*Do Kickers Matter?

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Do Kickers Matter?

An In-Depth Look at one of the most Controversial Positions in the league

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Kicker/punter is arguably the most scrutinized and looked down upon position across the league. Kickers across the board face all kinds of hate from others who do not appreciate the value the position brings to a franchise. In recent history, we have even seen a #BanKickers movement, complete with its own emoji. While the description of the kicker hate may seem dramatic, the discourse among the league speaks for itself, as seen below.

Kickers provide a great service to teams and one of the only players to play two positions at once (other being KR/PR). Often times, kickers may even be the leading scorers of a team. But still, kickers face the most hate out of any player on a roster. And it is a shame because kickers are the most down-to-earth players on a roster. The #kp-chat in the ISFL Discord has to be the most chill positional chat across the board. However, there is a sizable group among the league that does appreciate the position and the contributions they bring to a team. @TubaDeus wrote an incredible article about banning the "Ban Kickers" movement, that was totally not influenced by Zenzeroni's contract with Yellowknife.

All that said, let's take a look at the position's true value.

The following examines the kicker/punters from the past fifteen Ultimus champions.

The lowest TPE in this timeframe who won an Ultimus is Daybe Downbad, who was a rookie in Season 33 for the Baltimore Hawks. Unsurprisingly, Downbad was truly down bad in their rookie regular season finishing 12th in field goals made, 12th in field goal percentage, 14th in punt average, and 13th in % punted inside the 20 yard line. On paper, it would be easy to say that the kicker position did not matter for the Hawks as they won a title in Season 33. But taking a closer look tells a different story.

In the 33rd Ultimus between the Baltimore Hawks and the Orange County Otters, it was a very dramatic game. Orange County got off to a 24-0 lead IN THE FIRST QUARTER! Then Baltimore put up two unanswered touchdowns and hung in there. The fourth quarter began 31-17 OCO but then Baltimore put up 3 touchdowns where OCO put up 1. The score is now tied at 38-38 with 1:10 to go in the fourth quarter. Baltimore drove down the field but gets stopped. With the game on the line and a little over one minute left, the Baltimore Hawks call on their rookie kicker to attempt a 51 yard field goal to win the Ultimus. He only has 154 TPE at this time! But the Hawks trusted their rookie kicker and Downbad was now up big as they booted the 51 yard field goal to an Ultimus victory and legendary status.

Another great example (no bias here) comes from Season 44 in the Ultimus between the Honolulu Hahalua and Cape Town Crash. In the battle of great offenses, Honolulu and Cape Town trade touchdowns back and forth. Quarterback Nova Montagne threw for 4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. Cape Town Quarterback Creg Jerrith IV threw for 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. And Jarvis Harbinger-Marjin ran in for 1 touchdown. That is 4 total touchdowns each for both teams. Something has to give. For Cape Town, they had 0 field goal attempts. Whereas Honolulu sent Ray Baker out for field goals 5 times. Two 20-29 yard field goals and three 50+ field goals were made by Ray Baker. The longest make was a whopping 59 yards. This difference in kicking propelled Honolulu to an S44 Ultimus victory and etched another legendary kicker tale in history.

Seeing that the average Ultimus winning kicker is only around 500 TPE would give anyone the impression that kickers don't matter in this league. But there's much more to it than that. Kickers are the heartbeat of a team. Yes, they could end a team's hopes and dreams with one bad kick. But the ones that do go through in clutch times are the ones everyone remembers. And that's what makes kickers so great. We wouldn't get all the great stories of dramatic finishes, comebacks, and dominance without them. It's this position that gives a team a fighting chance when they need it the most.

And this is why Kickers Matter.