Kickers are people too: The unsung heroes of fantasy football
Through the first two weeks of the 2024 NFL season, fantasy football managers have been left scratching their heads. Offenses have been sluggish, key players are falling to injuries and the scores have been wildly unpredictable. Among the most surprising trends is the sudden dominance of kickers, who have quietly taken over as some of the most valuable assets in fantasy lineups.
Tight ends have traditionally been one of the trickiest positions to navigate in fantasy football, but 2024 has taken this to a new level. Through two weeks, Isaiah Likely leads all tight ends in total fantasy points with just 19.7. To put that in perspective, Likely’s point total ranks 99th overall among all positions. It’s a shocking stat considering the premium that many fantasy owners place on grabbing a reliable tight end during their drafts.
Superstars like Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews and George Kittle have either been injured or underwhelming, leaving fantasy managers scrambling for alternatives.
While tight ends are struggling, kickers are quietly becoming the unexpected stars of fantasy rosters.
Through two weeks of action, 16 kickers have scored more fantasy points than the top-performing tight end and three of them find themselves ranked inside the top 20 overall. Brandon Aubrey of the Dallas Cowboys leads the way with 38 fantasy points, ranking 13th among all players. Aubrey’s performance would make him the ninth-highest-scoring quarterback, the fifth-highest running back and the top-scoring wide receiver in fantasy football.
Following close behind Aubrey are Houston’s Ka’imi Fairbairn, who sits 16th overall with 37 fantasy points and Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell, who ranks 19th with 35 points. Kickers are outscoring household names like Justin Jefferson, Breece Hall and Patrick Mahomes.
The biggest factor contributing to the early dominance of kickers in fantasy football this season is long field goals. During the 2023-24 season, Aubrey led the league with 10 field goals of 50-plus yards while most kickers fell in the five-to-seven range.
Through the first two weeks of the 2024-25 season, Fairbairn has already made six 50-plus yard field goals and Boswell has made four. Seventeen kickers have connected on at least one. Teams are moving the ball, but many are struggling to finish drives in the red zone. As a result, kickers are getting more opportunities to rack up points, especially with longer field goals that provide bonus points in many fantasy leagues.
For fantasy managers who have traditionally waited until the last rounds of the draft to pick a kicker, this season’s early returns may spark a change in strategy. It might be time to start viewing kickers as more than just an afterthought, especially if the trend of low-scoring games and offensive struggles continues.
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