With the number of games that come down to a field goal, it’s imperative for fans to know the best kickers in the NFL. The teams that have one of the best kickers in the NFL this season on their roster are going to have a significant leg up over the competition.
That’s why preseason position rankings should never overlook or forget placekickers.
Best kickers in NFL 2022
But who are the best kickers in the NFL right now? Believe it or not, kicking field goals and PATs isn’t as easy as it looks, which is why the best kickers in the NFL can vary from year to year.
Coming up with a ranking of the top kickers in the NFL ahead of the upcoming season was indeed a challenge.
10. Graham Gano
After missing the 2019 season due to injury, Graham Gano has established himself as one of the NFL’s best kickers with the Giants over the last two seasons.
He missed just one field goal in 2020 and only four in 2021 while only missing two PATs over the last two seasons. Keep in mind that he had a lot of good seasons in Carolina before having to sit out the 2019 campaign.
While he only has one Pro Bowl selection on his resume, the fact that Gano was able to overcome an injury and a full season out of the league speaks to his talents as a kicker.
9. Nick Folk
After being the NFL’s leading scorer in 2021, Nick Folk deserves to be mentioned among the best kickers in the NFL right now. He’s spent 14 seasons in the league and has only made the Pro Bowl once, which has made him one of the more overlooked kickers in the league.
But with just 32 placekicker jobs available, it says a lot that Folk has been able to keep a job for over a decade and kept kicking field goals into his late 30s.
Of course, there have been a couple of rough years along the way, but Folk’s last two seasons have arguably been the best of his career, so perhaps he’s just getting better with age.
8. Jake Elliott
Coming off a Pro Bowl selection in 2021 (albeit as an alternate), it’s clear that Jake Elliott is among the top kickers in the NFL right now. Keep in mind that Elliott helped the Eagles win a Super Bowl as a rookie and also has a 61-yard field goal on his resume, setting a rookie record in the process.
With 84.3% accuracy on field goals and 95.1% on PATs over the first five seasons of his career, it’s clear that Elliott is the real deal and should be a quality kicker in the NFL for many years to come.
7. Evan McPherson
While he has just one season under his belt, there is strong evidence that Evan McPherson will be one of the top kickers in 2022. The Florida product made close to 85% of his field goals during the regular season, including a 58-yarder.
He was then a perfect 14 for 14 on field goals during the playoffs. It’s safe to say the Bengals wouldn’t have reached the Super Bowl without him, and we may see even better out of McPherson his year.
6. Matt Gay
Matt Gay has certainly come a long way since the Buccaneers released him after his rookie season. Being the kicker for a Super Bowl winner tends to do that. But even before the Rams won the Super Bowl, Gay had been selected to the Pro Bowl last season after leading the league with a 94.1% accuracy rate on field goals and missing just one of 49 PATs for the prolific Los Angeles offense.
Obviously, it was just one season and Gay has to continue to prove himself. But now that he’s found a comfortable home with the Rams, there’s an excellent chance he’ll be one of the top kickers in 2022.
5. Daniel Carlson
Daniel Carlson has at least tied for the NFL’s scoring leader in each of the last two seasons, making it a safe bet that he’ll be among the top kickers in 2022. The Vikings didn’t give him much slack during his rookie season, but since joining the Raiders, Carlson has been one of the most reliable kickers in the game.
For his career, Carlson has converted 87.2% of his field goals and is coming off a year in which he was named Second-Team All-Pro, surely putting him among the best kickers in the league.
4. Chris Boswell
While he went undrafted and initially had a tough time landing a job, the numbers say Chris Boswell is one of the most accurate kickers in the NFL. The 2018 season was rough for him, but Boswell has bounced back quickly and put together three excellent seasons in a row, missing just seven of his 91 field goal attempts in that span.
Boswell got a new four-year contract before the 2022 season, showing just how much faith the Steelers have in him as their kicker.
3. Younghoe Koo
Younghoe Koo has somewhat quietly become one of the best kickers in the NFL after spending the 2018 season out of the league and playing in the Alliance of American Football in 2019. He had a breakout season in 2020 when he led the league in points and went to the Pro Bowl.
The only caveat is that Koo has fewer than 50 career games under his belt. But in that limited action, he’s converted 90% of his field goals, including 13 of 14 field goals from 50 yards or longer. He’s also proven himself to be one of the best in the league at executing onside kicks, which is a skill that shouldn’t be easily dismissed.
2. Harrison Butker
Let’s not pretend that the kicking game hasn’t been an important part of Kansas City’s success in recent years. Harrison Butker joined the Chiefs in 2017 and was the NFL’s leading scorer the season that Kansas City won the Super Bowl.
He doesn’t get nearly as much credit as he should despite his 90.1% career field goal percentage being the second-best all-time, behind only Justin Tucker.
Butker has shown plenty of range, making a field goal as long as 58 yards while also having just one field goal blocked in five seasons. All of those factors help to separate him from the pack and make Butker one of the elite kickers in the NFL.
1. Justin Tucker
The four-year, $24 million extension that Justin Tucker signed before the 2022 season says it all. His new contract makes Tucker the highest-paid kicker in the NFL, a title that is completely warranted. When all is said and done, Tucker might be the best kicker of all time, and there should be no doubt that he’s the best kicker in the league right now.
He currently holds the all-time record for field goal accuracy at over 91%. He also set the NFL record with a 66-yard field goal last season, doing so on the last play of the game with his team down by a point. The Ravens star doesn’t kick the ball further than anyone for fun, he can also do it with the game on the line.
Tucker was also perfect on extra points last season, missing only four PATs in the four seasons since the NFL moved them back. There just isn’t another kicker in his league right now, which is why Tucker has been a Pro Bowler five times and an All-Pro seven times during his first 10 seasons in the league. During that span, he’s been the best in the business.
