Although we have one more position left to decide on the defense for our Green Bay Packers All-Quarter Century Team, we’re going to let some voting finish up at the safety position before putting that last spot up for vote. Instead, this morning we will start examining the specialists, starting with the kickers and punters.
Both of those groups are here together in this post, so we’ll ask you to vote twice today on who the best players are at each position.
Without further ado, let’s get to the place-kickers.
Kicker Nominees
Ryan Longwell (2000-2005)
Regular season stats: 96 games; 148-184 field goals (80.4%), 249-251 PATs (99.2%), 11-18 from 50+ (61.1%)
Postseason stats: 6 games; 7-11 field goals (63.6%), 11-12 PATs (91.7%)
Longwell was a long shot to earn the Packers’ kicking job as a rookie in 1997 after the team moved on from Chris Jacke, signing with the team as an undrafted free agent after Ron Wolf selected Brett Conway in the 3rd round of the NFL Draft. But win the job he did, and he would go on to be Green Bay’s kicker for the next 9 seasons. Six of those came in the 2000s, and when Longwell was good, he was very good.
In three of those years, Longwell had a field goal hit rate of greater than 85 percent, and he was in the NFL’s top ten in field goal rate in four of those six seasons. However, the 2001 season was a rough one, as he went just 20-31 (64.5%), and his final season in Green Bay saw him fail to clear 75% (20-27 for 74.1%).
Longwell would leave after that 2005 campaign and sign with the Minnesota Vikings, presumably in part because the Twin Cities had some fancier restaurants than Applebee’s. But jokes about small towns aside, Longwell would return and retire as a Packer in 2013 after six seasons in purple, having held the Packers’ record for total field goals made (226), points (1,054), and field goal percentage (81.6%) at the time of his retirement.
However, one player would eclipse him in the totals and finished 0.2% off on career hit rate, but he wouldn’t arrive for another year.
Mason Crosby (2007-2022)
Packers’ all-time franchise scoring leader (1,918 points)
Regular season stats: 258 games; 395-485 field goals (81.4%), 733-753 PATs (97.3%), 43-78 from 50+ (55.1%)
Postseason stats: 23 games; 31-35 field goals (88.6%), 70-70 PATs (100%)
Quick, can you remember who the Packers’ place-kicker was in 2006? (Please? Because I can’t.)
*Furiously googles*
Dave Rayner? Really? Sure, okay.
Anyway, the Packers had one season of true kicking uncertainty from 2000 to 2022, coming in that one year between Longwell’s departure and the draft selection of Mason Crosby in the 6th round of the 2007 NFL Draft. Crosby had his ups and downs, to be sure, but he finished his Packers career with an 81.4% field goal hit rate.
Early in his career, Crosby had a reputation for having a big leg, which drove head coach Mike McCarthy to trot him out on attempts of 50-plus yards with regularity. He attempted 78 such field goals in the regular season, hitting 43 of them; that’s three times more attempts than the kicker with the next-most in Packers history (Chris Jacke, 26). In fact, in the 9-year span from 2007 through 2015, Crosby attempted at least three from 50 or longer ever year and had five or more such attempts in all but two seasons.
Crosby nearly lost his job after a disastrous 2012 season that saw him hit just 64% of his attempts, but he bounced back with arguably his finest season in 2013, going 33-for-37 on field goals and a perfect 42-42 on PATs. That year, he missed just twice from inside of 50 and was perfect from inside 40.
Although Crosby had his scary moments in the regular season, he was always clutch, particularly in the postseason. In particular, he had a few truly memorable hits: nailing an attempt from 48 in the 2014 NFC Championship Game to send that game to overtime and hitting two go-ahead kicks inside the last two minutes from 50-plus against the Cowboys in 2016. The second of those followed Jared Cook’s miracle catch on the sideline and sent the Packers to another NFC title game.
Punter Nominees
Josh Bidwell (2000-2003)
Regular season stats: 64 games; 308 punts, 41.1 gross average, 35.5 net average, 9.1% touchback rate, 27.6% inside-20 rate
Postseason stats: 4 games, 18 punts, 42.2 gross average
The Packers were willing to use early draft picks on specialists for a decade or so; three years after picking Conway in the third round they grabbed Bidwell out of Oregon in the 4th round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He was solid if unspectacular in Green Bay, then signed with Tampa Bay after his rookie contract expired. Bidwell was a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro for the Buccaneers in 2005, punting in better conditions.
Jon Ryan (2006-07)
Regular season stats: 32 games; 144 punts, 44.5 gross average, 36.5 net average, 16.0% touchback rate, 24.3% inside 20 rate, 2 punts blocked
Postseason stats: 2 games; 9 punts, 33.1 gross average
A native of Regina, Saskatchewan, Ryan started his pro career in the CFL, where he led that league in punting as a rookie in 2005. That led the Packers to sign him the following February, was at home punting in the cold and played his entire career in Green Bay or Seattle. He got his career underway with two years for the Packers, where he put up some pretty solid numbers.
Perhaps a pair of blocks by the Bears in a game late in 2007 were on the Packers’ mind in 2008, as they went with Derrick Frost over Ryan after a lengthy training camp battle. Green Bay released Ryan at final cuts, and he immediately landed with the Seahawks. That’s where he would play ten seasons, and he would get payback for his release in the 2014 NFC Championship Game (the less said about that game the better).
Tim Masthay (2010-2015)
3-time NFC Special Teams Player of the Week
Regular season stats: 96 games; 390 punts, 44.2 gross average, 38.7 net average, 7.4% touchback rate, 33.8% inside-20 rate, 3 punts blocked; 1-2 passing, 27 yards, 1 TD
Postseason stats: 11 games; 52 punts, 40.1 gross average
After dealing with a bit of punter roulette for two years — Frost didn’t make it through 2008 and Jeremy Kapinos took over for the next year-plus — the Packers signed Masthay to a futures contract in early 2010 after he had spent part of training camp in 2009 with the Colts. Kapinos left in free agency that year and Masthay won the job in training camp.
He immediately became a solid weapon for the Packers’ special teams unit, posting good numbers and earning a player of the week award early in his first year with the team. Masthay’s field position flipping helped the Packers go on to win Super Bowl XLV in his first year with the team, and he would spend six years in Green Bay, the longest tenure of any punter this century.
Masthay also added a fantastic highlight in 2012, when he completed a shovel pass to Tom Crabtree on a fake field goal that the tight end took in for a touchdown.
JK Scott (2018-2020)
Regular season stats: 48 games; 194 punts, 44.6 gross average, 38.8 net average, 8.2% touchback rate, 32.5% inside-20 rate, 2 punts blocked
Postseason stats: 4 games; 13 punts, 43.6 gross average
Another draft pick, Scott heard his name called in the 6th round of Brian Gutekunst’s first draft as GM of the Packers. The lanky Alabama product’s family had a cabin in Wisconsin and it seemed like a great fit.
Although Scott’s overall numbers look solid, he was known for his inconsistency as a Packer and eventually the team moved on from him after training camp in 2021 after trading for Corey Bojorquez. He spent one season looking for a job but signed with the Chargers for the 2022 season, where he has been ever since and where he just signed another two-year contract extension this offseason.
Daniel Whelan (2023-2024)
Regular season stats: 34 games; 113 punts, 46.2 gross average, 39.5 net average, 8.8% touchbacks, 35.4% inside-20 rate
Postseason stats: 3 games; 6 punts, 42.5 gross average, 40.7 net average, 50% inside-20 rate
A native of Ireland, Whelan played college football at UC-Davis and tried out for the Saints in 2022 but was unable to land a job. Green Bay signed him during the 2023 offseason, and he beat out veteran Pat O’Donnell for the punting job in training camp that summer. All he has done since is set new career highs for a Packers punter in both gross and net average among players with at least 100 punts, while avoiding the shanks that Scott was occasionally known for.
Whelan signed an exclusive-rights free agent deal to remain with the Packers for 2025, and he is scheduled to be a restricted free agent next offseason.
More from acmepackingcompany.com:
- Black and Blue News: This Week in the NFC North for July 6, 2014
- Cheese Curds: Green Bay Packers News and Links for July 7, 2014
- Packers 2013 Top Plays Recap: Top Ten Best Plays of the Year
- Packers Featured Heavily in NFL's Top 20 Games of 2013
- Packers' 2014 Roster Preview: Returning Quarterbacks
- Packers' 90-Man Roster Countdown: Players 5-1
