Ranking the fantasy kickers: Its good to be lucky

Publish date: 2024-06-23

How do you find the best fantasy kicker for your team?

Well, you hope to get lucky. Maybe you find a kicker who plays with a powerful offense — or one who’s playing in nice weather. Or perhaps you just pick the guy from your favorite team. There is a little science involved here, but not enough that you should ever use an early pick on a kicker. Not even The GOAT.

How do we rank them for 2023? Like this, with one for each week of your quest to win a fantasy title.

1. Justin Tucker, Ravens: In 2022, Tucker led the league in field goal attempts, makes and attempts from 50-plus yards. He’s just the best to ever do it, and in what’s more than a bit of a crapshoot, ride with the guy whose team trusts him to kick (and make) absolute bombs.

2. Daniel Carlson, Raiders: He kicks under roofs 12 times, he kicks the snot out of it anywhere and he went 11-of-13 on tries from 50-plus yards last season. Over his last three seasons, Carlson is 21-of-24 from 50 and beyond.

3. Jason Myers, Seahawks: He was tied for second last season in field goal accuracy and was a perfect 6-for-6 on the big-point kicks from 50 yards. The Seahawks are again playoff contenders, and Myers should again get his chances.

4. Harrison Butker, Chiefs: First, anyone whose nickname is “The Buttkicker” should probably be on your fantasy team. Seriously, his Twitter handle is @buttkicker7. More than that, though, his quarterback gives him plenty of chances, and his three divisional road games set up nicely — two are under roofs and one is in the Denver altitude.

5. Evan McPherson, Bengals: His second year wasn’t as good as his rookie campaign when McPherson made a bunch of big kicks in helping the Bengals to the Super Bowl. They’re contenders again, McPherson remains capable of scoring from deep and Cincinnati’s potent offense should give him plenty of chances.

6. Younghoe Koo, Falcons: He’s 20-of-25 from 50-plus yards in his career, and it’s not crazy to think the Falcons with Desmond Ridder at quarterback might be a bit of a ball-control team that’s content to settle for field goals and rely on its highly paid kicker to make them.

7. Riley Patterson, Lions: The Jaguars replaced Patterson with the more experienced Brandon McManus, and the Lions moved quickly to secure Patterson’s services via trade. He turns 24 in September, showed last year he can produce and he’s in a nice spot here as the kicker for an indoor team with a good offense. On another note, keep an eye on Brett Maher, who the high-altitude Broncos added last month to replace McManus.

8. Tyler Bass, Bills: Bass is still young (26) and can score from deep. He has made 86 percent of his career kicks and 88 percent from 40 to 49 yards. The Buffalo weather has never bothered him, but he has only had five tries from 50-plus yards over the last two seasons. He’s worth a bet that more chances are coming.

9. Graham Gano, Giants: His best years have come in his 30s, and Gano was 8-of-9 from 50-plus yards last year. He has only missed one kick from 40 to 49 yards in the last five seasons. This whole fantasy kicker thing is a crapshoot, but he has been consistently good.

10. Nick Folk, Patriots: He’ll be 39 in November, and after two outstanding seasons, his accuracy took a bit of a dip last season. But he’s still pretty darned reliable, and no coach is more content winning 15-13 on five field goals than Bill Belichick. But also keep an eye on rookie Chad Ryland, a fourth-round pick from Maryland who could beat Folk out for the job in New England.

11. Jake Elliott, Eagles: The Eagles will score a lot, and Elliott has made 89 percent of his field goal tries over the last two regular seasons. The problem is that Nick Sirianni goes for it so often on fourth down that Elliott’s attempts are limited. Last season he tied for 29th with just 23 field goal attempts.

12. Matt Gay, Colts: Opportunity matters. The Colts signed Gay for more than $10 million guaranteed last March despite getting a strong season out of kicker Chase McLaughlin. The Colts obviously think Gay can give them big kicks — and probably a lot of field goals — as they ease rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson into the mix.

13. Greg Joseph, Vikings: Another indoor kicker with a powerful leg, Joseph has 25 makes from 40-plus yards over his two seasons with Minnesota and 11 makes from 50-plus.

14. Jason Sanders, Dolphins: If the Dolphins are again a track meet type of team, it won’t be a bad idea to have their kicker steadily racking up points for your fantasy squad.

15. Brandon McManus, Jaguars: He’s 31 and coming off one of his worst years, but the Jaguars play in a lot of favorable weather and wanted him.

16. Jake Moody, 49ers: The 49ers drafted him in the third round. You should draft him in the last round of your fantasy draft and trust the team in thinking that he’s going to produce.

17. Cairo Santos, Bears: The Bears are going to be fun. Santos has found a home in Chicago after a couple of rocky seasons, and he has made field goals at a 90 percent success rate over the last three years. He could end up getting lots of chances — and lots of fantasy points.

(Photo of Justin Tucker: Charles LeClaire / USA Today)

The Football 100, the definitive ranking of the NFL’s best 100 players of all time, goes on sale this fall. Pre-order it here.

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Ranking the fantasy kickers: Its good to be lucky