The Jake Elliott Appreciation Post
The Philadelphia Eagles are 5-0 and have a roster absolutely loaded with talent, so it is quite conceivable that some great players might fly under the radar in Philadelphia as opposed to if they played for other teams. This year, that player more than any is Jake Elliott.
Eagles fans certainly know that Elliott is a great kicker, but I think it is still getting taken for granted just how invaluable he has been this season. Jake Elliott is an elite kicker, and the Eagles would not be 5-0 right now without him.
Elliott is 16 for 17 on field goals this year, with the only miss coming from 55 yards out in Week 2 against the Vikings. His very next field goal attempt after that miss was a 61 yarder to end the half, tying his career long with the kick that arguably sparked the Eagles Super Bowl run in 2017. Here is Elliott’s 2023 season thus far:
Week 1: 4 of 4, including 2 makes from 50+ yards, in a five point win over the Patriots where they needed every single one of those kicks.
Week 2: 2 of 3, with the aforementioned 61 yarder that was crucial in what ended up becoming a close game (Elliott did also miss an extra point in this game).
Week 3: 3 of 3 in a 14 point win.
Week 4: 4 of 4 in an overtime win, including a 54 yard game winner that he absolutely drilled. Watching it live, it almost felt like there was zero doubt whatsoever that the kick was going in, even before the ball was snapped.
Week 5: 3 of 3 in a nine point win.
If the Eagles rostered an average kicker instead of Elliott, what would their record be right now? In my opinion, at best 3-2, and arguably 2-3. While the Eagles offense was finding their sea legs to open the season, they had to settle for a lot of field goals, and Elliott delivered time and time again. He is a crucial member of this Eagles team.
It is not just this year either. Elliott made the Pro Bowl in 2021, and since that season he has made a ridiculous 90.4% of his field goals and 97.2% of his extra points. By comparison, Justin Tucker, widely considered the best kicker in the NFL, has made 88.5% of his field goals (on 14 more attempts, to be fair) and 98.7% of his extra points in that same time frame. This is not me saying that Elliott is better than Tucker, but Elliott is indisputably in the upper echelon of NFL kickers.
The Eagles roster a plethora of star players who (deservedly) get talked about regularly. Jake Elliott has not really been one of them to this point, but he should be.
Photo: Elsa/Getty Images
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Categorized:Eagles