10 leading kickers in AFC North history

In 2002 when the NFL added their 32nd team of the Houston Texans, the current divisional lineups were set with each conference having four divisions of four teams. For the AFC North, the grouping of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, and Cleveland Browns was born. In the 21 seasons of the AFC North, the Pittsburgh Steelers have won the division nine times with the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals each winning six times.

But since the formation of the AFC North, which kicker has scored the most points?

Earlier I posed the question about the 10 quarterbacks with the most wins in the AFC North as well as the players with the most rushing yards, receiving yards, interceptions, and sacks.

Just to clarify, these statistics are from regular season games with a player on one of the AFC North teams against any opponent. Players who were on multiple AFC North teams had their points combined (hopefully I caught them all).

Here are the 10 players in order:

1. Justin Tucker, BAL (11 seasons): 1,502
2. Phil Dawson, CLE (13 seasons): 1,064
3. Jeff Reed, PIT (9 seasons): 919
4. Chris Boswell, PIT (8 seasons): 855
5. Matt Stover, BAL (7 seasons): 810
6. Shayne Graham, CIN (7 seasons): 779
7. Mike Nugent, CIN (7 seasons): 718
8. Shaun Suisham, PIT (5 seasons): 545
9. Billy Cundiff, BAL/CLE (5 seasons): 505
10. Randy Bullock, CIN/PIT (5 seasons): 404

Just to clarify, if looking at points scored by players with AFC North teams and not keeping it just to kickers, they would have still held the first nine spots. The only non-kicker which would have made the list in the 10th spot would have been Antonio Brown with 482 points followed by Hines Ward with 434 points.

I would not be surprised if just about everyone who saw the title of this article assumed the answer to be Justin Tucker. Although he looks disgusting in that purple and black uniform, it can’t be denied that he is an excellent kicker.

Phil Dawson represented the Cleveland Browns on this list primarily because of how long he was able to kick. Dawson actually kicked 14 years in Cleveland, with three seasons coming before but AFC North was established. Dawson had another 201 points with the Browns before 2002.

A couple of Steelers kickers were next on the list with Jeff Reed and Chris Boswell. Reed currently has the advantage primarily because of one additional season of kicking. Boswell needs another 65 points to pass Reed this season which is likely as long as he stays healthy as Boswell had 78 points last season in only 12 games.

The Ravens’ Matt Stover is a kicker whose career started well before the formation of the AFC North. Kicking his first five seasons in Cleveland starting in 1991, Stover had 11 seasons kicking for what are now AFC North teams before 2002.

Two more Bengals kickers came in next on the list followed by the Steelers’ Shaun Suisham who had his career cut short with a devastating knee injury in the Hall of Fame Game. The last two players on the list both kicked for more than one team in the AFC North with Billy Cundiff appearing in five seasons for the Ravens and Browns as well as Randy Bullock who landed with the Bengals after kicking a single game for the Steelers in 2016.

So how many players on this list would you have been able to name? Are there any surprises or someone you possibly would not have remembered? Make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below.