Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings & Start/Sit Advice (Week 5)

As both a fantasy football manager and an NFL fan, you’ve probably noticed the surge in blocked kicks this season. They’re no longer rare, one-off moments — they’re showing up at the most critical times, swinging outcomes in both real games and fantasy matchups. Just this week, the Bears sealed a win in Las Vegas by blocking the Raiders’ game-winning attempt, a reminder of how impactful these plays have become.

In all of 2024, there were only 18 blocked field goals out of the 1,115 kicks, representing a blocked field goal rate of 1.6%.In 2025, there have already been nine blocked kicks through the first three weeks of the year out of 299 kicks (3%). If the league keeps up this pace, we are looking at between 35 and 40 blocked kicks this season.

I don’t think that pace will continue, and teams will make the necessary adjustments. One thing that frustrates fantasy managers is that kickers are penalized for missing a kick, even if the block has nothing to do with them.

Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings & Start/Sit Advice: Week 5

Widely Available Kickers With Strong Week 4 Performances

Cairo Santos (K – CHI) @ Las Vegas: 1% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

Cairp Santos made a total of four field goals and one extra point in Chicago’s 25-24 road win over the Raiders on Sunday. The offense’s struggles to score touchdowns on short fields proved to frustrate Bears fans, but those few folks who started Santos were not upset to see the volume.

Matt Gay (K – WSH) @ Atlanta: 17% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

My preseason pick to be a top-10 fantasy kicker has not panned out well so far in the first month of 2025, but that appears like it might be changing with two impressive performances in consecutive weeks by Matt Gay. He posted 18 points this week to finish second behind Santos, and now has 30 points in his last two games.

Widely Rostered Kickers With Dud Week 4 Performances

Chris Boswell (K – PIT) @ Minnesota: 97% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

Chris Boswell finished last year as the top fantasy kicker and started this year as one of the best kickers for fantasy. I wrote in my primer that I anticipated a bit of a step back due to the fact that I believed Aaron Rodgers would be more efficient in the red zone and limit those touches for Boswell. With seven combined points in his last two games, that negative regression may be taking hold.

Week 5 Kicker Rankings

Rank	ECR	Name	TEAM	VS	O/U	Spread	OPP RZ D	RZ EFF*	OFF RNK	Consistency	Weather	K Score**
1	2	Spencer Shrader	IND	vs. LV	47.5	-6.5	4	7	3	1	0	8.5
2	1	Brandon Aubrey	DAL	at NYJ	46.5	-2.5	12	24	1	0	3	37.5
3	4	Cameron Dicker	LAC	vs. WAS	47.5	-2.5	15	3	8	0	0	23.5
4	10	Joshua Karty	LAR	vs. SF	46.5	-5.5	10	11	4	2	0	21.5
5	5	Harrison Butker	KC	at JAC	45.5	-3	5	14	14	3	2	35
6	7	Jake Bates	DET	at CIN	49.5	-9.5	24	28	6	2	2	52.5
7	8	Chase McLaughlin	TB	at SEA	44.5	3	6	3	15	2	1	30
8	12	Chad Ryland	ARI	vs. TEN	41.5	-8.5	9	13	28	2	0	43.5
9	9	Jason Myers	SEA	vs. TB	44.5	-3	15	18	16	2	1	49
10	17	Wil Lutz	DEN	at PHI	44.5	-4.5	3	24	9	1	2	34.5
11	3	Matt Prater	BUF	vs. NE	50.5	-8.5	31	24	2	3	2	53.5
12	6	Tyler Loop	BAL	vs. HOU	43.5	-3.5	24	13	13	0	2	48.5
13	11	Ka’imi Fairbairn	HOU	at BAL	43.5	3.5	28	1	25	1	2	60.5
14	13	Matt Gay	WAS	at LAC	47.5	2.5	2	29	12	3	0	48.5
15	14	Cam Little	JAC	vs. KC	45.5	3	10	11	10	3	2	39
16	15	Eddy Pineiro	SF	at LAR	47	5.5	15	5	5	1	0	31.5
17	16	Jake Elliott	PHI	vs. DEN	44.5	4.5	1	31	30	0	2	68.5
18	18	Will Reichard	MIN	at CLE	36.5	-3.5	28	16	23	1	3	67.5
19	19	Daniel Carlson	LV	at IND	47.5	6.5	32	11	18	3	0	70.5
20	20	Nick Folk	NYJ	vs. DAL	46.5	2.5	22	15	21	0	3	63.5
21	24	Blake Grupe	NO	vs. NYG	41.5	-15	27	11	22	5	0	50
22	21	Joey Slye	TEN	at ARI	41.5	8.5	8	5	31	3	0	55.5
23	22	Riley Patterson	MIA	at CAR	44.5	1.5	19	30	26	0	2	78.5
24	26	Ryan Fitzgerald	CAR	vs. MIA	44.5	-1.5	12	26	24	3	2	65.5
25	29	Andre Szmyt	CLE	vs. MIN	36.5	3.5	6	24	27	4	3	67.5
26	30	Jude McAtamney	NYG	at NO	41.5	1.5	30	0	20		0	51.5
27	25	Andy Borregales	NE	at BUF	50.5	8.5	21	24	14	3	2	72.5
28	23	Evan McPherson	CIN	vs. DET	49.5	9.5	19	24	32	0	2	86.5

*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 5.

Week 5 Standout Kickers

Chad Ryland (K – ARI) vs. Tennessee: 9% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

Chad Ryland posted 10 fantasy points in three of his four games this season and has a choice home matchup this week against the Titans, a team that gives up the 12th-most points to opposing kickers. If you are looking for a bye-week replacement for Boswell, Ryland could be your guy.

Wil Lutz (K – DEN)@ Philadelphia: 69% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

Wil Lutz has been a disappointment for fantasy managers this season, with just four points last week against the Bengals and zero games of 10+ fantasy points in 2025. Despite his frustrating performances, this week’s matchup on the road against a tough Eagles defense could be a lower-scoring game than people think and could be a field goal contest between Lutz and Jake Elliott.

Prediction Review

Each week, I suggest two kickers ranked outside 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.

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

ECR Rank: 13
My Rank: 6
Week 4 Finish: K3

It was nice to have a bounce back this week to finish with a pair of top-five kickers in my K Score prediction section. Chase McLaughlin was money against the Eagles, including a 65-yard try that was just short of tying the NFL record held by Justin Tucker. I like Chase as a top-10 kicker the remainder of the season, and you should consider picking him up if he is available.

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

ECR Rank: 12
My Rank: 7
Week 4 Finish: K4

I was not sure why rankers had Jake Bates ranked so low, considering how well the Browns’ defense has played so far in 2025. His K Score indicated at least two tries in what appeared to be the right game script to target.

Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

Spencer Shrader (K – IND) vs. Las Vegas: 42% Roster Percentage on Yahoo
Chad Ryland (K – ARI) vs. Tennessee: 9% 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.