Sixth Round: Packers Draft Kicker, Perhaps Ending Mason Crosby’s Run

Anders Carlson made 71.8 percent of his field-goal attempts during his career at Auburn.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Apr 29, 2023 5:53 PM EDT
Original:
Apr 29, 2023

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Exactly 16 years ago, the Green Bay Packers used a sixth-round draft pick on kicker Mason Crosby. On Saturday, during the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Packers picked Auburn kicker Anders Carlson.

The addition of Carlson might close the door on the record-setting, 38-year-old Crosby’s return for another season.

“I obviously want to acknowledge the legacy he created and the legend that he is there,” Carlson said during his introductory Zoom conference. “But for me, I’m truly just focused on what I’m doing, the teammate I can be for the guys up there, and just putting my best foot forward every day. Definitely recognizing Mason and his legacy, but for me it’s all about going out to practice, starting in a couple of days actually, and just putting my best foot forward and showing what I can do.”

Carlson joins Parker White for the offseason kicking battle. Crosby, Green Bay’s career scoring leader by a large margin, remains unsigned in free agency.

A native of Colorado Springs, Carlson made 12-of-17 attempts with a long of 46 yards in 2022 and 71.8 percent with a long of 53 yards in five seasons. Of the five misses, three were from 40 to 49 yards and one was from 50-plus.

Part of his problems can be attributed to a torn ACL sustained late in the 2021 season. He played last season wearing a brace on his plant leg.

“When I had the surgery, my goal was to play the next season and, thanks to the doctors and the team at Auburn, I got back pretty quick and was able to kick about six or seven months after my surgery, and then the season started a few months after that,” he said.

His best season came in 2020, when he made 20-of-22 attempts (90.9 percent) with a long of 50 yards.

His career touchback rate on kickoffs with 61.4 percent.

The top-ranked kicker coming out of high school, older brother Daniel Carlson is a six-year NFL pro. A fifth-round pick by the Vikings in 2018, he lasted just one season in Minnesota but was a 2022 All-Pro with the Raiders.

“We talked a lot about the process, especially as I had the Combine coming up,” Carlson said at the Scouting Combine. “He just told me to enjoy this process while I'm doing it. He talked about some of the things he lacked going to the Vikings. He had a lot of talent but trusted himself not as much as he does now. Now with the Raiders, he's had a lot of success and I'm sure that's not going to stop. He's got a great group around him which is really crucial in the NFL. Yeah, we've talked about the good and bad of the kicking process.”

With Carter and White, the Packers have an all-rookie kicking tandem. White, who went undrafted out of South Carolina in 2021, signed a futures deal with the Packers at the end of the season.

If the arrival of Carlson means the end for Crosby, it’s been a legendary career.

In 16 seasons, he scored 1,918 points. That’s a franchise record that might never be broken. The next two players on the franchise’s all-time list, Ryan Longwell and Don Hutson, combined for 1,879. Crosby’s 395 field goals are almost as many as the combined 399 by Longwell and Chris Jacke.

Only seven players in NFL history have scored 2,000 points.

Even coming off knee surgery that robbed him of training camp, Crosby made 25-of-29 field-goal attempts in 2022. He was the worst-rated kicker on kickoffs, though that might have been because of limited training time following the surgery.

The Packers have four picks remaining, all in the seventh round, with Nos. 232, 235, 242 and 256.