Streaming Kickers: Week 5 Fantasy Football Targets

Oct 03, 2017

If you’re like most fantasy football players, kicker is a position you put zero thought into, and wish wasn’t a part of the draft altogether. Some leagues have done away with the kicker position, but for those who haven’t, there are actually a few ways to get an edge over your opponents when it comes to streaming kickers weekly.

Projecting a kicker’s output isn’t as difficult or random as you may think—in fact, taking a look at Vegas odds is the best way to accurately predict a kicker’s weekly potential. By focusing in on the team implied point totals, game totals and favorites, we can get a cumulative idea of how an offense will perform when it comes to settling for field goals, distance of kicks, and the like. For a more detailed explanation on using Vegas odds for successfully streaming kickers, I suggest checking out Chris Raybon’s DFS Playbook Strategy article, which is packed with info on the most profitable way to predict the position.

Another metric useful in projecting a kicker’s output is 4for4’s schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed or aFPA. By removing the schedule bias, we can compare matchups in an apples-to-apples manner. By Week 4, there’s a solid sample size to work from, and the info gets more trustworthy with each data-filled week.

The goal in streaming is to roster a player who will return starting kicker fantasy points, and Week 4 was pretty good to me. My highest streamer was Jake Elliott with 15 points, followed by Stephen Hauschka’s 15 and Brandon McManus with 10. 4for4’s optimal streaming kicker has 58 total points on the season, enough to share the top honors as fantasy kicker number one through four weeks.

In order to provide advice that you can actually implement, candidates for streaming must be available in at least 40% of Yahoo fantasy leagues.

Greg Zuerlein (LAR) vs. SEA

Legatron sits atop the kicker mountain through the first four weeks, with 58 total fantasy points, 16 more than the next highest kicker, Matt Bryant. The matchup between the Rams and Seahawks has an over/under of 47, with LA projecting an implied total of 24.5 points. Zuerlein has been a stud and really should be owned everywhere, yet is only currently on 38% of Yahoo rosters.

Continue reading for four more kicker streaming options, and three deep league candidates...