2 kickers to start and 2 kickers to fade in Week 7 fantasy football

Kickers are often overlooked in fantasy football, but a lot of times can make or break how your team does in any given week.

For Week 7, there are a ton of teams with some of the best kickers in the NFL on a bye week. That means a ton of fantasy managers will be searching for a kicker to pick up and plug into their roster.

Here are two kickers you should start and two you should stay away from this week.

Kicker Starts

Younghoe Koo, Atlanta Falcons vs. Miami Dolphins

Koo has become one of the most consistent kickers in the NFL since he re-entered the league in 2019 after a stint in the AAF. This season he’s hit all 10 of his PATs and all seven of his field goals he’s attempted. He has one attempt from over 50 and nailed it while he’s hit his lone attempt between 40-49 yards too.

His offense hasn’t given him a ton of chances, but this week against the Dolphins should provide more of them. Miami just gave up a game-winning kick last week to Jacksonville and is giving up over 10 fantasy points per game to opposing kickers, which is the third-most in the league.

Matt Gay, Los Angeles Rams vs. Detroit Lions

Gay has been lights-out this season, hitting on 11 of his 12 field goals and 21 of 22 PATs. His high-powered offense will give him plenty of PAT chances and when they do stall out, he has the leg to hit from long distance. He’s hit his only try from over 50 yards this season and has hit three of four between 40-49 yards.

The Lions give up the most fantasy points to opposing kickers in the entire NFL, an average of 11.33 per game.

Kicker Sits

Dustin Hopkins, Washington Football Team vs. Green Bay Packers

Hopkins is a solid kicker, but he rarely gets a chance to show that off because the WFT offense struggles to get into field goal range. He’s made 12 field goals and has just attempted 14 all season. As for PATs, he’s hit 10 of the 12 he’s tried. You don’t often see a kicker with more FG attempts than PATs, but that just shows how much WTF has struggled to move the ball.

They play the Packers this weekend, who have been stingy on defense all season. They’ve allowed the fewest fantasy points to kickers this season with under 5 points per game on average. They haven’t given up a kick inside of 39 yards all season either.

Cairo Santos, Chicago Bears vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Santos, like Hopkins, has been good when he gets an opportunity. He’s hit on every single one of his kicks, seven field goals and 11 PATs this season. But that is a very low number through six games. He’s only attempted three field goals in the last three weeks and didn’t attempt any in last week’s loss to the Packers. He also hasn’t attempted anything over 49 yards this season, so he’s unlikely to give you big points.

The Bucs defense is stout too, especially against the run. The Bears will have to put a lot on young QB Justin Fields for them to have any chance of getting in field goal range or into the end zone.