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No position is more unpredictable in fantasy football than kickers. Year after year after year, no position has a lower correlation between where they're drafted before the season and where they finish after the season. No position has a lower correlation between how they score in one week and how they score in the next. No position has a lower correlation between projected points and actual points.
In addition, placekicker is the position that has the smallest spread between the best players and the middle-of-the-pack players for fantasy. Finally, most fantasy GMs will only carry one kicker at a time, which means there are a dozen or more starting kickers sitting around on waivers at any given time. Given all of this, it rarely makes sense to devote resources to the position. Instead, GMs are best served by rotating through whichever available kicker has the best weekly matchup.
Every week, I'll rank the situations each kicker finds himself in (ignoring the talent of the kicker himself) to help you find perfectly startable production off the waiver wire.
WEEK 5 RESULTS
Graham Gano (4 FG attempts, 4 FGs, 3 XPs, 15 points)
Gano finished week 5 as the top-scoring kicker in the most dramatic fashion possible: by tying an NFL record for the longest game-winning field goal with a 63-yarder with seconds left in the game.
Kaimi Fairbairn (5 FG attempts, 4 FGs, 1 XP, 13 points)
A missed 48-yarder was all that kept Fairbairn off the top of the leaderboard in week 5; as it was, his 13 points were second-most at the position last weekend.
Randy Bullock (3 FG attempts, 2 FGs, 3 XPs, 9 points)
A blocked kick cost Bullock three points, but even still his nine points ranked 9th at the position last week.
Cairo Santos (2 FG attempts, 2 FGs, 3 XPs, 9 points)
Santos was signed in the middle of the last week to replace Sam Ficken and immediately stepped into a great opportunity. A missed extra point certainly cost him in leagues with penalties for missed kicks, but his nine points finished tied for 9th among all kickers last week.
Caleb Sturgis (3 FG attempts, 2 FGs, 2 XPs, 8 points)
Rent-a-kicker doesn't believe in curses, but if we did, we might recommend the Chargers' special teams hold a seance or two. Sturgis' 8 points finished tied for a respectable 12th at the position, but he also missed his third extra point of the season. His days may or may not be numbered in Los Angeles, but as long as he's paired with that potent Chargers' offense, he'll have plenty of opportunities to put up points.
WEEK 6 SITUATIONS
**Since streaming kickers is so popular and rostering can vary, here is a list of how favorable every kicker's situation is based on Vegas projected totals and stadium. Quality plays who are especially likely to be on waivers based on NFL.com rostering percentages are italicized and will be highlighted in next week's column.**
Great Plays
Matt Bryant, Atl
**Cairo Santos, LAR
**Dan Bailey, Min
Stephen Gostkowski, NE
Good Plays
Mason Crosby, GB
**Chandler Catanzaro, TB
**Ka'imi Fairburn, Hou
**Randy Bullock, Cin
Harrison Butker, KC
Neutral Plays
Chris Boswell, Pit
Jason Myers, NYJ
Sebastian Janikowski, Sea
Mike Nugent, Oak
Brandon McManus, Den
Josh Lambo, Jax
Mike Badgley, LAC
Jake Elliott, Phi
Cody Parkey, Chi
Poor Plays
Aldrick Rosas, NYG
Justin Tucker, Bal
Dustin Hopkins, Was
Graham Gano, Car
Brett Maher, Dal
Adam Vinatieri, Ind
Greg Joseph, Cle
Jason Sanders, Mia
Ryan Succop, Ten
Avoid at All Costs
Phil Dawson, Ari
Robbie Gould, SF
Steve Hauschka, Buf