The Atlanta Falcons made an interesting move this offseason by bringing competition to one of their most consistent positions.
Back in March, the team signed German-born kicker Lenny Kreig after his flawless performance at the NFL Combine, where he went 14-for-14 on field goals ranging from 35 to 55 yards.
That signing came as a bit of a shock to veteran Younghoe Koo, who has been Atlanta’s starting kicker since 2019. But Koo was coming off his worst season as a pro. A career 86% kicker, he connected on just 73% of his attempts last year, going 25-for-34. The breakdown was rough: two misses from 30–39 yards, four from 40–49, and three from beyond 50.
“We missed entirely too many kicks this year,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said in January. “The brutal honest truth — that can’t happen. So, we got to find ways to make those kicks. That certainly plays into the part of not winning the amount of games you want to win. We got to find ways to create that competition across the board for all of us.”
On Monday, Morris admitted that while the competition between Koo and Kreig wasn’t officially over, the outcome was essentially decided.
“Koo has some emotional bank accounts with me,” Morris said, per The Athletic’s Josh Kendall.
For now, it will be Koo starting the season as the Falcons’ kicker. And he’s been sharp in preseason action, going 2-for-2 on field goals — one from 30–39 yards and another from 40–49, with a long of 42 yards. He also hit both of his extra points.
Kreig, meanwhile, has gone 1-of-2 on field goals and hit his only extra point attempt. Still, his raw power is hard to ignore. He once drilled a 73-yard kick in practice.
That makes this a tough call for Morris. But his trust in Koo, combined with their history together from Morris’ time as an assistant in Atlanta, appears to have tipped the scales.
