Josh Scobee is Unfazed by New Point After Rules

Josh Scobee is among those few kickers that like a little challenge on something easy.

With the new point after rules coming down from the NFL, Scobee knows that his golden leg just became a lot more valuable. The point after a touchdown, long considered an automatic extra, will now be moved back from the two-yard line to the 15-yard line, making the task a bit more difficult. For a near-automatic kicker like Scobee, this turns the simple point after into a 32 or 33 yard kick. No worries, though, because Scobee’s hit 95.5% of kicks from those ranges since 2004 (the year he entered the league).

Per ESPN’s Michael DiRocco, Scobee had this to say about the new point after rules:

"“I figured a rule change was eventually going to take place. This is the best outcome of the possible changes that I heard about. All it does is place more importance on having a reliable kicker.”"

Josh Scobee certainly has it right. There have been a multitude of interesting suggestions to make extra points more difficult in the NFL and most to them are relatively farfetched. Moving the ball back a few yards is a simple solution that turns the place kicker position into something a bit more valuable (maybe we’ll see some better kickers drafted higher in the NFL draft now, too).

According to DiRocco, Scobee is the ninth best kicker at the new distance since 2004. Everyone else above him has hit 100% of their kicks from 32 to 33 yards out. He also notes that ESPN statistics mark Scobee as the seventh most prolific kicker from that distance since 2001.

This new point after change could be key for the Jacksonville Jaguars as they now have something in their favor with a strong-legged, reliable kicker in Josh Scobee while some other teams may be scrambling to find a new leg to help them secure what used to be an automatic point after every touchdown.

Also changed were the rules governing two point conversions, allowing defenses to return turnovers or blocked kicks for two points.

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