Kickers are scoring points like never before. Fifteen times in the last three years, a kicker has scored 140-plus points. In the previous 41 years since the merger in 1970, only 23 kickers reached this plateau. What does this mean at fantasy drafts?
Show of hands: who thinks it makes sense to select a kicker before the last round of a draft? They’re scoring more points now than ever before.
Historically, it usually hasn’t played out well for the select-a-kicker-earlier-the-crowd strategy. I pushed around some numbers last summer that suggest that kind of strategy backfires more often than it succeeds.
But last year it played out the way pretty much the way it was supposed to. Seven kickers scored 140-plus points (a record), and most of those were guys you would expect. Stephen Gostkowski and Phil Dawson were the top 2 kickers on a lot of boards. Steven Hauschka and Matt Prater were the kickers on powerhouse teams with a good chance of going to the Super Bowl. Justin Tucker was the kicker for the defending champions. The only outsider types were Mason Crosby, who had accuracy problems the previous year, and Nick Novak of the Chargers.
But if you can select a kicker with some confidence he’s going to score 140-plus points, that’s usually a guy who’ll go much later than he should in a fantasy draft.
With teams doing a better job of preparing their players – kickers, snappers and holders – accuracy is way up, and guys are scoring more than ever before. In 2011, a record four kickers scored 140-plus points. In 2012 that record was match (four again). Then last year, it moved up to seven teams scoring in that range.
KICKERS SCORING 140-PLUS POINTS | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | Kicker | Points | Next Yr |
2011 | S.F. | David Akers | 166 | 131 |
1998 | Minn. | Gary Anderson | 164 | 103 |
2003 | St.L. | Jeff Wilkins | 163 | 89 |
1983 | Wash. | Mark Moseley | 161 | 120 |
2013 | N.E. | Stephen Gostkowski | 158 | ? |
2003 | Ind. | Mike Vanderjagt | 157 | 119 |
2012 | N.E. | Stephen Gostkowski | 153 | 158 |
2013 | Den. | Matt Prater | 150 | ? |
1991 | Wash. | Chip Lohmiller | 149 | 120 |
2005 | NYG | Jay Feely | 148 | 107 |
2008 | N.E. | Stephen Gostkowski | 148 | 125 |
2011 | N.O. | John Kasay | 147 | 0 |
2009 | S.D. | Nate Kaeding | 146 | 109 |
1968 | NYJ | Jim Turner | 145 | 129 |
1996 | Car. | John Kasay | 145 | 91 |
1999 | Ind. | Mike Vanderjagt | 145 | 121 |
2012 | NYG | Lawrence Tynes | 145 | 0 |
1985 | Chi. | Kevin Butler | 144 | 120 |
1999 | Mia. | Olindo Mare | 144 | 117 |
2008 | Phil. | David Akers | 144 | 139 |
2013 | S.D. | Nick Novak | 144 | ? |
2006 | Chi. | Robbie Gould | 143 | 126 |
2008 | N.O. | John Carney | 143 | 89 |
2010 | Phil. | David Akers | 143 | 166 |
2011 | N.E. | Stephen Gostkowski | 143 | 153 |
2012 | Atl. | Matt Bryant | 143 | 111 |
2013 | Sea. | Steven Hauschka | 143 | ? |
2010 | Oak. | Sebastian Janikowski | 142 | 129 |
1995 | Pitt. | Norm Johnson | 141 | 106 |
2004 | N.E. | Adam Vinatieri | 141 | 100 |
2007 | G.B. | Mason Crosby | 141 | 127 |
2012 | Minn. | Blair Walsh | 141 | 121 |
2013 | G.B. | Mason Crosby | 141 | ? |
1986 | N.E. | Tony Franklin | 140 | 82 |
1998 | Buff. | Steve Christie | 140 | 108 |
2005 | Ariz. | Neil Rackers | 140 | 116 |
2011 | G.B. | Mason Crosby | 140 | 113 |
2013 | Balt. | Justin Tucker | 140 | ? |
2013 | S.F. | Phil Dawson | 140 | ? |