Mason Crosby, The Breakdown Of A Kicker

I literally cringed every time I witnessed Mason Crosby miss what should have been an easy kick to make last season. Lets take a quick look at his stats from last year, and for his career. 

Mason Crosby missed a total of 9 field goal kicks and 1 extra point in 2009. Most of the kicks he missed were intermediate (mid-range) kicks in which almost any professional kicker should be able to make even with their eyes closed. All of those 9 missed field goal kicks came from 30+ yards which tells me that he is pretty good from inside 30 yards, in fact he has never missed a field goal from inside 30 yards.

Mason Crosby during the 2009 season went 1-1 from 0-19 yards, and 13-13 from 20-29 yards. Not bad, huh? But, he also went 7-9 from 30-39 yards, and 4-7 from 40-49 yards, and from 50+ he was 2-6. Do those numbers impress you? What do those numbers tell you? For me it says that the further out Mason Crosby is the less chance he has of making the kick.

Career wise Mason Crosby has been in the NFL for 3 seasons and has attempted 109 Field Goals and made only 85 of them which means he has missed 24 field goal attempts and 1 extra point in just 3 seasons. Mason Crosby's longest Field Goal went for 53 yards, so we know he has the leg strength. 

Head Coach Mike McCarthy and General Manager Ted Thompson seem to still like Mason Crosby. 

For the life of me I can not figure out why Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy still have an interest in keeping Mason Crosby around. To me it is just mind-boggling why they would even consider it. 

Although I would not be any bit surprised if the Packers signed an Undrafted Free Agent (UFA) Kicker to compete with Mason Crosby during OTA's and training camp this off season. I believe that if the Packers brought in one or two more kickers for training camp it may light a fire under Mason Crosby and motivate him to get his mind into the game. 

Mason Crosby does have a very strong, young, leg. No doubt about it. Even on the longer field goal attempts he can really bang the ball the distance. And if I remember correctly he can also do a good job of putting the ball inside the 10 yard line on kickoff's. 

Something has to be corrected with this kid otherwise he needs to hit the market and find a new team. Although he is young still and has much room to improve. I believe his area of improvement is not so much his technique but rather his mental framing. He needs to get his head into the game and find a way to drowned out the crowd noise, not think about the situation, and focus primarily on him and the ball. 

All in all, if the Packers keep him around for one more season I sure hope that Mason Crosby can get his mind right and become a more consistent kicker.