Among many other reasons, the Packers lost to the Detroit Lions on Sunday because they couldn’t put two short field goals through the uprights.
2026 draft pick Trey Smack missed outright from 26 yards, then had a 35-yard attempt blocked on the Packers’ final drive. In a game the Packers lost 20-17, you don’t have to be a math major to see how things could have played out differently.
The Packers spent three (admittedly very late) draft picks to get Smack, trading their final two picks in this spring’s
draft to move up to select him with the 216th pick. He was the only kicker drafted this spring and, so far, he’s been one of the worst kickers in the NFL.
In an era where kickers are making more of their attempts than ever, Smack lags far behind the field. The league average field goal percentage this season is 84.2%, but Smack has made just 68.8% (11 out of 16) of his attempts. Not all of those misses are his fault; two of his field goal attempts this year have been blocked, and those still count against his overall percentage. But even if Smack had converted those two blocks, he’d still be below the league average this year.
Worse, it’s where he’s missing that’s concerning. Smack can’t seem to make field goals from an area of the field that are all but a sure thing for most kickers. All five of Smack’s misses have come from 49 yards or less; he’s nine of 14 (64.3%) from that distance this season. Among the five total kickers this season who have made less than 70% of their field goals this year, only Smack and Harrison Mevis have multiple misses from under 49 yards.
Mevis, you’ll note, is currently out of a job. His two misses against the Buffalo Bills in Week 5 were enough to cost the Rams the game and earn him his walking papers. And it’s worth noting that Mevis made all 14 of his PATs while with the Rams this year. Smack is 13 of 15 in that department, and his miss against the Vikings in Week 1 played a big role in how that game played out down the stretch.
Smack is off to an even worse start than the last kicker the Packers drafted. Anders Carlson’s misses from 43 and 45 yards cost the Packers dearly in losses to the Raiders (19-17) and Giants (24-22) in the 2023 regular season, and his late miss against the 49ers in the playoffs (from 41 yards) changed San Francisco’s final drive from a game-tying effort to a game-winning one.
But on the whole, Carlson’s stats look downright desirable. He finished his rookie year converting 29 of 36 field goals (80.1%) counting the playoffs and hit 83.9% of his kicks from 49 yards and in. If Smack hits at that clip, the Packers’ season might look a whole lot different.
Smack still has a job for now, and 16 field goal attempts is hardly a big enough sample size to judge a rookie kicker. Things could still improve. But it’s hardly an inspiring start, and it leaves the kicking game as just one more thing the Packers need to improve as they try to keep their season on track.
