Jason Myers improved in 2016, but he still has to prove himself in games that matter

With so many kickers excelling in the playoffs, it’s worth asking if Jason Myers can be the guy for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are switching things up this offseason and we should see some changes in the roster over the course of the coming months. One guy who shouldn’t see his status really change is kicker Jason Myers.

Pro Football Focus wrote up a piece on the best special team players in the NFL depending on the unit (punt return, kickoff, kick return, etc.) and they chose Jason Myers as their kickoff specialist:

"THE BEST SPECIAL TEAMERS IN THE NFL IN 2016Kickoff kicker: Jason Myers, Jacksonville JaguarsStat to know: Boomed 60 of his 76 kickoffs for touchbacks"

This is encouraging, but Myers probably wasn’t even a consideration for the field goal unit. PFF chose Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens.

"Field goal kicker: Justin TuckerStat to know: Highest single-season grade on field goals and extra points since we began grading in 2006."

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In 2016, Justin Tucker made 38 out of his 39 field goal attempts, including all 10 of his attempts over 50 yards. Jason Myers went 27 for 34 with a respectable 7 out of 12 from beyond 50 yards. Myers also missed three point after tries (although he only had 32 attempts thanks to an anemic Jacksonville offense).

Myers was better in his second season and he’s undoubtedly going to be the starter in 2017 (save some horrifically bad play in training camp and the preseason), but he’s still relatively unknown as a clutch field goal kicker. He missed two game-winning attempts from a reasonable distance as a rookie against the Indianapolis Colts, but he also made some clutch kicks (including a 50+ yarder with no time on the clock to beat the Baltimore Ravens in 2015). While those kicks were under some form of pressure, they weren’t nearly at the level of what we’ve seen in the 2016 playoffs.

One of the more interesting playoffs from this year’s postseason actually involves the kickers:

This includes Mason Crosby making two enormous field goals to help the Packers beat the Cowboys and Chris Boswell making all six of his field goal attempts to lift the Steelers to a win against the Chiefs.

We have no idea how Jason Myers will perform in such a situation, but hopefully we’ll get a chance to see.