Is Chase McLaughlin The Best Kicker In Bucs’ History?

Bucs kicker Chase McLaughlin is off to a perfect start for Tampa Bay in 2024. Coming off the best kicking season in team history, McLaughlin is putting on quite the encore this season.

Through the team’s first five games, he is a perfect 10-10 on field goals, including 5-5 from 50 yards and greater. After joining the team last year, McLaughlin’s eighth team in just five seasons, he has quickly settled in and has been quite good.

So good in fact, that he is already entering the conversation as the best placekicker in Bucs’ history.

It’s a question that is worth asking – and covering further.

Chase McLaughlin Is Historically Accurate From Distance

Chase McLaughlin cashed in and re-signed on a three-year, $12.3 million deal with the Bucs this past offseason.

That was because McLaughlin cashed in and was as automatic as they come throughout the 2023 season. He was 29-31 (93.5%) on his field goal attempts last year, including 7-8 from 50 yards and greater. He has added a missing element that the team was missing in the years of Ryan Succop.

While Succop was a reliable leg from a shorter range, he was not a threat beyond 50 yards. He only made 3-of-10 field goals from that distance in his three seasons with the Bucs, including just 2-of-7 in his final season.

Chase McLaughlin has given the team further range to put points on the board and has been historically accurate, setting this NFL record in Week 2 against the Lions.

Chase McLaughlin Can Rapidly Climb Bucs’ Record Books

Since coming to Tampa Bay, Chase McLaughlin is now up to 39-of-41 on his field goal attempts, with that 95.1% mark well ahead of the second-place Succop’s 84.8%. While fans surely remember the days of Martin Gramatica’s strong leg, McLaughlin may make some history this season with his.

Gramatica and Connor Barth are tied with 15 field goals made beyond 50 yards, and it took them 24 and 23 attempts to do it, respectively. In just 13 attempts, McLaughlin has made 12 such kicks.

With his accomplishments so far, the 28-year-old is already tied with Patrick Murray for the eighth-most field goals made in team history. It will take a few more seasons in Tampa Bay to reach Matin Gramatica’s 137, but it is well within reach.

What is not debatable is that Chase McLaughlin has developed into one of the most elite kickers in the NFL right now. McLaughlin is one of seven kickers who are still perfect on field goals this season, and is tied for third and just behind Texans’ Ka’i Fairbairn and Cowboys’ Brandon Aubrey for the most field goals made from 50 yards and greater.

When he signed with the team ahead of the 2023 season, no one knew what to expect from him. He came into a kicking competition with Rodrigo Blankenship but emerged as one of the best kickers in the league.

While Bucs often go overlooked nationally, the best kickers rarely ever get their flowers. The results speak for themselves, and as he continues to boot footballs through the uprights, McLaughlin will continue rising the team record books as the most productive kicker in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history.

As Chase McLaughlin has shown in short order, he is already the most talented to pass through.