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August 22nd update: Draft season is underway, so we’ve got an update to our kicker rankings while also adding another voice to the rankings with Mr. Teddy Ricketson. We will continue to update often as we close in on Week 1 of the season.
The 2022 NFL season is quickly approaching and if you are playing fantasy football, there is a good chance you’ll need to find a kicker for you pretend team. Picking kickers is tough, but not impossible. The good news is that you can get away with streaming kickers in most leagues as long as they don’t limit the number of transactions you can make.
The best kicker in the league is without a doubt Justin Tucker, but that didn’t translate to the best fantasy kicker last season. In 2021 the Raiders Daniel Carlson led the league, while Tucker was third. Tucker remains the No. 1 in the rankings, but reaching for him in drafts isn’t the smartest idea.
Carlson led the league in field goal attempts with 43, while Tucker was fifth with 37. But when it comes down to it, Tucker averaged 9.5 fantasy points per game to Carlson’s 10.1. The differences just aren’t enough to ever reach for a kicker.
I recommend to skip taking a kicker in the draft and then deciding who to drop for a streaming option just before you have to set your lineup.