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.

• Wil Lutz
• Dan Bailey

Wil Lutz

If NO is ahead then Lutz is a GPP quality kicker.  Vegas does say that NO should win, but we always want to be careful with divisional matchups.  This is a great spot to target Lutz at home and while he is in my cash section and not in my Hybrid section is close to my favorite kicker on the slate.  Even if NO falls behind I think Lutz is safe for cash with his 10 point floor.

Dan Bailey

There is nothing wrong with targeting Bailey at home.  Vegas gives us all the checkmarks we can hope for and his price is nice at 4800.  We do not have a lot to go on this season with Bailey being hurt most of the season, but with Zeke coming back I expect Dal to be full force.  Both of these teams need to win and that means the game should go down to the final tic of the clock.

 

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
• Harrison Butker
• Matt Prater

Graham Gano

This is a kicker who has been on fire most of the season.  This week you have Car playing against TB in a game that basically screams play as many spots as you can.  The only reason you might not play Gano is stacked with Cam, but as 10 point favorites, this could be a match where no one is a bad play.  Cam can get the points early and Gano gets them in the 2nd half.  Either way, if you want some exposure to this game and cannot get Cam or the big weapons, grab yourself some Gano.

Harrison Butker

Been awhile since we have looked to Harrison Butker for as a big play kicker.  This week at home as a 10 point favorite though it is hard to ignore Butker.  The matchup against Miami screams for Butker to be a big-time kicker this week.  Butker has been smacking the ball from 40+ yards all season.  In a week where he should not only have the balls from distance but he should also have plenty of attempts.

Matt Prater

Prater has been a pretty solid kicker most of the season.  Against the missing Cin defense, I expect Det to perform on all areas.  The only thing that would stop you from using Prater is the fact that you have this game so game stacked that you cannot use him.  Basically, if you are using Cam and do not want to use Gano, you use Prater.  If you are doing a Stafford build and do not want to use Prater you use Gano.

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!

• Dustin Hopkins
• Josh Lambo
• 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.