Special teams was a huge sore spot for several teams this past season, proving its value as a winning unit.
Kickers, especially, seemed to make or break a lot more games than usual in 2025. We saw the highs of that positional group from kickers like Cameron Dicker and Harrison Mevis, and the lows from kickers like Brandon McManus.
A new metric called Kick Value Added (KVA), formulated by FanSided, has further pulled the curtain back on just how paramount it is for teams to roster effective kickers. For the Detroit Lions and Jake Bates, this metric suddenly serves as proof that his sophomore season with the team was, in fact, on the weaker side. Our eyes were not deceiving us.
KVA proves Jake Bates' effectiveness dropped in 2025
First, a quick introduction to how KVA is measured, as explained by FanSided's Adam Fromal:
"Instead of treating all makes and misses equally, KVA measures how much value a kicker actually adds (or costs) relative to league expectations from the same distances across the field. A long-distance conversion shouldn’t be weighed the same as a chip shot, and a miss doesn’t carry the same meaning everywhere on the field. As we saw during a 2025 season that featured incredible long-range success, making a 55-yarder this year shouldn't be treated the same as a kicker drilling a 55-yarder in 1985. KVA captures that difference."
Bates finished up his 2025 with a -3.1217 KVA, which was good for 33rd in the league overall. Zero would be "pure averageness," which means Bates was slightly below league average. Fromal wrote on Bates: "Failing to follow up on a phenomenal first year, Jake Bates missed a whopping seven field goals and two extra points."
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There was one game that really worked against Bates this season and one that might've stuck out a lot to fans, which was Week 9 against the Minnesota Vikings. The team lost that one 27-24, and Bates had a missed field goal. That ended up making the difference between some overtime hope and a heartbreaking NFC North loss that would end up haunting Detroit down the stretch of the year.
This is not to say Bates should be given up on. Despite a -3.1217 KVA, he still ended the year hitting 96.4 percent of his extra points, with a 59 yarder under his belt. But, looking at his rookie season, where he made 89.7 percent of his field goals, you can note an obvious drop-off in his second year.
Detroit's special teams unit, helmed by David Fipp, was certaintly one of the stronger units in the NFL overall. Detroit's punter, Jack Fox, shined in his fifth season with the Lions, while Hogan Hatten was a steady long snapper. The chances of Bates having a nice bounceback in his third year are high considering how well run this unit is, so there's no need to fear this negative value just yet.