Transcription
Now that you made it to the next round of the fantasy football playoffs, start decisions become insanely more important. And we need to make sure we get our kickers right because they can give us 20, but they could also give us neg5 and literally lose us a week. So because of that, I took it into my own hands and made my full kicker rankings based on sportsbook game lines, player odds, weather, and so much more. Nobody on YouTube is going in for you. So if you appreciate that and you don't want to have to guess at the kicker or defense position coming later, hit that follow button, like the video, and we'll get straight into it.
Brandon Aubry is going to be our number one kicker of the week. As expected, he gets the 19th best matchup, which means the Chargers here at their defense are allowing the 19th most fantasy points to the kicking position. It's an indoor stadium, which is going to be very, very beneficial for our kickers, especially in this time of the year. I will tell you later down the line of this list, there is some weather concerns that might affect our kickers, but it's indoors and a home game. Positive for our kickers. Not like he needs that cuz he literally is one of the best, putting up over 14 fantasy points last week. And the Chargers matchup here is good because it is a high projected scoring game. We can see almost 50 point total. When you look at your kickers, you need to make sure they're playing in high scoring games because it gives them the most opportunity for extra points, which we can see he is the kicker number five in total of that. But also field goals, deep ones, 50-yard plus, whatever it is. As you can see in the stats down here, Brandon Aubrey in this Dallas Cowboys offense generates a ton of scoring, which is really good for the kicker. So, he is our number one.
And so is Ka Fairbar as our number two kicker. getting a bit more of a positive matchup against this Raiders defense who allow the 14th most fantasy points to the kicking position. And guess what? Another situation where we have an indoor stadium and the Texans are home. All green lights for the kickers here. And you look at this matchup, we just talked about it. This is a lower scoring projected game, which looks like it's a negative situation. I mean, a 30-point game total, 38 points, not very high, but when you look at the spread, the Texans are projected to win this game by over two touchdowns. So 90% of the scoring in this game is coming from the Texans. So even though it's a low game point total, still a very positive spot for Fair to do his thing. The Texans defense is absolutely amazing. The Raiders, their defense is not good. So you look at Fair Baron, he is absolutely great in these field goal situations, which is because the Texans offense is good enough to get in the red zone, but not necessarily good enough to score touchdowns. And as you can see, he's the kicker number 32 in extra points, which might look negative, but it's honestly more positive for you to get stopped in the red zone and have to kick field goals for kickers than it is just a million extra points. So, even though it looks negative there, you can see he's top 10 in all these other kicking categories, which is why he's the kicker five on the year. A must start in my opinion for this week. I also love the Texans defensive for whatever reason they're out there for you. They're clearing away my number one.
At number three though, we do have Jake Bates. And a popular theme within these top three, the Lions are home and it's an indoor stadium. So positive, even if the Steelers defense is allowing the 21st most fancy points to the kicking position, which is not very high, it's one of the lowest on this side. But we look at the game scoring here in the matchup. A pretty decently high game total. The Lions are projected to win this game by a touchdown. A lot of kicking points are expected for Jake Bates and a guy that's been averaging almost 10 fantasy points per game. As you can see his numbers down here. This is a situation where he is really, really good in kicking those extra points because the Lions score a million of them a game. So, if he's getting three and a half every single time, that's about three or four fantasy points just as a floor on top of those deep field goals or whatever else it may be. And we know the Steelers defense is pretty decent in stopping the run and making teams play a different brand of football. And the Lions are really, really good at running the ball. This shouldn't be a game where the Lions are struggling to score. So, a lot of offense and a lot of great situations for our kicker in Jake Bates. Another guy that cannot be stopped right now.
Looking at the kicker number four, this is a controversial one with Evan McFersonson. Last week I had him as a kicker start. He absolutely did nothing. This Cincinnati Bengals offense looked terrible. I still have him as a top five kicker this week though because they do get a matchup against the Miami Dolphins. This team is not good. There's no way that the Bengals get shut out again. I believe that was the first time they've ever scored zero points since I 2018. We have to look at the numbers. We have to look at the statistics. That's not something that we can expect every single week. Evan McFersonson is back in this top five. If you are worried about his risk, maybe you can move him down these rankings a little bit for your personal rankings. But we can still look at the rest of these here. The 23rd worst matchup here. The Dolphins don't allow a lot of fantasy points, mostly because they allow so many extra points to kickers, and you don't really need to kick field goals on them because they are so bad. Now, their pass defense is pretty decent, so maybe it'll give Joe Burrow some problems, but they should still be able to get into the red zone enough to where he's going to kick a lot of these field goals. And you see the weather here. This is the first game that's not in a dome or an indoor stadium. There is an 8% chance of rain, but the Dolphins are home. Very beautiful Florida weather. There's absolutely nothing to worry about here. He is still a top guy that I'm putting in my starting lineup.
If you want more safety though, Cameron Dicker is going to be that guy for you. He's getting a matchup against the Cowboys, which are allowing the 10th most fantasy points to the kicking position, as we saw with Brandon Aubrey. Cowboys are home indoor stadium. That makes it absolutely amazing for us. And it's a high game point total. Now, the thing with Cameron Dicker and this Chargers offense is that Justin Herbert's a bit banged up. This offensive line is a bit banged up. They're not necessarily scoring at an insanely efficient level, but it is the Cowboys matchup when you look at it. And they're allowing some of the most points and yards and touchdowns to every position. So, the Chargers shouldn't have any trouble getting to the red zone, but with what this team is dealing with, maybe they won't turn those red zone trips to touchdowns as often. And that's exactly what you want for kickers. He is a top guy. He's very talented. As you can see, he's a top kicker in those deep opportunities downfield. He is a must start in this matchup here.
We also have Borales here for the Patriots. This is another very high-scoring projected matchup. Both these teams honestly need a win. It's the fifth best matchup though. The Ravens are allowing a ton of points to opposing kickers this year. And that's even after the Evan McFersonson game last week where he did nothing. You can see the weather here. It is a 181 19% chance of rain for the Ravens home stadium. 39°. Nothing too crazy to concern us with the weather. We do know that rain, snow, wind really affects the kickers more than it does everything else, but the Patriots are scoring the ball at a very high level to where we don't have to worry about it and it's not a huge concern for this game. We can see almost a 50-point game total. The Ravens are actually projected to win this game minus 2 and a half. So, it's going to be close. It's going to be competitive. And you can see with how much this Patriots team is generating offense. Boralis is a top 10 kicker in pretty much every single category for what matters with the extra points and the field goals. He is a top guy in this matchup and I do not worry about the Patriots scoring against this Ravens defense even if they have been better as of late.
We look at the kicker number seven this week. It is going to be Will Lutz. Now you might see this red on screen. It is a very negative matchup. The Jaguars are only allowing the 30th most. That's the second worst matchup of the week. You can see the weather as well. 3% chance of rain. It's not too much of an issue. The Broncos are home here. More of the issue is this Jaguars defense. They are very good at stopping the run. They are very good at slowing down the pace of games, but they're not that good at stopping the pass. And I do think Boon Knicks is a must start quarterback in this matchup. You can see the game point total is at 45 and a half. And it should be a close one. A lot of people are going to be scared to start with Lutz in this matchup because of that. But with the projected volume and how much both of these teams are projected to score and what we saw from both of these quarterbacks last week, Will Lutz is a guy riding in this offensive situation. That is going to be a start for us, even if his stats don't necessarily portray him to be that.
We look at the kicker number eight here. We do have Jake Elliot. He gets his matchup against the Washington Commanders in a divisional matchup. They're allowing the 12th most points to opposing kickers. We see the weather. Absolutely no concerns here. The Commanders are home. 42 degrees. It's clear. No rain projected at all. Beautiful for our kickers. The one thing to worry about here is that Jake Elliot always is going to have a lower floor because of the tush push opportunities that the Eagles do use. When it is fourth down, when they're close in the red zone, they're not going to kick a field goal on fourth and one or fourth and two. So, it does definitely lower his projections and his upside. You can see his kicking numbers down here are really not great because of that reason. But, this matchup against the Commanders projected to be on the higher side of scoring. The Eagles are projected to win as well. I do not worry about the Eagles scoring on this commander team. So hopefully all of his points don't come from extra points and this Commander defense, which is better under Dan Quinn calling the play calls, can stop them in the red zone just a little bit. That is the main worry for him and that's why he's the kicker eight in this week's matchup.
I also do like Eddie Pierro. If you're looking for a straight upside play, this is one where you can pick him up off the waiver wire possibly getting a matchup against the Colts defense which have played really really good as of late. It does hurt this offensive success as the 49ers hole in general. But again, defenses that are really good in stopping offenses tend to stop them in the red zone or slash somewhere in the kicking range, which is going to help Eddie Pierro. Yes, it's a 15th worst matchup. It's about the most neutral you can get. But the Colts are home and it's an indoor stadium, so there's not too much to worry about there. And we look at this game point total. It is at 46 1/2 points, about average, a little bit higher than average, but the 49ers are expected to win this game by a decent margin. And we do have Philip Rivers likely starting again, so you can't expect a ton of offense coming from this Colts team. It's going to rely on their defense. But the 49ers have been able to ride their offense and Panero has been the beneficiary of that. You can see he's a top 10 kicker so far this year. So, he belongs in the top 10 for this week as well. Even if it is a negative matchup, I still do believe in his abilities for this one.
We also have Will Riker as a top 10 kicker this week getting a really tough matchup. Bottom five and fantasy points allowed. The Giants are again a lot of that comes from the fact that they are forcing extra points and not field goals. They do not have a great red zone defense. You can see there is also some weather concerns here. 15% chance of rain in the Giants home stadium. It doesn't look like it's going to build to be anything crazy, but again, if you get to that 50 plus yard field goal range, maybe they'll take a chance. They don't have the most winningest record of all time either. So, this is another situation where some of these teams can just go for it on fourth down when they usually wouldn't because there's nothing they can lose in the matchup. But, we can see it is a highish projected scoring game and it should be close. I do like Will Record in this one. We have seen JJ McCarthy do decent as of late and this offense is moving. So, this is a situation where we can put him in our starting lineup and he definitely has the talent as of the kicker himself to be fantasy viable.
Speaking of that, we also have Tyler Loop. Another guy inside our top 15. Another guy with a really negative matchup against this Patriots defense. We've talked about the matchup earlier with Borales. The weather not too crazy of an issue here. More of this Ravens offense cuz Lamar Jackson in this team hasn't necessarily been able to be amazing putting up a billion points. But this is a situation again where we can start Tyler Loop. You can see some of his kicking options here and his numbers. He is good because of the field goals that he's kicking and not always because of the extra points. And we know extra points are not the most valuable in fantasy football. So, he is a top 12 option for me.
And some of the honorable mentions this week that didn't make it into the top 12, we have Brandon Mcmanis against the Chicago Bears. This is a good one because the Packers defense is going to be banged up a little bit more without Michael Parsons. So, it should be a higher scoring projected game where both offenses can operate a little bit more at a higher pace of play than usual. You can also get Young Way Coup against the Minnesota Vikings. I know there's a ton of negative connotation around him. He's available on the waiverwire. The Minnesota Vikings defense is very good, but with the higher projected scoring game total and both these offenses not being amazing in the red zone. He can be an option for you. As well as Jason Meyers, who has been amazing as of late, it is a really negative matchup against the Los Angeles Rams defense and there is a very high potential chance of rain. That's the only reason he's not inside my top 10 for anybody wondering there.
Also, waiverwire options under 40% rostered. We do have Zayn Gonzalez against the Arizona Cardinals. They are top 10 in fantasy points allowed to the position and he's only rostered in 2% of leagues. We can also go get Kyro Santos. Another situation here with this Green Bay Packers matchup and the Bears probably being a lot more offensive centric. And then Riley Patterson for the Dolphins getting his against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals are top five and fantasy points allowed to kickers in pretty much every position as well. He should be able to benefit from that, but he is one of the riskiest options because of how up and down this Dolphins team is.
That is going to finish out this video though, guys. I appreciate you rocking with me all season. I hope you get a win right now to make it into the championship round and I will see you there.