Fantasy football fans often find kickers to be one of the most unpredictable positions on their roster. Historical data shows a consistent lack of correlation between a kicker’s draft position and their performance at the end of the season. Similarly, week-to-week scoring varies greatly, making it difficult to rely on any specific kicker for consistent points.
The position also has the narrowest scoring difference between top-performing kickers and those in the middle tier. With many fantasy general managers opting to carry just one kicker, it’s common for numerous viable options to be available on waivers each week. This leads to the conclusion that investing heavily in kickers might not be the best strategy; instead, rotating through kickers based on favorable matchups offers a better chance of maximizing points.
In the spirit of this strategy, we reviewed the kicker performances from Week 15, highlighting top performers who were available in at least 50% of leagues.
Eddy Piñeiro shone with two field goals on three attempts, alongside six extra points, tallying 12 points—ranking him fourth among kickers for the week. He narrowly missed a lengthy 64-yard attempt that hit the crossbar just before halftime.
Evan McPherson contributed nine points with a single field goal on one try and six extra points, benefiting from a high-scoring game where the Bengals defeated the Dolphins with a notable 45 points.
Zane Gonzalez also had a solid outing, converting two field goals on two attempts and adding two extra points for a total of eight points, placing him in a tie for 16th among kickers.
Wil Lutz matched Gonzalez with eight points, achieving two field goals including a long 54-yarder, although he did hit the upright on a 44-yard attempt.
Brandon McManus scored 10 points, making three field goals on three attempts despite the Green Bay offense struggling throughout the game. His success in getting points via short field goals helped land him in seventh place for the week.
Over the course of the season, recommendations from Rent-a-Kicker have averaged 7.63 points weekly, with the top three picks averaging 7.94 points, a statistic that places them in better standing than most kickers identified by their preseason average draft position (ADP). The top 12 kickers by ADP have averaged 118.7 points thus far, which our top picks have surpassed by over 0.5 points per game, indicating the effectiveness of navigating kickers based on matchups instead of relying on preseason data.
Moving into Week 17, keep an eye on which available kickers are positioned for strong performances based on upcoming matchups. Investing in the right kicker at the right moment may provide a crucial edge as fantasy leagues head into the final stretches of the season.