The Green Bay Packers are set to move on from one of the most storied figures in team history and hand the reins to a young, unproven newcomer.
That’s right, the Packers seem to be moving on from franchise-scoring leader Mason Crosby.
While the door isn’t completely closed on a Crosby return, according to Brian Gutekunst, the GM’s decision to draft Auburn kicker Anders Carlson in the sixth round of the 2023 draft suggests his fate is imminent.
The younger brother of Las Vegas Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson, Anders Carlson will have big kicking shoes to fill in for the legendary Silver Fox, assuming he can hold out and win the job. The Packers don’t draft kickers often (the last one was Crosby), so Carlson is likely the favorite to start Week 1. What do we know about Green Bay’s latest kicker, and how solid is Carlson’s lock on the starting job?
Many people don’t like the idea of drafting a kicker, but it’s a more commonplace technique in recent drafts to ensure a team can get the guy they think is the starter. It seems like this will become even more of a trend thanks to Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson‘s early success as a fifth-round pick in 2021. The Minnesota Vikings took Carlson’s brother in the fifth round of the 2018 draft, but only after he left their tyranny did he become a good kicker.
Everyone expected the Packers to draft a kicker knowing they were moving on to a new quarterback, and Crosby’s leg strength was clearly declining — not to mention he’s a much more expensive option. But analysts were surprised Green Bay took Anders Carlson.
The Packers were never going to spend a third-round pick on Michigan Jake Moody as the San Francisco 49ers did, but they drafted a kicker many pundits didn’t expect to be selected at all. Carlson was not high on the overall consensus boards, and he didn’t make the top eight kickers featured in the CheeseheadTV Draft Guide.
In five years at Auburn, Carlson made 71% of his field goal attempts. While his accuracy under 40 yards was solid, Carlson struggled on longer kicks — he was only five of 17 from beyond 50 yards. His inconsistency was also clear on kickoffs, with 42% being returned (99th ranking in 2022).
Per NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, “Carlson has made kicks in big moments and appeared to be tracking in a good direction back in 2020. However, he has struggled to establish consistency on mid-range kicks and has been poor on kicks from 50 yards and beyond. He’s had too many kicks blocked during his career and doesn’t sport a booming leg on kickoffs.”
So while the Packers needed a kicker, drafting a lower-ranked one like Carlson was a bit of a head-scratcher. But no team drafts a player as a finished product, and the Packers clearly see high upside with Carlson.
Carlson appears to need even more molding than his brother, the leading scorer in SEC history. Daniel struggled early on in his career, needing a move away from Minnesota and to the Las Vegas Raiders to find success. You know who the special teams coordinator for the Raiders was? Rich Bisaccia, who holds the same position now in Green Bay.
Bisaccia’s familiarity with Anders Carlson through his older brother is one reason the team felt confident with the younger kicker.
“Oh, he’s very high on him [Carlson],” Matt LaFleur said on the rookie kicker. “Obviously, having a history with his brother, and he’s known him for a while now.”
Though Anders’ college stats weren’t as good as his brother’s, Bisaccia is the man who turned Daniel from a potential draft bust to an All-Pro. Since joining the Packers in 2022, Bisaccia has done an excellent job in turning Green Bay’s historically sad unit around through better coaching and bringing in the players needed to succeed. Bisaccia has earned enough respect around the league to earn the right to pick a player he’d like to work with. If Bisaccia is confident he can turn Anders into an NFL kicker, the kid definitely deserves a shot.
Right now, Parker White is the only other kicker on the roster, who was signed in January. White had a more impressive college career but also lacks NFL experience, and Carlson probably has the edge as a draft pick. But this should be the first true kicking completion in Green Bay in quite some time.
Whoever wins the starting job has big shoes to fill. Outside of a down year in 2021, Crosby has been a reliable veteran presence capable of winning games no matter the conditions. Carlson won’t be that for a while and, like in many other cases this season, Packers fans will need patience as young players go through their growing pains.
Carlson likely wasn’t the kicker Packers fans expected going into the draft. But a connection with Rich Bisaccia and a brother doing well in the league shows some promise of the kicker he can become. We’ll get a better idea of how the team feels about Carlson later this summer when we see if Green Bay brings in any additional competition.
