Anders

Carlson

Carlson’s late-season struggles in 2023 reportedly carried over to the offseason, and it appears the Packers will go with former Vikings K Greg Joseph as the starter in 2024. Carlson, brother of Raiders K Daniel Carlson, made 27 of his 33 field goal tries last season and missed five extra points. Joseph has had his own struggles, making just 79 percent of his kicks over the past two seasons.

Garibay produced a 92.9 percent field goal conversion rate with the UFL’s Arlington Renegades this season, the second-best average among UFL kickers. The Packers are searching for a reliable leg after 2023 kicker Anders Carlson converted just 81.0 percent of his field goal attempts, ranking eighth-worst among NFL kickers with at least 18 field goal attempts.

Joseph’s signing is a clear indicator that the Packers are not satisfied with Anders Carlson, who in 2023 missed six of his 33 field goal tries and five of his 39 extra point attempts. Those misses includes some critical late-season miscues for the rookie. Joseph, meanwhile, has struggled since his stellar 2021 season. Last year, he made only 80 percent of his field goal attempts and missed three of six kicks between 40-49 yards. This shapes up to be the league’s premiere training camp kicker competition.

The Packers, with longtime kicker Mason Crosby entering his age-39 season, may look to Carlson as the team’s next kicker. Crosby, a 16-year veteran, is only signed through the 2023 season. In five seasons at Auburn, Carlson connected on 72 percent of his field goals and 98.3 percent of his extra points. He could be used as a kickoff specialist in 2023.

Carlson (6'5"/220) has been the Auburn kicker for the last four years, and sports a 98.1 conversion percentage on extra points and is hitting 72% of his field goals. He had a banner year in 2020, hitting 90.9% of his kicks, but his 2021 season wasn’t going quite as well and he suffered a season ending knee injury 10 games in. Auburn does have the top kicking recruit in the nation coming in, Alex McPherson (brother of current Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson) and it will be interesting to see what happens for 2022.

Carlson (6'5"/220) injured his left knee during a collision in the fourth quarter when he attempted an onside kick. On the play, he crashed into a Mississippi State defender and came up hobbling and limped off the field. Carlson will finish the season making 14-of-21 field goal attempts and 35-of-36 extra points.

While most vaccination related news is centered on players unwilling to take the vaccine, Bo Nix and a few other Auburn stars are going the other way. They’ll star in new PSA campaign from the Alabama Department of Public Health encouraging people to get the vaccination. The ADPH is signing players from all over Alabama to participate, and vaccine shots will be offered to fans that attend the Auburn vs. Georgia State game on September 25th.

In a scrimmage that was headlined by the performance of the Auburn defense, Carlson (6'5/213) managed to make a positive impression on HC Gus Malzahn. While the 58-yarder was just one kick, it may have represented a step forward for the redshirt sophomore. Last season Carlson was 5-of-14 on kicks of 40 yards or longer, with Auburn ultimately going away from him in those situations. Through the early stages of fall camp he’s been both more effective and more confident, which would really help Auburn if it carried over into the regular season.