Why Did the Kicker Miss?

Creating increasing predictable results in unpredictable situations

First off, getting a kicking job in the National Football League is next to impossible; over 254 college football programs in the United States at the FBS and FCS levels collectively make up what is called Division 1.

Kickers from lower divisions rarely, if ever, make it to the NFL.

Of the 254 kickers in college, roughly 25% graduate yearly, which translates to 64 (if we round up).

There are only 32 NFL teams. And most teams have a kicker that was with the previous season.

Every year, the average amount of new kickers (by that, I mean kickers that weren’t on the team the previous year) is often less than 5.

Kicker jobs rarely open up, usually by injury or poor performance. Looking at the list of NFL kickers for this year, only three are under 24. Cade York, the placekicker for the Cleveland Browns, is the only drafted rookie kicker in the NFL.

That’s another thing; most teams don’t use draft picks on kickers. They would much instead sign an undrafted free agent, which means you are trying out against as many as 6–7 kickers for a job (when they become available, of course)