Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings & Start/Sit Advice (Week 4)

Week 3 turned out to be a special teams bonanza, with nine defensive/special teams touchdowns on the day and a whopping five blocked field goals. The Eagles walked off the visiting Rams with a block-scoop-and-score by defensive lineman Jordan Davis, and the Jets’ Will McDonald IV blocked a Chase McLaughlin kick and returned it for a score as well.

McLaughlin and Tampa Bay got the last laugh, however, with a 29-27 win in which the kicker made five field goals to finish as the top fantasy football kicker of the week. The 49ers look like they have found their kicker in Eddy Pineiro, and rookie Spencer Shrader held on to the top scoring spot on the year with 11 fantasy points in Indianapolis’ impressive win on the road over the Titans. The Falcons parted ways with veteran Younghoe Koo last week and promoted Parker Romo to the starting gig, only for Romo to have a rough day (the entire team was terrible) against the Panthers.

The surprise performance of the week came from Browns rookie Andre Szmyt. After a rough start this season in which he missed two wins against the Bengals, the former UFL star kicker nailed a 55-yard try against the heavily favored Packers to move the Browns to 2-1 on the season.

Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings & Start/Sit Advice: Week 4

Widely Available Kickers With Strong Week 3 Performances

Joey Slye (K – TEN) vs. Indianapolis: 4% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

For the third time this season, Joey Slye has finished with at least 10 fantasy points, joining Spencer Shrader of the Colts as the only two kickers to accomplish that feat. For years, I have written about rookie quarterbacks and how they tend to have drives fizzle in the red zone and just outside the red zone, leading to more kicking opportunities. It appears as though Slye just might be this year’s kicker to benefit.

Jason Myers (K – SEA) vs. New Orleans: 3% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

Game script plays a massive role in kicker performance, and it never hurts to have your offense manhandle the opponent to the tune of 35-0 like the Seahawks did to the Saints in the first half on Sunday. Blowouts lead to mercy field goal attempts, and Jason Myers rolled to the tune of 17 fantasy points with three field goals and five extra points.

Ryan Fitzgerald (K – CAR) vs. Atlanta: 0% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

There were so many impressive kicker performances from widely available kickers this past week that I thought I would include three in this week’s article. Of the top 12 kickers entering Monday Night Football, eight were rostered in fewer than 30% of leagues. Ryan Fitzgerald had a nice week with 15 fantasy points, although I am not quite ready to recommend rostering him just yet.

Widely Rostered Kickers With Dud Week 3 Performances

Evan McPherson (K – CIN) @ Minnesota: 70% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

A massive negative game script absolutely killed Evan McPherson this week as the Vikings destroyed the Bengals to the tune of 48-10. McPherson now has 17 total points through three weeks of the season, yet continues to be rostered in 70% of leagues. Come on, people, there are so many other options out there with higher ceilings and just as good a floor.

Week 4 Kicker Rankings

Rank	ECR	Name	TEAM	VS	O/U	Spread	OPP RZ D	RZ EFF*	OFF RNK	Consistency	Weather	K Score**
1	3	Cameron Dicker	LAC	at NYG	44	-6.5	29	3	6	0	3	34.5
2	1	Brandon Aubrey	DAL	vs. GB	48	6.5	5	16	4	0	0	31.5
3	5	Spencer Shrader	IND	at LAR	49	3.5	18	6	2	2	0	31.5
4	2	Tyler Loop	BAL	at KC	49	-2.5	15	15	14	1	2	44.5
5	4	Matt Prater	BUF	vs. NO	49	-16.5	29	22	1	3	2	40.5
6	13	Chase McLaughlin	TB	vs. PHI	46	3	7	7	15	2	3	37
7	12	Jake Bates	DET	vs. CLE	46	-8.5	25	23	3	3	0	45.5
8	6	Chris Boswell	PIT	vs. MIN	41	1.5	11	30	30	0	2	74.5
9	7	Brandon McManus	GB	at DAL	48	-6.5	14	20	21	3	0	51.5
10	8	Cam Little	JAC	at SF	47	3.5	15	13	8	3	3	45.5
11	9	Ka’imi Fairbairn	HOU	vs. TEN	39	-7.5	10	0	29	2	0	33.5
12	10	Harrison Butker	KC	vs. BAL	49	2.5	28	13	17	4	2	66.5
13	11	Jake Elliott	PHI	at TB	46	-3	5	31	27	0	3	63
14	20	Eddy Pineiro	SF	vs. JAC	47	-3.5	11	8	7	2	3	27.5
15	14	Chad Ryland	ARI	vs. SEA	44	1.5	3	13	25	3	0	45.5
16	16	Jason Myers	SEA	at ARI	44	-1.5	4	32	18	2	0	54.5
17	17	Wil Lutz	DEN	vs. CIN	44	-7.5	22	18	19	3	3	57.5
18	18	Parker Romo	ATL	vs. WAS	46	2.5	15	2	13	5	0	37.5
19	15	Will Reichard	MIN	at PIT	41	-1.5	20	22	28	0	2	70.5
20	19	Joshua Karty	LAR	vs. IND	49	-3.5	32	9	5	3	0	45.5
21	21	Daniel Carlson	LV	vs. CHI	48	-1.5	22	5	16	2	0	43.5
22	25	Andy Borregales	NE	vs. CAR	44	-5.5	7	15	11	4	3	34.5
23	22	Cairo Santos	CHI	at LV	48	1.5	7	29	10	3	0	50.5
24	23	Matt Gay	WAS	at ATL	46	-2.5	19	27	9	4	0	56.5
25	29	Graham Gano	NYG	vs. LAC	44	6.5	1	1	12	0	3	23.5
26	30	Riley Patterson	MIA	vs. NYJ	45	-2.5	11	28	23	1	2	62.5
27	24	Evan McPherson	CIN	at DEN	44	7.5	2	27	32	0	3	71.5
28	26	Joey Slye	TEN	at HOU	39	7.5	26	5	31	2	0	71.5
29	28	Nick Folk	NYJ	at MIA	45	2.5	22	27	26	0	2	79.5
30	31	Ryan Fitzgerald	CAR	at NE	44	5.5	31	18	24	1	3	82.5
31	32	Andre Szmyt	CLE	at DET	46	8.5	20	24	22	3	0	77.5
32	27	Blake Grupe	NO	at BUF	49	16.5	27	13	19	6	2	83.5

*Red Zone Efficiency is based on the inverse of how well a kicker’s offense does in the red zone. For example, the Ravens rank first in red-zone efficiency; therefore, Tyler Loop has an RZ EFF score of 31. The lower the number, the better for kickers, as playing on a team that struggles to score touchdowns in the red zone equates to more field goal opportunities.

**The K Score is the sum of a player’s opponent red zone, the red-zone efficiency of his offense and the overall rank of his respective team in terms of total yards. A low score indicates that a kicker has variables working in his favor for a good fantasy kicking performance.

Kicker rankings are based on numerous factors, including matchups, Vegas lines and score projections, weather conditions, the ability of a kicker’s team offense and their ability to move the ball into field goal range, offensive red-zone efficiency and how well the opposing defense limits touchdowns in the red zone. These factors are a guide, but not a definitive way to predict kicking success, as other variables and negative game scripts significantly impact the outcome.

Based on all of the variables mentioned above, the following two kickers are players ranked outside of FantasyPros’ top-10 expert consensus rankings (ECR) at the kicker position who could be excellent plays in Week 4.

Week 4 Standout Kickers

Chase McLaughlin (K – TB) vs. Philadelphia: 60% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

Even with a blocked kick, Chase McLaughlin led all kickers last week in scoring with 20 fantasy points. This week, he and the Bucs take on the Eagles in a game that projects to have a neutral game script for McLaughlin to be able to get at least two field goal tries and a floor of around seven fantasy points, with a ceiling around 15. His K Score of 37 makes him a solid option to beat his K13 ECR.

Jake Bates (K – DET) vs. Cleveland: 92% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

Jake Bates has been solid this season with 19 fantasy points in his previous two games, including nine on Monday night against the Ravens. His home matchup this week against a stout Cleveland defense could lead to multiple stalled drives and field goals. Dan Campbell’s history of going for it instead of field goals typically has me hesitant to bet on Bates, but I think Bates will get multiple kicking opportunities.

Prediction Review

Each week, I suggest two kickers ranked outside of the FantasyPros ECR top 10 who I believe will be solid performers based on the variables described in the K Score section. The following is a review of my picks from the previous week to see where I was successful and where I missed the mark.

Spencer Shrader (K – IND) @ TEN 4% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

ECR Rank: 18
My Rank: 3
Week 3 Finish: T-K9

I wrote about how I found it interesting that the fantasy community continued to fade Spencer Shrader despite two massive games to start the season. Perhaps it had to do with Daniel Jones, or the fact that Shrader is a rookie; either way, I was pleased to see him put up another 11-point week this Sunday for fantasy managers. He almost posted a 16-point week, but his field-goal attempt at the end of the first half went wide right.

Parker Romo (K – ATL) @ Carolina: 0% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

ECR Rank: 14
My Rank: 4
Week 3 Finish: 32

This one blew up in my face, as Parker Romo shanked both of his long tries on the day in a game to forget for the Falcons. He had a few opportunities to score, but instead, he sliced both of his kicks, leaving fantasy managers (and writers) licking their wounds.

Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

Spencer Shrader (K – IND) @ LAR 27% Roster Percentage on Yahoo
Matt Prater (K – BUF) vs. NO: 36% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

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About Author

Andrew Swanson

@FFKickerGuy

In addition to his work as a featured writer for FantasyPros, Andrew is a staff writer for fftoday.com and the webmaster/beat writer for ESPN Radio in Albuquerque, NM. Outside of writing about sports, Andrew is a Children’s Book author with three books available on leading retailers like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Walmart.com. His first title, “Bella’s Magic Dream Glasses” debuted number one on Amazon’s hot new releases for large print children’s picture books. Visit www.andrewswansonbooks.com for more information.