2005 season a career worst for Sebastian Janikowski

By Anthony Carroll  |   Friday, January 13, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Oakland Raiders
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With the 17th pick in 2000 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders selected a 6'2, 250 pound mammoth...to kick field goals. For Sebastian Janikowski, his rookie year was far from a dream, attempting 32 field goals and making just 22-a 68.8 kicking percentage. For the next four years of the left-footers' career, Janikowski never proved to be outstanding, but was never awful. From 2001-2004, Janikowski earned an 84.5 kicking percentage, hitting a low percentage of 78.8 and a high of 89.3. However, he hit his career peak in 2004, and fans certainly wouldn't expect what was to follow, as Janikowski kicked for an all-time career low in 2005.

Janikowski attempted 30 field goals in 2005, missing a third of his attempts. "SeaBass" and his 66.7 kicking percentage positioned Oakland last in the NFL in field goal percentage, making them the only team in the NFL with a percentage under 70. As well, for the first time in his six-year career, Janikowski was unable to connect on any 50+ attempts, going 0-3. He now has missed the century mark in total points for the second time in three years.

Janikowski entered the NFL with a reputation of having the ability to kill the ball from stretched distances. As it has turned out, Janikowski has only killed his team by kicking from long distances, going 7/16 from 50+ on his career, and going an atrocious 7/15 from just 40+ in 2005. Janikowski set his career long on a 55-yarder at Detroit in November of 2003. In 2005 alone, four kickers surpassed Janikowski's six-year career long.

To refute, one could say that people are being too critical of Janikowski, as every kicker makes mistakes and hits a slump at some time in their career. However, every kicker wasn't chosen in a first round of an NFL Draft. With the 17th pick, Janikowski was chosen just ahead of Chad Pennington (18) and Shaun Alexander (19). In his career, Shaun Alexander has racked up 7817 yards and 89 touchdowns. Despite the radical difference in position from kicker to running back, it is conclusive as to who has ended up becoming a better selection.

Looking into the future, Janikowski is due to make $1.1 million next year, $1.35 million in 2007, $1.2 million in 2008, and $1.5 million in 2009. Let's just hope that the Oakland Raiders organization has a plain and apparent reason to keep "SeaBass" around until then.

Any comments on this article? Contact Anthony Carroll at acarroll@realfootball365.com
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal...
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