The best of both worlds: Why Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey is now the best in the NFL

It wasn’t that long ago when the Dallas Cowboys had what some might call (using your Matt Foley voice) a “kicking problem.” For years we were spoiled by the great accuracy of Dan Bailey, but then things got a little shaky toward the end of his career. In a shocking final roster cut move back in 2018, the Cowboys replaced Bailey with a 29-year-old rookie named Brett Maher. The team’s new kicker was known for having a big leg and during his time in Dallas. He set new franchise records for the longest (63 yards), second-longest (62 yards, twice), and third-longest (60 yards) in team history.

The Maher experiment was fun at times, but also frustrating because he struggled to make the easy ones. When John Fassel took over as special teams coach, he brought with him his former kicker from the Rams, Greg Zuerlein. Greg “the leg” was an improvement but had his own accuracy issues. He played two seasons in Dallas. In another shocker, the team opted for a second helping of Maher in 2022 where he was surprisingly accurate this time around, making over 90% of his field goals. But in a strange plot twist, he had a case of the yips and missed several extra points in the Cowboys playoff win over Tampa Bay.

The Cowboys entered 2023 with so much uncertainty. The fanbase wanted them to go after free agent Robbie Gould, but the team had other plans. They liked what they had in former pro soccer player/turned USFL kicker, Brandon Aubrey. While training camp misses brought about some uneasiness, Aubrey was the leg the Cowboys decided to roll with, and little did we know what was coming.

Here is the Cowboys kicker timeline for the last 14 seasons...

Aubrey has been with the team for two seasons and each time he’s earned All-Pro honors. That is pretty good. It’s incredible what Aubrey has done. We talk about his accomplishments, but it’s easy to lose sight of some of them because he’s achieved so much in such a short time. Having a kicker who is so accurate and with remarkable range is a great luxury and that is why we are taking a moment to capture some of Aubrey’s feats.

What a great start

It didn’t take long for fans to warm up to him as all he did was knock down field goals. Literally. Through the first 16 games of his NFL career, he made every field goal he attempted. He started a perfect 35/35, which is an NFL record. Crazily, his first official miss came when a defender snuck through the line unattended and blocked the attempt in the 2023 regular-season finale against the Washington Commanders. He then proceeded to miss his very next kick when the ball doinked off the upright, but as we learned fast, those misses are few and far between.

The kid’s got a leg

Speaking of far, Aubrey wasted no time racking up the distance records. Let’s have a look at what he’s accomplished already.

• Most field goals of 50 yards or more in a season (14), an NFL record
• Only kicker in NFL history to have two seasons with at least 10 field goals of 50+ yards
• Only kicker in NFL history to kick two field goals of at least 59 yards in a single game
• Second longest field goal in NFL history (65 yards)

That’s a career’s worth of records in just two seasons. It’s pretty amazing. Honestly, many of us were expecting Justin Tucker’s record of 66 yards to fall to Aubrey this past season because of what we saw early in the year. Aubrey knocked down a 66-yarder in the preseason and again in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns, but neither counted because one was in the preseason and the other was negated by a delay-of-game penalty. It feels like it’s only a matter of time before Aubrey also holds the record for longest field goal.

He’s on the money

Some kickers are deadly accurate, a la Dan Bailey. And some have a powerful leg, i.e. Brett Maher. However, it’s super rare to find a kicker who is both. Justin Tucker has been that unicorn for most of his career and will eventually wear a gold jacket because of it.

Aubrey is another guy who gives you the best of both worlds. Tucker has a career kicking percentage of 89.1% which makes him the most accurate kicker in NFL history. Aubrey is off to a good start. His success rate is actually a smidge higher than Tuckers at 89.4%, but you must have at least 100 attempts to qualify and Aubrey only has 85. If Aubrey keeps it up, it’s quite possible we could have a new “most accurate kicker” by the middle of next season.

The great thing about Aubrey’s accuracy is not just his high field goal percentage, but just how consistent his kicks are. When you look at his body of work, the dude is drilling them right down the middle. He rarely gives us anything to sweat and it’s pretty evident that this guy has got this kicking thing dialed in. See for yourself.