Ranking the Big Ten: Kicker

As the 2019 season draws nearer by the day, it’s time to start taking a look at some of the top players to watch in the Big Ten Conference.

We continue our annual Ranking the Big Ten series today with the safeties, a group that will determine plenty of games and even some teams' seasons in 2019.

Related: QB | RB | WR | TE | C | G | T | DE | DT | ILB | OLB | CB | S

He's only entering his junior season, but Coghlin is well on his way to becoming the most accurate kicker in Michigan State history.

A starter since he was a freshman, Coghlin currently ranks first in program history in field goal percentage (80.5) and has made all 63 of his career extra point attempts. He also set an MSU record with 18 straight made field goals from Nov. 4, 2017 to Oct. 27, 2018, which tied for the fourth-longest streak in Big Ten history.

Coghlin was a first-team all-conference pick last year by the league's media, and he was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to the nation's best kicker. Now he's a preseason first-team All-Big Ten selection by Athlon.

Justus was just about automatic during his first season as Indiana's starting place kicker, as he connected on 15 of his 18 field goals and 32 of his 33 extra points.

Two of his four total misses came on blocked kicks in a rain-soaked win over Virginia.

He too was a Groza Award semifinalist, and he took home second-team All-Big Ten honors by the league's coaches and was a third-team selection by the media. He's now been tabbed as a preseason second-team all-conference pick by Athlon.

Moody didn't take over as Michigan's starting place kicker until the 10th game of last season, but that's all the time he needed to etch his name in the school record books.

In his first career start against Indiana on Nov. 17, 2018, Moody set Wolverine single-game records for scoring by a kicker (19 points) and made field goals (6). The true freshman was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts.

Moody ended up making 10 of his 11 field goal attempts on the year, and now he enters his first full season as the No. 1 pegged as a preseason third-team All-Big Ten selection by Athlon.

Rutgers' offense didn't score very often in 2018, but when it did, Davidovicz was generally the reason why.

The sophomore led the Scarlet Knights with 44 points on the year, going 9-for-11 on field goals and hitting all 17 of his extra points. His season-long field goal of 52 yards tied for the longest by a Big Ten kicker.

He was an honorable-mention all-conference selection at the end of the year, and now he enters his junior campaign as a fourth-team preseason all-league pick by Athlon.

After making his first two career field goals to start his true freshman season, Pickering hit a bit of a rough patch in 2018. He ended up missing four of his next six kicks, giving further concern to Nebraska's all-around special teams woes to open the year.

But Pickering settled down and eventually found his groove, converting his final 10 field goals of the season to go along with making 40 of his 41 extra points. His best game came in a home win over Michigan State, where the Birmingham, Ala., accounted for all of NU's points in a snowy 9-6 victory.

Pickering led the Huskers in scoring at 82 points, and assuming his late-season consistency carries over into his sophomore campaign, he could be in line for another big year in 2019.