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.

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For a quick refresher remember these tips

1. Teams expected to score over 24 points and favored to win preferably at home.
2. Teams who play indoors or where the weather is not an issue.
3. Kickers who can actually kick the ball from distance with high accuracy.
4. 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.

• Giorgio Tavecchio
• Stephen Gostkowski
• Matt Bryant

Giorgio Tavecchio

Last week Giorgio did not work out as we had hoped.  The game script had gone perfect but when Oak was running the ball, they just kept breaking away for scores.  That meant we only got the one FG.  This week we can hope that Washington is able to put up a little more resistance and give Giorgio a chance to get those kicks going again.  The only risk you really have is that Giorgio is on the road.

Stephen Gostkowski

This week Gostkowski moves up the list becoming a much better play.  This massive almost 2 TD separation between NE and Houston screams top play.  The only risk that NE doesn’t need to kick the ball much.  I would say that this is a spot that you stack both the kicker and defense and hope that NE is up enough that they just run it right down the middle.  Houston should be strong enough to stop 3 straight clock burning runs.

Matt Bryant

I know this is another kicker on the road, but so far ATL has been doing a fine job moving the ball.  There are so many weapons on ATL that can perform.  Bryant is squarely on that list. I like that Detroit is able to keep this game alive themselves.  That should keep Atlanta playing the whole game and keep Bryant relevant for the whole game.

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.

• Graham Gano
• Chris Boswell
• Matt Prater

Graham Gano

This is one of the few times I am going to call out Gano probably all season.  Gano has a great chance this week against NO at home to put up some points.  I am going to be fading all of the CAR players.  I do not trust Cam and do not care what team he is playing, but that does not mean that Gano cannot benefit from this matchup.  He will carry too much risk for me to play in those 50/50s but he can give you some great upside.

Chris Boswell

If you were in slack last week you got the information that the Vegas line movement on the Pitt game.  This made Boswell come into focus as a kicker we could play.  This week we get Pitt on the road against a Bears team that is just not that good.  The great thing for DFS is that Pitt is not a team that travels well.  While I am not thrilled to play Big Ben, I won’t fade away from a Boswell Pitt stack, and could even see a Bell play thrown in for good measure.

Matt Prater

Pratter is at home against Atlanta in a high total game, with just a few small issues.  First Pratter has only 2 FGs but they are both 50 yards at least showing his leg.  Second Detroit is an underdog at home which is not somewhere we would normally want to target.  Third, the ITT is only 23.5 which is well under the goal of 24.  Fourth have you noticed how this is really a bad play?  I have noticed that also, so do not make this an all in play.  This is just a great spot for Prater to have a breakout with almost no ownership.

GPP Kickers

• Mason Crosby
• Adam Vinatieri

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!

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.