As always this time of year, weather is the most important factor when it comes to kickers. Ideally, you have a solid kicker in a favorable indoor matchup. Unfortunately, the NFL only gave us four indoor games this week, limiting the top widely available options to Chase McLaughlin (vs. Texans in Week 18), Harrison Butker (@ Raiders), and Eddy Pineiro (@ Saints).
You can’t go wrong with Daniel Carlson (vs. Chiefs), Ryan Succop (@ Falcons), and Younghoe Koo (vs. Buccaneers) either, but they all have relatively high ownership and might not be available to pick up.
WEEK 18 FANTASY RANKINGS:QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs
If the weather is fine, as it was around the league last week, you don’t have to worry about whether a kicker is indoors or outdoors. Cameron Dicker (@ Broncos) and Jake Elliott (vs. Giants) are the best widely available outdoor kickers with favorable matchups, but you shouldn’t sleep on Cade York (@ Steelers), Cairo Santos (vs. Vikings), or Chris Boswell (vs. Browns) either. All five of these kickers are facing teams in the top 14 in fantasy points allowed to kickers.
The other big question this time of year is which teams will actually be trying. Fortunately, that doesn’t really affect whether a kicker will suit up, but it could affect his scoring chances. Ultimately, though, we wouldn’t put too much stock into which teams are resting their starters, as their backups could actually give the kickers more field-goal opportunities than the higher-scoring starters usually do.
Weather remains the biggest factor, though, so watch the forecasts and make sure your kicker is in ideal conditions. Once you’re all set, you can focus on some new year’s resolutions that involve not reading Week 18 fantasy kicker rankings next year.
We’ll be updating our kicker rankings as needed throughout the week, so check back for the latest changes.
Fantasy Kicker Rankings Week 18: Who to start, sit in fantasy football
Rank Player 1 Justin Tucker, Ravens @ Bengals 2 Jason Myers, Seahawks vs. Rams 3 Daniel Carlson, Raiders vs. Chiefs 4 Chase McLaughlin, Colts vs. Texans 5 Cameron Dicker, Chargers @ Broncos 6 Jake Elliott, Eagles vs. Giants 7 Ryan Succop, Buccaneers @ Falcons 8 Younghoe Koo, Falcons vs. Buccaneers 9 Harrison Butker, Chiefs @ Raiders 10 Eddy Pineiro, Panthers @ Saints 11 Tyler Bass, Bills vs. Patriots 12 Robbie Gould, 49ers vs. Cardinals 13 Greg Zuerlein, Jets @ Dolphins 14 Graham Gano, Giants @ Eagles 15 Brett Maher, Cowboys @ Commanders 16 Cade York, Browns @ Steelers 17 Cairo Santos, Bears vs. Vikings 18 Chris Boswell, Steelers vs. Browns 19 Ka’imi Fairbairn, Texans @ Colts 20 Joey Slye, Commanders vs. Cowboys 21 Nick Folk, Patriots @ Bills 22 Evan McPherson, Bengals vs. Ravens 23 Wil Lutz, Saints vs. Panthers 24 Brandon McManus, Broncos vs. Chargers 25 Matt Prater, Cardinals @ 49ers 26 Riley Patterson, Jaguars vs. Titans 27 Mason Crosby, Packers vs. Lions 28 Matt Gay, Rams @ Seahawks 29 Michael Badgley, Lions @ Packers 30 Greg Joseph, Vikings @ Bears 31 Jason Sanders, Dolphins vs. Jets 32 Randy Bullock, Titans @ Jaguars
