Field goal efficiency continues to improve in the NFL. Every once in awhile, it’s worth checking in on the league average rates to get a sense of “what’s normal” when it comes to NFL kickers. For example, it’s now expected that a 50-yard field goal will be successful. In fact, over the last 5 years, kicks from 50-53 yards were made nearly 70% of the time!
The graph below shows the NFL success rate on field goals over 4-yard increments. Even from 54-57 yards, kickers are now expected to make those kicks.
We can also use those rates to take a simple look at how each kicker has fared relative to league average, based on the length of their kicks. This covers all field goals from 2014 to 2018, and you won’t be surprised to see Justin Tucker as the NFL’s top kicker over that period.
Rk | Player | FGA | FGM | % | Exp FGM | Diff |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Justin Tucker | 195 | 174 | 89.2% | 159.5 | 14.5 |
2 | Matt Bryant | 155 | 139 | 89.7% | 129.3 | 9.7 |
3 | Robbie Gould | 138 | 126 | 91.3% | 118.1 | 7.9 |
4 | Stephen Gostkowski | 199 | 178 | 89.4% | 170.4 | 7.6 |
5 | Matt Prater | 157 | 136 | 86.6% | 128.9 | 7.1 |
6 | Adam Vinatieri | 158 | 139 | 88% | 132.6 | 6.4 |
7 | Josh Brown | 70 | 65 | 92.9% | 60.7 | 4.3 |
8 | Ryan Succop | 135 | 117 | 86.7% | 113.2 | 3.8 |
9 | Stephen Hauschka | 176 | 153 | 86.9% | 149.5 | 3.5 |
10 | Jason Myers | 115 | 97 | 84.3% | 94.1 | 2.9 |
11 | Josh Lambo | 109 | 94 | 86.2% | 91.6 | 2.4 |
12 | Wil Lutz | 109 | 94 | 86.2% | 91.8 | 2.2 |
13 | Harrison Butker | 72 | 64 | 88.9% | 62 | 2 |
14 | Chris Boswell | 130 | 113 | 86.9% | 111 | 2 |
15 | Greg Zuerlein | 163 | 136 | 83.4% | 134.1 | 1.9 |
16 | Shaun Suisham | 35 | 32 | 91.4% | 30.5 | 1.5 |
17 | Michael Badgley | 22 | 20 | 90.9% | 18.6 | 1.4 |
18 | Graham Gano | 169 | 143 | 84.6% | 141.6 | 1.4 |
19 | Jake Elliott | 70 | 60 | 85.7% | 58.7 | 1.3 |
20 | Jason Sanders | 20 | 18 | 90% | 17.1 | 0.9 |
21 | Dustin Hopkins | 117 | 100 | 85.5% | 99.3 | 0.7 |
22 | Ka'imi Fairbairn | 67 | 57 | 85.1% | 56.4 | 0.6 |
23 | Garrett Hartley | 3 | 3 | 100% | 2.6 | 0.4 |
24 | Daniel Carlson | 21 | 17 | 81% | 17 | 0 |
25 | Johnny Hekker | 1 | 1 | 100% | 1 | 0 |
26 | Sebastian Janikowski | 113 | 93 | 82.3% | 93.1 | -0.1 |
27 | Greg Joseph | 20 | 17 | 85% | 17.2 | -0.2 |
28 | Shayne Graham | 35 | 30 | 85.7% | 30.3 | -0.3 |
29 | Aldrick Rosas | 58 | 50 | 86.2% | 50.3 | -0.3 |
30 | Jay Feely | 4 | 3 | 75% | 3.4 | -0.4 |
31 | Dan Carpenter | 90 | 76 | 84.4% | 76.4 | -0.4 |
32 | Dan Bailey | 147 | 122 | 83% | 122.5 | -0.5 |
33 | Brett Maher | 38 | 30 | 78.9% | 30.6 | -0.6 |
34 | Patrick Murray | 49 | 40 | 81.6% | 40.6 | -0.6 |
35 | Randy Bullock | 110 | 94 | 85.5% | 94.6 | -0.6 |
36 | Giorgio Tavecchio | 26 | 21 | 80.8% | 21.7 | -0.7 |
37 | Travis Coons | 40 | 35 | 87.5% | 35.9 | -0.9 |
38 | Nick Rose | 14 | 11 | 78.6% | 12.2 | -1.2 |
39 | Mason Crosby | 162 | 136 | 84% | 137.5 | -1.5 |
40 | Kai Forbath | 102 | 86 | 84.3% | 87.6 | -1.6 |
41 | Matthew McCrane | 12 | 8 | 66.7% | 9.7 | -1.7 |
42 | Cairo Santos | 130 | 110 | 84.6% | 111.8 | -1.8 |
43 | Chandler Catanzaro | 144 | 121 | 84% | 123.1 | -2.1 |
44 | Nick Novak | 106 | 89 | 84% | 91.1 | -2.1 |
45 | Younghoe Koo | 6 | 3 | 50% | 5.2 | -2.2 |
46 | Zach Hocker | 14 | 10 | 71.4% | 12.3 | -2.3 |
47 | Sam Ficken | 8 | 5 | 62.5% | 7.3 | -2.3 |
48 | Alex Henery | 5 | 1 | 20% | 3.6 | -2.6 |
49 | Andrew Franks | 39 | 31 | 79.5% | 33.6 | -2.6 |
50 | Nate Freese | 7 | 3 | 42.9% | 6 | -3 |
51 | Billy Cundiff | 29 | 22 | 75.9% | 25.1 | -3.1 |
52 | Brandon McManus | 149 | 122 | 81.9% | 125.3 | -3.3 |
53 | Mike Nugent | 111 | 91 | 82% | 94.5 | -3.5 |
54 | Phil Dawson | 127 | 104 | 81.9% | 107.5 | -3.5 |
55 | Kyle Brindza | 12 | 6 | 50% | 9.5 | -3.5 |
56 | Zane Gonzalez | 34 | 24 | 70.6% | 27.7 | -3.7 |
57 | Cody Parkey | 122 | 102 | 83.6% | 105.8 | -3.8 |
58 | Connor Barth | 85 | 69 | 81.2% | 72.9 | -3.9 |
59 | Josh Scobee | 36 | 26 | 72.2% | 29.9 | -3.9 |
60 | Nick Folk | 97 | 78 | 80.4% | 82.7 | -4.7 |
61 | Caleb Sturgis | 116 | 94 | 81% | 99 | -5 |
62 | Roberto Aguayo | 31 | 22 | 71% | 27.1 | -5.1 |
63 | Blair Walsh | 122 | 96 | 78.7% | 102.7 | -6.7 |