Brandon Aubrey and the rise of the high-impact kicker

In this young NFL season, the "foot" part of football has taken on a surprising new importance.

There were 17 field goals of at least 50 yards in Week 2, tying the first week of last year for the most in a single NFL week. The highlight of them all was Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey's 64-yard moonshot that sent the Cowboys-Giants game to overtime.

All of the long-range bombing follows a trend in recent seasons, with kicks beyond 50 yards now converted at a rate that would've been unthinkable a decade ago.

And while kickers with big legs are changing the way coaches approach late-game decisions, the new dynamic kickoff rules have added an undeniable element of chaos at the beginning of each half and after every score. More than three-quarters of kickoffs this season have led to a return of some kind. Only a third of last year's kickoffs led to a live-ball situation, sparking the rule change.

The new kickoff rules, which give possession at the 35-yard line instead of the 20 in the event of a touchback, encourage kickers to land the ball between the 20 and the goal line, forcing a return. But it's already evident that kickers who are used to booming their kickoffs out the back of the end zone are finding it more difficult to dial in the correct distance to pin the receiving team deep.

All of the above has created what could be a new wrinkle in the complicated world of NFL roster management: Will teams decide that it's more important to have a kicker who can plunk a kickoff at the 2-yard line than one who can boom a 60-yard field goal, or will some start to carry multiple place-kickers?

Considering it's now common for teams to cycle through multiple kickers in a season, dropping and replacing them as soon as one doinks a couple of kicks, carrying more than one would be somewhat revolutionary.

But it might also become necessary. The Aubrey case in Dallas shows how impactful a long-distance leg can be. After the Giants scored with 25 seconds left in regulation to give themselves a 37-34 lead, the Cowboys fielded the kickoff and brought it up to their 33-yard line. That meant they only needed about 20 yards to reach Aubrey's absurd range. In fact, they didn't try to get much beyond that, calling a draw play that resulted in a short gain once they were past midfield.

On one hand, this is insane: A 64-yard kick is just two yards shy of the NFL record set by Justin Tucker in 2021 and one yard beyond the Tom Dempsey kick that previously stood as the longest in history for more than 40 years.

On the other hand, this is Aubrey. He hit a 65-yard kick last season, and his attempt Sunday cleared the bar with plenty of room. Anyone playing the Cowboys must realize that they risk handing over free points at the end of either half if they give them the ball on the 35-yard line with time remaining.

For now, at least, that's just a Dallas thing. Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen settled for a game-winning 60-yard field-goal attempt Sunday, only to discover that Spencer Shrader is not Brandon Aubrey. Shrader's try missed badly, but the Colts were bailed out by a Denver penalty, and Shrader converted from the much more reasonable distance of 45 yards.

Kickers have been part of the storyline in a bunch of ways during the season's early weeks. After longtime Atlanta kicker Younghoe Koo missed a game-tying 44-yard attempt in a Week 1 loss, head coach Raheem Morris benched him in favor of John Parker Romo, who drilled all five of his field-goal tries in Week 2. Koo remains on the Falcons, for now.

In San Francisco, Jake Moody was cut after missing two of his three field-goal attempts in Week 1 despite the Niners using a third-round draft pick on him just two years ago.

Seattle kicker Jason Myers, meanwhile, kicked a touchdown, sort of. The veteran dropped a kickoff near the goal line in the fourth quarter against Pittsburgh on Sunday. Steelers rookie Kaleb Johnson failed to corral it, presumably unaware of the details in the new kickoff rules. The Seahawks recovered the live ball in the end zone for a score.

And at the close of the Bears-Vikings game in Week 1, Chicago needed a touchback on the kickoff to preserve time, but Cairo Santos couldn't boot the ball through the end zone. Minnesota brought it out, and the Bears were doomed.

Moody has since been added to Chicago's practice squad. The NFL's kicking game may have changed dramatically, but the kicker churn remains.

Scott Stinson is a contributing writer for theScore.