Didn't Vinatieri have a weird year (2003) like Ghost's last couple before bouncing back and being rather consistent in Indy? I guess Ghost is much older than Vinatieri when he had the bad years, so maybe he's toast.
It's hard to say; I was never a kicker, but it seems like one little thing can really mess with their mechanics and kickers can be prone to a bad season, but Ghost's season probably wasn't bad enough to warrant retirement. He was eighth in the NFL in PAT % and is only really bad FG% was in the 40-49 range.
His FG % stats look weird to me. He was most accurate from 50+, by far and it isn't even a SSS.
Distance |
% |
20-29 |
67% - 2/3 |
30-39 |
80% - 4/5 |
40-49 |
50% - 5/10 |
50+ |
89% - 7/8 |
The 60% on 30-49 yard combined is a bit worrisome, since that seems to be the largest proportion of FGA and the important range for a kicker to be able to make 75%+ of those kicks. 2020 was Ghost's worse season for the 30-49 yard kicks by a long shot. Other than his second season when he missed half the year, Ghost hadn't had a year of less than 76% FGM from that distance, and only twice in his career has he been below 80%. His career percentage for 30-49 yd FG is 84%. Again, I know nothing about kicking other than it's really freaking hard, but it seems like there was some sort of mechanical issue or minor injury that messed with him last year, because it was such an aberration.
He clearly still has a leg; his touchback percentage was in the middle to higher end of his career and his kickoff average yardage was within a yard of the last four years, though neither of those data points takes strategy into account. His PATs are fine and he can still kick off, so he will likely get a job, if he wants one. I would not be mad if the Pats had to sign him if Folk got injured or went to hell.