The Green Bay Packers had a great deal go right for them last season, especially on offense, and especially in the second half of the season. After trading future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets, the Packers handed the keys to the offense over to Jordan Love, whom they traded up to pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Moving on from their aging four-time NFL MVP was not the only decision of its kind that Green Bay made last year, though. The Packers allowed several other aging players to leave via free agency: Randall Cobb, Marcedes Lewis, and Mason Crosby.
It was the decision to not re-sign Crosby, a fan favorite and the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, that may have been the second-most question move of the offseason (behind the Rodgers trade, of course). So was the decision to replace him with 2023 NFL Draft pick Anders Carlson.
Anders Carlson Struggled in His First Season with the Green Bay Packers
Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
The Packers were widely criticized for their drafting of Carlson in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Many draft experts did not have him being drafted, meaning that if Green Bay really wanted him, they could have signed him as an undrafted free agent.
Of concern, also, was the fact that he only made 71% of his field goal attempts in college at Auburn. In fact, in four of his five seasons, he had a field goal percentage of 72% or lower (he did make 90% of his kicks in 2020).
Unfortunately, Carlson proved many of his doubters right in 2023. As a rookie, he made 81.8% of his field goal attempts, which isn’t bad; but he also made just 87.2% of his extra point attempts.
Including the postseason, Carlson missed a kick in 11 of the 19 games Green Bay played.
How Did Anders Carlson’s Rookie Year with the Green Bay Packers Compare to Mason Crosby’s?
For all of the praise and fond memories shared about Crosby after the Packers decided not to re-sign him, one would think that he was always universally beloved by the fans. However, this was not the case at multiple points throughout his career.
As a rookie in 2007, Crosby made just 79.5% of his field goal attempts. Now, he made all of his extra points, unlike Carlson, but the Packers’ all-time leader in points scored was far from consistent for a long time.
In fact, Crosby did not make 80% or more of his field goals in a season until his fifth year when he made 85.7%. The year after that, he made just 63.6% of his field goals.
Now, this is not to say that the Packers were wrong to stick with Crosby for so long. Obviously, it worked out for well over a decade. However, this is important to keep in mind when trying to determine how long they will be patient with Carlson.
While he does have competition for this job this year in Greg Joseph, it is still his job to lose.
ESPN NFL Analyst Projects a Slight Improvement for Green Bay Packers Kicker Anders Carlson
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Every year, Mike Clay who covers the NFL for ESPN releases his projections guide that includes statistical estimations for players on every NFL team.
In this year’s guide, he projects that Carlson will:
- Make 83% of his field goal attempts
- Make 92% of his extra point attempts
In total, Clay projects Carlson will miss nine kicks in 2024 (six field goals and three extra points).
These numbers would be slight improvements from last year and would be good enough for Carlson to keep the job, too.
For the record, Crosby made 83% or more of his kicks in just seven of his 16 seasons in Green Bay.
