New Mizzou kicker Ryder Goodwin thrives off technical adjustment
With each kick, Ryder Goodwin collapsed on his plant foot.
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker adapted a similar technique in response to injury in 2024. But for Goodwin, who recently played at the junior-college level, he needed to break that habit. As Goodwin planted his left foot without collapse, he started to showcase a better ability to strike the football.
After two seasons at Northeast Oklahoma A&M, Goodwin received a call from Missouri. In response to a season-ending injury to starter Blake Craig, the Tigers added Goodwin as a reserve option to freshman placekicker Robert Meyer and Florida Memorial transfer kick-off specialist Oliver Robbins.
Goodwin’s advanced metrics offered insurance to an unexperienced room in the SEC. Yet even with games only logged at a lower level, his ball speed jumped off the charts. Goodwin approached Snyder Kicking for help with its Trackman system to see his kicking measurements compared to other junior-college players.
“He really showcased that he should be playing somewhere else other than at a junior college,” said former Kansas State punter Devin Anctil, the founder of Punt 21 Kicking Services in partnership with Snyder Kicker.
When Goodwin first came out, he posted ball speeds (mph) in the mid-60s. That told Anctil the right-foot contact was there, but Goodwin kept losing power from his left-knee collapse. Once he cleaned that up, he pushed closer to 70 mph, a number averaged by starters.
“It helped elevate that ball a little bit more at the line of scrimmage,” Anctil said. “And it just made his kick even more powerful once he got out that one little technique difference.”
Goodwin made five fields goals in nine attempts for NEO A&M. He also attempted a team-leading 25 punts, according to NJCAA Region 14.
Goodwin’s call to the SEC
Although Missouri adding Goodwin in response to injury came as no surprise to Anctil, the timing surprised him. Goodwin, who previously received a Division-I offer from Grambling State, possessed the data to play up a level.
In the past, Missouri welcomed kickoff competition to consistently force touchbacks. With Robbins currently handling those duties, Goodwin offers experience from a windy area of the country in rural Oklahoma.
“At those JUCO level fields, you got open ends of the end zone, and that wind comes in there pretty easily,” said Anctil, who also coached former Missouri reserve kicker Nick Quadrini. “So you have to learn pretty quick to be able to drive the ball on kickoff, or else that ball ain’t getting to the end zone.”
But can Goodwin actually kick with both legs?
“That part, I don’t know,” Anctil said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he could, because he did play soccer, and I bet you he can on-side kick with both feet. We’ve never worked with him on kicking with his left foot.”
