Tag: Kickers

7 kickers that the Vikings should look at signing with Greg Joseph struggling

Greg Joseph has had a rough start to the season and it might be time to look at a replacement

The Minnesota Vikings found a way to beat the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon by a score of 34-26. The win didn’t go without its issues, however, as Greg Joseph continued his cold streak by missing two kicks.

Joseph missed another 56-yard field goal doing so in an interesting fashion. He had it blocked but it was blocked because he hit a defensive lineman’s facemask. Joseph also missed an extra point in the fourth quarter that kept it a one-score game.

Joseph has struggled this season after a hot start and has fans wanting a change at the position. Here are kickers that the Vikings should look at signing.

Alabama football all-time roster: Coaches, kickers and specialists

See which coaching and special teams legends made the cut in our all-time Alabama football roster.

In the final installment of Roll Tide Wire‘s all-time roster series, we take a look at some of the best special teams players and coaches in Alabama’s history.

The Crimson Tide program is unique from others in that there are multiple all-time greats at numerous positions on the field, and coaches on the sideline. Two of college football’s greatest coaches came through Tuscaloosa.

Though it was a daunting task and not all fans will be content with how things shook out, here’s the all-time roster for Alabama’s coaching staff and special teams.

See Ohio State’s all-time offense and all-time defense. 

Check out our other College Wire all-time lineups:  Arkansas / Auburn / Clemson / Colorado / Florida / Georgia / Iowa / LSU / Michigan / Nebraska / North Carolina / Ohio State / Oklahoma / Oregon / Penn State / Rutgers / Tennessee / Texas / Texas A&M / USC / Wisconsin

Rating of Ravens K Justin Tucker in Madden NFL 23 revealed

The rating for Ravens kicker Justin Tucker in Madden 23 was revealed

The ratings of players for this year’s edition of EA Sports’ “Madden NFL 23” have been trickling in over the last few days. On Monday, ratings for wide receivers and tight ends were released, and Baltimore Ravens’ tight end Mark Andrews was ranked as the No. 3 tight end with a 93 overall rating. Baltimore had another player make the video game’s top-10 list at a position and he was far ahead of the No. 10 spot.

On Wednesday, the initial ratings were revealed for kickers, and Ravens’ kicker Justin Tucker took the No. 1 spot.

Tucker received a 90 overall ranking, good for the No. 1 spot at his position. Tucker being ranked as the No. 1 kicker should come at no surprise. He holds the title as the most accurate kicker in NFL history, has been selected to numerous Pro Bowls and holds the record for longest field goal made in NFL history, booting a 66-yarder against the Detroit Lions in Week 3 of the 2021 season.

Individual ratings that got Tucker up to a 90 overall included a 99 kick power rating and a 99 kick accuracy rating. The second-best rated kicker in Madden NFL 23 is Harrison Butker, with an 84 overall.

Tucker is the best kicker the NFL, and whenever he lines up for a field goal shows why. Through his 12 NFL seasons, Tucker has been selected to five Pro Bowls, been named as a First-Team AP All-Pro four times and has a 91.1% career field goal percentage.

Packers cut K Dominik Eberle, claim K Gabe Brkic off waivers from Vikings

The Packers swapped kickers on the 90-man roster, cutting Dominik Eberle while claiming Gabe Brkic off waivers from the Vikings on Monday.

The Green Bay Packers swapped kickers on Monday, releasing Dominik Eberle from the 90-man roster to make room for Gabe Brkic, who was claimed off of waivers from the Minnesota Vikings. The move was announced on the league’s transactions wire.

Brkic is an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma. Over 38 career games, he made 57 of 69 field goals (82.6 percent) and connected on 159 of 160 extra points (99.2 percent).

Brkic was a three-time Lou Groza Award semifinalist. He was a finalist in 2021 after making 20 of 26 field goals, 57 extra points and a nation-high five field goals of at least 50 yards, including a long of 56 yards.

The Vikings waived Brkic on Friday of last week.

Eberle was signed by the Packers on Feb. 22. He was an undrafted free agent out of Utah State in 2020 who spent time with special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia while with the Raiders.

Brkic will compete with veteran Mason Crosby to be the Packers’ kicker in 2022.

Saints work out 3 free agent kickers on Thursday, including pair of rookies

New Orleans Saints work out free agent kickers including two rookies:

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The clock is ticking on the New Orleans Saints. Literally — at the time of writing this post, they had fewer than 99 hours until their next preseason game, and they still haven’t found a healthy kicker. Wil Lutz is recovering from core muscle surgery. A similar injury landed Brett Maher, signed to replace him, on injured reserve. There aren’t many other positions that you can plug into the lineup and hit the field for a game, but the Saints really were taking this down to the wire.

So it’s good to see them take some action and bring in three free agent kickers for a group workout on Thursday. We’ll see if any of them end up signing with New Orleans, but for now here’s what you need to know about each of them:

Watch: Younghoe Koo discusses trick shots on NFL Network

After a season and a half in Atlanta, though, Koo has proven to be one of the NFL’s best placekickers.

When the Falcons released veteran kicker Matt Bryant in 2019 and brought in little-known Younghoe Koo as a replacement, fans were highly critical of the move. After a season and a half in Atlanta, though, Koo has proven to be one of the NFL’s best placekickers.

The Falcons may have had a down year in 2020 but Koo earned a Pro Bowl spot after leading the league with 37 field-goal conversions, a new franchise record. While it looks like Atlanta has found its kicker of the future, the 26-year-old is currently a free agent and the team is short on salary cap space. Still, it’s hard to imagine the Falcons letting Koo walk after such a dominant 2020 season.

On Tuesday, Koo joined NFL Network’s Good Morning Football program to discuss his remarkable year, his trick shot ability and some of his favorite NFL kickers. Watch below, as shared by the team’s Twitter account.

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Notre Dame football adds another to 2021 recruiting class

For the second evening in a row Notre Dame added a class of 2021 football commitment. Details on the newest Irish right here!

Make it two commitments in two days for Brian Kelly and Notre Dame as the Irish landed kicker Joshua Bryan’s commitment on Tuesday night.

Bryan had been committed to Colorado but announced his change of heart on Twitter early Tuesday evening.

Bryan ranks as the seventh best kicker in the 2021 class according to 247Sports.

Bryan had also received scholarship offers from Air Force, Army, Navy and Yale as well as Colorado.

At the Chris Sailer Kicking Camp, Bryan became the first player to ever receive a six-star rating, meaning he projects as a Power Five starter his freshman year and worthy of a scholarship.

Mike Singer did the leg work (pun fully intended) over at Blue-Gold Illustrated in finding out the story behind Bryan’s pursuit of a scholarship from Notre Dame and his eventual commitment in a piece worth checking out.

Current Notre Dame kicker Jonathan Doerer previously said he thought he’d be back for another season in 2021 but this late offer by the Irish makes you wonder if that’s still the case.

Related: Meet Notre Dame’s 2021 Recruiting Class

Bryan is the 21st commitment to Notre Dame’s 2021 class that is knocking on the door of being one of the ten best in the nation.

Notre Dame football adds another to 2021 recruiting class

For the second evening in a row Notre Dame added a class of 2021 football commitment. Details on the newest Irish right here!

Make it two commitments in two days for Brian Kelly and Notre Dame as the Irish landed kicker Joshua Bryan’s commitment on Tuesday night.

Bryan had been committed to Colorado but announced his change of heart on Twitter early Tuesday evening.

Bryan ranks as the seventh best kicker in the 2021 class according to 247Sports.

Bryan had also received scholarship offers from Air Force, Army, Navy and Yale as well as Colorado.

At the Chris Sailer Kicking Camp, Bryan became the first player to ever receive a six-star rating, meaning he projects as a Power Five starter his freshman year and worthy of a scholarship.

Mike Singer did the leg work (pun fully intended) over at Blue-Gold Illustrated in finding out the story behind Bryan’s pursuit of a scholarship from Notre Dame and his eventual commitment in a piece worth checking out.

Current Notre Dame kicker Jonathan Doerer previously said he thought he’d be back for another season in 2021 but this late offer by the Irish makes you wonder if that’s still the case.

Related: Meet Notre Dame’s 2021 Recruiting Class

Bryan is the 21st commitment to Notre Dame’s 2021 class that is knocking on the door of being one of the ten best in the nation.

Morten Andersen believes Harrison Butker can be next great in long lineage of Chiefs kickers

A Pro Football Hall of Famer believes Harrison Butker has what it takes to be considered the next great kicker in Kansas City.

Former Kansas City Chiefs kicker Morten Andersen still enjoys keeping up with the team, especially the kicking game.

Andersen has met with current Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, speaking with him and his father. He had an opportunity to reveal decades of knowledge and some tips and tricks that helped Andersen reach all-time heights in the NFL. Butker actually grew up an Atlanta Falcons fan and watched plenty of film and highlights on Andersen himself.

“I like the kid,” Andersen said of Butker. “He’s talented, he’s got a leg, he is a stud. He was a Georgia Tech kid and I met him down at Georgia Tech. I was actually working another kid out from LSU at their facility and Harrison was there and was getting ready. Tall kid, strong kid. He seemed real together, very confident but not cocky.”

Butker first signed with Kansas City off of the Panthers practice squad during the 2017 season, his rookie year, replacing injured Chiefs kicker Cairo Santos. Despite the late start to his rookie season, joining the Chiefs in Week 4, he still broke the NFL record for most field goals made by a rookie with 38.

“He’s just a great asset not only on field goals but also on kickoffs,” Andersen said. “And he’s made some big kicks.”

Some of those big kicks came during the Chiefs’ postseason run this past year. Butker has been a model of consistency for Kansas City since his arrival, breaking a number of franchise records in the process. Andersen believes this is only just the beginning of a bright career for Butker.

“You know he can be there for a long time,” Andersen said. “He just signed a five-year deal not too long ago. So they’ve got over $20 million invested in the kid. So they obviously believe in him.”

Butker’s contract extension had Andersen a little nostalgic, recalling what he made during his first year in the league.

“I’ll give you a comparison, I made $40K in my first year,” Andersen quipped

Money aside, Andersen believes that Butker can become the next great kicker in a long lineage of kickers to play in Kansas City. He wouldn’t be surprised to see him with Chiefs for 10 years or more.

“He’s at a franchise that’s had some of the best kickers in the history of the game starting with Jan Stenerud and then with Nick Lowery and so on,” Andersen said. “So really, there’s some lineage there to aspire to.”

Butker already has won a Super Bowl. He owns franchise records for points scored in a season, career field goal percentage, and more. Time will tell if he is held in the same regard as players like Stenerud, Lowery and even Andersen. For now, he’s uniquely situated to stick with Kansas City for many years to come. That should help his case to become one of the greats.

This interview is the second of a multi-part series with Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen sponsored by NJ Online Gambling. You can find links to Part 1 & Part 2 below.

Part 1: Dustin Colquitt and the specialist stigma

Part 2: On RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire being compared to Priest Holmes

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99 Days Until Notre Dame Football (We Hope)

We hope we’re 99 days away from Notre Dame’s 2020 college football season gets going. We continue the countdown with another NDFB fact.

The countdown is on!

100 days from now (we hope) Notre Dame will return to the football field for Season 133 when the Irish take on Navy in a Week Zero affair.  Will the game be played as scheduled?  I’m guessing not in Ireland but perhaps with the way the news has gone this week we’ll see it get underway on time.

Each day from now until Notre Dame kicks off the year we’ll count down the days with the number and why it’s significant in the history of Notre Dame football.

Yesterday, Michael Floyd’s 2011 season got things started on our countdown.

Today we go to special teams.

99: Nick Setta’s career PAT percentage (104/105), a Notre Dame record.

Setta kicked at Notre Dame from 2000-03, making 15 of 17 field goal attempts in 2001 before stumbling to just 14 of 25 in ’02. His final season saw him make all PAT attempts and be successful on nine of his ten field goal attempts in ’03.

Setta’s biggest kick at Notre Dame came against Purdue in 2000 when he knocked a 38 yard attempt through the uprights as time expired to upset the Drew Brees and the eventual Big Ten Champions.

99 days to go!