Getty Stephen Gostkowski of the New England Patriots
Major kicker news broke on Wednesday afternoon, yes, that’s a thing. The defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots are placing Stephen Gostkowski, their kicker of 14 years, on injured reserve.
Gostkowski has been a fantasy football mainstay for years, and this will be a major blow for the Pats as well as fantasy football owners’ kicking game. See how you can replace the kicking stud in our Fantasy Football Week 5 Kicker Rankings below.
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Kicker Overview:
Since 2012, one could argue that no kicker has done it better than Stephen Gostkowski. The Patriots kicker has, on average, finished as the third-highest scorer at his position on a yearly basis. However, fantasy owners will have to look elsewhere to fill their kicker slot for the rest of the 2019 season.
Patriots’ kicker Stephen Gostkowski has a left hip injury that will require season-ending surgery, per source. He is expected to be ready to kick for the 2020 season.
In typical Patriots fashion, the team has been very shrouded about kicker workouts thus far, not commenting on who has been brought in. However, whichever kicker is brought in to replace Gostkowski immediately becomes a viable fantasy option, as they are tacked onto one of the best offenses in football.
UPDATE:
If for any reason Joey Slye is still on your waivers, run and scoop him up now. The Panthers kicker averages 12+ points per game while leading all players at his position in fantasy points this season. Carolina will likely be in a low scoring offensive affair this week with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Slye may be Carolina’s best hope of getting on the scoreboard.
The Chargers kicking carousel has been quite the show this season. Incumbent starter Michael Badgley has missed the entire season thus far due to a groin injury. Los Angeles has resorted to their punter Ty Long as Badgley’s replacement through the first four weeks of 2019. However, on Monday the Bolts decided it might be best to have an actual place kicker handle kicking duties, signing rookie Chase McLaughlin.
The #Chargers are signing kicker Chase McLaughlin, source said. Michael Badgley is still a couple weeks away after a minor setback in rehabbing from his groin injury. So, McLaughlin — a rookie from Illinois — gets his shot.
Week 5 Fantasy Rankings: Kickers
[Top 100 | QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | DST | K]
- Matchup: Great l Avg l Tough
| Rank | Kicker TEAM | Opp. |
|
1 |
Harrison Butker KC |
vs. IND |
|
2 |
Wil Lutz NO |
vs. TB |
|
3 |
Justin Tucker BAL |
at PIT |
|
4 |
Greg Zuerlein LAR |
at SEA |
|
5 |
Joey Slye* CAR |
vs. JAC |
|
6 |
Robbie Gould SF |
vs. CLE |
|
7 |
Jason Myers SEA |
vs. LAR |
|
8 |
Brett Maher DAL |
vs. GB |
|
9 |
Mike Nugent* NE |
at WAS |
|
10 |
Matt Bryant ATL |
at HOU |
|
11 |
Ka’imi Fairbairn HOU |
vs. ATL |
|
12 |
Jake Elliott PHI |
vs. NYJ |
|
13 |
Mason Crosby GB |
at DAL |
|
14 |
Josh Lambo JAC |
at CAR |
|
15 |
Matt Gay TB |
at NO |
|
16 |
Adam Vinatieri IND |
at KC |
|
17 |
Zane Gonzalez ARI |
at CIN |
|
18 |
Austin Seibert CLE |
at SF |
|
19 |
Eddy Pineiro CHI |
at OAK |
|
20 |
Chase McLaughlin* LAC |
vs. DEN |
|
21 |
Dan Bailey MIN |
at NYG |
|
22 |
Chris Boswell PIT |
vs. BAL |
|
23 |
Aldrick Rosas NYG |
vs. MIN |
|
24 |
Randy Bullock CIN |
vs. ARI |
|
25 |
Brandon McManus DEN |
at LAC |
|
26 |
Cairo Santos TEN |
vs. BUF |
|
27 |
Steven Hauschka BUF |
at TEN |
|
28 |
Ty Long* LAC |
vs. DEN |
|
29 |
Daniel Carlson OAK |
vs. CHI |
|
30 |
Dustin Hopkins WAS |
vs. NE |
|
31 |
Sam Ficken NYJ |
at PHI |
READ NEXT: Fantasy: Week 5 DEF/DST Rankings