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Chargers bring back Novak

Veteran should help solve field goal woes

So long, Younghoe Koo; we hardly knew you. The Chargers are bringing back Nick Novak in an attempt to correct their kicking woes. They missed a field goal at the end that would have beaten Miami in Week 2, and they also had a miss that would have forced overtime in the opener at Denver.

Novak is accurate on field goals. He hit over 90 percent of his kicks in the 2012-13 seasons with the Chargers, and he’s hit 85-86 percent in his last three other seasons.

Over the last five years, 39 kickers have attempted at least 60 field goals, and only nine have been more accurate than Novak.

FIELD GOAL ACCURACY SINCE 2012
PlayerFGFGAPct
Josh Brown9910891.7
Shaun Suisham879591.6
Dan Bailey13915490.3
Justin Tucker16818789.8
Steven Hauschka15016789.8
Stephen Gostkowski16218189.5
Adam Vinatieri14316288.3
Matt Bryant13415288.2
Phil Dawson12814687.7
Nick Novak12714587.6
Matt Prater12514486.8
Kai Forbath849786.6
Robbie Gould9911586.1
Dan Carpenter13115385.6
Jay Feely586885.3
Chandler Catanzaro789284.8
Ryan Succop10512484.7
Cody Parkey556584.6
Nick Folk12614984.6
Cairo Santos8610284.3
Dustin Hopkins597084.3
Blair Walsh13315884.2
Connor Barth8410084.0
Shayne Graham637584.0
Rob Bironas506083.3
Josh Scobee748983.1
Graham Gano12214783.0
Brandon McManus688282.9
Jason Myers536482.8
Sebastian Janikowski12114782.3
Randy Bullock8310281.4
Mason Crosby13116181.4
Josh Lambo526481.3
Mike Nugent10913580.7
Caleb Sturgis10813480.6
Alex Henery516479.7
Greg Zuerlein11214179.4
Billy Cundiff506774.6
David Akers486672.7

Problem with Novak is range. His leg isn’t quite strong enough. His kickoffs tend to be about the shortest in the league, putting extra strain on the coverage units. That’s why the Chargers replaced him with Josh Lambo, and that’s why the Texans went with Ka’imi Fairbairn. If you have Novak kicking off, chances are you’ll rank in the bottom half-dozen in average drive start.

But he makes the money kicks, and the Chargers would have loved to have him back in those first two games.

Fantasy impact? Very little. The Chargers are a dumpster fire right now, making it unlikely they’ll put up above-average kicking points in many of the season’s remaining weeks.

—Ian Allan

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