NFL Kickers to Start in Week 8: Fantasy Football Tiers & Rankings

Yes, that’s right – kickers. After all, points are points, and even though kickers are very difficult to predict for fantasy points week to week, having the right one in your Week 8 lineup could be a difference maker.

For those of you fantasy football owners out there who are streaming kickers, RotoBaller has got you covered with around-the-league analysis of the Week 8 NFL matchups.  This week shouldn’t be an issue with bye weeks, unlike Week 4, meaning there should plenty of waiver wire streamers and sleepers if needed.

We’re here to give you our analysis to help make your kicker streaming decisions and make your Week 6 lineup decisions a bit easier. Some of these kickers may have good Week 8 matchups, and be available on your league’s waiver wire. Be sure to stay on top of the weekly NFL matchups and kicker opponents right here. Good luck RotoBallers!

Teams that have bye weeks in Week 8: San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants 

Week 8 Kickers: Tiers & Rankings

Tier 1 NFL Kickers: New England Patriots (Stephen Gostkowski), Miami Dolphins (Caleb Sturgis), Indianapolis Colts (Adam Vinatieri), Arizona Cardinals (Chandler Catanzaro), Dallas Cowboys (Dan Bailey)

Our first tier of fantasy kickers always contains the cream of the crop and week to week stud performers. After 7 weeks, Stephen Gostowski still is the NFL's leading scorer at the position and remains an eternal must start. Sturgis had a nice Week 7 and comes in as a top 15 scorer for the season. He also gets the Jaguars who give up the most fantasy points to opposing kickers, so stream him in if he is not already owned. The Colts' Adam Vinatieri is still a top 3 kicker based on scoring and plays half of his games indoors for a high-powered offense; enough said. Chandler Catanzaro is ranked 8th on the year for scoring and draws the Eagles who allow an average of 8.17 fantasy points per week to opposing kickers. Last but not least, our personal kicking man crush, Dan "The Man" Bailey. If Jerry Jones has him signed through 2020, you might want to buy into the hype because he's now officially the NFL's most accurate kicker of all time.

Tier 2 NFL Kickers: Baltimore Ravens (Justin Tucker), Minnesota Vikings (Blair Walsh), Cincinnati Bengals (Mike Nugent), Cleveland Browns (Billy Cundiff), St. Louis Rams (Greg Zuerlein)

Our second tier is comparable to the most obviously attainable girl at the party. Everyone knows she's there, but people are always looking for a better option if at all possible so they don't end up with her. In this case, it's not as bad as it seems because Justin Tucker gets the Bengals defense that's allowed an average of 9 fantasy points to opposing kickers. Blair Walsh gets Tampa's 5th worst defense versus fantasy kickers making him a great waiver wire pickup for Week 8. Mike Nugent is not a top scorer because his team has seemingly forgotten how to finish off a drive; keep avoiding him if possible against a tough Ravens defense. William Cundiff and I were both born in 1980, but only one of us is going up against the Bengals cruddy defense that allows an average of 9 fantasy points per game. Lastly for tier 2, Greg "The Leg" Zuerlein is close to being bottom of the barrel in overall kicker scoring, but draws the Chiefs 4th worst defense against fantasy kickers; he's a sleeper desperation stream. We'd say that's a respectable enough pool of options to go home satisfied with someone, so choose any waiver wire kicker in tier 2 to start for Week 8.

Tier 3 NFL Kickers: Carolina Panthers (Graham Gano), San Diego Chargers (Nick Novak), Green Bay Packers (Mason Crosby), Seattle Seahawks (Steven Hauschka), Philadelphia Eagles (Codey Parkey), Buffalo Bills (Dan Carpenter)

The Seahawks are far from the "Legion of Boom" that they were in 2013, therefore Graham Gano is a decent start against a defense that allows an average of 8.6 fantasy points to opposing kickers. Nick "The Kick" Novak is the 6th leading scorer amongst kickers and is always a very safe start. He could easily be considered a tier 1 or tier 2 projected performer on any given Sunday. Mason Crosby and the Packers are getting the Saints notoriously bad defense that also happens to give up 11 fantasy points per game to the opposing leg (2nd worst in the NFL). Seattle's best (Steven Hauschka) is only the 17th leading scorer amongst kickers thus far thereby proving last week's point that he's not as good as people want him to be, or think he is. He can be easily sat in Week 8 against the Panthers decent defense against kickers (8 points per game average). Codey Parkey is available on many waiver wires because of his Week 7 buy. Unfortunately, he's a candidate for a benching against the Cardinals stingy defense that only gives up 6.2 fantasy points to opposing kickers. Dan Carpenter rounds off our third tier and also rounds off the top 10 in scoring thus far. He'd be a better start this week if he weren't going up against the Jets semi-stout defense that only allows 7.83 points per game to opposing place kickers.

Tier 4 NFL Kickers: New York Jets (Nick Folk), Houston Texans (Randy Bullock), Pittsburgh Steelers (Shaun Suisham), Kansas City Chiefs (Cairo Santos), Chicago Bears (Robbie Gould), Detroit Lions (Matt Prater)

"Saint" Nick Folk gets the NFL's 11th worst team against fantasy kickers allowing 9.33 points per game to the opposition; he's a sneaky tier 4 start this week. Randy Bullock is hardly an inspirational waiver wire target, so continue to avoid him like the plague. Mr. Suisham is as bland and bottom of the barrel as they come, so don't even think about starting him versus the Colts tough defense. The Brazilian kicker who learned NFL football rules by playing Madden is clearly an option to bypass until the Chiefs start giving him some more opportunities. That being said, Cairo Santos is a passable Week 8 waiver wire streamer because he faces the Rams defense who've allowed an average of 9.6 fantasy points per game to opposing place kickers. Robbie Gould doesn't deserve more than a short blurb just to remind us that he is on the do-not-start list (that means ever). As for the former Broncos great Matt Prater, he's averaging just 6.5 fantasy points per game with his new team and doesn't inspire much more than a some good memories and a few bad jokes. Best to leave this former must-start option to rot on the waiver wire for Week 8.

Tier 5 NFL Kickers: New Orleans Saints (Shayne Graham), Tennessee Titans (Ryan Succop), Jacksonville Jaguars (Josh Scobee), Atlanta Falcons (Matt Bryant), Washington Redskins (Kai Forbath), Oakland Raiders (Sebastian Janikowski), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Patrick Murray), Denver Broncos (Brandon McManus)

Shayne Graham is hardly a passable option when the Saints play indoors at home, but he's been an overall underperforming option thus far in 2014 that is best left for waiver fodder. Ryan Succop must have been made fun of by his elementary school classmates for being the teacher's pet, but we make fun of him now for being the very forgettable kicker on a very forgettable team. Josh Scobee has only made a whopping 12 PATs and because he plays for one of the NFL's most depressed offenses. That ain't changing in 2014, so leave this tier 5 superstar on the free agent list heading into Week 8. Kai Forbath has a cool first name, but isn't that sexy of an option for Week 8 as he faces the Cowboys' fifth stingiest defense against the kicker.

Oh Sebi, we look forward to our weekly bashing of your existence, not only as the shell of a once-great NFL kicker, but also as the dude once known as the "Polish Powder Keg" because of his love of drugs, alcohol and hatred of authority. Just to make sure we're drilling this point home fully, the Polish-born, former child soccer star, is dead last in NFL kicker scoring (besides Prater who has only played in 2 contests) and is just biding his time before the Raiders release his dead weight of a contract. If he wasn't a former #17 overall pick and Al Davis (may he R.I.P) favorite, he would have already been back in Florida full-time partying a long time ago.

We wish Patrick Murray would lighten up the mood a bit, but unfortunately he's not a very good place kicker and he plays for the putrid Buccaneers defense, thereby rendering him as non-recommendable against the Vikings surprisingly stingy defense against fantasy kickers. Last but not least, Brandon McManus is not much better than the man he replaced in Denver, so don't get cute thinking the thin air will help him against the Chargers top-rated defense versus fantasy kickers.