When it came to getting picked in the 2023 NFL Draft, it didn’t hurt Auburn’s Anders Carlson that his brother was the first-team All-Pro kicker last season. But it might have been more important that the Green Bay Packers’ special-teams coordinator worked with his brother for almost four seasons.

After tying for the title of the NFL’s leading scorer in the 2020 and 2021 seasons for the Las Vegas Raiders, former Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson broke the league single-season record for 50-yard field goals in 2022.

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From the time that he joined the Raiders in 2018 through the 2021 season, Carlson worked with Rich Bisaccia, first as the special-teams coordinator, then as the interim head coach.

“He was a kicker that Rich has an extensive experience with,” Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst said after the Packers picked Anders Carlson with the 207th choice in the 88th NFL Draft on Saturday. “He had his brother and has known him for quite a while. …

“Rich spent some time with him down in Auburn as well. He was a guy that, I think, the familiarity there probably helped more than if we wouldn’t have had that.”

Mason Crosby has handled the kicking for Green Bay for the previous 16 seasons, and his 1,918 points are the franchise record.

Crosby became an unrestricted free agent in March when the Packers did not re-sign him, although Gutekunst said he was “never going to close the door” on Crosby.

Carlson became the first kicker drafted by Green Bay since it took Crosby from Colorado with the 193th selection in 2007.

Carlson joined former South Carolina standout Parker White as the kickers on the Green Bay roster. White signed with the Packers in January. He had a tryout last year with Green Bay, but he wasn’t signed at the time and spent the 2022 season out of football.

“It’s going to be a process that we have to work through and kind of see where it goes,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of having two rookie kickers after relying on Crosby during his four seasons at the helm. “But I think we got two guys we’re pretty confident in. Obviously drafting Anders, and Rich has some history with him and, obviously, his brother working with him in Las Vegas, so we thought he was a really good fit for us.”

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Carlson kicked for five seasons at Auburn, and his 410 points rank fifth in SEC history – 70 behind his brother’s record.

In 2020, Carlson connected on 20-of-22 field-goal attempts. In his final two seasons, he went 26-of-38.

In 2021, Carlson tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on an onside kick during Auburn’s 43-34 to Mississippi State on Nov. 13 and missed the final three games of the season.

In 2022, Carlson got hurt against Mississippi State again as he tried unsuccessfully to stop Tulu Griffin on a 92-yard kickoff-return touchdown in Auburn’s 39-33 loss. A fractured humerus caused Carlson to miss the final three games again.

The knee injury caused Carlson to wear a brace in 2022, but he didn’t wear it when he went to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis in March.

“I don’t think I produced what I wanted to with the brace,” Carlson said, “and just situationally I think they were maybe a little more timid with the reps. But since the season, obviously, taking off the brace, I think I’ve shown a great combine, a great pro day and I think that’s what a lot of teams, including Green Bay, saw in me.”

Gutekunst said Carlson’s performance at the combine had helped the Packers make the decision to draft him.

“He struggled with some injuries here over the past couple of years after a very promising start, so we felt really good about where he was headed,” Gutekunst said. “… He’s got to stay healthy, too. That’s going to be part of it. But again, I think with kickers, Rich has a long track record and a very successful one, and I felt really good about how he felt about that guy.”

Carlson became the fifth Auburn kicker drafted. The others have been:

· Tony Lunceford: 1968, No. 402, Dallas Cowboys

· John Riley: 1970, No. 362, Oakland Raiders

· Neil O’Donoghue: 1977, No. 127, Buffalo Bills

· Daniel Carlson: 2018, No. 167, Minnesota Vikings

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.