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.

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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
• Greg Zuerlein
• Justin Tucker

Giorgio Tavecchio

This is a great spot to play Tavecchio.  Oakland has a great offense and they will be facing NYJ, so OAK should have no issues moving the ball.  Oakland is also a 13.5 point favorite, so as long as Oakland is ahead we should see plenty of kicks for Tavecchio when the offense does stall out.  He also managed two kicks over 50 yards so he has shown he can build up points quickly.  The biggest worry would be if Oakland is not stalled out on any drives, but even if they are TD heavy to start the game you should see Tavecchio take over in the 2nd half.

Greg Zuerlein

Not as a lock of a play as he was last week, but the implied total and the proof of his leg makes him a pretty safe bet to get some kicks.  STL is a favorite against Washington and I do not believe they will be scoring TD’s left and right.  You should be able to get value easily, but I don’t love this pick like I did last week.

Justin Tucker

This is the kind of week that makes Tucker king.  Baltimore does not move the ball like the big names.  Their offense is still solid, but they are not trying to be the greatest show on turf.  This leaves a lot of chances for Tucker who can kick the ball from just about anywhere on the field.  Facing the Browns as a large favorite is the kind of spot where you will find Tucker in play the whole game.

Hybrid Plays

• Stephen Gostkowski
• Matt Bryant
• Blair Walsh

Stephen Gostkowski

This is a spot where Gost can go off, which he has shown us in games in the past.  The problem is NE might not need to kick the ball except with XP after scoring a TD.  That is a big 5 points if this game goes back and forth.  That brings some risk to Gost, but it also gives us a great chance to go off if NE takes the lead.  As the gas comes off the pedal near the end of the game Gost will be brought in for those FGs.

Matt Bryant

Bryant is on the list, but with the total, either kicker from this game could be played.  The reason I have leaned towards Bryant is that he is at home giving him the edge in percent to be the better scoring kicker.  The best kicker in this game is whichever team is up by 2 TDs in the 3rd.  If neither team is up by 14 points I would expect both kickers to have great outings.

Blair Walsh

This one is the least risky of all of the hybrid plays.  I actually would have put him into cash, but I worry about his use.  This looks like a 3 maybe 4 FG game here, but I would be surprised if he is kicking from more than 3 point range.  I get that this still makes for a great score, but seriously everyone else on my list I think could hit 18 points without as many attempts.  That is what brings Walsh down from a top player to a middle of the road play.

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.

GPP Kickers

• Wil Lutz
• Brandon McManus

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.