NFL Field Goal Rates From 2014 to 2018

by Chase Stuart on July 1, 2019

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

Tagged as: Field Goals, Kickers

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