The NFL needs a league-wide upgrade at the kicker position.
The 2017 season is making a strong suggestion that there should exist a middle ground somewhere between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' bold strategy of drafting a kicker (Roberto Aguayo at 59th overall in 2016), and the league's status quo for addressing the position - often as an afterthought and simply deploying the same has-beens who've been cut from team after team.
Just three of the current top 10 kickers in terms of success rate are playing for the club that originally drafted or signed them as undrafted free agents.
Here's a look at the poor performance numbers behind the position this season:
1: Team has tried at least 10 field goals of at least 50 yards, with the Detroit Lions and kicker Matt Prater converting seven of 10 tries
3: Number of teams without a 50-yard field goal
6: Kickers currently on injured reserve in Week 14
6: Teams to have tried at least one field goal between the one and 19-yard lines, with the Lions' two attempts the most in the league. All seven attempts by the league have been successful
7: Teams to have made every single extra-point attempt, with the Kansas City Chiefs leading the way at a perfect 30-for-30
9: Teams succeeding on fewer than 80 percent of their field-goal attempts - only one of those teams currently hold a playoff spot. Three teams made less than 80 percent of field-goal attempts in 2015, none of those teams made the postseason
41: Kickers to have attempted at least one kick - field goal or extra point - this season
66.7: The league-low success rate shared by the Los Angeles Chargers and Chicago Bears, the only two teams below 70 percent
72.4: Percentage of field goals made by the Buccaneers since selecting Aguayo 59th overall in the 2016 draft
83.3: The league-worst success rate on extra-point attempts possessed by the NFC-leading Minnesota Vikings
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
Additionally, the poor performance of the league's kickers is negatively affecting game strategy.
Nineteen teams have attempted at least 10 fourth-down plays through 13 weeks, with only seven of those teams converting on more than 50 percent of their attempts. Just three teams have converted more than 10 fourth-down plays.
Kicker ineffectiveness is forcing more teams to try for a fresh set of downs when inside opponent territory, as opposed to settling for three points. This has, in part, led to 11 teams winning or losing games by an average of three points or less through Week 13, according to TeamRankings.com.
Eighteen teams had games decided by three or fewer points in 2016, while just seven played within the narrow margin in 2015.
