The NFL kicker situation has been very unpredictable this fall. The reason? A lot of kickers keep getting hurt.
Kickers, who are usually seen as the specialists in this tough sport—able to avoid the dangers on the field—have been facing more injuries than usual this season. This is surprising, as the kicker position mostly requires mental toughness to handle high-pressure situations.
Teams that haven’t had to switch kickers so far this season are fortunate.
“Just looking for a live leg, you know?” said New York Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich last week, after his team made another change and brought in Spencer Shrader, who is now moving to the Kansas City Chiefs while veteran Harrison Butker is on injured reserve.
Butker is one of seven kickers currently on injured reserve, which is a notable group that also includes Matt Prater and Greg Zuerlein.
For Shrader, this will be his third team. He also kicked for the Indianapolis Colts in one game. His expected replacement for the Jets, Anders Carlson, has already kicked in two games for the San Francisco 49ers.
As of this week, 45 different players had attempted at least one kick in the regular season, and this number doesn’t even count Shrader’s appearances with multiple teams. After the weekend, that total will go up to 48.
The Jets will now have had four kickers in just four weeks, tying with the 49ers and the New York Giants for the most in the league. Both the 49ers and the Giants had to use their punters as kickers because of injuries during games. The Washington Commanders have used three different kickers.
According to Sportradar data, only 41 kickers were used in the entire 2023 NFL season, including one punter. Riley Patterson even kicked for both the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions. Ten years ago, only 37 players attempted kicks in a regular season game.
So what’s going on with all the kicker injuries? As expected, there are different opinions around the NFL.
One issue is the increase in kickoffs after a recent rule change, which has caused more injuries. For example, the San Francisco 49ers lost both Jake Moody and Matthew Wright to injuries in back-to-back games while they were trying to make tackles.
According to Sportradar, the touchback rate has dropped from 74.3% in 2023 to 67.2% in 2024. “I would never be the coach that says, ‘Just let them score,’ but, dang, that’s two weeks in a row,” said 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan last month.
Another theory is that the overall increase in leg strength across the league has led to more muscle injuries. Already this season, nine field goals have been attempted from over 60 yards, matching the total from all of 2023. The number of field goals attempted from over 50 yards, now at 154, is on track to exceed last season’s total of 230.
“As a result of that, maybe you’re practicing and working more 50-yard field goals during the week, so the taxing of the leg and those soft-tissue injuries kind of build-up as we’re getting deeper and deeper into the season,” said Minnesota Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels.
His rookie kicker, Will Reichard, got injured last week with a quadriceps strain that developed during a recent game. The Vikings usually have their kickers practice on Wednesdays and Fridays before a Sunday game.
“You really have to make sure you’re monitoring those guys, especially the young ones who feel like they’re young whippersnappers and they can kick until their leg falls off,” Daniels said. “You definitely have got to be smart with that and hold them accountable for sure.”
For those who don’t think that kicking longer distances is connected to the rise in injuries, there is still a clear understanding that the amount of practice during the week needs to be carefully controlled.
“Part of it is finding that routine in the first place. I think some guys are young enough where it doesn’t matter early on, and after a couple of years if they don’t have a routine, then it kind of rears its head and something happens,” said Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins, who has dealt with hamstring injuries for several seasons.
“I don’t want to say long kicks, because in theory your effort is very similar — at least for me — for a 60-yarder as it is for a 44-yarder.”
Parker Romo knows the value of having a good routine. The 27-year-old was called by the Vikings to replace Reichard and made all four of his field goal attempts to help the team beat the Jacksonville Jaguars last week.
“You definitely don’t want to kick too much just because you never know when that phone could ring. You’ve got to be ready, because they call you one day and the next day you’re working out for the team,” Romo said.
“I think it’s just important to limit those longer reps. Sure, it’s fun to hit ’em and keep going, but you’ve got to be smart with it.”
