| Kickermania - looking ahead to week 1 | |||||||||||||||
| by Mike Herman, Exclusive to Footballguys.com | |||||||||||||||
| 2007 Kicking points (top five are highlighted) |
2006 Kicking ppg | 2006 Kdef |
Week 1 matchup | ||||||||||||
| Team | Current KICKER |
standard total rank |
attempted total rank |
bonus total rank |
avg | rnk | home | away | home factor |
away factor |
opponent | this week rank |
|||
| Ari | Neil Rackers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.3 | 8 | 7.1 | 7.4 | 1.20 | 1.15 | @SF | 10 |
| notes | Two years ago Rackers made everything. Last year he couldn't hit the long ones. | ||||||||||||||
| Atl | Matt Prater | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.3 | 23 | 7.0 | 5.5 | 0.76 | 1.20 | @Min | 28 |
| notes | A day after Miami released Prater, the Falcons signed him. A day later he was kicking in the final preseason game. A day later Billy Cundiff was released. | ||||||||||||||
| Bal | Matt Stover | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.6 | 5 | 8.8 | 6.4 | 0.81 | 0.56 | @Cin | 13 |
| notes | Rhys Lloyd will handle kickoffs and long field goal attempts for the Ravens this year. | ||||||||||||||
| Buf | Rian Lindell | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.4 | 20 | 7.1 | 5.6 | 0.73 | 0.85 | Den | 5 |
| notes | Last year Lindell scored more at home, while Denver gave up more kicking points on the road. | ||||||||||||||
| Car | John Kasay | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.3 | 23 | 5.3 | 7.3 | 1.19 | 0.71 | @StL | 3 |
| notes | Last year Kasay scored more on the road, while St. Louis gave up more kicking points at home. | ||||||||||||||
| Chi | Robbie Gould | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8.9 | 1 | 8.9 | 9.0 | 0.89 | 0.57 | @SD | 16 |
| notes | Gould was very accurate last year and had plenty of attempts. Both are difficult to duplicate. | ||||||||||||||
| Cin | Shayne Graham | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.2 | 10 | 7.1 | 7.3 | 0.88 | 0.70 | Bal | 25 |
| notes | Graham is nursing a hip pointer. Watch the Injury Report, Players in the News, and Breaking Updates to monitor his status. | ||||||||||||||
| Cle | Phil Dawson | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.5 | 29 | 3.6 | 7.4 | 1.08 | 1.01 | Pit | 32 |
| notes | Cleveland was dead last in kicker scoring at home in the NFL last year. | ||||||||||||||
| Dal | Nick Folk | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.8 | 14 | 5.6 | 8.0 | 1.00 | 0.83 | NYG | 24 |
| notes | Folk was edging towards the job, even before Martin Gramatica was injured. | ||||||||||||||
| Den | Jason Elam | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.2 | 10 | 8.0 | 6.4 | 0.84 | 1.24 | @Buf | 15 |
| notes | Jake Plummer held for Elam the last few years. Todd Sauerbrun takes over this year. | ||||||||||||||
| Det | Jason Hanson | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.3 | 7 | 6.8 | 7.9 | 1.15 | 1.12 | @Oak | 6 |
| notes | The kicker also tends to benefit in a Mike Martz offense. | ||||||||||||||
| GB | Mason Crosby | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.8 | 14 | 5.3 | 8.4 | 1.18 | 0.90 | Phi | 11 |
| notes | Crosby beat out Dave Rayner in one of the best competitions in all of the NFL this preseason. | ||||||||||||||
| Hou | Kris Brown | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.2 | 30 | 5.1 | 5.3 | 1.08 | 1.17 | KC | 12 |
| notes | Brown got plenty of field goal opportunities during the preseason. | ||||||||||||||
| Ind | Adam Vinatieri | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.8 | 4 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 1.12 | 1.00 | NO | 7 |
| notes | Vinatieri is healthy heading into this year. In 2006 he was not. | ||||||||||||||
| Jac | Josh Scobee | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.4 | 6 | 9.3 | 5.6 | 0.59 | 0.92 | Ten | 1 |
| notes | Jacksonville was the highest in kicker scoring at home in the NFL last year. | ||||||||||||||
| KC | Justin Medlock | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.7 | 16 | 7.1 | 6.3 | 1.10 | 1.18 | @Hou | 27 |
| notes | The rookie Medlock is on a very short leash. The Chiefs worked out sixth other kickers earlier in the week. | ||||||||||||||
| Mia | Jay Feely | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.3 | 23 | 5.6 | 6.9 | 1.09 | 0.88 | @Was | 26 |
| notes | Feely played at Washington in the final game of last year while with the Giants. | ||||||||||||||
| Min | Ryan Longwell | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.6 | 28 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 1.27 | 1.12 | Atl | 14 |
| notes | After many fruitful years, Longwell has scored only 90 points each of the last two years. | ||||||||||||||
| NE | Stephen Gostkowski | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.4 | 19 | 7.1 | 5.8 | 0.79 | 0.78 | @NYJ | 22 |
| notes | Gostkowski started off the preseason on fire, but cooled off more recently. | ||||||||||||||
| NO | Olindo Mare | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.2 | 10 | 6.1 | 8.3 | 0.87 | 0.73 | @Ind | 2 |
| notes | The Saints traded for Mare knowing that he can kickoff, and hoping that he will regain his accuracy on field goals. | ||||||||||||||
| NYG | Lawrence Tynes | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.7 | 16 | 6.3 | 7.1 | 0.83 | 0.87 | @Dal | 29 |
| notes | Tynes had a rough preseason, dealing with personal matters, in addition to problems with the longsnapper and holder on the field. | ||||||||||||||
| NYJ | Mike Nugent | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.6 | 18 | 7.0 | 6.3 | 0.74 | 0.80 | NE | 19 |
| notes | Nugent worked on improving his leg strength during the off-season, and early results appear to be positive. | ||||||||||||||
| Oak | Sebastian Janikowski | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.4 | 32 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 1.18 | 1.09 | Det | 21 |
| notes | After finishing at the bottom in kicker scoring last year, that leaves the proverbial "nowhere to go but up" (or remain at the bottom). | ||||||||||||||
| Phi | David Akers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.4 | 20 | 7.3 | 5.5 | 0.88 | 1.31 | @GB | 9 |
| notes | Keep an eye on punter Sav Rocca, the new holder for Akers this year. | ||||||||||||||
| Pit | Jeff Reed | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.3 | 22 | 6.9 | 5.8 | 0.69 | 1.12 | @Cle | 23 |
| notes | Reed was perfect on field goals on the road last year. | ||||||||||||||
| SD | Nate Kaeding | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8.5 | 2 | 9.1 | 7.9 | 1.15 | 0.71 | Chi | 20 |
| notes | Kaeding is off to a good start towards having on of the highest field goal percentages in NFL history. He still needs to make 33 more to qualify for the list. | ||||||||||||||
| Sea | Josh Brown | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.9 | 13 | 6.6 | 7.3 | 0.86 | 1.02 | TB | 4 |
| notes | After making numerous big kicks during his contract year last year, Brown was tagged as the Franchise Player this year. | ||||||||||||||
| SF | Joe Nedney | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.3 | 8 | 7.6 | 6.9 | 1.44 | 1.31 | Ari | 8 |
| notes | Nedney averaged 8.5 ppg against the Cardinals last year. | ||||||||||||||
| StL | Jeff Wilkins | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8.2 | 3 | 8.5 | 7.9 | 1.19 | 0.89 | Car | 18 |
| notes | Wilkins made 18 field goals in the first five games last year. He made only 14 in the remaining 11 games. | ||||||||||||||
| TB | Matt Bryant | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.6 | 31 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 0.97 | 1.05 | @Sea | 30 |
| notes | The Buccaneers had the fewest kicker scoring opportunities in the league last year. | ||||||||||||||
| Ten | Rob Bironas | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.1 | 26 | 5.9 | 6.4 | 0.84 | 1.32 | @Jac | 31 |
| notes | Bironas held off a moderate challenge in training camp from rookie John Vaughn. | ||||||||||||||
| Was | Shaun Suisham | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.1 | 27 | 7.0 | 5.1 | 1.17 | 1.38 | Mia | 17 |
| notes | When John Hall got hurt (which was often) the Redskins tried numerous kickers. Ola Kimrin, Jeff Chandler, and Nick Novak didn't stick. Suisham is looking to change that trend. | ||||||||||||||
| NOTES: | |||||||||||||||
| 1. | All stats are based on Standard Scoring of 3 points for field goals and 1 point for extra points | ||||||||||||||
| (except for the Bonus Total column which increases 40-49 yard FG's to 4 points, and FG's of 50 yards and over to 5 points) | |||||||||||||||
| 2. | "Attempted" = maximum number of kicking points the team could have had if they made every kick | ||||||||||||||
| 3. | The Kdefensive "factors" are the median by which teams allow kicking points, as compared to their opponents average scoring | ||||||||||||||
| (i.e. smaller numbers under 1.0 equal better kicking defense, larger numbers over 1.0 = not so good) | |||||||||||||||
| Mike Herman's Kicker Rankings for This Week *** | Remaining Schedule (thru week 16) Rankings *** | ||||||||||||||
| Rank | Player | Opponent | Rank | Player | |||||||||||
| 1 | Josh Scobee | Ten | 1 | Adam Vinatieri | |||||||||||
| 2 | Olindo Mare | @Ind | 2 | Olindo Mare | |||||||||||
| 3 | John Kasay | @StL | 3 | Josh Brown | |||||||||||
| 4 | Josh Brown | TB | 4 | Josh Scobee | |||||||||||
| 5 | Rian Lindell | Den | 5 | Jason Elam | |||||||||||
| 6 | Jason Hanson | @Oak | 6 | Shayne Graham | |||||||||||
| 7 | Adam Vinatieri | NO | 7 | Matt Stover | |||||||||||
| 8 | Joe Nedney | Ari | 8 | Jason Hanson | |||||||||||
| 9 | David Akers | @GB | 9 | Stephen Gostkowski | |||||||||||
| 10 | Neil Rackers | @SF | 10 | Jeff Wilkins | |||||||||||
| 11 | Mason Crosby | Phi | 11 | Robbie Gould | |||||||||||
| 12 | Kris Brown | KC | 12 | Nate Kaeding | |||||||||||
| 13 | Matt Stover | @Cin | 13 | Mason Crosby | |||||||||||
| 14 | Ryan Longwell | Atl | 14 | Mike Nugent | |||||||||||
| 15 | Jason Elam | @Buf | 15 | David Akers | |||||||||||
| 16 | Robbie Gould | @SD | 16 | Nick Folk | |||||||||||
| 17 | Shaun Suisham | Mia | 17 | John Kasay | |||||||||||
| 18 | Jeff Wilkins | Car | 18 | Neil Rackers | |||||||||||
| 19 | Mike Nugent | NE | 19 | Shaun Suisham | |||||||||||
| 20 | Nate Kaeding | Chi | 20 | Ryan Longwell | |||||||||||
| 21 | Sebastian Janikowski | Det | 21 | Kris Brown | |||||||||||
| 22 | Stephen Gostkowski | @NYJ | 22 | Rob Bironas | |||||||||||
| 23 | Jeff Reed | @Cle | 23 | Joe Nedney | |||||||||||
| 24 | Nick Folk | NYG | 24 | Justin Medlock | |||||||||||
| 25 | Shayne Graham | Bal | 25 | Matt Bryant | |||||||||||
| 26 | Jay Feely | @Was | 26 | Rian Lindell | |||||||||||
| 27 | Justin Medlock | @Hou | 27 | Jeff Reed | |||||||||||
| 28 | Matt Prater | @Min | 28 | Sebastian Janikowski | |||||||||||
| 29 | Lawrence Tynes | @Dal | 29 | Lawrence Tynes | |||||||||||
| 30 | Matt Bryant | @Sea | 30 | Matt Prater | |||||||||||
| 31 | Rob Bironas | @Jac | 31 | Phil Dawson | |||||||||||
| 32 | Phil Dawson | Pit | 32 | Jay Feely | |||||||||||
| *** Note: These rankings differ from the official Footballguys.com rankings | |||||||||||||||