RADIO
The first week of byes are upon us and while bye weeks are not the hardship for kickers as opposed to other positions, decisions still need to be made. Luckily, fantasy managers will not need to make any decisions this week with the Falcons, Jets, 49ers and Saints on bye. The Bengals vs Packers game gave us kicker fanatics some of the most exhilarating roller coaster of a ride since Week 3 when Justin Tucker made a 66-yard game-winner. Evan McPherson and Mason Crosby gave us something a little different. The two of them combined for five (5!!!) missed fields – from 36, 57, 51, 40 and 49 yards out. It was absolute insanity.
While I understand the frustration with kickers in fantasy football, I think a lot of the concerns revolve around the scoring. The majority of the leagues I can play in have a -2 penalty for any missed kick under 50 yards – after all, it does essentially equal a turnover. Any missed field goal between 50–55 yards is -1. Any missed extra point is also -2 because I mean, come on... it's an extra point. All field goals from 49 and below are only worth three points and anything 50 and above is worth four. With scoring like this, those 15+ point games from kickers are not very frequent and it adds some tension anytime your kicker is lining up a kick.
Under this scoring, while Crosby did make four field goals and an extra point, he walked away with only five points: 12 points for his field goals, one for his extra point and -8 for his four misses – three field goals and extra points. This kind of scoring could totally swing a matchup, with a manager starting Crosby losing by six points. We often think of kickers winning football games, but they can just as easily be at the forefront of a loss and the same is true for fantasy football. And can you imagine the other manager's euphoria from getting a win because of a kicker missing four kicks?
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Week 6 Kicker Rankings - Who To Start
| Tier | Kickers | Opponent | PPG | Over/Under | Confidence Rating |
| 1 | Justin Tucker | vs LAC | 12.0 | 50.5 | 9.9 |
| Matt Prater | @ CLE | 9.4 | 53.5 | 9.9 | |
| Tyler Bass | @ TEN | 10.8 | 52.5 | 9.9 | |
| Chase McLaughlin | vs ARI | 9.6 | 53.5 | 9.7 | |
| Ryan Succop | @ PHI | 8.8 | 52.5 | 9.6 | |
| 2 | Greg Zuerlein | @ NE | 9.4 | 47.5 | 8.9 |
| Matt Gay | @ NYG | 10.0 | 47.5 | 8.8 | |
| Randy Bullock | vs BUF | 9.8 | 52.5 | 9.4 | |
| Greg Joseph | @ CAR | 10.4 | 47.5 | 8.7 | |
| Harrison Butker | @ WAS | 7.4 | 54.5 | 8.5 | |
| Dustin Hopkins | vs KC | 8.8 | 54.5 | 8.4 | |
| Zane Gonzalez | vs MIN | 8.3 | 47.5 | 8.3 | |
| Mason Crosby | @ CHI | 9.8 | 45.5 | 8.3 | |
| Daniel Carlson | @ DEN | 9.2 | 44.5 | 8.2 | |
| Brandon McManus | vs LAR | 9.2 | 44.5 | 8.2 | |
| 3 | Nick Folk | vs DAL | 11.2 | 47.5 | 7.7 |
| Rodrigo Blankenship | vs HOU | 9.3 | 43.5 | 7.7 | |
| Tristan Vizcaino | @ BAL | 5.8 | 50.5 | 7.5 | |
| Jake Elliott | vs TB | 7.0 | 52.5 | 7.2 | |
| 4 | Evan McPherson | @ DET | 6.6 | 48.5 | 6.7 |
| Austin Seibert | vs CIN | 8.0 | 48.5 | 6.5 | |
| Jason Sanders | vs JAX (London) | 5.4 | 45.5 | 6.3 | |
| Chris Boswell | vs SEA | 8.2 | 42.5 | 6.2 | |
| 5 | Graham Gano | vs LAR | 9.8 | 47.5 | 5.7 |
| Jason Myers | @ PIT | 5.2 | 42.5 | 5.5 | |
| Cairo Santos | vs GB | 6.6 | 45.5 | 5.2 | |
| Matthew Wright | @ MIA (London) | 2.0 | 45.5 | 5.0 | |
| Ka'imi Fairbairn | @ IND | 2.0 | 43.5 | 4.8 |
Kicker Streamers to Target for Week 6
Dustin Hopkins, Washington Football Team
Hopkins has been very good through five weeks. He has three games with double-digit points. He only scored three points in a tough matchup on the road against the dominant Buffalo defense, which can be forgiven. In Week 4, he had only four points in a tough game vs Atlanta, but he had the opportunities. He missed two field goals and Ron Rivera opted to go for two on two separate occasions. This week, Washington is back at home against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs' defense has given up games of 29, 36, 30, 30 and 38 points. Needless to say, there are going to be some points scored in this one. This game comes with an implied point total of 54.5 and is expected to be one of the higher scoring games of the week. The Washington defense has given up games of 20, 29, 43, 30 and 33 points.
Zane Gonzalez, Carolina Panthers
Gonzalez hasn't been great this year, so this is definitely one of my more gut-feeling sleeper picks, but I like him in this matchup. The Panthers are supposed to be getting Christian McCaffrey back from his hamstring injury and that should be a great boost to their offense. The Vikings' defense has been better this season, but it's still one that offenses can move the ball on. Sam Darnold has been solid on the young season. Their offense struggled in Week 4, but I expect them to get back on track here. With an implied point total of 47.5, fantasy managers should expect some points to be scored here, as well.
Greg Joseph, Minnesota Vikings
Outside of his Week 4 one-point outing, Joseph has been over eight points in four out of five games. Three of those games were in double-figures and I expect the good times to keep on rolling here for Joseph. The Carolina defense has been playing great this season and they just added Gilmore from the Patriots, which is only going to help. There's enough firepower for both offenses that I expect both teams to be able to move the ball and get into scoring position, but once there, they may struggle to find the end zone at the rate they'd like.
Kicker Busts to Avoid for Week 6
Randy Bullock, Tennessee Titans
The Titans are at home against the Buffalo Bills. This is not an easy matchup whatsoever. The Bills' defense has allowed games of 16, 0, 21, 0 and 20 points. The Chiefs only put up 20. The Bills shut down Najee Harris. They shut down Antonio Gibson. This defense is legit and while the Tennessee offense has gotten back on track a bit, I still don't trust them in this matchup here. Especially with Julio Jones still hurt and A.J. Brown struggling to get anything going.
Graham Gano, New York Giants
Gano has been up and down so far in 2021. He has one week of 22 points, which is largely inflating his overall point total and likely leading to him being rostered in far too many leagues. He has other games of 1, 6 and 7 points. In Week 6, the Giants are going to be without Kenny Golladay and Saquon Barkley. Fantasy managers know that already. It's possible they are also without Daniel Jones, Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton. This is not an offense I want any part of this week.
Nick Folk, New England Patriots
Folk is actually the No. 1 scoring kicker through five weeks, so how can he be on the bust list? Well, the "bust" list is probably a little too strong. He falls under my "lower expectations" column, but I'm going to put him here because of his status as fantasy's best kicker thus far. He scored 11 points vs Miami, 15 points vs the Jets and 17 points against Houston. Noticing a trend? All three of those teams have been terrible on the young season. Against Tampa Bay and New Orleans, he scored a combined 12 points. Not so long ago, Dallas' defense would've been grouped more with the first three than the latter two, but not this season. This Dallas defense looks for real. They've been playing great and Mac Jones and the rest of the Patriots' offense have struggled against competent defenses.
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