Madden NFL 16 Player Ratings: Top 5 Kickers Revealed

Kickers are people too, and with the NFL moving point-after attempts back to the 15-yard line, they might start getting some of the respect they deserve, both in real life and in the video game realm. 

The developers of Madden 16 unveiled the top five kickers in this year's game Saturday evening:

Rank	Player	Team	Overall Rating	Notable Stat Ratings
T1	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens	95	95 Kick Accuracy, 98 Kick Power
T1	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots	95	95 Kick Accuracy, 94 Kick Power
3	Dan Bailey	Dallas Cowboys	93	96 Kick Accuracy, 93 Kick Power
T4	Matt Bryant	Atlanta Falcons	91	94 Kick Accuracy, 90 Kick Power
T4	Phil Dawson	San Francisco 49ers	91	89 Kick Accuracy, 92 Kick Power

Seeing Stephen Gostkowski at least in a tie for the top spot isn't exactly a shock. The New England Patriots place-kicker led the NFL in made field goals (35) while also finishing second in completion percentage (94.6 percent).

Being so successful on such a high volume of kicks is a testament to Gostkowski's talents.

It's a bit surprising, however, to see Justin Tucker right there with Gostkowski. Although Tucker remains the most accurate kicker in NFL history (89.8 percent), he finished eighth in made field goals (29) in 2014. His 85.3 percent completion rate was just 16th.

Still, if you had to call upon somebody to make a critical field goal in the dying stages of a game, Tucker would be one of the guys at the top of your list.

Dan Bailey is coming off a great 2014 campaign, so it's good to see Madden 16 rewarding his efforts. He went 8-of-9 on field goals between 40 and 49 yards and 5-of-7 on field goals from 50 yards and beyond, thus earning his status as the most accurate kicker in the video game.

Matt Bryant was similarly impressive, going a perfect 22-of-22 on field goals shorter than 50 yards. He did more than enough to earn top-five status.

However, some might refute that Phil Dawson deserves to be ranked ahead of guys like Dan Carpenter and Cody Parkey. Dawson has a much more consistent record of success over the years, though, which likely put him ahead of the competition.

Kicker won't be the sexiest position for avid Madden 16 players, especially in a fantasy draft. Nevertheless, while you'd be right to value other positions more highly, you can't overlook the added luxury of having a top-shelf kicker when you need to split the uprights from 50-plus yards out.