Kicking Competition Enters Next Phase

By the numbers, Greg Joseph has a big lead over Anders Carlson in the competition to be the Green Bay Packers’ kicker in 2024. The battle, however, is just getting started.

Greg Joseph, shown kicking against the Packers, is trying to beat out incumbent kicker Anders Carlson. / Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – By the numbers, Greg Joseph has taken a significant lead in the Green Bay Packers’ kicking competition. Now, with the arrival of Family Night, his battle against Anders Carlson has reached the next phase.

Joseph made all seven field-goal attempts at Thursday’s practice while Carlson missed two. Joseph is now plus-four for camp – 29-of-31 vs. 25-of-31. Joseph has made 93.5 percent of his attempts, which would have tied for seventh in the NFL last season. Carlson has made 80.6 percent of his attempts, which would have ranked 26th last season.

Of course, the relative calm of training camp is a lot different than the pressure cooker that is the NFL regular season or playoffs.

With more than 60,000 fans expected to fill Lambeau Field for Family Night, the pressure will rise on Saturday night.

“Obviously, it’ll be special to be in a place like Lambeau for the first time kicking for the Packers,” he said on Thursday. “But, yeah, excited for it, excited to see it. Everyone talks about it. It’s going to be a sold-out crowd. My wife’s going to be at camp for the first time, so I’m excited.”

Joseph was phenomenal on Thursday. He made a 51-yarder late in practice and a 58-yarder at the end of practice.

“Feels good,” he said, but, “I don’t look at stats. I don’t look at yesterday. I’m not looking at tomorrow. Look at today and literally seeing my foot through each and every ball one at a time, singularly, and that’s it.”

Asked about his streak of 14 consecutive successful kicks, Joseph began to shake his head.

“Nope,” he said, “because I don’t look at it as 7-of-7. It’s 1-of-1 times by seven in my head, so keeping that mindset and then, obviously, trying to stay in that groove and then taking that mindset to preseason.”

Even the 58-yard field goal didn’t get him fired up, perhaps because he made a 61-yard field goal to beat the Giants while with the Vikings late in the 2022 season.

“I didn’t even know we were that far back, to be honest, and I’m not trying to sound any type of way,” Joseph said. “My mindset is just locked in that, wherever they put the ball down, I get my line, I get my aiming point and I put my foot through the ball the same as if it was a PAT or the same as if it was a 65-yarder.”

Joseph’s strong start to training camp comes against the backdrop of three mediocre seasons with the Vikings. From 2021 through 2023, Joseph made 82.6 percent of his field goals and 90.1 percent of his extra points while spending half of his games in the great indoors of U.S. Bank Stadium.

Last season, he made 24-of-30 field-goal attempts. Of 31 kickers with at least 20 attempts, his 80.0 percent success rate ranked only 27th. For all his struggles during the final two-thirds of the season, which included a pivotal miss in the playoff loss to the 49ers, Carlson was 23rd at 81.8 percent.

Carlson, of course, plays half his games at Lambeau Field, where Joseph was 1-of-3 each of his past two seasons.

So, nothing is settled. Far from it.

Joseph, who will turn 30 on Sunday, knows that, which is why his focus is on his next kick rather than the big picture or even the three-game preseason that will start next Saturday at the Browns.

“The next kick is the most important kick,” Joseph said. It was a train of thought instilled in by his numerous mentors, including former NFL and CFL kicker Justin Medlock.

“I just get into a rhythm where, I know it sounds easy to say, me vs. me,” Joseph said. “I believe that if I kick to the level that I'm capable of, it's me versus me and I'm going to put my best foot forward, make as many kicks as I can and the rest will take care of itself.”

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#Packers Family Night is tonight. Here are six things to watch if you are at Lambeau, watching on TV or viewing the stream. ⬇️https://t.co/DGaqF6dYS5

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 3, 2024

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