3 Kickers To Draft In The Final Round of Fantasy Leagues

Jun 26, 2020

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I’ve been hospitalized since last week, when I discovered there are five kickers going in the middle rounds of redraft leagues. The doctors say I might not recover from the trauma.

But I refuse to go through those big field goal posts in the sky without giving you three kicker options to draft with your last (or second to last) pick in seasonal leagues, while your league mates waste a seventh, eighth, or ninth-round selection on one of fantasy football’s most replaceable positions.

Of course, we want the kickers being drafted alongside startable receivers, tight ends, and quarterbacks—Harrison Butker, Wil Lutz, Justin Tucker, Robbie Gould, Greg Zuerlein—but we haven’t lost our minds, so we’re not going to take them at their current ADPs.

Probably you can get these kickers (very) late in drafts in savvier leagues; in leagues where fantasy managers are gunning to get the best and forget the rest, you’ll see the Butkers of the world fly off the board before players like Tyler Higbee, Evan Engram, Jarvis Landry, and Tyler Boyd. This is a phenomenon known as lineup filling: drafters fill their starting QB, running back, wide receiver, and tight end spots, and instead of adding depth to their rosters, they take the best kicker on the board. Forgive them. They know not what they do.

What are we looking for when we’re seeking a potential every-week kicker who can be had on the cheap? We want a kicker attached to a good team that gains lots of yards. That way, the kicker can benefit from neutral or positive game script—his team won’t forgo field goals late in games—and his yard-churning offense can put him in position to rack up field goal attempts. Remember: kicker accuracy doesn’t matter. Neither do long field goals. We chase volume and volume alone.