Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings & Start/Sit Advice (Week 17)

As the 2025 fantasy football season comes to a close, it’s time to hand out the hardware and recognize the kicker of the year, rookie of the year, breakout star and biggest disappointment.

I hope this weekly column gave you a real edge along the way, whether it helped you lock in dependable options, spot emerging trends or avoid costly mistakes. The kicker position may be easy to overlook, but this season once again showed how often it can swing matchups and decide championships.

Looking ahead, the K Score will continue to evolve. Next season will introduce two new variables designed to better account for consistency, game environment and true fantasy impact. The mission remains the same: Clearer insights, smarter decisions and more wins

Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings & Start/Sit Advice: Week 17

MVP: Jason Myers (K – SEA)

Outside of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, you would be hard-pressed to find a more valuable fantasy football player than Jason Myers. The veteran kicker was the top kicker by nearly 20 points, besting the immortal Brandon Aubrey, while quietly pushing LaDainian Tomlinson for the most points scored in an NFL season.

Although he might have left managers high and dry in the semi-finals last week, there is no doubt that Myers is the most valuable kicker in 2025.

Breakout Star: Cam Little (K – JAX)

In addition to setting the NFL record with a 68-yard field goal, Cam Little posted an impressive 138 fantasy points through 16 weeks, making him the breakout star of 2025.

Little has 10+ fantasy points in four of his last five games, and should be a monster play this week in the dome against the Colts.

Rookie of the Year: Andy Borregales (K – NO)

The rookie kicker from Venezuela won the kicking job this summer and never looked back, making 89.7% of his kicks for the Patriots. As we head into 2026, look for Andy Borregales to be ranked inside the top 10 on most draft boards.

Disappointment of the Year: Harrison Butker (K – KC)

Harrison Butker struggled in 2025 to the tune of a 84% field goal rate and a career-worst 88% on extra points. Despite this fact, he is still rostered in 65% of Yahoo leagues, which leads me to believe that too many people were unwilling to move on to other options.

Week 17 Kicker Rankings

Rank	ECR	Name	TEAM	VS	O/U	Spread	OPP RZ D	RZ EFF*	OFF RNK	Consistency	Weather	K Score**
1	1	Brandon Aubrey	DAL	at WAS	50.5	-7	29	12	2	1	3	40
2	3	Ka’imi Fairbairn	HOU	at LAC	39.5	1.5	4	1	19	1	0	26.5
3	10	Jake Bates	DET	at MIN	44.5	-5.5	1	26	3	3	0	27.5
4	6	Jason Myers	SEA	at CAR	42.5	-7.5	14	14	7	4	2	33.5
5	11	Cameron Dicker	LAC	vs. HOU	39.5	-1.5	23	5	11	1	0	38.5
6	8	Harrison Mevis	LAR	at ATL	49.5	-8.5	12	28	1	2	0	34.5
7	2	Eddy Pineiro	SF	vs. CHI	51.5	-3	9	24	9	2	3	44
8	4	Andy Borregales	NE	at NYJ			21	6	6	3	5	41
9	5	Cam Little	JAC	at IND	47.5	-6.5	10	20	15	3	0	41.5
10	7	Evan McPherson	CIN	vs. ARI	52.5	-7	24	23	21	3	3	67
11	19	Wil Lutz	DEN	at KC	36.5	-12.5	12	21	10	3	3	36.5
12	9	Chase McLaughlin	TB	at MIA	45.5	-5.5	15	9	23	3	0	44.5
13	14	Cairo Santos	CHI	at SF	51.5	3	18	16	5	4	3	49
14	12	Charlie Smyth	NO	at TEN	38.5	-3	26	0	26	2	3	54
15	18	Brandon McManus	GB	vs. BAL	40.5	-2.5	6	18	12	4	3	40.5
16	13	Chris Boswell	PIT	at CLE	33.5	-3.5	19	23	27	1	5	71.5
17	15	Tyler Loop	BAL	at GB	40.5	2.5	25	2	18	3	3	53.5
18	16	Chad Ryland	ARI	at CIN	52.5	7	27	10	16	3	3	66
19	17	Will Reichard	MIN	vs. DET	44.5	5.5	16	15	28	1	0	65.5
20	23	Michael Badgley	BUF	vs. PHI	44.5	-2.5	4	25	4	4	6	40.5
21	20	Zane Gonzalez	ATL	vs. LAR	49.5	8.5	3	27	14	2	0	54.5
22	21	Jake Elliott	PHI	at BUF	44.5	2.5	19	31	22	5	6	85.5
23	22	Riley Patterson	MIA	vs. TB	45.5	-5.5	31	19	24	2	0	70.5
24	27	Ben Sauls	NYG	at LV	41.5	1.5	21	4	17	5	0	48.5
25	24	Ryan Fitzgerald	CAR	vs. SEA	42.5	7.5	7	7	25	3	2	51.5
26	25	Joey Slye	TEN	vs. NO	38.5	3	11	13	31	2	3	63
27	26	Blake Grupe	IND	vs. JAC	47.5	6.5	17	29	8	5	0	65.5
28	28	Harrison Butker	KC	vs. DEN	36.5	12.5	2	18	13	4	3	52.5
29	30	Daniel Carlson	LV	vs. NYG	41.5	-1.5	28	8	32	4	0	70.5
30	31	Nick Folk	NYJ	vs. NE			32	3	29	1	5	70
31	32	Andre Szmyt	CLE	vs. PIT	33.5	3.5	8	11	30	4	5	61.5
32	29	Jake Moody	WAS	vs. DAL	50.5	7	30	30	20	4	3	94

*Red Zone Efficiency is based on the inverse of how well the kicker’s offense does in the red zone. For example, the Ravens rank 30th in red zone efficiency; therefore, Tyler Loop has an RZ EFF score of two. 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 17.

Week 17 Standout Kickers

Cameron Dicker (K – LAC) vs. Houston: 96% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

I’m not sure what the fantasy pundits are thinking here. Cameron Dicker has the most points over the previous three games and should be fine this week at home against the Texans. Don’t overthink it, and stick with Dicker.

Wil Lutz (K – DEN) @ KC 47% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

In a must-win game for the Broncos to stay ahead of the Chargers and with the Chiefs eliminated and down to their third-string quarterback, this is a great matchup for Wil Lutz. Look for at least 10 fantasy points from him.

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.

Harrison Mevis (K – LAR) vs. Seattle: 16% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

ECR Rank: K14
My Rank: K 9
Week 16 Finish: T-K5

It was nice to close out the season with a top-five play for fantasy managers looking for an upside player. The thicker kicker came through with 13 points against Seattle, and should deliver another solid game this Monday night against the Falcons in Atlanta.

Cam Little (K – JAX) @ Denver: 65% Roster Percentage on Yahoo

ECR Rank: K12
My Rank: K11
Week 16 Finish: T-K9

Cam Little continues to be a stud down the stretch with four games of 10+ fantasy points in his last five contests. The Jaguars are for real, and they get to close out the fantasy season with a perfect road matchup against the Colts, who were knocked out of the playoffs on Monday.

Keep Cam in your lineup and enjoy a monster game.

Week 16 Waiver Wire Pickups

Ka’imi Fairbairn (K – HOU) @ L.A. Chargers: 65% Roster Percentage on Yahoo
Eddy Pineiro (K- SF) vs. Chicago: 30% Roster Percentage on Yahoo
Charlie Smyth (K – NO) @ Tennessee: 2% 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.