SAN DIEGO — In 2024, NFL kickers had one of the most accurate seasons on record. They’re getting so good, in fact, that they may become victims of their own success.
Last season, kickers made 84% of their field goals, which is about average over the past five years. But what stood out was that, according to FOX Sports Research, their 69.9% success rate for 50-plus-yard field goals was the highest in a single season since at least 1991. Further, NFL kickers attempted a league-record 1,115 field goals from 50-plus yards last season.
So how has the league responded to this unprecedented success? In recent years, the NFL has moved the extra point back and created a dynamic kickoff to encourage more returns. And there have been rumblings of the league narrowing the goalposts. During the 2015 Pro Bowl, the NFL tested narrowing the posts from 18.6 feet to 14 feet. Last year, a league executive said that the NFL’s competition committee would look at the possibility of narrowing the goalposts after the 2024 season, but no changes were made.
“If you were to narrow [the goalpost], I think guys would adapt and become just as accurate,” former NFL kicker Nick Novak told me.
After 10 seasons in the NFL, Novak is now a high school coach, kicking consultant and mentor to developmental players. He runs an annual summit in San Diego for kickers, punters and long snappers. Novak and the proliferation of private coaches like him are a big reason why kickers are so good nowadays.
And he says their success shouldn’t be held against them.
“Eventually, people will say, ‘Let’s just put a post out there and guys have to hit the post,’” Novak told me. “When is it enough, you know what I mean? Guys are really good and let’s not punish them for it. That’s kind of my mentality. They already backed up the extra point, and that definitely adds some misses here and there.”
Former NFL kicker Nick Novak hosts a yearly summit in San Diego for kickers, punters and long snappers. (Photo by Nicole Noel)
Chargers special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken offers an interesting analogy regarding rules to limit the success of kickers.
“I equate it to: I know quarterbacks are throwing for a lot of yards, but are they going to make the football heavier for them?” Ficken told me. “Those guys are getting better, too. And it’s just a testament to those guys who are working hard, really working on their craft. I like to see that success for them.”
Jason Myers, a two-time Pro Bowler entering his 11th season as an NFL kicker, is a San Diego native and served as an impromptu host for his friend Novak’s recent summit. Myers made a career-high nine attempts from 50-plus yards in 2024.
“The records are there to be broken,” he said. “We’re not maybe the best athletes on the field size-wise, but we’re still athletes who are working to get better, get stronger. Being specialists, we’re always striving to be perfect. We’re always striving to learn, evolve with new science and figure out how we can put that into play on the field.”
After making a career-high nine attempts from 50-plus yards in 2024, Seahawks kicker Jason Myers worked out recently at the kicker summit in San Diego to prepare for 2025. (Photo by Nicole Noel)
In addition to the kickers themselves, Novak points to the evolution of the entire special teams operation for the increased accuracy at longer distances.
“It’s not just the kicker and the punter,” Novak said. “It’s the operation. The snappers are really good. Everybody’s so specialized. It’s the protection, and the coaching is really good. Everybody is doing their job to give the guy 1.3 seconds to get the job done when it comes to a field goal, and under two seconds when it comes to the punt.”
Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker is a prime example of the current state of success for the position. Entering his fourth NFL season, Dicker’s 93.8% field goal percentage is the best in NFL history by a player with at least 50 attempts. He has 16 field goals from 50-plus yards and four of the six longest field goals in franchise history.
Last season, Dicker also made a 57-yard fair catch free kick field goal in a Week 16 win over the Denver Broncos. It was the first successful free kick since 1976 and the longest in NFL history.
After a historic season of making long field goals, Dicker said that even the talk of potentially narrowing the goalposts is a bit disrespectful to him and his fellow kickers.
“They try to make new rules for kicking all the time,” Dicker told me. “It is what it is. … I think it’s sometimes foolish when there’s rule changes for things. I think there are better ways to approach it if they want change. I don’t think kickers are consulted enough with the changes that get made because we’re the ones who know what’s going on.
“But at the end of the day, you’ve got to play with whatever you’re told to do. And we all get paid to go out there and kick.”
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on X at @eric_d_williams.
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