The Packers Kicking Situation Remains Unsettled

The old cliché in the NFL is if you have two quarterbacks, you have none. That may be even more so of kickers, a position most teams only carry one of on their final 53-man rosters. Right now, the Packers are carrying three kickers in Anders Carlson, Greg Joseph, and Jack Podlesny. As of now, the team is still uncertain which of the tree will win the job, or whether they’ll need to bring in another candidate.

Carlson remains the player the front office would like to see capture the job. The Packers used a sixth-round pick on the former Auburn star. They were excited by his strong leg. In addition, special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia had worked with Carlson’s brother, Daniel, with the Raiders and helped mold Daniel into an All-Pro kicker after he had a shaky start to his career.

However, Carlson suffered through an inconsistent rookie season with Green Bay. He led the NFL in missed kicks, including six missed field goals and five blown extra points.

Carlson was streaky. In training camp and the preseason, he struggled. Early in the regular season, he had a strong start, making all 15 of his extra point tries in the team’s first nine games while connecting on 11-of-13 field goals.

Late in the season when the Packers offense got more consistent, Carlson struggled. That continued into the postseason where he missed an extra point against the Cowboys and a costly field goal in the playoff loss to the 49ers.

Bisaccia was asked about Carlson’s response to his struggles as a rookie. “I just think his response has been [to] work,” he replied. “It was that way during the year last year. He went through some of the ebbs and flows of kicks. And I think he’s really been the same way. He’s come back a little bit stronger in the offseason than I think he was a year ago.

The Packers signed Podlesny soon after their playoff loss in response to Carlson’s struggles. The Georgia alum lacks the arm strength that Carlson has but was more consistent than Carlson in college. He was not drafted last year but signed with the Vikings shortly after the draft. Minnesota released him in training camp.

Joseph has the most NFL experience of any of the three kickers presently on the roster. He broke into the NFL with the Cleveland Browns in 2018. One year later, played two games for the Tennessee Titans and made all nine of his extra point attempts.

For the last three seasons, the former Florida Atlantic star kicked for the Minnesota Vikings. He made 82.2 percent of his field goal tries and 90.3 percent of his extra point attempts. He’s been perfect in the playoffs, making two field goals and 12 extra points in four postseason contests.

The Packers coaching staff seems uncertain who the kicker will be. Bisaccia told reporters earlier this month, “I don’t know the answer to that,” he said when asked if the team would still carry three kickers when training camp starts in July. “It might be those three. It might be three other ones. I don’t know. It might be six.”

He then added, “We’re appreciative of Brian getting it to the point where it’s at right now, having a three-man competition,” Bisaccia continued. “We’ll see how long we can keep that going. There’s some things going on in a bunch of different leagues, so we’re going to keep investigating to try to end up with the best player we possibly can.”

That is hardly a ringing endorsement of the kickers currently on the roster.

It remains unclear whether the team will take all three kickers into training camp. Usually, teams enter camp with two players competing at the position. It’s possible the team could release one of the three after OTAs and mandatory minicamp. It’s also possible the three-way battle could continue into training camp or that the team could bring in some new candidates.

Either way, Gutekunst and Bisaccia have a little more than three months to settle on a kicker. Until then, the competition continues.