Kickers are people, too! However, they are arguably the least valuable position in fantasy football. Furthermore, more and more fantasy football leagues have removed the kicker position from their lineup and replaced it with a second flex spot over the past few years. Yet, other leagues refuse to get rid of the kicker spot.
Last year, the top five kickers scored an average of 171.8 fantasy points. By comparison, Rachaad White was the RB24, scoring 174.1 half-point PPR fantasy points in 2024. Similarly, Jaylen Waddle was the WR24, totaling 172.5 fantasy points last season.
The problem with kickers is that they score very similarly. Brandon Aubrey was an outlier as the top-scoring kicker two years ago, totaling 177 fantasy points. Behind him were Cairo Santos (160), Matt Gay (150), Justin Tucker (149), Jake Elliott (149), and Harrison Butker (147). Furthermore, five of the other six top-12 kickers scored at least 139 fantasy points in 2023.
However, Chris Boswell was the top-scoring kicker in 2024, totaling 184 fantasy points. Aubrey finished second in fantasy football with 178 points. Meanwhile, the next four highest-scoring kickers were separated by eight total fantasy points. Furthermore, NFL teams will use multiple kickers throughout the season because of injury and poor performance. Boswell and Aubrey were the only kickers to play in at least 10 contests and average double-digit fantasy points per game last year.
While kickers won’t make or break your fantasy season, they could be the difference between winning and losing some weeks. Let’s look at a few tips to help fantasy players figure out the kicker position.
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Fantasy Football Guide to Drafting Kickers
Kickers on Good Offenses
Your kicker can’t score fantasy points if their team can’t cross the 50-yard line. Three years ago, 50% of the top 10 fantasy kickers played on teams that ranked top 12 in points scored per game. Three of those kickers played on teams that finished top six in points scored per game that season – Brett Maher, Tyler Bass, and Robbie Gould.
Furthermore, the offense matters more than the kicker. Harrison Butker is one of the top kickers in the NFL. Unfortunately, he struggled to stay healthy in 2022. Yet, Butker and his replacement, Matthew Wright, combined to score 162 fantasy points that season. That means the duo would have been the K1. For reference, the Kansas City Chiefs were the top-scoring team in the NFL that year.
Big Leg Kickers
When your running back or wide receiver scores a touchdown, you receive six fantasy points for the score. Meanwhile, most leagues will give you five fantasy points when your kicker makes a 50-yard or longer field goal and six from 60 or more yards away. Sometimes, fantasy players can get lucky and get 13-15 points from their kicker on only three field goal attempts.
However, your kicker must have the leg strength to make long-distance field goal attempts. Everyone will point to Will Lutz because of the altitude in Denver, making kicking from longer distances easier. Yet, there are big leg kickers who can consistently hit from 50 or more yards away without the altitude.
Do NOT Draft the First Kicker
Justin Tucker has been the first kicker drafted in nearly every home league for the past several years. Yet, he had only one K1 finish (2022) and two top-five finishes (K5 in 2023) over the past five seasons. More importantly, the veteran was the K11 last year, making a career-low 73.3% of his field goal attempts. While the Baltimore Ravens moved on from Tucker this offseason, the rule still applies – do not be the first one to draft a kicker.
The most likely candidate to take over for Tucker as the top-drafted kicker is Brandon Aubrey. The former USFL star has been one of the top kickers in the NFL since leaving the spring league in 2023. He has converted on 89.4% of his field goal attempts for the Dallas Cowboys, averaging at least 10.4 fantasy points per game in both years in the league.
Yet, Aubrey had a 12th-round ADP last season as the third kicker off the board. More importantly, his 109.7 ADP on ESPN would make him a 10th-round pick in 12-team leagues this year. By comparison, Chris Boswell was the top-scoring kicker in 2024. Yet, he has an ADP of 145.1 on ESPN as the ninth kicker off the board.
Streaming is Your Best Friend
Remember, kickers are people, too! Unfortunately, sometimes you have to tell people in your life to get lost because they are no longer good for you. That also applies to your kicker. Instead of drafting one to play all season long, fantasy players should wait until the final round of the draft to select a Week 1 kicker.
Better yet, don’t draft a kicker if you don’t have to. If your fantasy draft is more than a week before the start of the regular season, use that last-round draft pick on a high-upside handcuff like Raheem Mostert or Devin Neal.
On the slim chance that Ashton Jeanty or Alvin Kamara suffer a season-ending injury on the last day of practice before the start of the regular season, you drafted an RB2 with your final pick. If the star running backs are healthy heading into Week 1, drop the handcuff and add a kicker right before opening day.
The most important thing to remember from this article is that kickers aren’t that critical. You are better off streaming all season long and playing the matchups based on the opponent, weather, and over/under total than sticking with one kicker all year.
Furthermore, you don’t want to have to roster two kickers and burn a roster spot in Week 10 when Brandon Aubrey is on his bye. Stream the position and let a league mate be the foolish one to spend a mid-round draft pick on a kicker.
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Mike Fanelli is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @Mike_NFL2.
