by Alana Klein

If you’re building an arena football team from scratch with anyone from any position available, I have no doubt that you’d take a QB at #1, a WR at #2, maybe a dynamic DB and some power in the trenches on both sides of the ball to round out the top 5. (For the purpose of this post, I’m not tossing out names as hypotheticals so as not to unintentionally slight anybody.)

Can I suggest a position that should be a pretty high priority? Kicker.

… No, really. Stop laughing. I know that kickers are not drafted highly and are undervalued and underappreciated in the NFL. (Just ask any 49ers fan about Eddie Pineiro last season.) Fans who are new to the game might say “But don’t they just do extra points and kickoffs? I know field goals are fairly rare.

… oh … and if you’re a kicker: apologies for that joke last paragraph, but you’ll see by the time I’m done that I have nothing but love for you.

Kickers can be game changers. I have seen two games (one this year, one last) in which the kickers scored 26 and 24 points. In each case, that was more than 25% of the team’s points (26/100 and 24/78).

Never mind the fact that a kickoff into the net can buy time for the team to get down the field and potentially cause a live ball if it’s not fielded cleanly by the return team.

If the kicker can successfully get the ball through the uprights on the kickoff, that is a 2-point “deuce”. Not only is that beneficial in that a touchdown would essentially net you 9 points, but the ball is spotted at the 5-yard line, in effect canceling out any potential big return that could energize the other team. The kicker also has the option to do a “drop-kick” extra point, which is worth 2 points.  This can be especially beneficial if you — for example — are using your backup QB and don’t want to risk having them as the holder.

In Nashville’s game against Albany, the Firebirds were (for all intents and purposes) matching touchdown-for-touchdown. However, it can be demoralizing when you’re matching a team with every score, but somehow the gap on the scoreboard keeps growing. And should you find yourself in this situation, then you’ll know exactly how it feels to be Screaming Into the Void.