Is the Kicker Position important?

[RonWashington]

Well when Maher had his season ending meltdown that should tell you all you need to know about the importance of a reliable kicker .

 

[Vanilla2]

It’s not important until we start missing kicks.

 

[Hoofbite]

Yep.
They’re even more important in the last few years now that the XP isn’t a gimme.


Kickers are usually the top points scorers in the league. You gotta have a good one.

This is a really weird stat. I was thinking the same thing but when you actually look at the list it seems like they exclude QBs from contention. I guess you can only assign points to a single player, but why does the WR get every bit of the credit?

Agree though. Kickers are hugely important. Maher's fall from grace was unprecedented. I really don't even want him to go to camp. Can't trust him on an extra point any more than I would trust a random poster from this board.

 

[jnday]

Apparently there are a lot of close games on regular basis in the National Football League.

Do details matter when trying to win close football games, like the Kicker position?

I would say, Yes.

Kicker is one of the most underrated position on the team by a lot of fans when it is really one of the most important. Kicker and the long snapper positions can lose a lot of games for a team. It seems like a bad kicker always lets the team down when they need him the most. I hope they bring in several to compete for the position and I wouldn’t mind seeing Dallas draft a kicker if a good one is available.

 

[HungryLion]

This is a really weird stat. I was thinking the same thing but when you actually look at the list it seems like they exclude QBs from contention. I guess you can only assign points to a single player, but why does the WR get every bit of the credit?

Agree though. Kickers are hugely important. Maher's fall from grace was unprecedented. I really don't even want him to go to camp. Can't trust him on an extra point any more than I would trust a random poster from this board.

Yeah I never understood that about QB’s either to be honest. I mean at the end of the day EVERY position relies on the other 10 guys on the field to score points.


But yeah I agree on Maher. Honestly he was great all last season but that meltdown in the postseason was so epic, so awfully bad. I just can’t trust that he will be ok to make kicks the next time the cowboys are in the playoffs and the game is actually on the line. I just have 0 faith in him to handle that now.

 

[john van brocklin]

Apparently there are a lot of close games on regular basis in the National Football League.

Do details matter when trying to win close football games, like the Kicker position?

I would say, Yes.

I would say yes as well.
I am not sure the front office feels the same way being as we really haven't addressed the place kicker position.

 

[Cowboys5217]

It's better to have a good kicker and not need him than to need a good kicker and not have one.

 

[SinceDayOne]

Nah. Not important at all. UNTIL your kicker starts missing extra point attempts and makeable FG tries. Then a good kicker seems sort of vital.......

 

[Typhus]

Apparently there are a lot of close games on regular basis in the National Football League.

Do details matter when trying to win close football games, like the Kicker position?

I would say, Yes.

Nope, kickers suck.
Unless you franchise one forever like Al Davis did.

 

[MWH1967]

Just draft Moody and call it a day.

 

[baltcowboy]

Apparently there are a lot of close games on regular basis in the National Football League.

Do details matter when trying to win close football games, like the Kicker position?

I would say, Yes.

Place Kicker and Punter are very important. I believe Maher cost us the 49ers game when he got the yips. The Cowboys took more chances in the passing game when they crossed midfield because of the distrust in the kicker. The Cowboys would have tried to run the clock out at the end of the first half if they trusted the kicker to make a 30 yard field goal.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Yes, kickers are extremely important, and it's a need this team needs to address in the offseason. Fortunately, you typically don't have to spend an early round draft pick to get a good kicker. If you draft one at all, it's usually fine to do so in the 6th or 7th round, and you often don't need to do that. I do want this team to draft a kicker in about the 7th round. (We don't have a 6th, right?) Draft a kicker, and bring in at least one vet. Let them compete in camp.

If you're in a huge game with only seconds left, you want to be confident that your kicker can win it for you with a 50-yard field goal. I miss the days of Dan Bailey in his prime. Raphael Septien was also really good.

 

[Flamma]

Apparently there are a lot of close games on regular basis in the National Football League.

Do details matter when trying to win close football games, like the Kicker position?

I would say, Yes.

No. I enjoyed the excitement our kicker provided us last year. All joking aside, I still say no. Your ability to win a championship has nothing to do with your kicker. You're there because your team is championship caliber. Not because your kicker got you there. Even very good kickers can miss in pivotal moments. See Norwood in super bowl 25. Or Vanderjack, or whatever his name was for the Colts against the Steelers in that playoff game. Another good example is the great Gary Anderson for the Vikings missing an easy FG to put the game away in the NFC championship game of 1998.

You can't count on any kicker. You put a team on the field that can win. Hope for the best when it all rides on your kicker.

 

[Carson]

Pretty simple.

Give me the guy who is 100% on XP, accurate inside of 49 and I’ll take the risk of the 50+ yarders

 

[blueblood70]

No. I enjoyed the excitement our kicker provided us last year. All joking aside, I still say no. Your ability to win a championship has nothing to do with your kicker. You're there because your team is championship caliber. Not because your kicker got you there. Even very good kickers can miss in pivotal moments. See Norwood in super bowl 25. Or Vanderjack, or whatever his name was for the Colts against the Steelers in that playoff game. Another good example is the great Gary Anderson for the Vikings missing an easy FG to put the game away in the NFC championship game of 1998.

You can't count on any kicker. You put a team on the field that can win. Hope for the best when it all rides on your kicker.

right plus outside the top 3 elite type the rest are mostly all bunched up in the same tier.,.,

 

[Carson]

No. I enjoyed the excitement our kicker provided us last year. All joking aside, I still say no. Your ability to win a championship has nothing to do with your kicker. You're there because your team is championship caliber. Not because your kicker got you there. Even very good kickers can miss in pivotal moments. See Norwood in super bowl 25. Or Vanderjack, or whatever his name was for the Colts against the Steelers in that playoff game. Another good example is the great Gary Anderson for the Vikings missing an easy FG to put the game away in the NFC championship game of 1998.

You can't count on any kicker. You put a team on the field that can win. Hope for the best when it all rides on your kicker.

I don’t think a kicker is the reason you make a Super Bowl run. But you can argue that a guy like Evan McPherson was the reason the Bengals kept winning in the playoffs.

 

[Flamma]

I don’t think a kicker is the reason you make a Super Bowl run. But you can argue that a guy like Evan McPherson was the reason the Bengals kept winning in the playoffs.

Yeah, but the team got them there. In the 90s I didn't care who our kicker was. You just hope they make the kicks. The better team usually wins.

 

[MapleLeaf]

Your kicker isn’t important at all until you don’t have a good one.

I dare anyone single fan, player, coach, NFL executive and owner to put everything they have in life on the line to field an NFL football with a punter or a place kicker.

Everything. The entire existence of your life. See if you can win games in today's NFL.

I would expect a lot of people would end up in a dark corner contemplating the foolishness of their decision and fearful of the ruinous consequences of thinking that kicking is not important in the game.

 

[gtb1943]

Yeah, but the team got them there. In the 90s I didn't care who our kicker was. You just hope they make the kicks. The better team usually wins.

The team with a better kicker has a significant edge. If last season did not teach people that nothing will.

The 90's teams were so dominant it did not matter. You will NEVER see that again in the days of FA and the Cap. So its worthless to talk about them or think that it has any application on todays NFL.

In the NFL of today when the talent margin especially in the playoffs is small, a top kicker can win it all for you.

Viniteri for the colts and the Pats had how many SB winning kicks? You trying to say that meant nothing?

 

[SinceDayOne]

One of the biggest things a good kicker can do is add to the overall confidence of a team. It seems to bolster the morale of a squad to know they have a guy who is one of the top kickers in the league. Now punters are a different story. The only player I can think of who made a huge difference to his team for a long period of time was Ray Guy.