Of all the kickers I've seen since I was born, Mason Crosby is my favorite and in my opinion the best.
The guy said since he was born....and in his opinion. It's no big deal.
Here are the stats that I have since you were born David22. Aside from the 2006 season when we had Dave Rayner (74.3% FG percentage), we've had three kickers:
Career FG %
77.2% Chris Jacke
81.6% Ryan Longwell
78.7% Mason Crosby
A lot of people don't trust Mason Crosby anymore because of his horrendous 2012 season when his accuracy was only 63.6% and a terrible 2 of 9 from 50+. However, Longwell also had a bad season in 2001 when he only hit 64.5% of his kicks and was 1 of 3 from 50+.
That brings up another stat that is somewhat useful in comparison. Here is the top kicker from each range:
0-19 yards - - All tied with 100%
20-29 yards - Crosby & Jackie tied with 95.7%; Longwell 92.2%
30-39 yards - Longwell 87.0%; Crosby 84.7%; Jacke 73.0%
40-49 yards - Longwell 71.8%; Crosby 70.4%; Jacke 64.5%
50+ yards - - Jacke 65.4%; Longwell 59.1%; Crosby 42.4%
It's worth noting that in 8 seasons, Jacke only attempted 26 FGs from 50+. In 9 seasons Longwell attempted only 22 FGs from 50+. In 7 seasons Crosby has attempted a whopping 40 FGs from 50+. Different coaches have different mindsets but McCarthy seems more willing to trot his kicker out at mid-field.
From the stats, one could take away that Jacke had the most accurate leg from 50+, Crosby has been the most accurate from close-range 20-39 yards, and Longwell the most accurate overall.
One thing is for sure. To only have four kickers over a span of 25 years is impressive and none really stands out as dramatically better or worse than the others, they just had different strengths and weaknesses but all solid.
