2015 Most Accurate NFL Kickers (Adjusted for Distance)

In 2015, the top kickers in terms of  field goal percentage  (FGM/FGA) were Josh Brown (93.75%) and Dan Bailey (93.75%). Yet, we know a field goal attempt from 50+ yards is much more difficult than a 22 yard "chip shot".  So adjusted the field goal percentage for the distance of the kicks should give us a indication of who is really the most accurate kicker in the league.

I gathered the field goal percentages via Footballdb.com for the following ranges, 20-29 yd, 30-39 yd, 40-49 yd, and 50+ yd. I excluded kicks from 0-19 yd and kickers who had less than 20 attempts. The field goal percentages at each were then weighted against the proportion of all NFL field goal attempts in the various ranges in 2015.

Here's the most accurate kickers in 2015 NFL season:

With adjusting for distances, Matt Prater moved from 5th place to 1st. Chandler Catanzaro suffered the biggest drop in accuracy as he fell from 8th to 24th which is largely explained from his 0% on attempts from 50+ in a league that averages 65% from 50+ yd. Josh Lambo enjoyed an climb from 25th to 14th an improvement of 11 positions. This is mostly a result of his high number of attempts from 40-49 yd. 

Here's the full chart:

2015 NFL Kicking Statistics

Potential Running Back Busts and Hidden Gems Revealed by the Speed Score

 Let's do a quick thought experiment. Are you ready? OK, great.

Pretend you're playing safety and a 267 lb. Brandon Jacobs and a 205 lb. Ameer Abdullah have broken through the defensive line and linebackers and are now headed straight for you at full speed. Jacobs at 260 lb. ran a 4.57 40-yd dash and Abdullah ran a 4.60 40-yard dash, so we can assume they're running at roughly the same speed. Who would you rather tackle? Or, who do you think would break the remaining tackle most often?

If you're like me, I'd much rather attempt to bring down the smaller Abdullah than the runaway freight train Jacobs.

The idea that it's more impressive for a 267 lb. running back to run a 4.56 40-yard dash than a 208 lb. running back is the premise of the Speed Score.

The Speed Score was developed by Football Outsiders in 2008, and is another metric to help evaluate a running back in the draft.

Like most  metrics it misses many things. It does not account for agility, ability to read defenses, pass blocking, receiving ability, but it can help point us in the right direction. And it can help find hidden gems and potential busts, like Brandon Jacobs (123.5 Speed Score) who had solid NFL career for a 4th round selection, or 1st round busts like Trung Canidate (99.3 Speed Score).

Here's the Speed Scores for the running backs in the 2016 NFL draft class. A Speed Score of 100 represents an average performance and the higher score the better and anything below 100 represent below average.

source: NFL.com                         

The general ranking consensus of the top running backs has a few players in their top 10 that have a below average Speed Score, these players may have more potential to become busts.

Potential busts:  Kenneth Dixon, Alex Collins, Josh Ferguson.

Potential hidden gem: Keith Marshall

After Keith Marshall wowed scouts with his blazing fast 40-yard dash time at the combine he is much less of a hidden gem, but still he could be a worthy pick up in the later rounds of the draft.