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It's Week 5 RotoBallers and we're obsessing over place kickers again! 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 5 lineup could be a difference maker.
We're here to give you that life changing analysis you so dearly covet, and help make your kicker start/sit and streaming decisions for Week 5. Who doesn't need a little help making those dreaded lineup decisions a bit easier, especially in the fantasy leg department?
This season we are going to narrow down our tiers to the Top 15 kickers broken down into three tiers. Some of these kickers may have good Week 5 matchups, and be available on your league’s waiver wire, so don't sleep on your chance to cash in a few extra points via the leg.
Week 5 Kickers To Start & Stream: Tiers & Rankings
Tier 1 NFL Kickers: Denver Broncos (Brandon McManus), Baltimore Ravens (Justin Tucker), New York Giants (Josh Brown), Chicago Bears (Robbie Gould), Arizona Cardinals (Chandler Catanzaro)
In Week 5, Brandon "The Great Leg Of Denver" McManus is still the top dog on campus as he goes into the Bay Area to face the Raiders. Since he has leg for days and Oakland allows the fourth most fantasy points per week to the opposing kicker, we absolutely love him as our #1 option for DFS cash games or GPP tournaments (clearly he's already 100% owned in your fantasy league along with most of these tier one studs).
Next up is Justin "Time For Brunch" Tucker who is tied with Big Mac for most points via the leg thus far in 2015 (43 to be exact). We still love him as a strong kicker in Week 5 even though the Browns only allow an average of 6 points per game.
Josh "Kosh B'gosh" Brown is one of the leading scoring legs in the league and remains a tier one option for Week 5 despite facing the stingy 49ers defense. San Francisco will be on the road and the reliable veteran will get his chances without a doubt.
Robert Paul Gould III is still flirting with elite leg status as we head into Week 5. The sixth leading scorer in the NFL goes to Kansas City to take his shots versus a Chiefs defense that is allowing a healthy 8.33 fantasy points per game to kickers thus far. Use him with supreme confidence and get him into your DFS lineups if the price is right.
Rounding out the cream of the crop is Chandler "Bing" Catanzaro who made fantasy owner very proud in Week 4 by putting up an outlandish 16 fantasy points. In Week 5 the high powered Cardinals go into Detroit for some more indoor football. We are loving this matchup versus a defense that coughs up an average of 8 fantasy points to kickers.
Tier 2 NFL Kickers: New England Patriots (Stephen Gostkowski), Atlanta Falcons (Matt Bryant), Dallas Cowboys (Dan Bailey), Green Bay Packers (Mason Crosby), Cleveland Browns (Travis Coons)
Guess who's back, back again? Bye week behind him, Stephen Gostkowski's owners have much to look forward to as the Patriots take their elite offense to Dallas. The Cowboys are allowing 9.67 fantasy points per game to opposing legs, so Week 5 should yield a huge return for those who pay like he weighs, and squeeze him into your FanDuel lineups.
The Falcons host the Redskins in Week 5 and once again Matt "AARP" Bryant is looking to feast on a defense that allows an average of 8 points per game to kickers. We like his chances to let the good times keep let the good rolling for fantasy owners, so keep trotting grandpa out there until further notice.
Dan 'The Man" Bailey has slowly climbed back up the charts and put up a strong 8 point performance in Week 4. We look forward to seeing how many opportunities he gets in Week 5 while the Cowboys try to keep up with the Patriots high powered offense. He can be used with caution and is a tier two guy for this week.
Mason "Betha" Crosby is a top ten scorer in kicker points and plays for one of the best offensive units in the NFL. In Week 5 the Packers face the Rams, a team allowing an average of 8.33 fantasy points per contest to opposing legs. Continue to view him as a must start until further notice.
Travis Coons is proving to be a very potent fantasy leg for those who have been brave enough to try him, but in Week 5 he draws an extremely favorable matchup versus Baltimore. The Ravens are allowing the most fantasy points to kickers, a hellacious 12.33 points per game on average. He'll be the sexiest, sneakiest and riskiest stream of the week in case you need a DFS budget buster, or your current kicker is now NFL waiver wire fodder.
Tier 3 NFL Kickers: Seattle Seahawks (Steven Hauschka), St. Louis Rams (Greg Zuerlein), Oakland Raiders (Sebastian Janikowski), Kansas City Chiefs (Cairo Santos), Buffalo Bills (Dan Carpenter)
Steven Hauschka is kinda boring to analyze, but he always grades out favorable by PFF and also is perennially one of the league's leading scorers. He remains a must start in Week 5 against the stingy Bengals defense versus fantasy legs.
Greg "The Leg" Zuerlein" remains a DFS sleeper and weekly streaming option even though the Rams offense has been anemic at times. We like his matchup still in Week 5 because the Packers are allowing an average of 7.67 fantasy points per game to kickers.
Cairo Santos is officially the NFL's third leading scorer at the kicker position and he may be available on your league's waiver wire. If so you may want to consider scooping him as he faces off against a Bears defense that is allowing a ridiculous 9.67 fantasy points per game to kickers. He'd be in a higher tier, but we are still looking for a slightly larger sample size (8 weeks) to graduate him with confidence.
Dan "The Forgotten Man" Carpenter has elite kicking skills, but barely makes the cut for Week 5 because the Titans have been the toughest team versus fantasy kickers thus far in 2015. That being said, we are still recommending him as pretty much a must start unless one of the other Top 15 for the week are sitting on the waiver wire for the plucking.
Last but never ever least, our favorite NFL and fantasy leg of all time Sebastian Janikowski gets a home matchup versus the Broncos in Week 5. Even though Denver is only allowing an average of 5.33 fantasy points per game, Seabass is gonna kick some ass like he always does and rack us up a healthy, home cooked, serving of fantasy leg goodness! Get the Polish Powder Keg, and former first round pick, into your DFS and season long fantasy lineups in Week 5; then tweet @RealTalkRaph and thank me with memes depicting joy and victory.
If you don't see someone who's leg you adore in this week's article, you can assume we view them as having a less favorable matchup than our top choices for Week 5. Good luck streaming and dreaming RotoBallers and may the leg be with you.
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