Among the Atlanta Falcons chaos Younghoe Koo is underappreciated

For an Atlanta Falcons franchise that has had questions seemingly about every position, there is one player who is underappreciated. Whether it is questioning Matt Ryan or wondering if Deion Jones or Grady Jarrett are worth their cap hits few players have escaped blame in the mess that has been the Atlanta Falcons over the last two seasons.

There is one player, however, who has quietly been great for a team that many around the league aren’t paying attention to. Younghoe Koo has stepped in at one of the most important positions in football and has quietly been elite the last two seasons.

Hitting 37 of 39 attempts in the 2020 season and 27 of 29 in 2021 there is no questioning Koo is one of the best kickers in the game. If not for Justin Tucker’s heroics in Baltimore there would be an argument Koo is the best at his position.

The Atlanta Falcons have dealt with issues at every position over the last two years except at kicker, Younghoe Koo has very quietly been great

Kicker has long been one of the most underappreciated positions in football.  A player who often determines a team’s destiny in the playoffs or in a must-win game may not take the field often but when he does often it is in a game-deciding role.

Koo along with A.J. Terrell and Kyle Pitts are building blocks for Arthur Smith to begin building around. A kicker as great as Koo deserves to be locked up long-term for a team that at least has gotten one position right.

Koo went a perfect 30 of 30 on extra points in 2021 and made two buzzer-beating field goals that gave Atlanta two of their seven wins.  Younghoe Koo is one of the best kickers and football and a player Atlanta must remember to appreciate even if everything around him is failing.