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Factoid

Sebastian Janikowski

Is Janikowski a long-range weapon on field goals?

The Seahawks are bringing in Sebastian Janikowski, but I don’t know that he’ll be a big upgrade over Blair Walsh. He’s 40, and the Raiders didn’t want to bring him back.

Janikowski has never been quite reliable enough on field goals. He always tends to miss a few more field goals than the surgeons like Justin Tucker, Phil Dawson and Robbie Gould. Kicking is like golf, and Janikowski isn’t the guy you want stepping up to hit the key 6-foot putt on the last hole.

Janikowski is regarded as one of the best long-ball kickers in league history, but that’s not really the case. He’s made a lot of kicks over 50 yards in his career, but his accuracy from that range has never been special.

Over the last five years, for example, 33 kickers have attempted at least 10 field goals from 50-plus yards. Only three have been less accurate than Janikowski. The Seahawks also have signed Jason Myers (the former Jaguar) and he’s been slightly more accurate than Janikowski.

With the Seahawks seemingly in decline, I wouldn’t even be considering Janikowski until about 20 other kickers were selected.

50-YARD FIELD GOALS (last 5 years)
PlayerFGFGAPct
Stephen Hauschka1923.826
Stephen Gostkowski1620.800
Josh Brown810.800
Adam Vinatieri2329.793
Matt Prater2836.778
Robbie Gould1418.778
Matt Bryant2432.750
Phil Dawson1825.720
Dan Bailey2231.710
Justin Tucker2943.674
Dan Carpenter1421.667
Nick Folk1117.647
Josh Scobee711.636
Mason Crosby1524.625
Kai Forbath1016.625
Graham Gano1220.600
Josh Lambo610.600
Greg Zuerlein1729.586
Wil Lutz712.583
Patrick Murray712.583
Nick Novak1119.579
Blair Walsh1425.560
Connor Barth611.545
Randy Bullock611.545
Caleb Sturgis1324.542
Cairo Santos713.538
Chandler Catanzaro713.538
Jason Myers1019.526
Brandon McManus1121.524
Sebastian Janikowski1325.520
Ryan Succop919.474
Mike Nugent614.429
Dustin Hopkins513.385

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index