For fans preparing for the upcoming NFL season, it’s important not to forget about the best kickers in 2023. We often think that NFL games are all about quarterback play or winning the trenches.
Certainly there are football positions that are more important than the kicker. But countless NFL games each year are decided by a field goal or less, meaning kickers often play a crucial role in winning and losing games.
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In other words, the NFL’s top kickers are a great asset to their teams. But who are the best NFL kickers right now? Well, the NFL’s top kickers vary a lot from year to year. While it wasn’t easy, we’ve compiled a preseason ranking of the top 10 kickers of 2023.
10.Graham Gano
Even at the age of 36, Graham Gano is still considered one of the best kickers in the NFL. He has come back strong and has aged like a fine wine since missing the entire 2019 season through injury.
Gano scored 31 of 32 field goals in 2020 and 29 of 32 last season. He played 13 seasons in the NFL and scored nearly 85% of his field goals. With just four PAT misses over the past three seasons, Gano has proven he’s still at the top of his game.
9. Jason Myers
As the reigning all-time leading scorer in the NFL, Jason Myers is sure to be one of the top kickers in the league in 2023. Myers also made the Pro Bowl last season and was an underestimated factor in Seattle’s surprise run to the playoffs.
Earlier this year, the Seahawks rewarded him with a four-year extension, cementing his future in Seattle. Over the course of his career, Myers has hit almost 86% of his field goals, which is no small feat for a kicker who has played in the NFL for nearly a decade.
8. Tyler Bass
Kicking in Buffalo is no easy task. Usually there is wind and rain, sometimes snow. However, it is all the more impressive to see how Tyler Bass became one of the best kickers in the NFL at the beginning of his career.
In three seasons with the Bills, Bass has scored nearly 86% of his field goals and convinced the Bills to grant him a four-year extension earlier this year. Even during his rookie season in 2022, Bass demonstrated the ability to battle the strong Buffalo winds and handle the pressure of kicking for a team with championship ambitions, making him one of the top kickers in the league right now.
7.Jake Elliott
Just a few years ago, Jake Elliott was scoring less than 75% of his field goals, making his future in the NFL somewhat uncertain. But he responded by going to the Pro Bowl in 2021 and helping the Eagles reach the Super Bowl last season.
He turned things around in a big way and could currently be one of the best kickers in the league. Remember, Elliott was a freshman with the Eagles when they won the Super Bowl in 2017. He also has a perfect 15 of 15 field goals in the playoffs, making him a kicker the Eagles can trust as they seek another Super Bowl in 2023.
6. Younghoe Koo
If he weren’t playing for the Falcons, it’s possible that Younghoe Koo would get a lot more recognition and notoriety as one of the NFL’s top kickers. To his credit, he still managed to lead the NFL in points in 2020, scoring more than 90% of his field goals in 2020 and 2021.
Although his accuracy has slipped a bit over the past season, Koo has still scored 89% of his career field goals. With field goals over 50 yards, he even has a rate of 20 to 25 and thus shows a lot of range. Also, Koo has only missed two PATs in the last two seasons as he almost always hits the kicks he’s supposed to.
5. MattGay
Matt Gay set an NFL record this offseason for the largest free agent contract ever awarded to a kicker. He was a Pro Bowler and arguably the best kicker in the league when he helped the Rams win the Super Bowl two years ago. Last year he hit over 90% of his field goals and missed just one PAT for the second year in a row.
This saw Gay secure a four-year, $22.5 million deal from the Colts last offseason. Obviously, expectations are high for him after signing a big deal. But there’s no reason to believe Gay won’t continue to excel in Indy.
4.Daniel Carlson
The Vikings must be upset (pun intended) because they only fired Daniel Carlson two games into his rookie season. The Raiders gave him a fair chance and were rewarded as he developed into one of the best kickers in the NFL. Carlson led the league on points twice in the last three seasons while making 88% of his career field goal attempts.
In 2022, he missed just one PAT and three field goals, making Carlson one of the top kickers again in 2023. He’s already proven he can handle the pressure of big moments, which is why the Raiders have made him one of the highest-paid kickers in the league.
3.Harrison Butker
The Chiefs have won two of the last four Super Bowls thanks to some great kicks from Harrison Butker. When the Chiefs had tight games, he usually delivers. Oddly enough, Butker took a small step backwards in 2022, converting just 75% of his field goals in the regular season. But he obviously didn’t hold the Chiefs back during the playoffs.
Additionally, Butker has shot over 88% of his field goals throughout his career and also led the NFL in points in 2019. Also, don’t forget that last season he netted the longest field goal in the NFL from 62 yards. There’s no reason to think he won’t be one of the best kickers in 2023 and be able to come through for the Chiefs when they need him.
2. Evan McPherson
After just two seasons in the league, Evan McPherson has already made it clear that he is one of the best kickers in the NFL. Don’t think that Cincinnati’s recent success isn’t at least somewhat related to McPherson, who has already dreamed up some big hits for the Bengals, including 19-19 in field goals and 12-13 in PATs in the playoffs.
In his first two seasons, McPherson converted 84% of his field goals, so there’s still room for improvement. But he’s handled the pressures of being a placekicker in the NFL far better than most young kickers in the game’s history, which is why his future in the league is so bright.
1. Justin Tucker
There’s already a strong argument that Justin Tucker is one of the greatest kickers in NFL history, so there’s no doubt he’ll be the best kicker in the game in the 2023 season. With over 90% of his field goals and the longest field goal in NFL history, he holds the all-time field goal record at 66 yards.
There is no one who can shoot field goals more reliably or hit field goals better from a distance. Because of this, Tucker was selected to the first-team All-Pro selection four times in the past seven years and to the second-team selection the other three years of that span.
He has a virtual shot at making the Pro Bowl every year and has a virtual shot at PATs, only five of which he’s missed in the last five years since the distance was pushed back. No other kicker in the game can claim that, which is why Tucker is still the best kicker in the NFL.
