April 21, 2017

Highlighted Year: Stephen Gostkowski, 2008

Placekicker, New England Patriots





Age: 24
3rd season in pro football & with Patriots
College: Memphis
Height: 6’1”   Weight: 210

Prelude:
Gostkowski scored 367 points in college, including 70 field goals. He was selected by the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL draft and was successful on 20 of 26 field goal attempts as a rookie as well as 43 of 44 PATs. Gostkowski followed up with 27 field goalsand a league-record 74 PATs without a miss on the way to scoring 137 points for the high-scoring Patriots in 2007.


2008 Season Summary
Appeared in all 16 games
[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Kicking
Field goals – 36 [1]
Most field goals, game – 4 at NY Jets 9/14, vs. Arizona 12/21
Field goal attempts – 40 [1, tied with David Akers]
Most field goal attempts, game – 4 at NY Jets 9/14, vs. Arizona 12/21
Field goal percentage – 90.0 [7]
PATs – 40 [11, tied with Rob Bironas, Ryan Longwell & Dan Carpenter]
PAT attempts – 40 [11, tied with four others]
Longest field goal – 50 yards at Seattle 12/7

Scoring
Field Goals – 36
PATs – 40
Points – 148 [1]

Awards & Honors:
1st team All-NFL: AP, PFWA, Sporting News
Pro Bowl

Patriots went 11-5 to finish second in the AFC East.  

Aftermath:
Gostkowski kicked 26 field goals in 2009 and was successful on just 10 of 13 attempts in a 2010 season in which he was sidelined for eight games by a thigh injury. He connected on 28 of 33 field goal tries in 2011 and was a perfect five-for-five in the postseason. Gostkowski once again led the NFL in scoring in 2012’13, ’14, and ’15, and also in field goals in 2013 with38 out of 41 attempts. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2013, ’14 , and ’15, the same year in which he received consensus first-team All-NFL honors.In 11 seasons thus far through 2016, all with New England, Gostkowski has made good on 303 of 348 field goal attempts (87.1%) and has added 548 PATs for a total of 1457 points. In the postseason he has added another 31 field goals out of 33 attempts and including 67 PATs has scored another 160 points. Gostkowski has received consensus first-team All-NFL recognition once and has received at least some first-team honors following three other seasons. He has also been selected to four Pro Bowls.


--

Highlighted Years features players who were consensus first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the following statistical categories:

Rushing: Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing: Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving: Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs, Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose: Total Yards
Defense: Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff Returns: Average
Punt Returns: Average
Punting: Average

*Leagues include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)

**NFC/AFC since 1970

No comments:

Post a Comment