Top 25 Current Eagles: Kickers Count, Jake Elliott Lands at No. 21

Philadelphia Eagles veteran kicker Jake Elliott has remained very consistent.

PHILADELPHIA - Specialists typically don’t get a lot of love on lists of best football players, but Philadelphia Eagles kicker Jake Elliott has earned his spot as No. 21 of SI.com’s Eagles Today’s rankings for the 2023 season.

Originally a fifth-round pick by Cincinnati in the 2017 NFL Draft, Elliott, now 28, lost a training-camp battle in the Queen City with veteran Randy Bullock as a rookie. The Bengals weren’t exactly ready to give up on Elliott and brought him back to the practice squad but once Caleb Sturgis was injured, the Eagles came calling with a spot on the 53 and the rest is history.

Elliott’s rookie season was highlighted by a 61-yard game-winning field goal to beat the New York Giants in late September, a moment that some point to as the spark that ignited the run to a Super Bowl LII championship.

At the time, that kick was the seventh-longest field goal in NFL history and the third-longest walk-off boot. In the postseason run to the Lombardi Trophy, Elliott connected on the longest playoff field goal in franchise history (a 53-yarder vs. Atlanta) and had the two longest field goal (43 and 46) by a rookie in Super Bowl history against New England.

Elliott has been entrenched as the Eagles’ kicker ever since, making 84.7 percent of his field goals over the past six seasons with five 100-point seasons and a Pro Bowl berth after the 2021 campaign.

After his only poor season in 2020, Elliott has bounced back in the coach Nick Sirianni era, connecting on a career-high 90.9 percent of his field goals in 2021. Last season, Elliott almost hit that standard again by nailing 20 of 23 field goals (87.0 percent) and added a career-best 51 extra points in 53 attempts for a total of 111 points. He also tied his own franchise record (first set in 2017) with five over 50-yard field goals.

Elliott is already at No. 3 in career points for the Eagles with 640, behind only David Akers (1,323) and Bobby Walston (881). He’s No. 2 in field goals with 138 and already has the most 50-yard field goals in franchise history with 20 when you add in the postseason.

This is the second consecutive year SI.com's Eagles Today beat reporters Ed Kracz and John McMullen are ranking the top 25 Eagles players for the upcoming season in advance of the team's training camp, which begins on July 25.

Elliott finished No. 19 on McMullen’s list and Kracz had the veteran kicker at No. 21 overall, finishing with 12 total points.

The countdown began with No. 25 on the list, running back Kenny Gainwell, followed by linebacker Nicholas Morrow and safeties Reed Blankenship and Terrell Edmunds.

The Eagles’ battery of Elliott, holder/punter Arryn Siposs and long snapper Rick Lovato is expected to be together for a third consecutive year as a group so there is little to fear when it comes to the consistency of the kicking game continuing in the 2023 campaign.

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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen