Daniel Carlson has become a machine.
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The Tigers' star kicker is a two-time finalist for the Lou Groza Award as the nation's top kicker. He also was named the SEC's Special Teams Player of The Year in 2016. Carlson garners those awards because he's extremely consistent and effective when it comes to striking the ball with his right foot.
In 2016, he went 24-of-25 on kicks inside of 50 yards and tied his own school record by connecting on four kicks beyond 50 yards.
During the past two seasons, Carlson has gone 43-of-47 inside of 50 yards. Those are NFL numbers. Good NFL numbers. The senior has a strong leg that also is quite true. Years of kicking has given him remarkable understanding of how to adjust kicks to account for wind and other weather conditions.
Carlson told reporters at SEC Media Days that the wind inside Kyle Field at Texas A&M was so strong in 2015 that he actually aimed well outside the uprights to ensure his kicks finished between the uprights. He went 4-for-4 that night.
He also is a valuable weapon when it comes to kickoffs. Carlson coaxed touchbacks 57 times (out of 72 kickoffs) last season, which yielded a 79-percent touchback frequency. Only one Bowl Subdivision kicker, Jason Sanders from New Mexico at 81 percent, finished with a higher frequency.
When opponents can't mount a kickoff return, that's a special teams win for Auburn.
Carlson was expected to leave for the NFL last season because, well, he's already proven himself as a top-tier college kicker. Still, he hasn't won the Groza Award just yet and his younger brother, Anders, will be a freshman at Auburn this season. Those two factors led Carlson to announce in late December that he'd chosen to play his senior season on the Plains.
Where can he go from here? Carlson in good position to win the punting job this fall in addition to his other duties, though it's possible the new responsibilities could negatively impact his work on field goals and kickoffs. Auburn (and perhaps Carlson himself) would prefer Ian Shannon emerge as the Tigers' punter. That will be decided during fall camp.
Beyond that, Carlson's only weak point is accuracy beyond 50 yards. He was 4-of-7 from that distance last season after going 4-of-5 in 2015. Carlson routinely connects on long kicks in practice and during game warm-ups, so it's likely that his 2016 performance was a fluke.
Still, that's splitting hairs. Carlson is a phenomenal kicker who will go down as the best ever to play at Auburn — and perhaps the entire conference. He's 19 field goals away from the SEC record for career field goals made and less than one percentage point away from the top spot in career field-goal percentage.
Also of note: Carlson is the son of two University of Alabama graduates.
ON THE UP SIDE: Long field goals, short field goals, kickoffs
ON THE DOWN SIDE: Boring touchdown celebrations (?)
VOTING RESULTS: Jeffrey Lee (4th), The Bunker (5th), Bryan Matthews (5th), Jay G. Tate (6th)
2016 RANKING: No. 8
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