Some fantasy football purists wish that leagues didn’t use kicker as a position.
From year to year, there can be a lot of variance — and week-to-week, there’s almost no predictability whatsoever. Let the Indianapolis Colts kicker, Spencer Shrader, serve as the latest example of that.
Shrader has started this season in blistering fashion, and those who have rostered him are loving it.
Those playing against him? Not so much love there.
Shrader has been so good that if you just take the fantasy points he has put up, he has more than any tight end. He would rank as the No. 6 wide receiver in points, the No. 11 running back in points and the No. 21 quarterback.
No, Shrader probably wouldn’t get as many points if forced to play those positions.
But as a kicker, he’s on an absolute roll.
Colts Kicker Spencer Shrader would be the fantasy…
TE1
WR6
RB11
QB21(he has more points than Bo Nix)
— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) October 14, 2026
Spencer Shrader Stats
Shrader, 27, is having the best season of his life by far.
He already leads the NFL with 16 field goal attempts — and he has made every single one. He’s also 10-for-11 on extra points.
These aren’t cheapies, either.
He began the season relatively tamely, with just one field goal, but it was a 58-yarder in Week 1 against the Ravens.
Shrader then drilled three in Week 2: from 38, 42 and 49 yards against the Chiefs.
In Week 3, Shrader made four kicks despite entering the game with a groin injury. He was good from 37, 39, 53 and 58 yards — and the 53-yarder won the game.
Then in London in Week 4, Shrader showed the international fans that they should respect his leg, making kicks from 44, 48 and 52 yards against the Commanders.
Week 5 brought a five-FG game for Shrader: from 22, 28, 40, 56 and 57 yards.
The Colts’ offense is stalling out enough to give him lots of chances, and he’s also making everything that gets put in front of him.
In many fantasy leagues, Shrader wouldn’t have even been drafted. He wasn’t a sure-thing top kicker.
But he’s now the top kicker in fantasy football, at least through a dominant five weeks.
Should Fantasy Football Have Kickers?
This is a much longer discussion, but Shrader proves an odd point about the position for fantasy: It’s pretty darn random.
You want guys on good offenses, so they get chances to kick, but you also need those offenses to not always score touchdowns, but you do need them to move it, and you need them not to go for it on fourth down, and then after all that — the kicker still has to make the kick.
There are certainly better kickers and worse kickers, but it’s a bit more chunk-driven as far as points are concerned, so some leagues go without.
For leagues with kickers, though, you can bet the guy with Shrader on his team sure is glad they have them.
Colts’ Spencer Shrader Would Be a Top-11 Fantasy Running Back