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.

• Ryan Succop
• Graham Gano
• Kai Forbath

Ryan Succop

The matchup is a great one because Succop needs volume to bring value.  He also needs to make the kick attempts he gets.  Succop started out strong at the start of the season but he only has one field goal over 50 yards even with four attempts.  This is a tough pill to swallow, but you will not find a better matchup to play Succop this season.

Graham Gano

Green Bay has not been a team where teams have struggled.  Gano gets to check a lot of boxes for us this week.  Home team with an ITT over 24 and favored to win.  Gano is a cash safe play and priced at an easy 4700 with plenty of upside.  I do not even mind Gano for GPP with this matchup, but he does lack some of those long-distance kicks that we really like in GPP kickers.

Kai Forbath

Once again we get those boxes checked off for us.  Favored at home with an ITT over 24 is as good as any box checker you can find.  Once again he is also priced at 4700 which is a great spot for him.  The upside count does climb with seven 50-yard kicks attempted and five of those made.  I think that Forbath is a safe option for cash and if Cin def is still having any issues with health on defense he gets a major upgrade to GPP.  Forbath is one of the best kicker options on the slate.

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
• Wil Lutz
• Justin Tucker

Greg Zuerlein

Zuerlein is still one of the best options each week.  His price is sitting at 5300 which is pricey given some of the cheaper options we have.  My bold call for you this week is that Zuerlein is fadeable and will not kill you this week.  I can see a few ways this plays out.  First, the game goes with plenty of kicks and Zuerlein pulls in a 15+ point score.  The reason this does not kill you is that there is a great shot that several other kickers at a cheaper price can produce that same score.  The second way this game can go is it is a divisional matchup and Zuerlein will score less than 12 points.  A score with his price tag that can easily be passed by other kickers.

Wil Lutz

Lutz is by far a safer play than Zuerlein.  He checks off so many boxes it’s like a box checkers wet dream.  Over 30 point ITT and a 16 point favorite are like kicker gold.  Well, kicker gold as long as Vegas is not far off with their assessment.  The only reason I would not be playing Lutz would be because I wanted to save a little more money and play Tucker or a lot more money and play Forbath.

Justin Tucker

Here is my play of the week.  5100 price tag brings you a let that can go for miles.  Vegas does not give us the ITT that we would normally want to focus on, but as a seven-point favorite, I don’t mind.  Tucker does not need many kicks to bring in a big value.  He gets enough 40 and 50-yard attempts to make value quick.  Add in some XP and a few short yard kicks and you got yourself a stud play.

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!

• Josh Lambo
• Blair Walsh
• Jake Elliott

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.