24 Days Until Training Camp: Biggest Question on Special Teams

Mason Crosby’s successor, Anders Carlson, wasn’t very efficient at Auburn. Is that cause for concern? Here’s what the history says.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers rookie kicker Anders Carlson has some big shoes to fill. Maybe not the size 12s that Jordan Love has to fill while replacing Aaron Rodgers, but big, nonetheless.

Mason Crosby fashioned one of the great careers for any kicker in NFL history, ranking 11th all-time in points and 13th all-time in field goals. An unsigned free agent, he needs only five field goals to become the 12th player with 400.

Is Carlson, a sixth-round pick, a worthy successor to the kicking throne?

Carlson’s career at Auburn doesn’t provide much confidence. In five seasons, he made 71.8 percent of his field-goal attempts. By distance, he was 34-of-34 from inside of 30 yards but 15-of-20 (75.0 percent) from 30 to 39 yards, 25-of-39 (64.1 percent) from 40-49 yards and 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from 50-plus yards.

He did have one big season, going 20-of-22 (90.9 percent) in 2020, but slumped to 14-of-21 (66.7 percent) in 2021 before suffering a torn ACL. Kicking with a brace in 2022, he made 12-of-17 (70.6 percent).

“I think Anders has a lot of talent,” said esteemed kicking coach Jamie Kohl, who worked with all six drafted kickers and punters. “He’s got a chance because of the people around him. He’s going to have a couple bad practices, I’m sure, but you’ve got to respond. That’s where Mason Crosby, that Cowboys games a couple years back, that’s still one of the best games I’ve ever witnessed. Every time he had a chance, he came through like nails. It’s going to take some time.

“If he can make it through the early storm, he’s got a chance to be a really good player. Really good player.”

Expecting a kicker who was inaccurate in college to become accurate in the NFL seems like a fool’s errand. However, it’s really not that unusual.

Anders Carlson (Photo by Mark Hoffman/USA Today Sports)

Of all kickers with at least 20 attempts last season, the Chargers’ Cameron Dicker ranked No. 1 with 95.0 percent accuracy. In four seasons at Texas, he made 75.9 percent. The Texans’ Ka'imi Fairbairn, who finished No. 3 with 93.5 percent accuracy, hit 76.4 percent at UCLA.

Chiefs star Harrison Butker, who’s made 88.2 percent for his career, made 71.7 percent at Georgia Tech. Jason Myers, the NFC’s Pro Bowl kicker in 2022 after making 91.9 percent of his attempts, made just 63.2 percent at Marist.

Robbie Gould, who ranks 10th all-time in scoring and eighth in field goals, made 63.9 percent at Penn State. Crosby made 74.7 percent at Colorado.

Carlson’s brother, Daniel, made 80.7 percent in four seasons at Auburn, including 74.2 percent as a senior in 2017. Drafted in the fifth round by the Vikings in 2018, his career in Minnesota lasted just two games. However, he was the All-Pro kicker in 2022 following a third consecutive season of better than 90 percent marksmanship.

Kickers like Dicker, the Panthers’ Eddy Pineiro (second with 94.3 percent accuracy), the Rams’ Matt Gay (fourth with 93.3 percent), Myers (tied for fifth with 91.9 percent), Daniel Carlson (tied for fifth with 91.9 percent), the Bears’ Cairo Santos (seventh with 91.3 percent), the Cowboys’ Brett Maher (tied for eighth with 90.6 percent) and the Giants’ Graham Gano (tied for eighth with 90.6 percent) are the cautionary tales.

Of the nine kickers to make better than 90 percent of their field goals last season, those eight were kicking for a second or, in the case of Santos, a fifth team. It takes patience at kicker. With the Vikings, Daniel Carlson got whacked after missing three kicks in a Week 2 game at Lambeau Field. With the Raiders, he missed two in 2020, three in 2021 and three in 2022.

Of course, assuming Anders Carlson doesn’t come out of the gate kicking like the Las Vegas version of his All-Pro brother, it will be about finding that middle ground between, “Let’s be patient” and deciding, “This guy keeps losing us games. Let’s find a new kicker.” That can be an incredibly difficult balancing act.

“I know a lot of people just look at stats – 71 percent coming out – but I look at really the makeup of the person,” Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said. “I think he’s a strong mental makeup person, I think he’s been his best regardless of the circumstance.”

For what it's worth, he made 11-of-12 field-goal attempts during the two-day minicamp, his only public appearances of the offseason. His leg strength is obvious to anyone with one functioning eye.

“He’s been in a lot of big games, he’s kicked in a lot of different situations in the SEC, he’s kicked in many bowl games," Bisaccia continued. "I love his body structure, the power that he has, the ability to get stronger and the ability to self-correct I think is a little bit of a family trait right now that we’re seeing from him. So, we’re excited about where he’s going to go forward.”

Countdown to Packers Training Camp

Part 10 of our Biggest Questions series turns to the cornerbacks. Keisean Nixon is the favorite to man the slot. He would face a bunch of really tough matchups.https://t.co/zJGYTHL000

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 2, 2023

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