ND 2024 Kicker Rankings: The Breakdown & Future Kickers to Know

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NORTH DAKOTA--</strong> With the 2024 rankings unleashed a handful of weeks ago, we thought we would spend our Tuesday morning doing our rankings breakdown of the 2024 class rankings for the kickers on our list. Although our list is small (yet growing) we analyzed each kicker's skillsets and why we have them ranked where they are in North Dakota. We also added kickers that are "next up" in the 2025 class and a 2024 kicker from Grand Forks with a MASSIVE leg that in my eyes is under the radar.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>3: [player_tooltip player_id='447264' first='Chase' last='Aadland'], West Fargo Sheyenne</strong> <a href="https://twitter.com/chase_aadland36">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>I listed Chase as our #3 overall kicker in the 2024 class amongst our Kickers in the Dakotas. He shows off some good mechanics brought over from the soccer field, but I believe there is development brewing with his contact level with the football as he showed off on tape as watching multiple reps, he showed off some growing hang-time the deeper I dove into his tape. Quite solid with his extra points.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Chase also shows off some good attention to detail when he initiates the line up of his kicks, as I would bet this young man would be higher on our kicker rankings when we look up the road at the upcoming 2023 season. Hard to gauge based on the tape available how much distance he has, however based on the clips I would bet Chase would be clutch inside 35-40 yards at the minimum.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2: [player_tooltip player_id='482365' first='Max' last='Watson'], Fargo North</strong> <a href="https://twitter.com/maxwatsonkicks">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Max certainly has that smashing ability you want at the next level on his kickoffs, as the first three clips on tape came thru as touchbacks and should a strong lever of a kicking leg with solid hangtime that can develop even higher into his senior season. Even when he doesn't catch on full contact of the ball on his kickoffs, his kicks still show a high-level of distance as on one particular kick against Valley City, he looked like he wasn't all the way thru his his rotations and still got the ball into the end zone.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>I loved that the more I watched his clips his hangtime developed even higher which gives his special teams unit the edge to use their accelerator down the field. The field goals I came across from Max showed off some next-level ability as the persistence he showed with his length and hangtime should show off a kicking leg you will see on Saturdays sometime soon! </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>1: [player_tooltip player_id='447262' first='Matthew' last='Berg'], Fargo Shanley </strong><a href="https://twitter.com/MatthewBerg33">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Matthew was one of the only prospects I got to watch in a live-evaluation on this list, but in that game I watched against Fargo South you could see why there are local FCS schools that already have him on his radar. The demeanor he brings thru his mechanics are well-balanced as the 37-yard field goal he made against Fargo South had the additional distance for a longer distance in the 40s and I can only imagine he's improved his distance since early Fall.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>He also logged 16 touchbacks in the 2022 season, which is no small number whatsoever. When you watch the clips with the touchbacks, you can tell how artistic Matthew is and how much he owns his craft even from what I have gauged this off season working with other Fargo kickers in the area. It was only a couple years ago Fargo Shanley sent their 2021 kicker to Northern California to kick at Stanford in <strong>Emmet Kenney</strong> and I believe [player_tooltip player_id='447262' first='Matthew' last='Berg'] is likely next to kick at the next-level for the Deacons.<!-- wp:list --> <ul></ul> <!-- /wp:list --></li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Specialists to Know from North Dakota:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Ross Wilber, Grand Forks Central (2024)</strong> <a href="https://twitter.com/RossWilber02">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ross is a 2024 specialist prospect you will see added to our 2024 rankings in the Dakotas here very soon. This kid has a BIG leg on field goals and it might be the biggest ones in North Dakota.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Keaton Docken, Fargo South (2025)</strong> <a href="https://twitter.com/DockenKeaton">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Younger brother of North Dakota 2023 commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='160929' first='Landon' last='Docken']</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Alex Perez, West Fargo Horace (2025)</strong> <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexPerez0413">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->