CFL field-goal percentage keeps going up and away
Stats don’t lie: Booters just keep getting better
LarryRobinson,TommyJoeCoffey, Don Sutherin and Moe (The Toe) Racine were talented athletes who combined their play at other positions with place-kicking well enough to warrant Canadian Football Hall of Fame induction.
Coincidentally, none of them converted even 50 per cent of his field-goal attempts during a dozen Canadian Football League seasons or more.
In contrast, the top four fieldgoal percentages through the 2018 season belonged to active kickers: Calgary’s René Paredes (87.3 per cent), Winnipeg ’s Justin Medlock (86.5 per cent), Edmonton’s Sean Whyte (86.5 per cent) and Hamilton’s Lirim Hajrullahu (82.8 per cent).
The Ottawa Redblacks’ Lewis Ward was a sparkling 98.1 per cent (51 for 52) in his first season, but lacked the minimum 150 attempts to qualify for all-time rankings.
The 2018 league average was an eye-popping 88.3 per cent.
“It’s a crazy year. Almost all the teams have had just superb kicking,” says Gerry Organ, who caught 14 passes and kicked 318 field goals between 1972-83 with the old Ottawa Rough Riders.
“It’s exceptional, and Lewis Ward has been beyond exceptional.”
Organ’s regular-season fieldgoal percentage was just 63.3 per cent, but it rose to 68.9 per cent in the playoffs. In his defence, he played a lot of games on grass surfaces that became iffy late in the season. Today’s CFLers deal with grass only at Toronto’s BMO Field.
“There’s not that much different about (kicking). There’s a lot different about expectations,” Organ adds.
“When I came into the league, anything over 50 per cent was pretty good and coaches were impressed.”
Other significant changes include specialized training and roles.
For example, regular offensive centres Bob McKeown and Donn Smith snapped for Organ’s fieldgoal and convert attempts. All the Redblacks’ Louis-Philippe Bourassa does is snap for Ward’s field-goal attempts and Richie Leone’s punts.
As holders, Organ preferred defensive back Rod Woodward or receiver Jeff Avery, believing Rough Riders quarterbacks had enough going on already that practising with kickers wouldn’t receive enough attention.
Ward’s success is also in the hands of Leone, who illustrates the increasing trend away from QBs as holders and who by now is thoroughly familiar with how to place the ball on the tee for Ward.
“It makes a big difference,” says Ward, who had four holders in five university seasons with the Ottawa Gee- Gees.
“You work it from the accuracy of the (snapper) being a dedicated position to the holder being a dedicated position, and then you have the kickers, and this is all they do and they work at it continually,” Redblacks special-teams co-ordinator Bob Dyce says.
“You put those three components together, all working in unison and being able to work at it throughout practice. When these (other players) are still inside in meetings, they’re out here and they’re able to work.
“So, having such a tight unit allows you to have greater success.”