stadium

85.9%

224

6.6

Car

November Bank of America Stadium

75.0%

192

6.0

Car

December Bank of America Stadium

75.4%

230

6.4

Chi

September Soldier Field II

70.6%

114

6.3

Soldier Field II

80.0%

195

7.5

Chi

November Soldier Field II

73.0%

125

6.3

Chi

December Soldier Field II

75.0%

193

6.0

Cin

September Paul Brown Stadium

81.3%

165

6.3

Paul Brown Stadium

83.3%

229

6.7

Cin

November Paul Brown Stadium

82.5%

233

7.3

Cin

December Paul Brown Stadium

81.9%

246

6.8

Cle

September Cleveland Stadium

88.7%

199

6.6

Cleveland Stadium

81.4%

207

6.9

November Cleveland Stadium

75.0%

235

6.9

Ari

Atl

Bal

Buf

Car

Chi

Cin

Cle Cle

September University of Phoenix Stadium

avg

FG 30-39 FG 40-49 FG 50+

October

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FG Total Team

Month

Stadium

md att

avg

FG 30-39 FG 40-49 FG 50+

POINTS

md att md att md att Total ppg

Cle

December Cleveland Stadium

74.5%

168

4.9

Dal

September Texas Stadium

85.4%

156

7.1

Texas Stadium

83.8%

250

6.6

Dal

November Texas Stadium

73.5%

243

6.4

Dal

December Texas Stadium

78.3%

205

6.8

Den

September Invesco Field

79.7%

218

7.3

Invesco Field

86.9%

239

6.6

Den

November Invesco Field

82.4%

186

6.6

Den

December Invesco Field

87.9%

248

7.3

Det

September Ford Field

80.0%

168

7.0

Ford Field

80.6%

132

6.6

Det

November Ford Field

89.9%

288

7.6

Det

December Ford Field

92.2%

212

7.1

September Lambeau Field

85.5%

208

6.9

Lambeau Field

72.7%

200

7.1

November Lambeau Field

75.0%

192

6.4

December Lambeau Field

74.3%

244

6.1

Hou

September Reliant Field

83.3%

119

6.0

Reliant Field

89.4%

252

7.9

Hou

November Reliant Field

72.3%

162

6.2

Hou

December Reliant Field

86.9%

238

7.0

Ind

September Lucas Oil Stadium

100.0%

7.5

Lucas Oil Stadium

100.0%

5.0

Ind

November Lucas Oil Stadium

10 100.0%

9.3

Ind

December Lucas Oil Stadium

87.5%

5.5

Ind

September RCA Dome

75.6%

149

6.8

RCA Dome

84.8%

176

7.3

Ind

November RCA Dome

70.6%

187

6.7

Ind

December RCA Dome

86.3%

297

7.8

Jac

September Jacksonville Municipal Stadium

73.1%

162

5.8

Jacksonville Municipal Stadium

76.8%

188

6.3

Jac

November Jacksonville Municipal Stadium

78.6%

198

6.2

Jac

December Jacksonville Municipal Stadium

73.7%

249

6.6

September Arrowhead Stadium

83.3%

189

7.3

Arrowhead Stadium

73.8%

167

5.2

November Arrowhead Stadium

89.6%

280

8.2

December Arrowhead Stadium

74.2%

238

6.6

Mia

September Dolphin Stadium

73.5%

162

5.8

Dal

Den

Det

Hou

Ind

Jac

October

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FG Total

POINTS

Team

Month

Stadium

md att

Mia

October

Dolphin Stadium

87.2%

174

7.3

Mia

November Dolphin Stadium

83.3%

202

6.3

Mia

December Dolphin Stadium

83.6%

257

6.1

Min

September Metrodome

81.7%

235

7.3

Metrodome

80.9%

169

6.5

Min

November Metrodome

83.9%

224

6.6

Min

December Metrodome

85.5%

250

6.9

September Gillette Stadium

81.3%

134

6.1

Gillette Stadium

74.6%

204

6.8

November Gillette Stadium

78.8%

174

6.7

December Gillette Stadium

83.1%

219

6.4

September Superdome

89.3%

122

6.8

Superdome

83.8%

247

7.7

November Superdome

89.2%

151

7.6

December Superdome

84.3%

274

6.9

September Giants Stadium

82.8%

361

6.9

Giants Stadium

97 120 80.8%

417

6.5

November Giants Stadium

91 115 79.1%

412

6.4

December Giants Stadium

116 142 81.7%

512

6.6

Oak

September Oakland Coliseum

74.5%

189

7.3

Oakland Coliseum

80.4%

165

6.3

Oak

November Oakland Coliseum

71.0%

197

6.2

Oak

December Oakland Coliseum

77.3%

302

6.9

Phi

September Lincoln Financial Field

80.0%

136

6.2

Lincoln Financial Field

87.2%

164

7.5

Phi

November Lincoln Financial Field

84.8%

139

6.3

Phi

December Lincoln Financial Field

79.7%

213

7.1

Pit

September Heinz Field

83.0%

192

7.4

Heinz Field

79.5%

165

6.3

Pit

November Heinz Field

69.8%

206

6.1

Pit

December Heinz Field

70.5%

222

5.3

September Qualcomm Stadium

88.6%

190

6.8

Qualcomm Stadium

78.9%

168

6.5

November Qualcomm Stadium

78.0%

219

6.8

December Qualcomm Stadium

81.9%

276

6.9

Sea

September Qwest Field

86.3%

195

7.5

Qwest Field

77.8%

154

7.0

November Qwest Field

82.4%

244

6.8

Min

Oak

Phi

Pit

Sea Sea

October

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avg

FG 30-39 FG 40-49 FG 50+

md att md att md att Total ppg

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Page 88

FG Total Team

Month

Stadium

md att

avg

FG 30-39 FG 40-49 FG 50+

POINTS

md att md att md att Total ppg

Sea

December Qwest Field

79.5%

173

6.2

September Candlestick Park

89.5%

212

7.1

Candlestick Park

82.8%

221

6.9

November Candlestick Park

80.0%

211

7.0

December Candlestick Park

83.9%

217

6.0

StL

September Edward Jones Dome

84.5%

201

7.7

Edward Jones Dome

71.4%

222

7.4

StL

November Edward Jones Dome

91.7%

236

7.9

StL

December Edward Jones Dome

87.1%

292

7.0

September Raymond James Stadium

80.5%

136

6.2

Raymond James Stadium

76.8%

185

5.8

November Raymond James Stadium

82.8%

235

6.5

December Raymond James Stadium

86.2%

249

6.6

Ten

September LP Field

86.4%

166

6.4

LP Field

80.8%

193

6.9

Ten

November LP Field

67.8%

194

6.1

Ten

December LP Field

75.9%

293

7.0

Was

September FedEx Field

78.3%

195

7.0

FedEx Field

79.2%

182

6.1

Was

November FedEx Field

69.8%

160

5.7

Was

December FedEx Field

74.0%

245

5.8

StL

Ten

Was

October

Azteca Stadium (Mexico City)

100.0%

10.5

October

Wembley Stadium (London)

77.8%

7.5

Gillette Stadium, New England A game in December of 2008 featured snow and wintry mix.

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35. K-defensive Factors “We must take care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, in a respectable defensive posture.” - George Washington Kicking Points-per-game Allowed and K-defensive Factors 2008

2007

2006

TEAM

ppg allow

rank

home factor

away factor

ppg allow

rank

home factor

away factor

ppg allow

rank

home factor

away factor

Arizona

7.0

0.57

1.12

7.7

1.21

8.4

1.20

1.15

Atlanta

5.9

0.98

0.67

8.1

1.38

1.07

6.6

0.76

1.20

Baltimore

5.5

0.60

0.93

9.1

1.07

1.08

4.4

0.81

0.56

Buffalo

8.5

1.00

1.18

7.4

0.92

0.86

6.2

0.73

0.85

Carolina

6.4

0.72

0.99

7.4

1.13

1.15

6.4

1.19

0.71

Chicago

7.3

0.89

0.93

6.9

1.04

0.93

5.1

0.89

0.57

Cincinnati

6.6

1.01

0.79

7.3

0.90

1.28

5.7

0.88

0.70

Cleveland

6.1

0.78

0.91

8.4

1.20

1.32

7.1

1.08

1.01

Dallas

9.2

1.41

0.93

6.8

0.79

1.10

6.5

1.00

0.83

Denver

9.0

1.17

7.7

0.70

1.38

8.1

0.84

1.24

Detroit

8.6

1.46

0.90

6.5

0.81

0.87

8.1

1.15

1.12

Green Bay

7.1

0.76

1.02

6.3

0.79

1.21

7.3

1.18

0.90

Houston

7.4

1.03

0.98

7.9

0.88

0.85

7.1

1.08

1.17

Indianapolis

7.8

1.07

1.13

4.5

0.81

0.47

7.0

1.12

1.00

Jacksonville

7.6

1.22

0.65

5.4

0.73

0.66

5.1

0.59

0.92

Kansas City

9.0

1.53

0.88

8.4

1.13

1.06

6.9

1.10

1.18

Miami

7.2

1.04

0.79

8.3

0.93

1.03

6.1

1.09

0.88

Minnesota

7.1

0.71

1.26

7.2

0.82

0.90

8.3

1.27

1.12

New England

5.3

1.12

0.52

4.4

0.47

0.78

5.6

0.79

0.78

New Orleans

8.7

1.10

1.22

7.6

1.31

0.91

5.1

0.87

0.73

NY Giants

5.5

0.59

0.91

6.3

0.90

0.70

6.6

0.83

0.87

NY Jets

7.0

0.84

1.01

7.7

1.45

0.96

5.2

0.74

0.80

Oakland

7.0

1.09

1.02

7.4

1.06

0.97

7.9

1.18

1.09

Philadelphia

6.3

0.72

1.08

7.5

1.00

1.09

7.0

0.88

1.31

Pittsburgh

5.8

0.84

0.81

5.2

0.54

0.93

6.2

0.69

1.12

San Diego

6.4

0.59

1.00

4.5

0.39

0.77

6.3

1.15

0.71

Seattle

9.4

1.13

1.19

5.8

0.79

0.84

6.6

0.86

1.02

San Francisco

8.9

1.33

1.18

8.1

1.29

1.27

8.5

1.44

1.31

St. Louis

9.1

1.20

1.10

9.1

1.27

1.56

6.4

1.19

0.89

Tampa Bay

7.3

0.97

1.04

4.8

0.63

0.60

6.7

0.97

1.05

Tennessee

5.3

0.73

0.59

5.3

0.99

0.59

7.6

0.84

1.32

Washington

6.4

0.76

0.90

6.9

0.73

0.87

7.9

1.17

1.38

The K-defensive factors indicated in the “home” and “away” columns are the median by which teams allow kicking points, as compared to their opponents average scoring. Smaller numbers under 1.0 equal better kicking defense, larger numbers over 1.0 = not so good. www.footballguys.com

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36. The Lesser Known “Apart from the known and the unknown, what else is there?” - Harold Pinter We asked NFL kickers to name one thing about being a kicker that most people probably don’t realize. Following are their answers: Robbie Gould “In game situations, you have to be an athlete and want the ball. If you don’t like pressure and don’t want the ball at the end, you’re not going to have much success on game winning kicks.” Mason Crosby “Kickers have to run and lift like everyone else. We cannot just walk out every year and kick without training.” Connor Barth “I would say the preparation. People feel like you can kind of just go out there and do it every week. People don’t realize how much we practice, and how pinpoint our accuracy and everything has to be from the snap to the hold to the kick. People think that we can just go out there and every kick should be just automatic. But there’s a ton of things that go into it from the line blocking to the snap and the hold and the kick. I’d say preparation is one thing that people don’t understand how much we do for practicing the field goal. That’s probably the big thing because I think a lot of people fell that we can just go out there and do it and that it’s one of the easier jobs. But actually we prepare pretty hard to make those field goals on Sunday.” Jeff Reed “You hear the comment ‘you are just a kicker’ and that gets frustrating. I wouldn’t say anything to the person who said that to me because I have heard it a million times in my life. I work out just as hard as the (other) guys and I train just as much as the guys. I don’t train for speed, I train for leg speed. I am not going to beat Ike Taylor in a 40-yard dash, I’m not going to out-lift James Harrison and I am not going to out-throw Ben (Roethlisberger), but I work out just as hard as those guys because I realize it is hard to get to the NFL, and it is hard to stay here. I think people have a misperception that kickers are outcasts and are the nerd football players. I am a football player who happens to be a kicker. If I wasn’t a kicker in this sport, I would be playing soccer. People (teammates) love it when you make a big (kick) – when you miss one, somebody isn’t around here giving me crap because I am a fool and a jokester. Deep down inside they know how I want to make every kick and be perfect. I was voted a captain, which shocked me, and that was because my teammates see my work ethic as a fellow player.” Joe Nedney “I don't think the average fan realizes the amount of strength it takes to hit a kick-off 70 yards or make a 50 yard field goal. We are considered by most to be non-athletes, but everyone I've ever taken out onto the field to watch me kick first-hand leaves with a different perspective. We make it look easy, but it's not.” Ryan Longwell “How hard we work out for our job. And how much pressure there really is on every time we go out on the field...not just those last second kicks.”

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Joe Nedney, an athlete, makes the tackle on a punt return.

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37. Bibliography and Other Kicking Information Resources “When your hobbies get in the way of your work - that's okay; but when your hobbies get in the way of themselves... well...” - Steve Martin In addition to the wealth of information available at Footballguys.com, the following websites also have kicker related information: Pro Football Reference Stats, stats, and more stats http://pro-football-reference.com

Retired NFL kickers’ websites Morten Andersen: http://www.mortenandersen.com/ Gary Anderson: http://garyandersonperfectseason.com/index.html Nick Lowry: http://www.nicklowery.com/

NFL.com Official website of the NFL Game logs, history, records, etc. http://www.nfl.com Halls of Fame Pro Football Hall of Fame: http://www.profootballhof.com American Football Kicking Hall of Fame: http://www.americanfootballkickinghalloffame.com

College Football Hall of Fame: http://www.collegefootball.org

NFL Draft History Sortable data on the annual draft http://www.drafthistory.com

Resources and information for aspiring kickers and punters Kicking.com: http://www.kicking.com/home.asp National Kicking Combine Series: http://www.combineseries.com/home.asp?eventi d=1 ProKicker.com: http://www.prokicker.com Coach Gary Zauner: http://www.coachzauner.com Pro Form Kicking: http://www.proformkicking.com Kicking World: http://www.kickingworld.com Longsnap.com News on longsnappers http://www.longsnap.com

NFL Players Association Contract and salary information http://www.nflplayers.com

Wilson Sporting Goods Manufacturer of official game ball of the NFL http://www.wilson.com/wilson/football/index.jsp

Other kicking sports and leagues Soccer (a.k.a. football throughout the world): http://www.fifa.com Rugby: http://www.irb.com Canadian Football League (CFL): http://www.cfl.ca Australian Football League: http://www.afl.com.au Arena Football 2 http://www.af2.com Indoor Football League http://goifl.com

NCAA.org College football statistics http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/mainpage.jsp

Wikipedia The free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Stadiums of the NFL Detailed information on past, present, and future stadiums http://www.stadiumsofprofootball.com

Lou Groza Award Annual award to the best college kicker http://www.lougrozaaward.com

Kickology on Twitter http://twitter.com/HermanKickology

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