The kicker position is a tricky one if you don’t have the biggest names. Linda Godfrey offers streaming advice for the position in Week 2.
Boy, that felt good, huh?! I watched a grotesque amount of football from Thursday to Monday, and I can’t wait to do it again and again for the next several months. I’m getting ahead of myself though, we have to stop and smell the roses.
We’re just going to rip this bandaid right off. Last week, I suggested that Brandon Aubrey might have a down week against Cleveland. Brandon Aubrey and his cannon for a leg laughed in my face on the way to a 21-point fantasy performance. That’s on me, it won’t happen again Brandon. The other two kickers I was fading in Week 1, Daniel Carlson and Dustin Hopkins, finished with 4 and 7 points, respectively.
As for the kickers I was streaming last week: Chase McLaughlin, Cairo Santos, and Jason Myers all finished opening weekend with double-digit fantasy points. McLaughlin hit all three of his field goals, including a 56-yarder, for 15 points and K6 finish on the week. That’s a pretty solid start the the season, let’s do it again.
Remember, we’re looking at kickers rostered in less than 25% of Yahoo! leagues. We cleared that by a lot in today’s list of streamers.
Streamers
I wrote about Joshua Karty two weeks ago as a potential sleeper for this season. Karty was perfect in his NFL debut against the Lions. He converted both his field goal attempts and both PATs. The Rams are headed to Arizona for this Week 2 matchup, so Karty will be indoors. The Cardinals just allowed 10 points to Bills kicker Tyler Bass to start the season.
Los Angeles led the league in average field goal attempts per game last season with 2.6. While the Rams struggle with injuries on the offensive side of the ball, I expect them to move the ball well enough but come up short from time to time, paving the way for Joshua Karty.
This may be a case of getting too cute, much like the Aubrey call last week. But, I meant it when I said last week that the Washington defense is exploitable. The Commanders picked up right where they left off in 2023 allowing 15 points to Chase McLaughlin in Week 1. Until Washington shows me otherwise, I’ll keep streaming the kicker of whoever is playing them.
This week that’s Graham Gano. I know, I know. Daniel Jones is not good. Neither is the Commander’s defense. When this mediocre offense meats a terrible defense, let the kicker sparks fly. In Gano’s first game back from injury last week he converted on 2-for-2 field goals, including a 50-yarder.
A double-dip into the Rams at Cardinals matchup. This game is indoors, the Cardinals are favorites, and long-time veteran Matt Prater converted his two field goal attempts and both PATs against the Bills in Week 1. Arizona attempted 2.3 field goals per game to close out last season and kicked off their 2024 season with multiple field goal attempts. So yeah, give me a field goal-off for this afternoon game on Sunday.
Fades
This is going to be controversial after he put up a flashy 22-point game to start the season. I like Blake Grupe in 2024. He was one of my sleeper kickers before the season started. However, they’ve got Dallas this week. That’s a far cry from the Carolina Panthers. I expect the Saints to run into a brick wall of a reality check after the 47-10 routing in Week 1. That means Blake Grupe coming back down to earth.
On paper, the matchup with Tennessee should be good for opposing kickers. I can’t get behind Greg the Leg until I see more from the Jets offense. The offensive line is still a liability. Aaron Rodgers has some more rust to knock off. Nathaniel Hackett leaves a lot to be desired as the offensive coordinator. This game might be a real stinker. Can’t wait to watch it!
Okay seriously, Daniel Carlson is still rostered in 15% of leagues. I understand nostalgia with the best of ‘em. But the Raiders struggled against the Los Angeles Chargers and this week they’re going into Baltimore. Their implied point total is 16. It’s time to move on. You can look back fondly on the times Carlson delivered your fantasy teams to the promised land, but it’s time to look forward to future fantasy wins.
Going 5-of-6 to open the season feels really good. I mean 83.3%, that’s better than Blake Grupe’s field goal percentage last season. But hitting last week means nothing if we don’t hit again the next week. Jake Moody and Chris Boswell inspired me, let’s go 6-for-6.
