Kickers Corner
Are you ready to continue to build your lineups from the bottom up? If you have not yet done so, check out my posting for Defenses Here. For many, the way to build is to start from the top, pick out the QB that they want. They leave Def and Kicker to the end and just take whomever you can fit. For some, they choose to start at the bottom and work their way to the top. This way no spot goes without proper thought. I am here to help you by doing that research for you with the focus at the bottom of the roster.
Before the Pick Research
I love to play on Fanduel and one of those reasons is that I believe that the Kicker gives us an advantage. So many people roster whatever cheap kicker they can place. About as much thought goes into who they play kicker as they do who’s the boss. The best thing is, the Kicker might be one of the easiest spots to select. If you want to know what I look for in selecting a kicker I have you covered in my How to Pick a Kicker to find out.
If you have just found the DFS Army and want to join we have a whole lot of great stuff coming your way. You can Register For DFS Army VIP Membership Here. You could even try out a month of the DFS Army free if Want to try a free month of DFS Army VIP Membership? Remember DFS Army is ALL SPORTS for the same low price. If you are not ready for DFS to end when NFL does, join today and start learning NBA or any other sports DFS has.
For a quick refresher remember these tips
- Teams expected to score over 24 points and favored to win preferably at home.
- Teams who play indoors or where the weather is not an issue.
- Kickers who can actually kick the ball from distance with high accuracy.
- forget about the price, and focus on the skill.
The main reason we want to focus on everything but ignore the price is that no other position on your roster will have more chance to return points based on the difference in salary. Top priced kickers are 5100, the bottom price is 4500. Many top options will fall into the 4700 range, that means for 200 more you could easily grab a 15 point kicker whereas the 4500 guys may only be good for 8.
Cash Kickers
Cash kickers will be kickers who can score us a solid 8-10 points. If they get more that is great, but we really need that safety floor just like any other roster spot. This could be 1 FG and 3 XP or it could be all FGs. To find these we will strictly follow the rules laid out above.
- Stephen Hauschka
- Harrison Butker
- Travis Coons
Stephen Hauschka
Not a name you have seen on my list often, but getting a major matchup boost in week 14. There is not a lot to say about Hauschka when it comes to his leg. He is good at what he does. 22/25 kicks this season already in the bag. He has only missed from 40+ this season but is getting enough kicks from distance to absorb those misses. Hauschka can bring value this week against Indy. Vegas is not helping us out in this matchup but we can assume 10 points easy.
Harrison Butker
With a team total over 24 and favored to win, Butker is actually one of our safest picks this week according to Vegas. Butker has been a little all over the place this season but that is because KC offense has been all over the place this season. This is a week where Butker should easily make value and he does have the ability to put up a GPP winning score. He is placed in cash because it doesn’t take much to make value but it could take a lot to win a GPP.
Travis Coons
Who the hell is Travis Coons you ask? He is the guy who is filling in for Novak for the LAC. Coons had a solid first week out for SD hitting 4 out of 5 kicks for 14 points. This is a perfect spot to buy a kicker dirt cheap. The matchup is not perfect as Washington could find themselves ahead in theory. The boost to being at home, the fact that the Chargers really need to win, and the fact that Coons is only 4500 all play into a safe as can be cash lock this week.
Hybrid Plays
If you are not sure why a hybrid play is I suggest checking out a Geek Favorite to understand what I am talking about. A quick breakdown, however, is these are players who carry a little more risk for more upside. This is an area where we can kind of skip some of the rules or interpret them our own way.
- Greg Zuerlein
- Jake Elliott
- Matt Prater
Greg Zuerlein
I am starting to think I should just do my kickers post one of these weeks, and when you click on the link it takes you to a photo of Greg Zuerlein. I mean seriously, he is averaging 14 points a game with 12 games played. He has hit at least 17 points in in seven weeks. The two weeks he was over 17 he hit for 18 and 27. Seriously I need caps on numbers. TWENTYSEVEN POINTS SCORED AS A KICKER! There is a little risk with this game against Philly, but FD dropped his price to 5200 to compensate for that. SERIOUSLY WTF FANDUEL? This kicker should easily be priced at 5500 each week and if he is not priced at or above 5500 you need to find a way to get him in your lineup.
Jake Elliot
Want to be a little different? Want to save 100 in salary cap? Then get off the kicker everyone else will be on and play Elliot. Elliot needs more volume to hit a big score but in a week against the Rams I kind of dig the pick. So let’s say this game is back and forth? We know both teams want to win this game, we know that both teams have a solid defense and great offenses. So what if this game has a lot of ball movement but lacks on some touchdowns? If that happens both kickers should be in for a big game. I would rather take the home kicker for 100 more, but I could see Elliot outscoring Zuerlein.
Matt Prater
One of our other kickers of focus lately has been Prater. Prater is actually a better play than Elliot and with no Tucker on the main slate becomes the 2nd best option behind Greg the Leg. Facing TB even on the road is a great spot to focus on offensive weapons. The good news and the bad news is Stafford might not play. The reason this is bad news is it could be that the backup QB is not able to move the ball and Prater is left on the sidelines. The good news is that Prater could be used even more because the backup QB is able to move the ball against TB, but struggles to score in the RZ…which is funny cause that has been Det’s problem all season. Pratter is your #2 option this week, but I would rather save a shit load of money or play Zuerline.
GPP Kickers
This group of kickers may score you 0 points but they offer the upside of 20 points if things go your way. These are the guys you may only play if you are going MME and looking to be different. They are also the kickers who may win you that 30,000 person contest. Of course, they are also the same ones who could lose it for you. RISK BE WARNED!
- Dan Bailey
- Ka’imi Fairbairn
- Phil Dawson
These kickers are risky. Each offers something that I see where we could end up with a great score. For more on that join me in Slack and let’s talk about them together.