What changed with kickers? How is it that they keep managing to get better? Statistically, after all, they were pretty much awesome and perfect 5-10 years ago. Yet the bar continues to be raised.

Consider, for example, the league’s 40-something kickers, Adam Vinatieri, Matt Bryant and Phil Dawson. Logic would dictate that these guys wouldn’t be able to kick the ball quite as far as they did 10-15 years ago. Neither Vinatieri nor Bryant, for example, handles kickoffs anymore.

Yet these old fogeys are doing a better job now on long field goals than ever before. Look at their stats on field goals from 50-plus.

Adam Vinatieri
Last four years: 13 of 19
Other 15 years of career: 10 of 22

Matt Bryant
Last four years: 16 of 21
Other 9 years of career: 4 of 13

Phil Dawson
Last four years: 24 of 30
Other 11 years of career: 10 of 19

Combined, that’s 53 of 70 in the last four years on long-range field goals. 76 percent (and that includes Dawson missing a 71-yarder in a Thursday night game at St. Louis that you might recall).

In comparison, the same kickers were 24 of 54 in their first 35 combined seasons. If, in those seasons, they had played just the same as they have for the past four years, you would expect they would be 155 of 204 on long-range field goals. It’s insane.

Some will chime in to note that these kickers have all moved to better climates. They started with the Patriots, Giants and Browns, and now they’re with the Colts, Falcons and 49ers. But there’s more to it than that. If you even look at what Vinatieri and Bryant were doing 6 years ago, with their same current teams, you would see a difference.

I think they’ve figured something out. Holds and snaps, I’ll bet, are better because of improved coaching. And I think players are better because of improved nutrition and training. Most of these players nowadays, I think have individual trainers/coaches, and I think these guys know what they’re doing.

I was watching a “Draft Academy” show on ESPN the other day. It featured Jameis Winston, Todd Gurley and Melvin Gordon all training and practicing. They were all getting good insights and pointers from former pros. Mike Karney and Fred McCrary, I believe, were working with the running backs on pass protection techniques. Gordon was working hard to improve his ability as a pass catcher. And Winston had a quarterback guru who was fine-tuning his throwing mechanics – subtle positioning of the ball, and eliminating nano-seconds on the windup and release. It was all pretty impressive.

In the past, with quarterbacks in the ‘70s and ‘80s, I think the tendency was probably more for guys to just take off an goof around in the offseason. Guys would show up in July, try to start getting in shape, and the coaches would pick things up there. Now it’s a year-round deal, with everything being looked at and worked on a lot more carefully. And I suppose that must also extend to kickers.

—Ian Allan