Coming off a down season marred by injury, Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Chris Boswell just missed out on the top ten of Pro Football Network’s ranking of the NFL’s kickers. Compiled by Dalton Miller, Boswell fell into the 11th slot, still a somewhat surprisingly low placement given his body of work.
In his blurb about Boz, Miller acknowledged his groin injury played a role in Boswell’s average 2022 season.
“Kickers need healthy groins to kick footballs. Chris Boswell did not have a good time in 2022, but there is absolutely no reason to believe that will be an ongoing trend. Although Boswell had a tough year in 2018, he’s made at least 90% of his kicks in five of his eight NFL seasons. Boswell also made 36 of 40 kicks in 2021, including 8 of 9 from 50+.”
An accurate assessment across the board. Boswell wrapped up 2022 with a field goal percentage of just 71.4%, the second-worst of his career and only better than his horrible 2018 season (where he also kicked through injury) that nearly saw him cut by the team.
Last season, Boswell made just 20 of his 28 field goals. His issues weren’t skewed by long-range misses, either. He was an excellent 7/9 from 50+ yards. His biggest problem range was 40-49, where he went just 5/10. On kickoffs, his touchback rate plummeted to 42%, his worst number since his first season. His kickoff average fell to 61.5 yards, the lowest of his career.
Battling a groin injury can explain much of that and lends hope for his 2023 prospects. As Miller notes, Boswell has bounced back before and been one of the league’s best kickers since being signed by Pittsburgh in 2015. Of the 34 kickers with 100+ attempts since 2015, Boswell’s 86.3% mark ranks 9th and that’s with two “bleh” to “bad” seasons bringing his numbers down.
Boswell has conquered kicking 50+ yard field goals in Pittsburgh. In his career, he’s 24/30 from 50+ yards and 15/18 over the last two seasons. More specifically, at Heinz Field/Acrisure Stadium (are you used to saying it yet?), Boswell is 92.9% on all of his field goals and 79.2% (19/24) on 50+. He’s also proven to be a clutch kicker, a critical skill given the number of close games Pittsburgh plays in.
With a better 2023, Boswell should find himself easily back into the top ten of this list. To no one’s surprise, Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker takes the top spot on Miller’s list. The real debate begins at #2 with Las Vegas’ Daniel Carlson grabbing the silver medal while Atlanta’s Younghoe Koo took bronze. The worst kicker award went to Green Bay’s Anders Carlson, a rookie draft pick out of Auburn.
