I’m a Joshua Karty fan. While he’s never attempted a kick as a pro, he performed at an NFL level at Stanford. Now he’s landing in an ideal situation for fantasy purposes.
The Rams picked Karty in the sixth round, and he played well enough at Stanford that maybe he should have gone earlier. He made 41 of 45 field goals his last two seasons at Stanford, with only one missed extra point. He appears to have plenty of range, hitting 7 of 10 from 50-plus in those seasons, including a 61-yarder.
In Los Angeles, he’s landing in one of the most kicker-friendly offenses in the league. Had every team made all of its attempts last year, the Rams would have finished with a league-high 166 kicking points. They ranked 3rd in kicker scoring in 2021, and they led all teams in kicker scoring in Sean McVay’s first two seasons.
Karty, it seems, just needs to show up and make the kicks. That’s likely but not certain. In the 32-team era, 35 other kickers have been selected in the last three rounds of drafts. Eleven of those players scored at least 110 points in their first season (tagged with black dots). But 15 of the others didn’t even score 30 points.
Two other kickers were selected in the late rounds this year: Cam Little (Jacksonville) and Will Reichard (Minnesota). But Karty is the guy I’m looking to pick this year. (He’s one of my key guys for the 2024 season.)
KICKERS IN LAST THREE ROUNDS OF DRAFT | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Rd | G | XP-XPA | FG-FGA | Pts |
2002 | Hayden Epstein, Jac. | 7 | 6 | 13-13 | 5-9 | 28 |
2003 | • Josh Brown, Sea. | 7 | 16 | 48-48 | 22-30 | 114 |
2004 | Josh Scobee, Jac. | 5 | 16 | 21-21 | 24-31 | 93 |
2004 | David Kimball, Ind. | 7 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
2005 | Dave Rayner, Ind. | 6 | 14 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 |
2005 | Paul Ernster, Den. | 7 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
2006 | Kurt Smith, S.D. | 6 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
2007 | • Mason Crosby, G.B. | 6 | 16 | 48-48 | 31-39 | 141 |
2007 | • Nick Folk, Dal. | 6 | 16 | 53-53 | 26-31 | 131 |
2007 | Justin Medlock, K.C. | 5 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 |
2008 | Taylor Mehlhaff, N.O. | 6 | 5 | 9-10 | 3-4 | 18 |
2008 | Brandon Coutu, Sea. | 7 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
2009 | Ryan Succop, K.C. | 7 | 16 | 29-29 | 25-29 | 104 |
2009 | David Buehler, Dal. | 5 | 16 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
2012 | • Blair Walsh, Min. | 6 | 16 | 36-36 | 35-38 | 141 |
2012 | Greg Zuerlein, St.L. | 6 | 16 | 26-26 | 23-31 | 95 |
2012 | John Potter, Buf. | 7 | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
2012 | Randy Bullock, Hou. | 5 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
2013 | • Caleb Sturgis, Mia. | 5 | 16 | 33-33 | 26-34 | 111 |
2013 | Dustin Hopkins, Buf. | 6 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
2014 | Nate Freese, Det. | 7 | 3 | 6-6 | 3-7 | 15 |
2014 | Zach Hocker, Was. | 7 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
2017 | • Harrison Butker, Car. (K.C.) | 7 | 13 | 28-28 | 38-42 | 142 |
2017 | • Jake Elliott, Cin. (Phi.) | 5 | 15 | 39-42 | 26-31 | 117 |
2017 | Zane Gonzalez, Cle. | 7 | 16 | 25-26 | 15-20 | 70 |
2018 | Jason Sanders, Mia. | 7 | 16 | 35-36 | 18-20 | 89 |
2018 | Daniel Carlson, Min. (Mn.-Oak.) | 5 | 12 | 24-24 | 17-21 | 75 |
2019 | • Matt Gay, T.B. | 5 | 16 | 43-48 | 27-35 | 124 |
2019 | Austin Seibert, Cle. | 5 | 16 | 30-35 | 25-29 | 105 |
2020 | • Tyler Bass, Buf. | 6 | 16 | 57-59 | 28-34 | 141 |
2020 | Sam Sloman, LAR (Rams-Ten.) | 7 | 8 | 23-26 | 10-13 | 53 |
2020 | Justin Rohrwasser, N.E. | 5 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
2021 | • Evan McPherson, Cin. | 5 | 16 | 46-48 | 28-33 | 130 |
2023 | • Anders Carlson, G.B. | 6 | 17 | 34-39 | 27-33 | 115 |
2024 | Cam Little, Jac. | 6 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
2024 | Joshua Karty, LAR | 6 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
2024 | Will Reichard, Min. | 6 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan