Strategy for Kickers?

[gogogadget]

I want to know if anyone has a strategy they use when decidning which Kicker to use each week. I wanted to play matchups each week much like I do for Defenses but I realized I didn't know what I was looking for in a matchup. Any thoughts?

[J2thez929]

I just usually look for a hot kicker or a kicker on a good offense. If you are gonna play matchups then look for kickers on a decent-to-good offense and make sure they are playing a team that gives up a lot of points. This means more PATs and FGAs

[Redskins Win]

No real method to the kicker strategy for me like J2theZ said look for the hot kicker. I go lucky no one grabbed rackers and after week 1 he resides, then I picked up this guy bironas he's been rock solid.

[Teh Jury]

When the top kickers are gone and the kickers on standout teams that march but don't score are gone (ie. Neil Rackers) then I go with teams that score a lot, like the above poster mentioned.

I do this because you'll get a steady flow of PAT points plus whatever FGs the team goes for, whereas a low scoring team's kicker value will rely mostly on FGs which which vary more than PAT from week to week.

I didn't draft any kickers (I planned not to) so I've been using Lawrence Tynes and Nate Kaeding pretty much as we play 2 kickers.

[petedog9]

we get points based on length of kick so I look for the guys who can bust the 50+ yarders. Kasay, Edinger, Tynes, Elam, etc. I also look at weather for each kicker. If a guy is gonna be in a dome, he will get the nod over a guy kicking in Green Bay during a blizzard....

[Jimboozie]

I drafted Shayne Graham because he is on a good offense that moves the ball well but is not a lock to score in the redzone. Also, he doesnt have a bye until week 10. Ive started him every week and he is steady averaging about 9 ff points a game.

Since you probably don't have Graham, I would pickup one of the best available kickers from the ww. In my other league, Vinateri was released after a few weeks and I picked him up until the bye. Then I grabbed Jay Feely cuz he was one of the top scoring guys on the ww.

[warrick95]

The ideal kicker is one on a team that has a good offense but one that isn't particularly good a bet to score. I don't have the %'s for this, but I think it's more or less difficult to figure out what teams score stall more in the red zone than others. Thus, look for pretty good offenses. I would think that ones based on the run have more potential to stall than ones that pass more.

[phunkadelic]

Just go for guys on teams that score alot, and make sure the guy who take has at least a decent career FG percentage.

One of the leading kickers over the last couple of years has been Vinatieri, mirroring NE's domination over that period. Akers has ben great recently as has Vanderjagt. Wilkins was the man when St. Louis was the team to beat.

There's always going to be a couple wacko kickers each year that don't fit the bill, but it's nearly impossible to guess those right each time.

[Warhawk]

Basically, make your initial kicker be someone who is a 'stud' for his career if you can - don't draft too high though. If you can get Vanderjagt, Elam, Vinatieri, Akers, Wilkins, etc. While some of them might not be having the best year (akers specifically... heh), as long as they don't get injured (heh) they are basically unquestioned starters on their teams from the beginning of the year to the end - they are established.

After that though, during the season, ride the hot kicker. I drafted Vanderjagt in two leagues and Kasay in two league, now I have one league with kasay, two with rackers (one of which has vandy too), and one with bironas. Or something like that.

[Plindsey88]

Here's the list of the top 10 teams that give up the most points to fantasy kickers:

1. Houston Texans
2. St. Louis Rams
3. San Francisco 49ers
4. New Orleans Saints
5. New York Jets
6. Tennessee Titans
7. New York Giants
8. Minnesota Vikings
9. Seattle Seahawks
10. Miami Dolphins