After Historic Long FG Rate, Will NFL Kickers Be Punished For Their Success?

National Football League

After Historic Long FG Rate, Will NFL Kickers Be Punished For Their Success?

Updated Jul. 30, 2025 6:57 p.m. ET

SAN DIEGO — In 2024, NFL kickers experienced one of the most accurate seasons on record. They have improved so much, in fact, that they might become victims of their own success. Last season, kickers attempted a league-record 1,115 field goals and converted 84% of them, which is around the average for the past five years. However, what truly stood out was that, according to FOX Sports Research, their success rate of 69.9% on 50-plus-yard field goals was the highest for a single season since at least 1991.

So, how has the league responded to this unprecedented success? In recent years, the NFL has pushed the extra point back and developed a more dynamic kickoff to encourage more returns. There have also been discussions about possibly narrowing the goalposts. During the 2015 Pro Bowl, the NFL experimented with narrowing the posts from 18.6 feet to 14 feet. Last year, a league executive mentioned that the NFL’s competition committee would consider the option of narrowing the goalposts after the 2024 season, but no changes were implemented.

“If you were to narrow [the goalpost], I think guys would adapt and become just as accurate,” former NFL kicker Nick Novak shared. After a decade in the NFL, Novak is now a high school coach, kicking consultant, and mentor to developing players. He runs an annual summit in San Diego for kickers, punters, and long snappers. Novak and the growth of private coaches like him play a significant role in the current success of kickers.

He believes their accomplishments should not be penalized. “Eventually, people will say, ‘Let’s just put a post out there, and guys have to hit the post,’” Novak explained. “When is it enough, you know what I mean? Guys are really good, and we shouldn’t punish them for it. philippine baseball team That’s kind of my mentality. They already moved back the extra point, and that certainly adds some misses here and there pvl volleyball 2023 schedule.”

Chargers special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken provided an intriguing analogy regarding rules aimed at limiting kickers’ success. “I equate it to: I know quarterbacks are throwing for a lot of yards, but are they going to make the football heavier for them?” Ficken said. “Those guys are getting better too. It’s a testament to those who are working hard and perfecting their craft. I like to see that success for them.”

Jason Myers, a two-time Pro Bowler entering his 11th season as an NFL kicker and a San Diego native, served as an impromptu host for Novak’s recent summit. Myers reached a career-high of nine successful attempts from 50-plus yards in 2024. “The records are there to be broken,” he stated. “We may not be the biggest athletes on the field, but we’re still athletes working to improve and strengthen ourselves. As specialists, we’re always striving for perfection. We constantly seek to learn, evolve with new science, and figure out how we can implement it on the field.”

In addition to the kickers themselves, Novak highlights the evolution of the entire special teams operation as a reason for improved accuracy at longer distances. “It’s not just the kicker and the punter,” he elaborated. “It’s the operation. The snappers are really good. Everyone’s highly specialized. It’s about protection, and the coaching is top-notch. Everyone is executing well to give the kicker 1.3 seconds to complete a field goal and under two seconds for a punt.”

Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker epitomizes the current success of the position. Entering his fourth NFL season, Dicker’s 93.8% field goal percentage is the highest in NFL history for a player with at least 50 attempts. He has made 16 field goals from beyond 50 yards and holds four of the six longest field goals in the franchise’s history. Last season, Dicker successfully made a 57-yard fair catch free kick in a Week 16 victory over the Denver Broncos, marking the first successful free kick since 1976 and the longest in NFL history.

After his historic season of long field goals, Dicker expressed that the discussions of potentially narrowing the goalposts feel a bit disrespectful to him and his fellow kickers. “They frequently try to introduce new rules regarding kicking,” he mentioned. “It is what it is… I find it somewhat foolish when rules are changed. 8 hours from now philippines There are better ways to address it if they want to initiate change. I think kickers aren’t consulted enough about these adjustments because we understand what’s at stake. But at the end of the day, we have to play by whatever rules are set, and we all get paid to go out and kick. creamline vs f2 game 2”

Eric D. Williams has covered the NFL for over a decade, reporting on the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN, and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on X at @eric_d_williams. perdido ust

What are your thoughts on the evolving role of kickers in the NFL?