Dave Cutler

You would probably get a good argument going as to whether or not Dave Cutler is the best field goal kicker in the history of the CFL, but few could match Cutler when it came to clutch kicking.  If the game was on the line, there wasn't anyone better to have attempting a game winning field goal.  Cutler was a first round draft pick (fourth overall) in the 1969 CFL college draft by Edmonton.  After a try-out with the Green Bay Packers of the NFL, Cutler joined Edmonton for the 1969 season and played his entire 16 season career with Edmonton until his retirement in 1984.  The start of Cutler's career coincided with an increase in rosters that allowed teams to start carrying a dedicated kicker. The success rate of field goal kickers among this "first generation" of dedicated placekickers showed only a modest increase over the non-dedicated kickers.  For all the success that Cutler had in kicking fieldgoals, his career fieldgoal percent is only 58.7%.  A placekicker with that success rate today would be quickly unemployed as anything under 70% is considered a bad season.  That is not meant to be a criticism of Cutler as the increase in success rate among field goal kickers has had more to do with improvements in equipment, playing fields and other changes such as a dedicated long snapper.  Cutler was a clutch kicker, along the lines of Grant Fuhr in net during the playoffs, and had a strong leg that could kick a fieldgoal from anywhere past the midfield stripe.  Kickers were not named to the All-Star team until 1977 which was halfway through his career, but Cutler was a Western All-Star in 1977, 1978 and 1980 and an All-Canadian in 1977 and 1978.  Cutler led the CFL in scoring 7 times (1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1982) and was the runner-up for Outstanding Canadian in 1973.