OXNARD, Calif. — A year ago, the Dallas Cowboys entered training camp with kicker being one of the biggest questions on their roster. It’s now one of the team’s greatest strengths.
Brandon Aubrey , a former Major League Soccer player, went from USFL kicker to beating out Tristan Vizcaino in a training camp battle and eventually earning first-team All-Pro in his rookie season. Advertisement No kicker made more field goals (36) than Aubrey last season. No one was better from 50-plus yards (10-for-10).
And this was done while setting the NFL record for the most field goals made in a row to start a career with 35. How does he plan on topping his first season? “I don’t know if I’m going to even worry about what I did last year,” he said earlier this month. “I’m 0 for 0 this year.
Go out there and try to make one kick at a time and just keep that same mentality that I need to earn my job each and every week.” The pressure of an elite encore performance doesn’t seem to be bothering him. Aubrey said there’s a lot less stress compared to a year ago when he was competing for a job.
He proved that Saturday night when he made the longest field goal of his career. As time expired in the first half of Dallas’ preseason game with the Las Vegas Raiders , Aubrey drilled a 66-yarder that looked like it would’ve been good from more than 70 yards. If it had occurred in a regular-season game, it would have tied the NFL record, which was set by Baltimore ’s Justin Tucker in 2021.
SMOOTH LIKE BUTTER 😮💨 📺: #DALvsLV on CBS 11 📲: Stream on NFL+ ➡️ https://t.co/LvklCbZgQM pic.twitter.
com/zsoxoNPtNn — Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) August 18, 2024 “You can just feel it off your foot,” Aubrey said. “It feels like nothing is there, you have no resistance. It pops off your foot.
It stays on your foot for like a half a second and then it just flies. You know as soon as you hit it that you hit it well.” The beauty of that kick leads to the obvious question: What’s the longest field goal he’s ever made? Aubrey said they never work on those types of distances in practice, but he has made a 70-yarder messing around on his own.
Like AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys’ home, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas is an indoor venue that provided the right conditions for such a kick. GO DEEPER NFL Projection Model, NFC win totals: Are 49ers, Lions still cream of the crop? “Kicking in pregame, I noticed the ball was flying a lot better than (at training camp),” Aubrey said. “Oxnard is a tough place to kick.
L.A. is the same, so coming out here, there’s no wind.
It’s perfect conditions. Nice grass field with a little bit of elevation being in Vegas. It’s a good place to play.
” Advertisement Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy was about as ecstatic as you will ever see him at halftime, pumping his fist and smiling wide as the ball went through the uprights. “It’s a great weapon to have when you just gotta get to the 50,” McCarthy said after the game. McCarthy has 17 years of experience as an NFL head coach.
During that time, he says he had a similar level of confidence with Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby . “But Brandon, he’s at a different level with his distance,” McCarthy said. “I just go back to his first day here at camp.
I had a chance to stand behind him and see the ball come off his foot. It’s like anything in our game, we work together every day, so I get to see the consistency that he kicks with. His ball placement, his length is outstanding.
” There are many different stadium and field conditions across the NFL. The best for kickers is usually indoors with weather not a factor. AT&T Stadium has a retractable roof and doors but they were never open during a game last season.
With a weapon like Aubrey, don’t be surprised if they remain closed throughout the 2024 season. GO DEEPER Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy on performance vs. Raiders: 'This was a good night for us' “We have a system,” McCarthy said of determining where they’ll try Aubrey from in games.
“Particularly when you play outside, we have marks, different lines and so forth. And just with my history up north, that can change eight to nine yards per direction. So yeah, that’s really what that whole pre-game process is for.
” After Saturday’s game, Aubrey said he was experiencing the best week of his life. He quickly left SoFi Stadium after Dallas’ first preseason game on Aug. 11 to fly home in time for the birth of his son, Colton.
Aubrey acknowledged that some recently acquired dad strength might have contributed to the longest field goal of his career. The Cowboys should have a kicking advantage in just about every game they play this season. Based on what he’s shown over the last 365 days, Aubrey’s leg could be the difference in Dallas ending up with an extra win or two, and maybe more.
“You want to go out there and perform and give your team a better chance of winning,” he said. “Knowing that I can do that, it means a lot for me, and hopefully it means a lot for the guys in the locker room as well.” (Photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images).
