Trey Smack Won't Be the Next Anders Carlson

The Green Bay Packers’ final moments of the 2026 NFL Draft made for an intriguing de-crescendo.

General manager Brian Gutekunst, historically fond of drafting as many players as he can, traded both of his seventh-round picks to take Florida kicker Trey Smack at the end of the sixth round.

Not only did the move give Gutekunst his smallest draft class, but it also allowed him to take a shot at a specialist.

Gutekunst has drafted other specialists, but he hasn't been successful in doing so.

Punter J.K. Scott didn't find success until years after Green Bay moved on, and drafting long snapper Hunter Bradley feels like a fever dream.

Most recently, the Packers drafted kicker Anders Carlson in 2023's sixth round. It didn't work out, and Carlson's stint in Green Bay didn't even make it to a second season.

But if you're worried history will repeat itself, it won't — and least not for the same reasons. Trey Smack is as far from Carlson as a kicking prospect can be.

As a prospect, Carlson was a project. In five seasons at Auburn, Carlson made 79 of 110 field goal attempts for a 71.8% success rate. Not exactly an amazingly accurate kicker. Carlson had a strong leg, but accuracy was a major concern.

Acme Packing Co.'s Justis Mosqueda broke down how to rank kickers by their expected points added. Compared to a theoretical neutral kicker, Carlson was worth -28.7 expected points added, the lowest by far of the past 18 drafted kickers.

Why did the Packers draft Carlson then? Even if the team really liked him as a prospect, they could have brought him in as a UDFA.

It's because Anders’ older brother, Daniel, had become one of the league's top kickers, and the man who developed him with the Las Vegas Raiders, Rich Bisaccia, was the Packers special teams coordinator. Bisaccia believed he could develop Anders the way he developed his brother. Daniel was a better prospect but with similar traits.

Obviously, it didn't work out. Anders started strong but got worse as the season went on. By the end of the season, he was a liability, and LaFleur didn't trust his leg.

In his year as Green Bay's kicker, he made 27 out of 33 field goals (81.8%). That was better than his collegiate average but not exactly great. Worse yet, he missed five extra point attempts.

Carlson had a chance to compete for a redemption season, battling with veteran Greg Joseph. Neither won after a lackluster summer, and Carlson has jumped around the league without a home since.

Trey Smack, on the other hand, was the top-ranked kicker this cycle. If only one kicker was expected to go drafted, it was Smack. He was also the CheeseheadTV Draft Guide's top-ranked kicker prospect. (Carlson didn't make the list in 2023.)

As his name suggests, Smack has a booming leg. He converts long field goals (five of six on 50-plus last season) and touchbacks (46 of 60). Already, those are two areas where the current Packers kicker, Brandon McManus, struggled. (McManus was six for 14 on kicks longer than 40 yards last season.)

While kicking in the SEC, Smack was 53 of 64 on field goals (81.8% success) and near-perfect on extra points, missing just one of his 101 attempts.

According to Mosqueda's data, Smack has the fourth-highest expected points over average.

The main questions for Smack are his accuracy at shorter distances and whether he can handle the cold. While Smack talked about growing up in Maryland and getting used to kicking there, it's a massive difference between Maryland and Wisconsin winters, and playing in the SEC won't keep those cold-weather skills sharp.

There's also the matter of a different special teams coordinator being in town. Bisaccia thought he could develop Carlson, but couldn't. Instead, new coordinator Cam Achord gets his guy, the most pro-ready in the class. Smack said he and Achord hit it off, “and now, I'm here.”

There's an argument against drafting any kicker, and it's a fair one. But the Packers need consistency at kicker, especially after McManus' collapse in the Wild Card round. Personally, I like taking a shot on the draft's top option rather than risking missing on him.

Smack still has plenty of work ahead of him and needs to earn the job. He could still falter and be another future strike against drafting a kicker. But he's a much more polished prospect than Anders Carlson, and Trey Smack is the chosen kicker for the new coordinator. If he fails, it won't be because he's Anders Carlson 2.0.

And Smack is an elite name for a kicker. Let's hope the new kicker thrives, and, in the words of Akon, can “smack that.”