When do you move on a kicker? I think it’s a combination of how good you think he’ll be, and a weighing of the marketplace forces.
In the ongoing (will it ever end?) Fanex Analysis Draft it resulted in me selecting Stephen Gostkowski with the 3rd pick of the 15th round.
There are 70 picks left, and 23 of those – a third – will be kickers. So it’s time to move on a top kicker if there’s one you like. In this year, I would like to have at least one of the top 4 – Gostkowski, Phil Dawson, Steven Hauschka or Justin Tucker.
Checking past Fanex drafts with these same guys, we’re past the point of where kickers start going, so if I wanted one of the Big Four, it was time to strike.
I consider Gostkowski to be a money-in-the-bank type option. Three years in a row, he’s gone over 140 points. No kicker has ever done that before. He’s accurate enough, and he tends to get plenty of opportunities.
I think Gostkowski has a really good chance of scoring 135-plus points, and that makes him more of a difference-maker than the defense I could potentially select in this spot (it’s also time for defenses to start getting chosen). But I don’t see a defense that’s a gotta-have type unit. I’ll hope that one of the couple that I have in my top tier sneaks down to my next pick.
One team, by the way, already chose a kicker, but selected one that isn’t in my top tier – Matt Prater.
Two defenses have been selected.
Timing looks pretty good on Gostkowski, because two of the following three choices were also kickers.
I have five picks left to make. One will be a backup kicker (no waivers in this league, so you must carry two), two will be defenses (again, with the best-ball format, it makes the most sense to carry two) and two will be field players that I’m not sure if anybody else is even interested in drafting.
FANEX ANALYSIS DRAFT | |||
---|---|---|---|
Pick | Pos | Player | Team |
1.01 | RB | Matt Forte | Panizo |
1.02 | RB | Jamaal Charles | Holm |
1.03 | RB | LeSean McCoy | Allan |
1.04 | RB | Adrian Peterson | Adams |
1.05 | WR | Calvin Johnson | Cannon |
1.06 | RB | Marshawn Lynch | Rito |
1.07 | RB | Eddie Lacy | Harmon |
1.08 | TE | Jimmy Graham | Cahill |
1.09 | WR | A.J. Green | Kellogg |
1.10 | WR | Brandon Marshall | Nease |
1.11 | WR | Demaryius Thomas | Dolfi |
1.12 | WR | Dez Bryant | Schauf |
2.01 | RB | DeMarco Murray | Schauf |
2.02 | RB | LeVeon Bell | Dolfi |
2.03 | WR | Alshon Jeffery | Nease |
2.04 | RB | Arian Foster | Kellogg |
2.05 | RB | Giovani Bernard | Cahill |
2.06 | WR | Julio Jones | Harmon |
2.07 | WR | Antonio Brown | Rito |
2.08 | RB | Doug Martin | Cannon |
2.09 | QB | Peyton Manning | Adams |
2.10 | WR | Randall Cobb | Allan |
2.11 | WR | Jordy Nelson | Holm |
2.12 | QB | Drew Brees | Panizo |
3.01 | RB | Montee Ball | Panizo |
3.02 | RB | Zac Stacy | Holm |
3.03 | WR | Julian Edelman | Allan |
3.04 | RB | Reggie Bush | Adams |
3.05 | TE | Julius Thomas | Cannon |
3.06 | WR | Wes Welker | Rito |
3.07 | RB | Alfred Morris | Harmon |
3.08 | RB | C.J. Spiller | Cahill |
3.09 | WR | Keenan Allen | Kellogg |
3.10 | RB | Bishop Sankey | Nease |
3.11 | WR | Andre Johnson | Dolfi |
3.12 | RB | Andre Ellington | Schauf |
4.01 | RB | Shane Vereen | Schauf |
4.02 | WR | Pierre Garcon | Dolfi |
4.03 | RB | Ryan Mathews | Nease |
4.04 | RB | Ben Tate | Kellogg |
4.05 | QB | Aaron Rodgers | Cahill |
4.06 | WR | Percy Harvin | Harmon |
4.07 | TE | Rob Gronkowski | Rito |
4.08 | QB | Matthew Stafford | Cannon |
4.09 | WR | DeSean Jackson | Adams |
4.10 | WR | Roddy White | Allan |
4.11 | WR | Victor Cruz | Holm |
4.12 | WR | Vincent Jackson | Panizo |
5.01 | WR | Cordarrelle Patterson | Panizo |
5.02 | WR | Michael Crabtree | Holm |
5.03 | WR | Larry Fitzgerald | Allan |
5.04 | WR | T.Y. Hilton | Adams |
5.05 | RB | Toby Gerhart | Cannon |
5.06 | WR | Mike Wallace | Rito |
5.07 | WR | Hakeem Nicks | Harmon |
5.08 | TE | Jordan Cameron | Cahill |
5.09 | TE | Vernon Davis | Kellogg |
5.10 | RB | Chris Johnson | Nease |
5.11 | QB | Andrew Luck | Dolfi |
5.12 | WR | Michael Floyd | Schauf |
6.01 | WR | Terrance Williams | Schauf |
6.02 | RB | Rashad Jennings | Dolfi |
6.03 | RB | Knowshon Moreno | Nease |
6.04 | RB | Joique Bell | Kellogg |
6.05 | RB | Trent Richardson | Cahill |
6.06 | RB | Frank Gore | Harmon |
6.07 | RB | Ray Rice | Rito |
6.08 | WR | Jeremy Maclin | Cannon |
6.09 | WR | Sammy Watkins | Adams |
6.10 | RB | Pierre Thomas | Allan |
6.11 | QB | Nick Foles | Holm |
6.12 | WR | Torrey Smith | Panizo |
7.01 | RB | Fred Jackson | Panizo |
7.02 | RB | Steven Jackson | Holm |
7.03 | QB | Tom Brady | Allan |
7.04 | TE | Jordan Reed | Adams |
7.05 | RB | Danny Woodhead | Cannon |
7.06 | WR | Kendall Wright | Rito |
7.07 | RB | Darren Sproles | Harmon |
7.08 | QB | Cam Newton | Cahill |
7.09 | QB | Matt Ryan | Kellogg |
7.10 | QB | Robert Griffin III | Nease |
7.11 | TE | Jason Witten | Dolfi |
7.12 | WR | Golden Tate | Schauf |
8.01 | TE | Greg Olsen | Schauf |
8.02 | RB | Maurice Jones-Drew | Dolfi |
8.03 | WR | Eric Decker | Nease |
8.04 | WR | Mike Evans | Kellogg |
8.05 | WR | Justin Blackmon | Cahill |
8.06 | QB | Colin Kaepernick | Harmon |
8.07 | QB | Tony Romo | Rito |
8.08 | WR | Marques Colston | Cannon |
8.09 | WR | Rueben Randle | Adams |
8.10 | RB | Stevan Ridley | Allan |
8.11 | QB | Russell Wilson | Holm |
8.12 | WR | Reggie Wayne | Panizo |
9.01 | ST | Seattle | Panizo |
9.02 | TE | Dennis Pitta | Holm |
9.03 | TE | Kyle Rudolph | Allan |
9.04 | RB | Terrance West | Adams |
9.05 | QB | Jay Cutler | Cannon |
9.06 | RB | Darren McFadden | Rito |
9.07 | WR | Riley Cooper | Dolfi |
9.08 | WR | Emmanuel Sanders | Cahill |
9.09 | WR | Justin Hunter | Kellogg |
9.10 | TE | Charles Clay | Nease |
9.11 | QB | Philip Rivers | Harmon |
9.12 | QB | Andy Dalton | Schauf |
10.01 | QB | Carson Palmer | Schauf |
10.02 | WR | DeAndre Hopkins | Harmon |
10.03 | QB | Ben Roethlisberger | Nease |
10.04 | QB | Ryan Tannehill | Kellogg |
10.05 | WR | Tavon Austin | Cahill |
10.06 | TE | Zach Ertz | Dolfi |
10.07 | QB | Eli Manning | Rito |
10.08 | WR | Dwayne Bowe | Cannon |
10.09 | RB | Tre Mason | Adams |
10.10 | RB | Lamar Miller | Allan |
10.11 | WR | Cecil Shorts III | Holm |
10.12 | TE | Martellus Bennett | Panizo |
11.01 | WR | Anquan Boldin | Panizo |
11.02 | WR | Marvin Jones | Holm |
11.03 | WR | Brandin Cooks | Allan |
11.04 | RB | Bernard Pierce | Adams |
11.05 | WR | Danny Amendola | Cannon |
11.06 | RB | DeAngelo Williams | Rito |
11.07 | WR | Kelvin Benjamin | Harmon |
11.08 | WR | Jordan Matthews | Cahill |
11.09 | WR | Brian Hartline | Kellogg |
11.10 | QB | Joe Flacco | Panizo |
11.11 | WR | Greg Jennings | Dolfi |
11.12 | WR | Kenny Stills | Schauf |
12.01 | RB | Christine Michael | Schauf |
12.02 | QB | Alex Smith | Dolfi |
12.03 | RB | Khiry Robinson | Nease |
12.04 | RB | Andre Williams | Kellogg |
12.05 | WR | Jarrett Boykin | Cahill |
12.06 | RB | KaDeem Carey | Harmon |
12.07 | WR | Josh Gordon | Rito |
12.08 | WR | Chris Givens | Cannon |
12.09 | RB | Jeremy Hill | Adams |
12.10 | WR | Markus Wheaton | Allan |
12.11 | WR | James Jones | Holm |
12.12 | RB | David Wilson | Panizo |
13.01 | PK | Matt Prater | Panizo |
13.02 | TE | Eric Ebron | Holm |
13.03 | QB | Sam Bradford | Allan |
13.04 | WR | Aaron Dobson | Adams |
13.05 | TE | Garrett Graham | Cannon |
13.06 | TE | Heath Miller | Rito |
13.07 | TE | Ladarius Green | Harmon |
13.08 | WR | Odell Beckham | Cahill |
13.09 | WR | Jarvis Landry | Kellogg |
13.10 | TE | Coby Fleener | Nease |
13.11 | RB | Chris Ivory | Dolfi |
13.12 | TE | Delanie Walker | Schauf |
14.01 | RB | Dexter McCluster | Schauf |
14.02 | RB | Carlos Hyde | Harmon |
14.03 | WR | Robert Woods | Nease |
14.04 | QB | Teddy Bridgewater | Kellogg |
14.05 | WR | Doug Baldwin | Cahill |
14.06 | ST | San Francisco | Dolfi |
14.07 | QB | EJ Manuel | Rito |
14.08 | WR | Jerricho Cotchery | Cannon |
14.09 | WR | Miles Austin | Adams |
14.10 | TE | Jared Cook | Allan |
14.11 | RB | Knile Davis | Holm |
14.12 | RB | Mark Ingram | Panizo |
15.01 | QB | Ryan Fitzpatrick | Nease |
15.02 | RB | Jacquizz Rodgers | Holm |
15.03 | PK | Stephen Gostkowski | Allan |
15.04 | TE | Antonio Gates | Adams |
15.05 | PK | Justin Tucker | Cannon |
15.06 | PK | Phil Dawson | Rito |
—Ian Allan