Replacing Mason Crosby, the Green Bay Packers all-time leading scorer, was always going to be a tall task.
Crosby became known for his ice-in-the-veins clutch-kicking abilities during his illustrious career in Green Bay. It’s impossible to expect a rookie to come in with that same experience and grit. Crosby’s replacement was always going to have big kicking shoes to fill.
So it’s unsurprising to see Anders Carlson have a roller coaster ride of an experience thus far. The rookie kicker has a powerful leg, but he hasn’t been especially accurate. Still, Carlson has shown the ability to bounce back from poor kicks and show up in high-intensity situations.
Some grousing fans have asked to at least bring in competition, or even to re-sign Crosby or another veteran. But the powers-that-be in Green Bay believe in the virtue of patience with their kicker, and fans should too. There will be rough spots along the way, but the job should remain Carlson’s to begin the regular season.
Good leg strength but questionable accuracy has defined Carlson’s career thus far. He had a 71% accuracy in college, and that experience hadn’t really changed at the start of his pro career.
We saw the lows before Family Night, when Carlson went 5 for 12 leading up to the event. But Carlson had a near-perfect evening under the bright lights of Lambeau Field. The rookie kicker went 8 for 9, with his lone miss coming off of a poor snap-and-hold operation.
Carlson started strong in his first preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals, making three extra points and a field goal. But he badly missed his next two extra-point attempts.
He had more ups and downs in joint practices with the New England Patriots. Carlson went 3 for 3 but then missed two field goal attempts, including a bizarre miss on a short FG where the ball just seemed to stop.
Once again, Carlson bounced back at Lambeau. he had a perfect game against New England with two extra points and a 52-yard field goal. A game like that is what makes the struggles during practice worth it.
This young team is primed for growing pains, and that will include missed kicks by Carlson. But just as we should enjoy the ride with Jordan Love and the novice receiving corps, we should extend the same consideration to Carlson.
Kicking is a position that requires nerves of steel thanks to its solitary nature and constantly being under scrutiny. There’s only one kicker on the roster, and teams often place them in stressful situations.
“Those positions that are all alone, the pitcher in baseball, the quarterback in football, the kicker in football, the return guy, to some degree, they’re out there by themselves,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said last week. “The mental makeup of most players, but certainly those all-alone players, it’s important to them.”
Mental fortitude is crucial for a kicker to succeed, and Carlson’s ability to bounce back is one reason the Packers drafted him. “How you come back for that is important to be your best regardless of the circumstance, that’s a sign of mental toughness, to a degree,” Bisaccia added. “And again, I’ll go back to his mental makeup, has a lot to do with why we drafted him, why we like him, and why we feel like the future is going to be bright for him.”
Brian Gutekunst also discussed the importance of patience with young players, something the rest of the league doesn’t always have.
There isn’t always patience when there needs to be. Certainly, Mason had some times, multiple times, when he was here where he had some bad spots, struggles, and I always thought Ted gave him a long leash, and he came out of it. I think it’s important for young players to give them that leash to get there, but at some point, when that stuff becomes real, it becomes different.
Bringing in another kicker might help in the short term, but it could kill Carlson’s confidence in the long term and would take away valuable experience from the rookie kicker. Too often, we see teams give up on their kicker way too early. It happened with Carlson’s brother, Daniel. Led by the short-tempered Mike Zimmer, the Minnesota Vikings cut their drafted kicker thanks to early mistakes. Daniel ended up with the Las Vegas Raiders (and Rich Bisaccia). Now he’s one of the best at his position. It took some time, coaching, and patience, but those traits were rewarded in the end.
Of course, there can be too long of a leash. We saw this coaching staff stick with Amari Rodgers as a returner for far too long, even though Rodgers was a liability. But we haven’t reached that point with Carlson. We’ve seen a young kicker with the leg to succeed in Lambeau in the winter bounce back from adversity and improve weekly. For now, we should root for Carlson, even if that means knowing he’ll make us mad sometimes.
Anders is set to start Week 1. By then, the Packers will choose their punter, providing more stability for the young kicker. Carlson won’t be Crosby right away. But with some patience, we might see the signs of a solid kicker in these early weeks.
