Drafting the right kicker can win you your fantasy football league. It’s not the sexiest position in fantasy. A lot of you likely don’t spend any time researching potential kickers. That is where I come in. Let’s dive in.
Drafting the Right Kicker
Let’s start with drafting the right kicker. You never use a high pick on a kicker. Always wait until the last round or perhaps the second to last round. You don’t need a top-five kicker to win your league. You need the best kicker you can get late in the draft that produces in your fantasy playoffs. So which kicker should you draft?
Typically in fantasy football weeks 15-17 are the playoff weeks. You need your players to perform their best in the playoffs to win your league. So it would be beneficial if you drafted a kicker that projects to produce in those weeks. There are two factors I am looking at when drafting a kicker: How good their team’s offense is and what the likely weather conditions are in those games.
Draft a Kicker on a High-Scoring Offense
If your kicker is on a team with an elite offense, they will have more scoring opportunities. For example, the highest-scoring kicker last year who played all 17 games was Brandon Aubrey of the Cowboys and one of the lowest-scoring kickers was Daniel Carlson of the Las Vegas Raiders. The Cowboys were 1st in the NFL in points per game out of 32 teams while the Raiders were 23rd. Aubrey ended up with 10 more field goals and 17 more extra points made than Carlson.
Now with this strategy, we are not drafting Aubrey. He will likely be long gone by the time we take a kicker. The two kickers I am targeting are Younghoe Koo of the Atlanta Falcons and Matt Prater of the Arizona Cardinals. These two teams were 14th and 16th in yards per game last season. But their offenses should be better this season.
Improvements at QB
The Falcons had one of the worst Quarterback situations in the league in 2023. However, they added Kirk Cousins in free agency to be their starter, a clear upgrade over Desmond Ridder. The Cardinals improved their receiving core by drafting Marvin Harrison Jr 4th overall. On top of that, Quarterback Kyler Murray is fully healthy after missing 9 games last season coming off a torn ACL. It would not be surprising to see these teams become top 10 offenses.
Kicking in Ideal Conditions
Finally, let’s talk about the weather. Koo will kick in Las Vegas in week 15 and at home in a dome in week 16. The Falcons play at Washington in Week 17 which isn’t ideal weather-wise, but he should have an opportunity to put up a lot of points in Weeks 15 and 16. Prater plays New England at home in 15, at Carolina in week 16, and at LA Rams in week 17. Weeks 15 and 17 are ideal weather-wise. And Carolina’s defense gave up the 4th most points in the league last year.
Final Thoughts
I am targeting Koo in the 2nd to last round. If he is not available I am targeting Prater in the last round. Plus they both have late byes (Koo in Week 12, Prater in Week 11) so you won’t need a backup kicker until later in the season. Are kickers the most important position in fantasy? No, they are not. But drafting the right one can help you win your league. Imagine having bragging rights all off-season because your kicker was the difference to your Fantasy Football League championship.
