The Jacksonville Jaguars placed the franchise tag on kicker Josh Scobee, the club announced today.
"We are placing the franchise tag on Josh today and it is our goal to reach a long term deal with him," Jaguars General Manager Gene Smith said. "Josh was drafted by the Jaguars and is someone that I have great respect for as a player and as a person."
Scobee has served as the Jaguars' placekicker since being selected in the fifth round of the 2004 draft. In eight seasons, Scobee has connected on 167 of 212 field goals (78.8 pct.) and 254 of 257 extra points for 755 points. He enters the 2012 season 10 points away from surpassing Mike Hollis (764) for the franchise record in career points. Scobee is also nine field goals from eclipsing Hollis' franchise record of 175 career field goals.
Scobee, who has played in 120 career games, has converted 18 of 29 field goals from 50-plus yards, the most in team history. He ranks fifth in the NFL from 2004-11 with a 62.1 field goal percentage from 50 or more yards. He owns the record for the four longest field goals in team history including a franchise-record 59-yard game-winning field goal on November 3, 2010 against Indianapolis. He has seven career game-winning field goals. As a kickoff specialist, he has a franchise-record 145 touchbacks on 533 career kickoffs.
In 2011, Scobee connected on a career-high 92.0 percent of his field goals (23 of 25), the second-highest percentage in team history, as he led the team with 93 points. He tied his career-best by making his first 15 field goal attempts to start the season, equaling the third-best streak in team history. Of his 23 field goals, 12 were from 40-plus yards including five of six from 50-plus yards (55, 53, 54, 54, 51). The five field goals of 50-plus yards were the most in team history and tied for the sixth-most in the NFL. He set a single-season franchise record with 39 touchbacks on 62 kickoffs (62.9 pct.) and 58 of his 62 kickoffs (93.5 pct.) reached the end zone.
The 2011 season was highlighted by a record-breaking performance on October 24 against Baltimore on Monday Night Football. Scobee connected on all four field goal attempts (54, 54, 22, 51) against the Ravens and scored all 12 of the club's points in the win. The three field goals of 50-plus yards tied an NFL record and he was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
