Getty Younghoe Koo of the Atlanta Falcons.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em for Week 12 of the NFL season. Our kicker edition features an Atlanta Falcons player who is quickly working his way into must-start territory.
* Reminder: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is intended to present you with the non-obvious choices for your fantasy lineup. We dig deep into player matchups, scoring trends, and other factors to best help you with your fantasy decisions. Be sure to also check out our weekly fantasy football kicker rankings to better gauge where these start-sit options compare to the rest of the options at the position.
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Kickers: Start ‘Em
Start of the Week: Younghoe Koo vs. TB
Since taking over the kicking duties in Atlanta, Koo has averaged a league-high 13 fantasy points for a player at his position. That’s a higher average than fellow Falcons superstar Julio Jones over that same time span. The Buccaneers are the only team in football to allow double-digit fantasy points on a per-game basis to kickers this year. Tampa Bay has surrendered an average of 11.3 points to the position in three of their last four games.
Matt Gay at ATL
He may not get the same recognition as guys such as Harrison Butker and Greg Z, however, since Week 2 no one has averaged more fantasy points (min. three games) from the kicker position than Matt Gay. The Atlanta Falcons have allowed six of their past eight opponents from the kicker position to score 10+ fantasy points.
Ka’imi Fairbairn vs. IND
Fairbairn laid a dud a week ago, but so did the entire Houston Texans team. However, the kicker had averaged 11.5 fantasy points in four of his past six games prior to his unfortunate showing in Week 11. He should see his numbers trend back up this week against a Colts team that has allowed 12+ fantasy points to kickers in three of their past five games.
Sleeper: Eddy Pineiro vs. NYG
Pineiro has now missed four of his last seven field goals. If he doesn’t turn it around this week, chances are he’ll be out of a job by the time Week 13 rolls around. However, there is good news for Pineiro and his employment prospects heading into this Sunday’s game against the Giants. New York allows the third-most fantasy points to kickers this year, and an average of 13.5 points over their last two games.
Kickers: Sit ‘Em
Sit of the Week: Brett Maher at NE
Maher has averaged 13.25 fantasy points over four of his past five games. With that said, no kicker has eclipsed eight fantasy points against the Patriots this season. In fact, New England allows a putrid average of just 3.30 fantasy points to the position this year.
Brandon McManus at BUF
McManus was your K2 for Week 11. Yet, the Broncos kicker averaged just 4.6 fantasy points in his three games prior to that outlier performance. Buffalo allows just four points per game to opposing kickers this season, while none have scored within double-digit points.
Buyers Beware: Adam Vinatieri at HOU
Vinatieri has endured one hell of a roller-coaster season thus far. While he’s been somewhat serviceable at times this year, he’s scored less than eight points in four of his last five games. The Houston Texans have held kickers to seven points or fewer in five of their last six games.
READ NEXT: Fantasy: Kicker Rankings Week 12