Kansas City signs Spencer Shrader to fill in for Harrison Butker for the next month, and it’s possible he might be the league’s highest-scoring kicker for as long as he’s able to hold onto job. That’s how quickly things can turn at that position.
With kickers, the situation – the team and the offense – tends to trump the ability of the player. That is, the vast majority of the players can adequately execute the kicks. It’s more about landing in the spot where the field goals are being generate.
And with that dynamic in mind, there’s some merit in not taking the kicker position too seriously in fantasy drafts. There’s always the potential to patch things up by picking somebody up off the waiver wire.
For this season, even those who missed their fantasy drafts entirely potentially are doing just fine at the kicker position. If we operate under the assumption that players not on NFL rosters weren’t picked in fantasy drafts, then the likes of Austin Seibert, Chad Ryland, Brandon McManus and John Parker Romo could have been claimed throughout the season.
In Week 8, four different such kickers scored 12 points. In three other weeks, multiple second-hand kickers scored double-digit points.
So far, I’m seeing 33 games that were handled by kickers not on team’s initial 53-man rosters. (And as I write this, I’m thinking I should actually have another half-dozen games listed, with Braydon Narveson getting picked up by Green Bay just before the season.)
These stopgap kickers this year have tended to do fine. In their 33 games, they’ve made all but one of their 65 extra points, and they’ve made 73 of their 80 field goals (91 percent). That works out to 8.6 points per week.
Typically in a fantasy league, I’m looking for 8-plus points from my kicker. These lesser guys have hit the 8-point threshold in 19 of their 33 games. (In the chart, those games are tagged with black dots). And in 14 of those 33 games, they’ve scored double-digit points.
Big year for these kind of kickers, and it should continue into December, with some of the best teams on their second and third players at the position, including the Vikings (Romo), Commanders (Seibert), Packers (McManus) and now KC (Shrader).
For Shrader, he played in the opener for the Colts (pictured). He was with the Jets last week. I would be a little nervous about using him in Buffalo this week, but KC’s next five games are against the Panthers, Raiders, Chargers, Browns and Texans. There should be plenty of kicker points in those games. (Butker will need to miss at least four, having been placed on IR.)
| IN-SEASON KICKER ACQUISTIONS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk | Rk | Opp | Result | XP-A | FG-A | Points |
| 1 | Spencer Shrader, Ind. | Hou. | L 27-29 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 3 |
| 2 | • Austin Seibert, Was. | NYG | W 21-18 | 0-0 | 7-7 | 21 |
| 3 | • Austin Seibert, Was. | at Cin. | W 38-33 | 5-5 | 1-1 | 8 |
| 3 | Greg Joseph, NYG | at Cle. | W 21-15 | 3-3 | 0-1 | 3 |
| 4 | • Greg Joseph, NYG | Dall. | L 15-20 | 0-0 | 5-5 | 15 |
| 4 | • Austin Seibert, Was. | at Ari. | W 42-14 | 4-4 | 2-2 | 10 |
| 5 | • Greg Joseph, NYG | at Sea. | W 29-20 | 2-2 | 3-3 | 11 |
| 5 | • Chad Ryland, Ari. | at S.F. | W 24-23 | 1-1 | 3-4 | 10 |
| 5 | • Austin Seibert, Was. | Cle. | W 34-13 | 4-4 | 2-2 | 10 |
| 6 | • Matthew Wright, S.F. | at Sea. | W 36-24 | 3-3 | 3-3 | 12 |
| 6 | • Austin Seibert, Was. | at Balt. | L 23-30 | 2-2 | 3-4 | 11 |
| 6 | Chad Ryland, Ari. | at G.B. | L 13-34 | 1-1 | 2-2 | 7 |
| 6 | Greg Joseph, NYG | Cin. | L 7-17 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 1 |
| 7 | • Austin Seibert, Was. | Car. | W 40-7 | 4-4 | 4-4 | 16 |
| 7 | Anders Carlson, S.F. | K.C. | L 18-28 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 6 |
| 7 | Brandon McManus, G.B. | Hou. | W 24-22 | 3-3 | 1-1 | 6 |
| 7 | Chad Ryland, Ari. | LAC | W 17-15 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 5 |
| 7 | Greg Joseph, NYG | Phil. | L 3-28 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 3 |
| 8 | • Austin Seibert, Was. | Chi. | W 18-15 | 0-0 | 4-5 | 12 |
| 8 | • Greg Joseph, NYG | at Pitt. | L 18-26 | 0-0 | 4-4 | 12 |
| 8 | • Brandon McManus, G.B. | at Jac. | W 30-27 | 3-3 | 3-3 | 12 |
| 8 | • Anders Carlson, S.F. | Dall. | W 30-24 | 3-3 | 3-3 | 12 |
| 8 | • Chad Ryland, Ari. | at Mia. | W 28-27 | 2-2 | 2-2 | 8 |
| 9 | • Austin Seibert, Was. | at NYG | W 27-22 | 3-3 | 2-2 | 9 |
| 9 | • Chad Ryland, Ari. | Chi. | W 29-9 | 3-3 | 2-2 | 9 |
| 9 | Brandon McManus, G.B. | Det. | L 14-24 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 6 |
| 9 | Jude McAtamney, NYG | Was. | L 22-27 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 4 |
| 9 | Riley Patterson, NYJ | Hou. | W 21-13 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 3 |
| 10 | • John Parker Romo, Min. | at Jac. | W 12-7 | 0-0 | 4-4 | 12 |
| 10 | • Zane Gonzalez, Was. | Pitt. | L 27-28 | 3-3 | 2-2 | 9 |
| 10 | Chad Ryland, Ari. | NYJ | W 31-6 | 4-4 | 1-1 | 7 |
| 10 | Spencer Shrader, NYJ | at Ari. | L 6-31 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 6 |
| 11 | Zane Gonzalez, Was. | at Phil. | L 18-26 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 4 |
—Ian Allan