Gators great Eddy Piñeiro is NFL's most accurate kicker -- ever
Former Florida Gators standout Eddy Piñeiro is the most accurate field-goal kicker in NFL history. For now, at least.
When Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens missed two field goals Sunday, his career percentage on kicks fell to 89.348. That allowed Piñeiro, who plays for the Carolina Panthers, to move into the No. 1 spot all time. His percentage sits at 89.381. The Panthers were off last weekend.
“I would definitely rather get it hitting a kick or something, obviously not on somebody else’s downfall,” Piñeiro told the official Carolina Panthers web site. “But at the end of the day, Justin Tucker is the greatest of all time. From the amount of kicks that he’s kicked and I’ve kicked, he’s kicked four times the amount of kicks that I’ve kicked. And to stay at that level, him being a seven-time Pro Bowler, I mean, there’s no question. He’s the greatest of all time.”
Tucker is 411-of-460 on field goals in his career; Piñeiro is 101-of-113.
NBC noted, however, “Tucker has made 61-of-92 kicks of 50 yards or longer in his career. Piñeiro has attempted only 13 such kicks, making 11.”
Piñeiro, 29, played for the Gators in 2016 and 2017. He had the best field goal percentage in the country during his second season in Gainesville when he made 17 out of 18 attempts.
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Piñeiro went undrafted, then made his first NFL field goal with the Chicago Bears in 2019. That season, he was 23 of 28 on field goals. His best season came in 2022 with Carolina, when Piñeiro was 33 of 35 on field goals, for a percentage of 94.3.
Piñeiro seemed to be taking his newfound spot as the NFL’s most accurate kicker ever in stride.
“I feel like I’m just one kick away from not being in the NFL, and that’s the mindset that I just bring into it,” Piñeiro told Panthers.com. “Like, I’m one kick away from going home, and unfortunately, that’s just the way it is with kickers, you know. But this year has been awesome so far; we’ve worked very hard to get to this point. So I’m just really happy and grateful that I was able to have the opportunity.”
In Carolina’s most recent game, on Nov. 10, Piñeiro kicked a 36-yard field goal in overtime to beat the New York Giants 20-17 in Germany.
