It isn’t common for NFL teams to draft placekickers but the Buffalo Bills elected to use a sixth round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to select Tyler Bass. It is a move that has worked out very well and Bass has had a promising start to his career.
As a rookie, Bass had to compete with veteran Stephen Hauschka for the starting spot but the Bills made the decision early in training camp that they would go with Bass. In two seasons with the Bills, it is clear it was the right decision as Bass has made almost 85% of all his field goal attempts and has made 108 out of 110 extra point attempts.
Tyler Bass’ leg strength is an advantage for the Buffalo Bills
One of the differences between Bass and Hauschka is that Bass has a much stronger leg and has consistently been able to connect on field goals over 50 yards. In fact for his career, he has made six of 10 attempts over 50 yards and each season in the league has made a field goal that was 57 yards or longer.
The fact that Bass has the ability to connect on field goals of this length is an advantage that the Bills have over other teams. They have one of the best offenses in the league so the team really only needs one or two first downs to open a drive before they are within field goal range.
One area that is often not discussed is the fact that Bass doesn’t give the opposing team much opportunity to return it on kickoffs. In his two years in the league, Bass has a touchback rate of 64% while Hauschka saw about only half of his kickoffs result in touchbacks in the three years he was in Buffalo.
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For a player who has a direct impact on the scoreboard, Tyler Bass is one of the best in the league and for that reason he is one of the best young players on the Buffalo Bills’ roster.