The New England Patriots have the best foot-ball player in the entire league and it's not even a competition. No player uses their foot with the ball better than kicker Stephen Gostkowski.
The First Team All Pro led the league in points and hasn't missed an extra point since 2006. He's a consistent kick off man that can generate a touchback whenever needed, and he's been absolute money in the clutch with a game winning field goal against the Giants, and an overtime forcing kick against the Broncos.
Even the advanced numbers support Gostkowski's claim to the throne.
FiveThirtyEight's Benjamin Morris looked at kickers around the league to see their value added over the league average. As a quick example, let's say that kickers convert 50% of their attempts from 50 yards out; this makes the expected points 1.5 points.
Gostkowski led the league with 12.2 points above average on his field goals, a huge distance ahead of the second place Dan Bailey of the Cowboys, with 9.1 points above average. Gostkowski also led the league with 11.6 points above average on his kick offs, just a hair above the Bills' Jordan Gay at 10.8 points above the average.
Combine the two and Gostkowski was worth every penny of his contract with 23.8 points above average. The Patriots kicker actually edged out the Rams Johnny Hekker who posted 18.8 points above average on his punts, plus an additional 1.8 points above average as an emergency kicker. Hekker was First Team All Pro as a punter.
It's fitting that the two best kickers in the league made the All Pro team, but it's also comforting knowing that the Patriots have the best foot-ball player in the league.