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Just over a year removed from being cut for the second time in his NFL career, Atlanta Falcons placekicker Younghoe Koo leads the NFL in scoring through this season's first 12 weeks.
Koo has 109 points (10.9 per game), seven more than second-place Ryan Succop of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 26-year-old Koo, who was born in South Korea, has made 29 of 30 field goal attempts (the most in the league), good for a 96.7 percent clip. He is 6 of 6 on field goals over 50 yards, and has made 22 of 25 extra points.
Koo was cut by the Chargers in 2017 for veteran Nick Novak after making only three of six field goal attempts. After playing in the now-defunct AAF league in 2018, he failed to stick with the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots despite trying out for both teams' vacant kicker positions.
Koo signed with the Falcons last season, after the team cut their franchise's leading scorer, Matt Bryant. Koo has stuck ever since. He has made 52 of 56 field goal attempts in Atlanta, and made over 90 percent of his extra points.
One of only four Korean-Americans to ever play in the NFL, Koo began his football career path after he immigrated to America at age 12. His classmates found out he had a big leg from playing soccer.
"During a lunch break, kids were playing two-hand-touch football," Koo told The Bill Simmons Podcast. "They said, 'Punt it,' because they knew I played soccer. And they saw me punt the ball and they were like, 'Oh man. Look at this kid! You should come out and play football with us.' And that's how I signed up for football."
During a time in the NFL where onside kicks are dwindling in attempt and success rates, Koo has become a cult legend for his proficiency at the special teams version of the "Hail Mary." He is referred to as the "onside kick master," successfully completing four onside kicks in the 2019 season, though two were called back for unrelated penalties.
Even at the time of Koo's departure from the Chargers, head coach Anthony Lynn believed that Koo could go on to have a successful NFL career.
"I think Koo is going to have a long NFL career," Lynn told ESPN. "I told him that this happens to a lot of rookies. A lot of rookies get cut early in their career, and they come back and play for a lot of years.
