Michael Badgley stats: Longest field goals made, attempted by Lions kicker & more to know

Crissy Froyd

Michael Badgley stats: Longest field goals made, attempted by Lions kicker & more to know image

The Lions made what some found to be a surprising move roughly one month ago when they promoted kicker Michael Badgley from the practice squad to replace starter Riley Patterson.

Patterson was released and Badgley officially took over as the Lions' kicker in Week 15 against the Broncos. He's remained in that role ever since.

"What that did mean is, internally, we had [Patterson and Badgley] competing in practice. So they would each get roughly six kicks a day and we would kick them at least twice a week, so 12 kicks a week," special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said at the time.

"Over the course of six weeks, Badgley had been better. We didn't want to rush to make that decision right away, we felt like he deserved as fair of an opportunity as we could've given him. But it was clear at the end of the day that he was playing better."

Since then, Badgley has made every field goal he has attempted and all but two of his extra points as he prepares to suit up against the 49ers in the NFC championship game.

MORE: NFL Power Rankings | Lions-49ers pick

Here's a look at what to know about Badgley and his statistical breakdown.

Michael Badgley career stats

An undrafted free agent, Badgley started his career with the Colts after finishing his college career at Miami, where he made the 2017 All-ACC First Team. He remains Miami's all-time leading scorer.

The Colts waived him before he ever had the chance to take the field in Indianapolis. He caught on with the Chargers in Week 6 of the 2018 season and functioned as their kicker through '20. He was let go after a rough final campaign and spent one game in Tennessee before returning to the Colts in Week 6 of '21. He finished that season as their primary kicker, but he was again looking for a job after the '22 season started. He had a one-game stint with the Bears before eventually catching on with the Lions in Week 7, where he remained through the end of the year. He didn't kick again until Detroit brought him back in Week 15 this season.

All told, Badgley, who's earned the nickname "Money Badger" has spent time with the Chargers, Titans, Colts, Commanders' practice squad, Bears, and Lions.

Below is how he's performed by the numbers over the years.

Year Team FGM FGA FG% XPM XPA
2018 Chargers 15 16 93.8% 27 28
2019 Chargers 13 16 81.3% 19 19
2020 Chargers 24 33 72.7% 36 39
2021 Titans/Colts 18 22 0%/85.7% 39 40
2022 Bears/Lions 24 28 100%/83.3% 33 33
2023 Lions 4 4 100% 13 15

Michael Badgley 2023 stats by distance

Badgley has been mostly reliable throughout his career inside the 30 and between the 30-39 yard range, posting only two misses from those distances to this point in his career.

He has missed a total of 11 field goals on 48 tries between the 40 and the 49 and made just five-of-13 attempts from 50-plus yards out.

Distance FGM FGA FG%
Inside 30 yards 27 28 96.4%
30-39 29 30 96.6%
40-49 37 48 77%
50-plus 5 13 38.4%

Crissy Froyd

Crissy Froyd Photo

Crissy Froyd is a content producer at The Sporting News covering college football, the NFL and other sports. A graduate of LSU in 2021, she has nine years' experience writing about football across all levels, specializing in quarterback analysis and the NFL Draft. Her work previously appeared in USA Today, Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports, among other outlets.