Compared to the other five kickers on the Packers roster this offseason, Matt LaFleur likes this one.
The Green Bay Packers are headed to Sao Paulo, Brazil to face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1 with Brayden Narveson, a rookie kicker out of NC State. The team released Anders Carlson last week. He was their starting kicker last year, but they parted ways with him after a poor preseason, and a critical field goal miss cost them a shot at beating the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs last year. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur pivoted to Narveson because he was impressed with him during a pair of kicking sessions in front of the team.
“Yeah, I've seen enough to be confident in him,” LaFleur said Sunday. “If that's what you're asking: Do I have confidence in him? Absolutely.”
Carlson made 81% of his field goals (ranked 24th) and 87% of his extra points (worst). So the Packers opted to move on to Narveson, who the Tennessee Titans waived on Tuesday, August 27, cutdown day.
It appeared the Packers would enter 2024 with Greg Joseph as their kicker until they could land Narveson off the waiver wire. He spent the 2021 to 2023 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings but only converted 82% of his kicks in that span.
Matt LaFleur and the likely season-long kicking struggles for the Packers
Since the end of last season, Narveson is the sixth kicker to land on the Packers' roster.
“I was fully anticipating re-signing with the Titans on the practice squad,” Narveson said. “Even from the forefront, when they were recruiting me, if you will, during the draft, that was the guiding idea that that was probably what was going to happen. But at the same time, I prepared, I got opportunities in the games, I executed in the games.”
LaFleur ranked eighth in FTN Fantasy's 2023 Aggressiveness Index. The index attempts to measure how often teams go for it on fourth down by comparing what a coach does compared to other coaches when they do go for it based on past history. That aggression could go up in 2024 if LaFleur is less inclined to attempt a tricky field goal. It's important to remember how cold and windy Lambeau Field can get in the second half of the season.
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Narveson should enjoy it while it lasts, which he's trying to do, as he explained when speaking to the Packers press via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.
“It's what you dream of, right?” Narveson said of making a strong first impression. “At the end of the day all you can ask for is the opportunity. And once you get the opportunity, you've got to be ready and step in. … You can only make a first impression one time. So I was very conscious of that.”
