Dan Bailey's accuracy

[joseephuss]

What about the past and existing kicker in Oakland Raider ? I thought he was a high round draft pick....

Sebastian Janikowski is a 79.9% kicker for his career. He has had one single season where he converted over 90%. That was in 2012 when he converted 91.2%, which is the same as Bailey's career percentage.

Mason Crosby, whose name often came up on this site as someone Dallas should have drafted has never converted 90% of his FGs in a single season. His career average is 79.1%.

 

[Future]

If he continues this pace does anyone think he gets in the HOF?

Interesting thought...

I think he'd probably have to kick a couple of game winners in the Super Bowl - or something of those lines - to have a shot. Stenerud is the only pure placekicker who is in there now, and Vinatieri will probably have a place when all is said and done. The odds of a kicker making it are just so slim it's really difficult to think it would happen.

 

[conner01]

I don't even get nervous on FGs anymore, I just expect him to nail it.

thats true. i just kinda assume the points. the guy is so good that you really don't even consider he could miss

 

[khiladi]

The measurement of a great kicker is if Hostile gushes about him...

 

[theSHOW]

So we've all heard how Dan Bailey is now the most accurate kicker in NFL history. What I hadn't heard and did not realize until looking up the numbers today is that he has been BY FAR the most accurate kicker in history.

Of the 40 most accurate kickers in history, the other 39 are all between 80.0 percent and 86.5 percent. The five closest guys to Bailey are at 86.1, 86.2, 86.3, 86.5 and 86.5 percent. Bailey's career percentage is 91.2 percent (103 of 113) -- which is a whopping 4.7 percentage points higher than the next-best guy. The gap between first and second is as big as the gap between second and 23rd.

Also, the perception in Bailey's first few years was that he was accurate but didn't have a big leg. So, some people might think that he's "the most accurate" simply because he hasn't attempted as many long field goals. Nope -- Bailey is 14-for-20 in his career on kicks of 50 yards or more. The second-most accurate kicker in history, Steven Hauschka, who has attempted 13 more field goals overall, has tried only 13 from 50-plus (he's 7 of 13). Mike Vanderjagt, who retired as the most accurate kicker and tried a total of 266 field goals in his career (153 more attempts than Bailey has so far), tried only 22 from 50-plus (15 of 22) in his entire career. And No. 3 on the list, Stephen Gostkowski, has tried only 17 of his 262 career attempts from 50-plus (13 of 17). So not only is Bailey the most accurate, he's the most accurate while also attempting a much higher percentage of long kicks than the guys who are closest to him for accuracy.

I don't mind paying the big 3.2 mil per year (well Jerry pays it) for DBailey as his play is shown to be superior to all other kickers by a wide wide margin. What a fabulous aggressive sign by Jerrah that will lock this guy up for the perfect amount of time 5 years DBailey wears the Star and could bring home the biggest games for the team. What a capper!

 

[conner01]

Interesting thought...

I think he'd probably have to kick a couple of game winners in the Super Bowl - or something of those lines - to have a shot. Stenerud is the only pure placekicker who is in there now, and Vinatieri will probably have a place when all is said and done. The odds of a kicker making it are just so slim it's really difficult to think it would happen.

i think you are right. he would need a couple of big super bowl kicks or get up there to that 2400 range in points which would be very tough to do since we score too many td's. his first 3 years he avg 134 points per season so at that pace it would take him 18 years to get to the top of the scoring leaders alltime. but i think if he continues at the 90% rate and retires at that rate with something over 2000 points he has a real shot.

 

[khiladi]

he is simply awesome..

i remember before i knew he was a championship golfer..i would tell my wife he kicks like a smooth golf swing.

He's a championship golfer? Man, that explains why he's cool as ice...

 

[khiladi]

If he continues this pace does anyone think he gets in the HOF?

Yes... If any kicker goes in, at this pace, why not... He changes the whole dimension of an offense in how they approach scoring. I remember prior to that, with guys like Nick Folk, we were just hesitating in how we'd approach whether to try for a field goal, punt or just try and get a first.

 

[jazzcat22]

Bailey would have to miss his next 7 kicks to drop out of 1st.

I'm guessing even he won't hold the record that long unless there's a rule change. Of the 18 top guys on the list, 15 are active and the other 3 were all active as recently as 2006. Kicking has come a long way. It's time to narrow the goal posts.

why....why every time something works well, someone wants to change something...

Your car is running great, do you trade it in?

Kicking is no different now other than the K's actually are more tuned in to actually being in shape and trying to improve more so than in the past is more the reason.

 

[bounce]

The thing that's crazy to me about him, is I can't even recall one FG that just barely made it. If it goes in, they're all right down the middle, and there's never a question from the second it leaves his foot.

 

[jazzcat22]

The thing that's crazy to me about him, is I can't even recall one FG that just barely made it. If it goes in, they're all right down the middle, and there's never a question from the second it leaves his foot.

I think one time, it was a foot off to the left....I think the opposing fans let out a collective fart to make it be off a bit.
My only concern was, man it didn't split the uprights...but hey, don't we all complain about something when not perfect.....LOL....

 

[xwalker]

That's exactly what I said. Watching him kick is like watching Fred Couples swing a gold club, smooth as silk.

fred is the reason i started watching and playing golf after his 92 masters.

wow that is pretty cool you mention that.

Fred Couples is one of the most talented golfers ever, but he's always had back problems and had to limit his playing and practicing.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Sebastian Janikowski is a 79.9% kicker for his career. He has had one single season where he converted over 90%. That was in 2012 when he converted 91.2%, which is the same as Bailey's career percentage.

Mason Crosby, whose name often came up on this site as someone Dallas should have drafted has never converted 90% of his FGs in a single season. His career average is 79.1%.

Bailey ... 91 out 100

Maybe more of you take out real long ones.

It's cwazy!

 

[JD_KaPow]

why....why every time something works well, someone wants to change something...

Your car is running great, do you trade it in?

Kicking is no different now other than the K's actually are more tuned in to actually being in shape and trying to improve more so than in the past is more the reason.

I don't understand this line of argument. Keeping the rules the same does not keep the game the same.

Kicking is dramatically different now, precisely because kickers are much more accurate, and it's changed the game in a huge way. A 45-yard FG try used to be a difficult decision for a coach: now it's a no-brainer. That means more FG tries and less going for it on 4th-down. Short to medium field goals are automatic now. "Automatic" is the enemy of "exciting". I want more actual football plays (especially 4th-down plays) and fewer kicking plays, and I want the risk put back into those kicking plays.

 

[erod]

I swear, they could change the goal posts to be four feet wide, and Bailey would still be at 75 percent.

He's amazing, and he'll win a game or two for Dallas that they wouldn't have won otherwise every year. He's a huge weapon in a playoff game.

 

[Carolina Cowboy]

Fred Couples is one of the most talented golfers ever, but he's always had back problems and had to limit his playing and practicing.

If you play a lot, as I do and have a reverse C follow through, there's a good chance sooner or later you will have back problems, as I do. Come to think of it, there's a golfer I know right now whose back was a question mark early in the year

 

[jazzcat22]

Is there a golf forum......

 

[mahoneybill]

As good as he is from 50+, many going through with a wealth of distance, he has more kickoffs returned than I would expect. Regardless, he is absolute money and makes close games much less stressful.

Agree, but on the returns I think that's because coordinators feel our ST aren't going to stuff them inside the 20 so why not go for the extra yards.

 

[mahoneybill]

The thing that's crazy to me about him, is I can't even recall one FG that just barely made it. If it goes in, they're all right down the middle, and there's never a question from the second it leaves his foot.

Agree. When he kicks I watch how the ball is angling , never think about will he have the distance. Most of his kicks are straight bullets through the middle with possibly a slight curve correction if he's not kicking from the middle of the field.

Could be wrong but I think his rare misses are from the left hash mark.

 

[xwalker]

So we've all heard how Dan Bailey is now the most accurate kicker in NFL history. What I hadn't heard and did not realize until looking up the numbers today is that he has been BY FAR the most accurate kicker in history.

Of the 40 most accurate kickers in history, the other 39 are all between 80.0 percent and 86.5 percent. The five closest guys to Bailey are at 86.1, 86.2, 86.3, 86.5 and 86.5 percent. Bailey's career percentage is 91.2 percent (103 of 113) -- which is a whopping 4.7 percentage points higher than the next-best guy. The gap between first and second is as big as the gap between second and 23rd.

Also, the perception in Bailey's first few years was that he was accurate but didn't have a big leg. So, some people might think that he's "the most accurate" simply because he hasn't attempted as many long field goals. Nope -- Bailey is 14-for-20 in his career on kicks of 50 yards or more. The second-most accurate kicker in history, Steven Hauschka, who has attempted 13 more field goals overall, has tried only 13 from 50-plus (he's 7 of 13). Mike Vanderjagt, who retired as the most accurate kicker and tried a total of 266 field goals in his career (153 more attempts than Bailey has so far), tried only 22 from 50-plus (15 of 22) in his entire career. And No. 3 on the list, Stephen Gostkowski, has tried only 17 of his 262 career attempts from 50-plus (13 of 17). So not only is Bailey the most accurate, he's the most accurate while also attempting a much higher percentage of long kicks than the guys who are closest to him for accuracy.

It would be interesting to know the peak accuracy of some of the past kickers. I assume that most of them trailed off at the end of their careers.