The Chiefs decided to make a move at kicker early during the 2017 NFL season when they replaced long-time fixture Cairo Santos with Harrison Butker.
Santos had made all three of his field-goal kicks and all 12 extra-point attempts in three games for the team, but he was dealing with a groin injury he suffered during the preseason. The Chiefs placed Santos on injured reserve and signed Butker off the Panthers' practice squad to fill in for him.
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Butker hasn't looked back since.
Butker, a seventh-round draft pick by Carolina out of Georgia Tech, has developed into one of the NFL's best kickers. He has been a weapon for the high-flying Kansas City offense and has provided the team with a more powerful leg than that of Santos.
Just how much range does Butker have? Below is a breakdown of his stats and a look at the longest field goal of his career.
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Harrison Butker's longest field goal
Butker's longest field goal was made during the 2022 NFL season. He hit a 62-yard kick with one second remaining in the first half of Kansas City's Week 6 loss to the Bills.
Butker's make was amid a slight breeze and tied the game 10-10 heading into halftime.
FIRST GAME BACK. FRANCHISE RECORD. @buttkicker7 pic.twitter.com/xJCmBZYh0h
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) October 16, 2022
The 62-yarder was the longest field goal in the NFL during the 2022 season. It also marked the second consecutive week during which the Chiefs' franchise record for longest kick was broken.
Matthew Wright had bested Butker's record of 58 with a 59-yard boot on "Monday Night Football" against the Raiders. The kick against the Bills put Butker back on top.
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Harrison Butker stats
Save for the 62-yard boot, Butker's 2022 season was a bit disappointing. He missed time because of a nagging ankle injury and wasn't quite himself after he returned.
Butker made a career-low 75 percent of his field goal attempts in 2022. That number never dipped below 88.9 percent in his other five professional seasons. He also missed three extra-point kicks, and his 92.7 percent conversion rate on PATs was the second-lowest of his career.
A year-by-year breakdown of Butker's kicking stats since his rookie year in 2017:
| Year | FGM | FGA | FG% | XPM | XPA | XP% |
| 2017 | 38 | 42 | 90.5 | 28 | 28 | 100.0 |
| 2018 | 24 | 27 | 88.9 | 65 | 69 | 94.2 |
| 2019 | 34 | 38 | 89.5 | 45 | 48 | 93.8 |
| 2020 | 25 | 27 | 92.6 | 48 | 54 | 88.9 |
| 2021 | 25 | 28 | 89.3 | 47 | 49 | 95.9 |
| 2022 | 18 | 24 | 75.0 | 38 | 41 | 92.7 |
Even after a down year, Butker remains fourth in NFL history in field goal percentage at 88.172 percent. He trails only Justin Tucker (90.524), Younghoe Koo (89.051) and Daniel Carlson (88.272).
Butker's big leg is reflected in his career field-goal totals. He has been good from distance, converting a respectable 23 of 35 attempts (65.7 percent) from 50-plus yards.
A breakdown of his career field goal percentages by range.
| Distance | FGM | FGA | FG% |
| Inside 30 yards | 45 | 45 | 100.0 |
| 30-39 | 55 | 58 | 94.8 |
| 40-49 | 41 | 48 | 85.4 |
| 50-plus | 23 | 35 | 65.7 |
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What is Harrison Butker's touchback percentage?
It's no surprise that Butker's big leg has allowed him to generate frequent touchbacks on kickoffs. He generated a 64.7 touchback percentage during the 2022 NFL season. That number ranked 16th among players with at least 10 kickoffs attempted.
But that touchback percentage was the second-lowest mark of Butker's career. Only his 61.2 percent mark in 2019 was lower.
For his career, 68.3 percent of Butker's kickoffs have resulted in touchbacks. His best season came as a rookie, when 78.2 percent of his kicks were not taken out of the end zone.
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Harrison Butker tackles
Butker made a critical tackle of Jamal Agnew in the Chiefs' 27-20 win over the Jaguars in the divisional round of the 2023 NFL playoffs. He was able to clip Agnew's heel from behind with his face mask to prevent what appeared to be a sure go-ahead return touchdown for the Jaguars.
Jamal Agnew almost broke one 👀
— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2023
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The Jaguars failed to score on that drive, so Butker deserves a lot of credit for making what was a game-changing tackle.
Butker hasn't logged many tackles in 103 career NFL games, postseason included. He has just four total and hadn't logged one since 2020 before his stop on Agnew.
Butker can probably thank his elite accuracy and penchant for touchbacks for making that possible.
