Getty Younghoe Koo of the Atlanta Falcons.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Kickers for Week 1 of the NFL season. Our kicker edition features a player who is sitting on many league’s waivers despite being one of 2019’s top point-getters at the position.
* 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.
Start-Sit [QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | DEF | Ks]
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Kickers: Start ‘Em
Start of the Week: Robbie Gould vs. ARI
Gould battled injuries last season but returned to close out the year on a strong note, averaging 10.0 fantasy points over his final four games. He finished 2019 with the eighth-highest scoring average on a per-game basis amongst kickers. Gould’s opponent’s this week, the Cardinals, surrendered the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing kickers last season, including 10-plus points on seven separate occasions.
Jason Myers at ATL
Myers saw a dip in overall production this past season, a year removed from finishing as K3. However, from Week 4 on he was the fifth-highest scoring kicker in fantasy, including six games of nine-plus points. Fittingly enough, Myers faces off against the Falcons in Week 1, who allowed the fourth-most points per game to the position a season ago with a 9.0 average.
Michael Badgley at CIN
The “Money Badger” was activated in Week 9 of last season after a preseason groin injury. From that point out he would average the 11th-most fantasy points at his position, thanks in large part to a 10.0 ppg output over four of his first five games. Badgley gets a plus matchup this week as he travels to Cincinnati. The Bengals were one of just three teams to allow a per game average greater than 9.0 points to opposing kickers a season ago.
Sleeper: Younghoe Koo vs. SEA
Koo should not be categorized as a sleeper, but due to his ADP, here we are. Atlanta signed Koo ahead of Week 10, all he did from that point on was average 11.6 fantasy points, the most by any player at the position over that span. Seattle struggled to keep opposing kickers off the scoreboard down the final stretch of 2020, allowing an average of 9.88 fantasy points.
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Kickers: Sit ‘Em
Sit of the Week: Sam Ficken at BUF
After an atrocious start to 2019 where he scored a grand total of 12 points over his first six games, Ficken turned things around drastically, ranking K5 over the final nine weeks of the season. Don’t use his late-season surge as a reason to start him in Week 1. No team surrendered fewer points to kickers last season than the Bills, checking in with an average of just 4.4 points surrendered per game.
Jason Sanders at NE
Sander enjoyed a similar late-season stretch to Ficken in 2019, outscoring all kickers from Week 13 and beyond. However, his two games against the Patriots equated to a grand total of just nine points. New England allowed a mere 5.1 ppg to the position last season, tied for second-fewest in football. They also allowed only two games of eight-plus points.
Matt Prater vs. CHI
Prater’s output last season was padded by four 10-plus point outings, finishing as K7. However, he also had seven games of 6.0 points or fewer. The Bears, on the other hand, ranked within the top-10 in terms of fewest-points surrendered to the position, including 10 games of seven points or fewer.
Buyers Beware: Zane Gonzalez at SF
Gonzalez spent the majority of 2019 in starting lineups, finishing as the fifth-leading fantasy kicker. Unfortunately, his matchup to kick off 2020 is less than desirable. The 49ers allowed just two double-digit fantasy games and an average of 5.75 ppg to kickers a season ago, tied for third-fewest in football.