What the heck is going on with kickers? How did we get to the point where a 52-yard field isn’t much different than an extra point?
I’ve been writing about fantasy football for 38 years, and I see the stats go by every year. In general, there’s been a long, slow improvement at the kicker position. They tend to get better every year.
But I’ve never seen anything like this.
Through two weeks, kickers have made almost 90 percent of their kicks from 50-plus yards. Never before has the league average closed at 70 percent. (Oddly, Justin Tucker is the one kicker who’s struggling from long range – he’s 0-2 from 50-plus, while everyone else has made a combined 35 of 37.)
And not only are they making more of them, they’re also attempting them at unprecendented levels. In each of the last three years, teams have made a record number of such kicks – 120, 154 and 158. (So, teams tended to make about 3 such kicks for every 10 games). But after two weeks this year, there have been 35 such kicks in 34 games.
Kickers are averaging 8.4 points per week so far – almost a point more than ever before. It’s crazy.
I’m in a TD-only league, and they’ve been particularly impactful in that format. With our parameters, 14 of the 25 highest scorers thus far have been kickers.
We’re at the point, I think, where the league will have to think about adjusting the rules. The most logical adjustment, I think, would be to move the posts closer together. Shave off a few feet from each side, until the success rate is more in line with what’s desired.
As is, kickers are making it look too easy.
| LEAGUE KICKING AVERAGES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 50/G | 50+ Pct | Pts/G |
| 2002 | .09 | 51.8% | 6.56 |
| 2003 | .09 | 48.4% | 6.60 |
| 2004 | .10 | 58.2% | 6.42 |
| 2005 | .09 | 52.2% | 6.73 |
| 2006 | .08 | 47.1% | 6.69 |
| 2007 | .09 | 47.0% | 6.93 |
| 2008 | .13 | 63.5% | 7.24 |
| 2009 | .11 | 52.9% | 6.71 |
| 2010 | .12 | 54.6% | 7.00 |
| 2011 | .18 | 64.3% | 7.25 |
| 2012 | .18 | 60.9% | 7.39 |
| 2013 | .19 | 67.1% | 7.52 |
| 2014 | .18 | 61.0% | 7.24 |
| 2015 | .20 | 65.0% | 7.13 |
| 2016 | .17 | 56.7% | 7.17 |
| 2017 | .21 | 69.5% | 7.15 |
| 2018 | .19 | 63.8% | 6.97 |
| 2019 | .16 | 57.9% | 6.92 |
| 2020 | .21 | 63.1% | 7.19 |
| 2021 | .22 | 65.9% | 7.00 |
| 2022 | .28 | 68.8% | 7.04 |
| 2023 | .29 | 68.7% | 7.08 |
| 2024 | 1.03 | 89.7% | 8.42 |
—Ian Allan