NFL kickers are VERY tough to judge, and if you’re just going off of field goal percentage alone you’re likely to make mistakes. No one was impressed with Anders Carlson last season and I believe the decision to move on was a good one, but I think it’s worth mentioning a few things to correctly frame our analysis.
First, the difference between a good and bad kicker in the NFL, at least on field goals, is staggeringly low. This is even more pronounced under the new kickoff rules, where you cannot even accumulate a field position advantage to boost your value.