When it comes to kickers, the Dallas Cowboys are quite fortunate. This season has been a little bit rough in some moments, but ultimately the Cowboys still employ one of the best around in Brandon Aubrey. It is unbelievable to consider that 2026 is already year number four for Aubrey.
Aubrey has been around the Cowboys so long that he has the proper marks to prove it. He was with the team when they last made the playoffs, a group that is starting to dwindle, and he even has a second contract with the club which means he has really walked through fire.
Aubrey is someone who takes care of himself and recently he has begun to do so by partnering with [Invisalign](https://www.invisalign.com/) and their “SHIFT Happens” mindset, something that he is considering both on and off the field. This week I had a chance to talk to him thanks to Invisalign, and you can watch our entire conversation below.
It was a treat to talk to Aubrey about some of the specific natures of kicking in today’s NFL. We spent a good bit of time talking about his preparation and also how he has handled the new kickoff in terms of trying to pin opponents in specific circumstances.
One thing I was curious about was whether or not he believes his own success has played a part in how the Cowboys operate things on offense. My point was that some believe that Aubrey’s range from downtown leads to Brian Schottenheimer becoming dependent on that when the Cowboys do get into field goal range. Obviously right now there is a bit of a feeling from fans that Schottenheimer is operating conservatively so take all of this with a grain of salt, but I found Brandon’s answer on that specific question to be very interesting.
> “I don’t think when you’re looking at, I don’t I can’t speak for play callers or coaching staff’s mindsets, but for me if I were in that position I think I would have a couple of different ideas based on where I am on the field. And field goal range wherever that is for your kicker is one mindset, one play style especially if it’s like a one score game.”
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> “I’ll say we’ve been in a lot of high scoring games so you can’t necessarily think that way I guess. You’d always wanna score a touchdown if you can. But yeah, I think when you’re in field goal range, you tend to not want to turn the ball over just because at that point you’re very obviously giving up points. So yeah I can see possibly being a little more conservative when you’re in field goal range. I don’t know what our play calling mindset is. I’m not involved in any of those decisions. I just try to be ready to kick it when when my name’s called.”
This was a fair answer from Aubrey. He was specific in saying that he was only speaking for himself in a hypothetical world where he made those types of decisions, and he noted that you want to protect your opportunity to score points. That is fair and rational.
But the feel and reality of our current moment is hard to ignore. Consider that the Cowboys entered Week 9 with the lowest amount of attempted fourth down conversions (on 4th and 5 or shorter) when already inside of field goal range.
Again, this information really kind of tells you what you want it to. On one hand it suggests that the Cowboys try to secure points when it feels like they have them. On the other it opens the door of conversation as to whether or not they are perhaps too reliant upon that, which is why I asked Aubrey the question in the first place.
What do you think? Is the way that Dallas is going about things the right way, or should they adjust things in some way?
Our thanks to Brandon Aubrey and to Invisalign for the time.
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