With kickers, there’s regular scoring (using NFL points) and there are performance options – with bonuses for longer kickers and subtractions for misses. But I don’t see a lot of difference between the two.
With regular scoring, there were five kickers who scored over 130 points. With performance scoring, there’s more math involved, but those top 5 still all rank in the top 7. They are joined by Adam Vinatieri and Matt Prater, who both hit a bunch of longer kicks.
Matt Bryant and Justin Tucker are the top 2 scorers either way.
There are slight variations, I suppose, but in typical performance systems, kickers lose a point any time they miss a kick (whether it’s an extra point or a field goal). Also common is getting an extra point for a kick of 40-plus yards, and another extra point if it’s over 50.
All of these adjustments are fine. It’s fair to reward kickers who are a little bit better at what they do. But ultimately, not a huge difference in the overall order of how things play out.
Comparing the two systems side by side, I see six kickers who picked up at least 10 extra points using the revised scoring system (I’ve got those guys in bold). I see 11 kickers who didn’t pick up any bonus points (or even lost points) when going to performance scoring – and I’ve got these guys tagged with black dots.
KICKERS -- PERFORMANCE SCORING | |||
---|---|---|---|
Player | NFL | Perf | Diff |
Matt Bryant, Atl. | 158 | 175 | 17 |
Justin Tucker, Balt. | 141 | 174 | 33 |
Adam Vinatieri, Ind. | 125 | 145 | 20 |
Caleb Sturgis, Phil. | 135 | 143 | 8 |
Matt Prater, Det. | 124 | 141 | 17 |
Wil Lutz, N.O. | 133 | 140 | 7 |
Dustin Hopkins, Wash. | 138 | 140 | 2 |
Dan Bailey, Dall. | 127 | 135 | 8 |
Sebastian Janikowski, Oak. | 124 | 132 | 8 |
Nick Novak, Hou. | 127 | 132 | 5 |
Stephen Gostkowski, N.E. | 127 | 132 | 5 |
Cairo Santos, K.C. | 129 | 132 | 3 |
Graham Gano, Car. | 121 | 130 | 9 |
• Steven Hauschka, Sea. | 128 | 128 | 0 |
Brandon McManus, Den. | 119 | 126 | 7 |
Jason Myers, Jac. | 110 | 124 | 14 |
• Mason Crosby, G.B. | 122 | 122 | 0 |
• Josh Lambo, S.D. | 120 | 116 | -4 |
Ryan Succop, Tenn. | 105 | 115 | 10 |
Chandler Catanzaro, Ariz. | 106 | 107 | 1 |
Chris Boswell, Pitt. | 99 | 106 | 7 |
Nick Folk, NYJ | 105 | 106 | 1 |
Phil Dawson, S.F. | 87 | 92 | 5 |
• Dan Carpenter, Buff. | 97 | 92 | -5 |
• Roberto Aguayo, T.B. | 98 | 91 | -7 |
• Andrew Franks, Mia. | 89 | 86 | -3 |
• Mike Nugent, Cin. | 92 | 85 | -7 |
Greg Zuerlein, L.A. | 80 | 84 | 4 |
• Connor Barth, Chi. | 85 | 84 | -1 |
Cody Parkey, Clev. | 80 | 83 | 3 |
Kai Forbath, Minn. | 56 | 59 | 3 |
Robbie Gould, NYG | 50 | 51 | 1 |
• Blair Walsh, Minn. | 51 | 49 | -2 |
Josh Brown, NYG | 42 | 45 | 3 |
• Randy Bullock, 3 tms | 33 | 33 | 0 |
• Patrick Murray, Clev. | 6 | 4 | -2 |
—Ian Allan