Knowing which kickers to start in fantasy football can be critical to winning your matchups. This position, arguably more so than any other, is matchup-dependent on a weekly basis, and fantasy managers can obtain the best results by being flexible with a streaming strategy. Here’s a look at our Week 16 fantasy kicker rankings and the top options to stream this week.
Week 16 Kicker Rankings for Fantasy Football
The rankings below are from Senior Fantasy Analyst Tommy Garrett. For analysis on our top kicker streamers for Week 16, scroll past the table. If you want another way to apply this advice, believe it or not, Underdog Fantasy often has kicker pick’ems in addition to the usual array of skill-position players.
The table is best viewed in landscape on mobile devices and can be sorted using the filters above the table.Â
Top Week 16 Kicker Streamers
Here are my top fantasy kicker streamers, all of whom are rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues.
Michael Badgley, Detroit Lions (at CAR)
Another week. Another appearance for the Moneybadger in the kicker streaming column.
Michael Badgley has quietly been one of the better fantasy kickers over the past three weeks. After four straight games of hitting no more than one field goal, Badgley’s volume has ticked up considerably as of late.
Coinciding with the Lions’ ascent from spunky underdog to weekly juggernaut, Badgley has attempted 12 field goals in his last four games. While he has missed three over that span, we care far more about the volume than the accuracy.
This week, the Lions travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers. The Panthers have been playing better defensively, but they also haven’t faced particularly good offenses. The Lions should have no trouble moving the ball against the Panthers, creating several scoring chances. We only need a couple of them to turn into field goals.
Jason Sanders, Miami Dolphins (vs. GB)
It figures that Jason Sanders would have one of his best games of the season on a night when everyone was terrified there would be a foot of snow falling throughout the game.
Sanders’ issue all season has been neither his accuracy nor the ineptitude of his offense — quite the contrary. The Dolphins have just been too efficient. However, that was always bound to regress. And it has to an extent, resulting in Sanders attempting three field goals against the Bills last week.
MORE: Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 16
The Packers are another nice setup for Sanders. They have a good but not great defense that’s more likely to surrender FG attempts than stop the Dolphins altogether.
Losers of three straight, the Dolphins really need to get back on track. While the Packers looked strong against the hapless Rams on Monday night, this is still one of the weaker teams in the NFL. The Dolphins need a get-right spot and could score plenty of points this week. They can’t all be touchdowns, right?
Riley Patterson, Jacksonville Jaguars (at NYJ)
For the second consecutive week, we’re going all the way to page two of Yahoo’s projections. (As a quick aside, while I find fantasy platforms’ weekly projections helpful, when it comes to kickers, focus on the process and ignore the projections.)
Last week, Joey Slye wound up being one of the better kicking options despite being projected outside the top 25. I think we’re looking at a similar situation with Riley Patterson.
Suddenly, the Jaguars’ offense is firing on all cylinders. Trevor Lawrence is playing as well as he ever has, finally resembling the first overall pick he was drafted as. This is a team that has scored 76 points over its past two games. They weren’t all touchdowns.
Patterson has hit multiple field goals in four straight games and attempted multiple field goals in six straight. He’s also a good bet for 2-3 extra points per game, given the way the Jaguars are playing.
The Jets have an excellent defense. I actually like that for Patterson’s chances of attempting more field goals. It doesn’t look like anyone can stop Lawrence, but the Jets can stall out at least a couple of drives.
The Cowboys have a defense just as good, if not better, than the Jets. Patterson hit two field goals and four extra points. Perhaps the Jets can make that three field goals and two extra points. We’d certainly sign for that right now.
