Transcription
Still feeling a little bit nasty, but the show must go on because it is the fantasy football playoffs. So, starting out with tier one of our kickers in week 16, we've got Jason Myers number one. This guy has been lights out. And I keep saying this, I think the thing that's making me overlook some of the inaccuracy issues we've seen in the past with Jason Myers is the fact that they just continue to score basically on every single possession, whether it's field goals or whether it's extra points. I think the good news in this one is if you look back to that first time that the Seahawks and the Rams played each other, the Seahawks were basically held to a field goal fest because Sam Darnold was Mr. Turnover in that game. It's a Thursday night game this week. I do believe that Sam Darnold continues to struggle against the Rams. But that does not rule out a lot of field goals for Myers because I believe that's exactly what's going to happen.
Brandon Aubrey at number two. I know he missed a couple of kicks on Sunday night, which is definitely not a good look on a national stage. Everybody's watching. Brandon Aubrey was not nearly as accurate that he had usually been. Like this year, he's actually missed a couple of field goal attempts. Usually, they're in the longer range. However, I'll take him to bounce back. I think this Dallas offense is actually getting a little bit weaker because George Pickins is clearly going through something. I don't think he looks like he's putting in a ton of effort. And I do think that this Dallas team as a whole, they're going to take a step back because they know basically playoffs are out of reach. That being said, they're still talented enough to get you down there and into field goal range. And the Chargers are a great matchup for that because the Chargers defense is very good as well. So I bet that Brandon Aubrey gets a lot of chances at redemption this week and he'll probably take them.
Cameron Dicker at number three, the same matchup at Dallas. I do think Cameron Dicker is sort of Jason Myers light. The Chargers offense, I would say, has more stalled out drives that don't result in field goals because their offensive line a lot of times will put them out of field goal range because they can't defend Justin Herbert or they'll end up with a 5-yard loss on a run because their offensive line is just not very good right now because of all the injuries. That's the reason I would say Jason Myers is still better than Cameron Dicker. But they are in the same tier here for a reason. Dicker does have a 20 to 25 point ceiling and I think against Dallas's defense which has just been a really bad defense and I've had them in the top 12 of my defense the past two weeks that's not happening again. So Cameron Dicker I do think actually ends up having a really high ceiling this week once again.
Dropping down to our next tier we've got Kaim Fairbar of the Houston Texans. He's going home to play the Las Vegas Raiders. This matchup. Realistically, honestly, they could score four touchdowns and then never score again. That's why Fairburn doesn't belong in tier one. I don't think that he's going to get stalled out a bunch of times by the Raiders defense. However, I do still think the Houston offensive line not very good. And the Raiders, their front seven does have some dogs, namely Max Crosby. So, there could be some stalled out drives here. Ky Fairbird ultimately is on an offense that I still just really like for kickers because of the fact that they just don't score many touchdowns. They are a field goal driven team. They're also a conservative team which means they're not going to go for it many times on fourth down if they are in a fourth down situation. I do think that ultimately Ky Fairburn still needs to be treated as a top five kicker.
Eddie Pinera number five to round out this tier. He goes to Indie on Monday night to take on the Colts. Now, here's my thing with this one. Eddie Pinero, since he's been back, two 10 plus point games, he's done very well because the entirety of the season, he's done well. San Francisco's offense is sort of similar to Seattle's where every time they have the ball, it kind of feels like they're going to score or at least get a field goal. So, Eddie Panro's floor is really high. I think his ceiling is maybe not as high as someone like Fairbear, but I do think that his floor just being on the offense that he's on keeps him in this range. Now, the one thing with Indy's defense is I actually do think they're going to create more stops leading to some more Eddie Pinero kicks this week. So, I actually do think Pinterero has a really high ceiling this week. And a top five ranking for him to me is a no-brainer.
But, I'll tell you this, I think he's on waivers. And the best way to win your playoffs right now is with the best kept secret of fantasy football, which is our automatic waiver tool at fsroundup.com. If you go to our site, you sign up for the premium subscription, you'll get access to the automatic waiver tool, which is winning leagues for people this year because when priority waiver claims run through, there's a mad dash at 3 in the morning to get the best remaining free agents. And we've automated that process for you so you can sleep through the night and make better decisions because you've got brain power about your lineup heading into the week. You'll also get access to my top 300 rankings this week and next week. And you'll get access to the comparison feature and the league syncup feature as well with a premium subscription at fsroundup.com.
Now, dropping down to our next two, we've got Blake Groupy at number six this week in that same matchup versus San Francisco. If you look at what happened last week, Philip Rivers was good enough to function because he is a very smart quarterback upstairs. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes and he's not going to push the ball down the field enough for them to get in the end zone. So basically that is the equivalent of an offense that we want for fantasy football kickers. That's the reason that for many many weeks when they still were using Michael Badley with Daniel Jones a quarterback. It wasn't working out that great because they were still so efficient moving the ball to the end zone. They're not like that right now and they won't be because Philip Rivers can't push the ball down the field like Daniel Jones could. I do think that San Francisco's defense is a problem and I think it's going to be a liability for them in the playoffs, but that's a different story. Blake groupy though in this Indianapolis versus San Francisco matchup I actually think has a really good ceiling in this one. Floor probably still not as high because I don't fully trust Rivers yet and what he's doing. But I do think his ceiling is the reason he's a top six ranking for me this week.
Chris Boswell at number seven at Detroit. I think this matchup is one of those once again that the Steelers are going to get crushed in and they're going to make a lot of mistakes offensively because they'll be trying to keep up with Detroit's scoring machine and it won't work. So, there's going to be less field goal attempts, especially as the game goes on and probably only two extra point attempts, maybe three. So, maybe he hits a, you know, 50 yard field goal or kicks two field goals in this game. Boswell is still a kicker I really trust because he's a great kicker, but I don't think it's his best opportunity this week for him to go nuclear in fantasy football. If you actually look at the last several games, it hasn't been that great because the Steelers have actually been either relatively efficient getting in the end zone or just not getting there at all. So, I do think the Steelers not the greatest offense for a kicker right now as they used to be, but Boswell still belongs in the top seven cuz he's elite.
Jake Bates at number eight in the same matchup. I was told last week I was probably a Jake Bates hater. And while that's not true, I get what you're saying because he does belong in the top 10 at this point. Like this guy is the kicker number six on the year. I think the reason I ultimately didn't like him for so long was because Detroit's always a team that goes for it. They're a team that just wants to go for it, put their nuts on the table and say, "Yeah, we're men." And I like that about the Detroit Lions and Dan Campbell. But there is times where they figured out this year, hey, you know what? It's probably smart we kick some field goals. Jake Bates, I don't love the accuracy on this guy, but they do have an offense that could score at will. I think they will against the Steelers this week, and it will work out for Jake Bates to give you 10 to 14 fantasy points.
Dropping down to our last tier, Will Reichard. I think this might be not his debut, but it's been a long time since the Minnesota Vikings kicker was on here, and it's because he's going to New York to play the Giants. Now, two things can be true at the same time. Number one, the Giants defense sucks. They're ready to take a vacation. They basically all just said, "1, two, three, Cancun. Let's get out of here and take a nice long vacation." The other true thing, though, I would say, is Minnesota's offense has definitely looked better. I've been very hard on JJ McCarthy this year. Last two games he's looked good. Now against weaker opponents, but this is the same type of deal as he's had the last two weeks. So I do think there's a big opportunity for Will Riker in this game to continue to have a higher ceiling because the offense is getting down there enough. Now they've still got a lot of playmakers and they have drawn up some good red zone plays to get them in the end zone and leave him with a lower floor. But I think the ceiling in this game is actually pretty solid.
Harrison Memphis of the Los Angeles Rams at number 10 at Seattle on Thursday night. I think that this guy could do very well. I do not think his floor is safe at all. Like the Rams are so good offensively and they've been so efficient getting in the end zone. They haven't really needed a ton of field goals from Harrison Meas. This is the first time you'll see him in the top 12. And I don't know if he'll be back because the Seahawks matchup is just a unique one that offers a lot of pressure points for the Los Angeles Rams offense. They'll likely be going into the game without Devonte Adams. So, that's a massive piece of their offense down. So, I do think there's probably going to be a lot of field goals in this game. And Harrison Memphis has a really good ceiling in this one.
Andy Bulgas at number 11 at the Baltimore Ravens this week on Sunday night. I will say this though, this does feel like a matchup they'll score a lot of touchdowns rather than field goals. If you look at Andy Bereas this year, he's kicked 27 field goals compared to 42 extra points. That feels about right because the Patriots have been very efficient in or around the red zone. That to me feels like a matchup with the Baltimore Ravens where they will continue that trend of more extra points than field goals. So again, I think the floor is relatively low on Andy Buggalus this week, but the ceiling I think is actually pretty high because they could continue to score points. And if the Ravens have any fight in them, they will force them to kick field goals. But I do not think they'll be able to force them a lot of three and outs in this game. And I don't think there's going to be too many times where the Patriots will not get past midfield to go get in decent field goal range for Andy Berealis.
Now, our number 12 kicker is Chase Mclofflin of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he's going to Carolina to take on the Panthers. So, I think you could look at this a couple different ways. Chase Mclofflin is a part of an offense that is getting healthier with their weapons back. However, in that first game back with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and Amecha Ebuka all together, and Bucky Irving, by the way, he had 11 points. He had two extra points and two field goals. This does feel like a situation where I don't exactly know where to put Mclofflin because I think his ceiling is relatively high, but I also think his floor is relatively low. The Panthers matchup, it is for the division. Everything is going to be on the table in this one. And that's kind of why I've just got to take it and say I'd rather have Chase Mclofflin than somebody like a Zane Gonzalez off of Atlanta this week who is actually really well ranked for him this week because ultimately this is a game that really matters and I want pieces a part of it for fantasy football. So let me know what you think of the rankings in the comments below. And if you want to see the top 12 defenses for week 16, click on this video right here.