Ranking the 25 Best Eagles: Kicker Jake Elliott Gets Some Love
Kickers don’t usually get much love, but one will get some here.
That would be Jake Elliott, the Eagles kicker who earns a place as the 21st best player on the current roster as our countdown of the top 25 Eagles rolls on.
It should be noted that at least one of our two-member panel gave Elliott some love.
That would be Ed Kracz, who had Elliott at No. 17 on his list of the top 25.
John McMullen did not have Elliott in his top 25.
This is how the countdown works: Site publisher Kracz and staff writer McMullen put together their top 25 lists independent of each other’s then assigned point values, with 25 points awarded to the player they each ranked first, 24 to the player they each ranked second, and so on, with one point going to the player that was put 25th.
Ties were broken by the highest ranking from either reporter.
Based on Kracz’s nine points alone in our scoring system, Elliott landed above players such as Jack Driscoll (No. 25), Derek Barnett (No. 24), Kyzir White (No. 23), and Quez Watkins (No. 22).
Elliott’s contributions to the success of the franchise cannot be overlooked.
Last year, the 27-year-old set the franchise record with a 90.9% FG percentage, making 30 of his 33 tries. Included in that success is a 3-for-3 mark from 50-plus yards with a long of 58 yards. He was also a perfect 44-for-44 on PATs.
Perhaps more impressive is that Elliott had such a strong season following a 2020 campaign that was, statistically, one of his worst since joining the Eagles on Sept. 12, 2017.
Signed off the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad nearly five years ago, Elliott has gone on to earn a big payday for his consistency, signing a five-year contract extension on Nov. 28, 2019. The deal was worth up to $19.3 million in new money with a total guarantee of $9.2M.
His base salary this season of $3.99M is the highest dollar amount of the extension.
It is well-deserved.
Every kicker goes through some down periods, but Elliott has seemed to avoid deep slumps – 2020 notwithstanding when he made just 73.7 percent of his field goals and missed a pair of PATs.
Even in that season, however, Elliott was still a perfect 11-for-11 from 30 to 49 yards, though it wasn’t a good look that he missed two of three FGs in the 20 to 29-yard range.
Still, Elliott’s career numbers are worthy of his ranking.
Some to know:
- His 118 career field goals are second-most in team history behind a likely-unreachable 294 made by David Akers from 1999-2010.
- He ranks third on the Eagles’ all-time scoring list with 529 career points behind Akers (1,323) and Bobby Walston (881, 1951-62).
- He has connected on the second-most 50-plus-yard field goals in franchise history with 15, one behind Akers’ mark of 16.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
