Is Younghoe Koo in danger of losing his job?

Among the storylines of Atlanta Falcons training camp, one that cannot be overlooked is the kicking competition.

At one point last season, Younghoe Koo was the most accurate kicker in NFL history. He pretty much single-handedly won Atlanta’s first matchup with New Orleans in Week 4, knocking down all four of his field goal attempts, including a 58-yarder as time expired for the win. Finding a new kicker was the last thing on anyone’s mind inside of Flowery Branch.

However, Koo would miss a couple of kicks the following week, and that’s where the issues started to compound. Whether it was the yips or a nagging injury, he was never the same, and the Falcons eventually decided to shut him down for the final three weeks of the season.

Atlanta very easily could have decided to move off Koo in the offseason to save a little cash. There is a fleeting shelf life in this league for kickers that miss field goal opportunities from any distance. However, instead, the Falcons decided to bring in a little competition, signing German placekicker Lenny Krieg.

Krieg is a former professional soccer player that wowed scouts at this year’s NFL Combine, going 14/14 on field goal attempts. That caught the Falcons’ attention, and he hasn’t stopped nailing kicks early on in training camp.

According to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Krieg nailed all five of his kicks at Sunday’s practice, including two from 50+ yards, with the longest coming from 56 yards. Meanwhile, Koo went 4/5, with his only miss coming from 48 yards.

There is no question there is a legitimate kicking competition brewing in Flowery Branch, one that could come down to the final week of the preseason. Krieg might be an unknown because of his background, but the power in his leg is legit. If he can continue to knock down kicks with supreme accuracy when the lights come on during the preseason, he just might be the Falcons new placekicker for the 2026 campaign.