How are FBS kickers doing so far?
Let’s take a look at the stats for Division I FBS (formerly known as Division 1-A) through this weekend of September 28, 2014. It’s always nice to get a feel for where this group of college kickers as a whole is doing.
Fair warning though, these numbers represent not only kicks that were physically ‘missed’, but kicks that may have been blocked as well.
Consider as well, there were attempts from many kickers who started out the first 2-3 games who may not even be the starter at this point!
So, take the whole data set with that in mind. The percentages for the top quarter percentile are obviously much higher than the group as a whole though these numbers are interesting regardless.
FBS (1-A): All FG Attempts By Range
As we often remind students who seem to focus all of their attempts on 50+ yard field goals, these distances actually make up a rather small portion of the pie at the top level! As you can see below, actual attempts so far this year have run between 20 and 50 yards. In other words, not many attempts shorter than 20 yards, and not a whole bunch (as a percentage of all attempts so far) beyond 50. This is just a confirmation that most kickers really don’t need to consistently hammer 57 yard field goals to keep coaches happy (though it’s nice work if you can get it).
FBS (1-A): FG Attempts Under/Over 40 Yards
As we talk about the ‘money box’ for most kickers, it’s amazing to see how many attempts on the whole, even at the top college programs are under 40 yards (heck, through 50 yard attempts out the window). In fact, when these kickers hear the coach yell “field goal!”, there is a 65% chance that the attempt will be UNDER 40 yards. That is at least, through the first 5 weeks of the 2014 season.
FBS (1-A): Extra Point Attempts
As you might expect, most extra point attempts at the FBS college level are a sure thing…but not quite. Again, blocks may have played a factor on some, but the good majority are solid kicks and GOOD from this distance as one would expect.
FBS (1-A): 1-19 Yard FG Attempts
These field goal attempts are all shorter than an extra point, but with the extra variable of kicking from the hashes we see the percentage fall just slightly….about 5 missed/blocked kicks in 100 according to the averages shown so far this year.
FBS 1-A: 20-29 Yard FG Attempts
Now we are starting to see the numbers drop off. These attempts are pushing up to 10 yards behind an extra point WITH hash kicks in the equation.
FBS 1-A: 30-39 Yard FG Attempts
The yellow slice of pie below just gets bigger the further the attempt! Outside of 30 yards, we start to see just over one ‘No Good’ kick for every four attempted across the board.
FBS 1-A: 40-49 Yard FG Attempts
This range, outside 40 yards, is where the real drop begins. Overall percentage in the 40-49 yard FG attempt range is just a little over 1 in 2 so far this year. Many times, it’s this range of kicks that can truly separate the top group of kickers in any given year. Higher percentages in the range can really make a difference for the top performers as they add to the total ‘average distance’.
FBS 1-A: 50+ Yard FG Attempts
It’s not often that coaches call on their kickers to try field goals in this range. In fact, looking at the very first slide at the top of the page, you’ll see that compared to all other ranges this season, this category is very small. It should come as no surprise to see that there is a very low conversion rate! So far this season, about 4 in 10 field goals are successful in FBS 1-A. You have better odds flipping a coin for the group as a whole 🙂