The Atlanta Falcons signed kicker Younghoe Koo in 2019 and he’s been the team’s kicker for the past six seasons. He was one of the best kickers in the NFL during that time, but he had a down year in 2024 and is now facing competition for his roster spot.
Koo battled with a hip injury last season and went on the shelf after a Week 15 game against the Las Vegas Raiders. He missed the Falcons final three games of the year and Riley Patterson finished the job from there, going 4-7 on his kicks.
“Yeah, injury or not, it wasn’t the best season,” Koo said this week.
Koo was 25-34 (73.5%) overall last year and missed half of his six attempts beyond 50 yards.
The Falcons signed Lenny Krieg this offseason to push Koo and possibly win the job. Krieg is a German kicker who signed a three-year deal in March through the NFL’s International Player Pathway program.
Koo knows he has to kick for his job
Almost every kicker or punter in the NFL faces some sort of training camp competition every year, with varying degrees of seriousness. Plenty of established kickers who have nothing to worry about still have some young kid come in and kick. It’s the world of being a kicker.
But, this year Koo is legitimately kicking for his job. He was bad enough last year that the Falcons can’t risk handing him the job only to see a repeat of 2024.
“Week 1 comes, it doesn’t really matter what you’ve done or what you haven’t done in the past,” Koo said. “It’s what matters right there, so I just try to get ready for that.”
Arkesh Ray of Sports Illustrated does a good job providing the latest update on the camp battle.
“Koo has no animosity towards Krieg,” Ray writes. “He knows to win the kicker spot, he just has to go out there and prove he can hit his kicks, which he did on Monday. On a day when there was steady rain, Koo went out there and went 4/4 on his field goal attempts. Krieg was 3/4 with Koo getting the best of him that day.
“Krieg had the advantage on the first day the pair attempted field goals, with Koo missing from 50 that day. The battle should rage on into preseason and joint practices next week as well.”
Younghoe Koo has been open to helping Krieg in camp
It’s never easy as a veteran NFL player to help a new guy eventually replace you. On one hand, people want you to be a good a teammate. On the other hand, this is your job. Would you teach the intern how easily you sort Excel spreadsheets in a way the boss loves? Well, Koo probably doesn’t want to teach Krieg either.
And, remember when Brett Favre famously said that it wasn’t his job to get Aaron Rodgers ready? And then he said it’s not Rodgers’ job to mentor Jordan Love? Many fans and media thought he was being a jerk, but current and former players knew exactly what he meant.
That said, Koo and Krieg seem to have a friendly and productive working relationship.
“He’s a great dude, he works hard,” Koo said. “I try to help him any way I can, and at the end of the day, you know I just got to do my part and be the best version of myself.”
He’s right. All Koo can do is go out and kick as well as he can and let the chips fall where they may. Fantasy football players may want to take note of this battle so they don’t embarrass themselves on draft day by taking a player who is a street free agent.
