Kicker Strategy

The NFL moved the extra point back to the 15-yard line before last season, making it equivalent to a 31- or 32-yard field goal. The league wanted to make it tougher on the kickers, pushing for more entertaining play for the fans. There’s no doubting that a two-point conversion is more entertaining than an extra point, but fantasy owners, myself included, loved the easy, chip shot PAT of old. In 2014, there were 26 kickers who did not miss a single extra point. That number dropped dramatically last season with the PAT being moved back. In 2015, only six kickers made every single extra point they attempted. Due to the increased difficulty of PATs, two-point conversion attempts jumped from 59 in 2014 to 94 last season.

With all that in mind, the kicking position is still utilized in almost all season-long formats and some DFS sites. For this article, I’ll be discussing the importance of kickers and why you should value them. A lot of people hold off until the last round to draft a kicker or go with the plug-and-play option from the waiver wire all season. You can surely go that route, but getting a top-five kicker can be a huge plus to your team.

Listen, drafting a kicker isn’t sexy, but it does have an impact on your weekly matchups. Say you’re in a 12-team league and you follow ESPN’s standard scoring, which in terms of kicking scoring is pretty consistent across the industry. Stephen Gostkowski was the top scoring kicker at 168 points, while Mike Nugent was 12^th at 126 points. Over the course of 16 games, that’s a difference of 2.625 points per week. That may not seem like much, but I’m sure you can reminisce on a time where you lost by one or two points. This isn’t the first time you’re going to hear me say this, so let’s kick it off here. Kickers do matter.

Say you’re in a standard scoring format and your kicker hits a 48-yarder, a 43-yarder, a 39-yarder and two PATs. That’s a total of 13 points. A running back, wide receiver or tight end would need 50 yards and a touchdown to match your kicker’s total. So, instead of drafting that sixth wideout or running back in the 12^th round who might play one week for you during the season, perhaps you should get a top-tier kicker. Kickers do matter.

When drafting a kicker, you should be aware of what you need to be targeting.

High-Powered Offenses

This is rather obvious, but a chart can help put things in perspective. You want a kicker that plays for a team that scores a lot of points. More chances in the other team’s territory provides your kicker with more chances to score you points. It’s simple. Take a look at last year’s highest scoring offenses and where its kicker placed in ESPN standard scoring.

As you can see from the chart, more often than not, a high-scoring offense leads to a high-scoring fantasy kicker. It seems like such a simple statement, but the fact of the matter is that it’s true. Gostkowski, Gano, Brown and Hauschka all ranked in the top five among fantasy kickers, while their team offense ranked in the top six in points per game. Boswell was the 13^th rated fantasy kicker despite only appearing in 12 games. Even though Pittsburgh attempted a league-high 11 two-point conversions, they gave him enough field goal attempts to stay among the league’s best kickers since becoming the team’s kicker. Your kicker isn’t out there throwing, running or catching the pigskin, so you need to put your faith in an offense that can move the ball into field goal territory for your kicker.

Red Zone Inefficiencies

High-octane offenses help your kickers out, but red zone inefficiencies help them out a bunch as well. Remember in the earlier chart how four of the top five kickers were in that chart? Well, who was the third-best kicker last season? Minnesota’s Blair Walsh. Minnesota was 16^th in points per game and had the fourth fewest total yards, so how the hell was Blair Walsh the third-best kicker last season? Not only did he make the most field goals last season, but Minnesota’s FG/Dr of .205 topped the league in 2015. Only five teams were worse than Minnesota when it came to scoring touchdowns in the red zone. One of those teams was the New York Giants, which is also a big reason as to why Josh Brown was a top-five kicker last season.

We could have seen a Tampa Bay kicker higher up in the ranks last season, but Connor Barth was really bad, making only 82.1 percent of his field goal attempts. The Bucs had the fifth most net total yards per game last season, but really struggled to punch the ball into the red zone. Their FG/Dr of .171 was eighth highest in the league, but an ineffective kicker really did them in. The Tampa Bay kicker hasn’t really been lucrative in recent years, but the team made an effort to prioritize this weakness. Maybe trading up for a kicker wasn’t the worst decision after all.

With that in mind, I’m not saying you should avoid teams that are very successful in the red zone. Carolina and New England had the top two kickers last season, besides each team ranking in the top-four in red zone efficiency. What I am saying is that teams who might struggle in the red zone give you the opportunity of accruing more points. Offensive inefficiencies in the red zone could lead to an effective season for your kicker.

Plug-And-Play DOES NOT work

Take your approach to kickers like you’re going to the high school prom. Get ol’ reliable beforehand, instead of just showing up at the dance and hoping there is someone hot there to dance with you. Chances are there won’t be, and even if there is, you’ll be competing with numerous other guys. Taking the streaming option on kickers lies on the same principle. It does not work.

Don’t concern yourself with worrying on a kicker each and every week. Worry about the other more prominent spots in your lineup, like wideout or running back. You’re also probably not the only one in your league playing this dangerous game, so each week you may have to spend more of your FAAB or a higher waiver priority to get that kicker you think is going to help you out that week. You want to maximize the points from this position and rolling with a kicker from the waiver wire just doesn’t seem to be a recipe for success. It’s a waste of time, FAAB and you’re just going to screw yourself in the end. It’s important to get yourself a good kicker. Kickers do matter.

Whether or Not Weather Matters

Simply put, weather does matter to an extent. However, don’t let this be the trump card per say. Sure, Mason Crosby will have to kick at cold Lambeau Field later in the season, but that doesn’t mean that you avoid him altogether in your drafts. You may need to look at another option later in the season, but until the weather gets cold, Crosby is going to be an elite kicker in fantasy football this season. Stephen Gostkowski deals with the frigid New England air, but does that mean you avoid him? Hell no. He’s been the top kicker in fantasy football the past four years. With some of the bigger name kickers, you are just going to have to put up with sometimes unfavorable weather conditions.

For kickers, domes or retractable roofs are a thing of beauty. Here are the teams that have a fixed dome or retractable roof: Cowboys, Saints, Texans, Falcons, Colts, Vikings, Lions and Cardinals. Kickers for these teams have great potential because eight times a year they won’t have to deal with any major weather concerns. Wind, rain, snow or anything other than a nice sunny day can be a real pain for kickers, but these stadiums help neutralize some of those concerns.

Boy, I never thought I could write over 1,500 words about kickers, but there’s a first time for everything, right? When you head into preparing for your drafts, I urge you to give the kicking position the attention it deserves. It may only be a difference of 2.625 points per week, but every time you make a selection in the draft, it’s about maximizing value and potential. I’ll leave you with three words that are extremely important for you to understand heading into your drafts.

Kickers do matter.