Fantasy Football Conference Championship Kicker Rankings: Harrison Butker, Tyler Bass, Jake Elliott and Zane Gonzalez
A look at the fantasy prospects of the four kickers in action in the Conference Championship games.
Fantasy kickers score very randomly from week to week. Even if a team does well on offense, their kicker might only get extra point opportunities, limiting his scoring potential. Then there are the days when a guy randomly gets two 50-yard field goals and another two from over 40, potentially swinging a fantasy matchup.
Let’s look at the four kickers in action this weekend and see if any of them stand out as having a better fantasy situation than the rest. Stats are from NFL.com, fantasy scores and rankings are from FantasyPros, and defensive fantasy rankings are our own here at FantasySP.
The full kicker rankings are listed at the bottom.
Weather Forecasts
According to RotoWire and nflweather.com, both games will have similar weather: between 30-40 degrees and maybe a little cloudy but with no precipitation. The wind will be worse in Philadelphia, causing a little issue, but the kickers will have a chance this weekend.
The colder weather might limit distance, but everyone has the same conditions, so there isn’t really an advantage for anyone. That means we can focus mainly on the kicker, his team, and the opponent (with the wind as a tiebreaker).
Tyler Bass, Buffalo Bills
Bass finished as K9, the top player among the third tier of fantasy scorers at his position. Buffalo scores a lot of points, so Bass gets his chance to kick the football. The Bills scored the second-most points during the regular season, behind only the Lions and seven points ahead of Baltimore.
Kansas City isn’t friendly to opposing offenses or kickers: They allowed the fourth-least points and fantasy points to kickers during the season. When these teams played in Week 11, Bass got only one field goal attempt, which he made from 33 yards. He only made three of his four extra points, costing both himself and his team a point.
Bass is an OK option. Nothing comes easy this time of year, and it will come down to luck as much as anything.
Harrison Butker, Kansas City Chiefs
Butker missed four games with injury, hurting his season-long stats. While he missed four of 25 field goals, three of those came from over 50 yards. He also missed two of 31 extra points.
Buffalo was a little better than average in points allowed, and they gave up the fewest fantasy points to opposing kickers. Part of that is luck, but the Bills also have a good defense that is a big part of why they made it to this game.
Butker is a middling option based on the numbers. He will likely get his chances, and he has been very good in the past, but don’t feel like you need to pay up if he’s the most expensive kicker in DFS.
Jake Elliott, Philadelphia Eagles
Elliott was K12, just five fantasy points behind Bass. Also like the Buffalo kicker, he was on a good team who got plenty of scoring chances. Elliott’s 77.8% field goal percentage was the second worst of his career, which might lead you to think he should be avoided.
Like Butker, Elliott mostly missed from distance, though, going 1-7 from 50+ yards. It’s not ideal to be inaccurate on the most valuable fantasy kicks, but Elliott has otherwise never missed more than three kicks from over 50 yards in a season; Elliott is unlikely to keep missing nearly all those kicks.
Washington was right near the middle both in terms of points allowed and fantasy points given up to kickers. It really doesn’t get more in the middle than this, both in terms of the kicker and the defense.
Philadelphia has a successful offense, the main thing a kicker needs for possible fantasy success. Given the moderately worse weather in the NFC game, it’s probably worth looking at the AFC kickers rather than Elliott (and the next guy).
Zane Gonzalez, Washington Commanders
Gonzalez has kicked in eight games for the Commanders this season, including the two in the playoffs and the final three games of the regular season. He’s 9-12 on field goals and 27-27 on extra points, a fine performance while filling in for the injured Austin Seibert.
The Eagles are one of the best defenses in the league and a team that limits scoring. They allowed the second-least points this season (just two more than the Chargers) and the second-fewest fantasy points to kickers. This is as tough a matchup as a kicker could have.
Gonzalez kicked in both games against Philadelphia, making his only field goal attempt and all five of his extra points. It’s not a great situation, no matter who the offense or the kicker, so though the Commanders have a strong offense, the Eagles will make things tough.
Fantasy Advice
None of these kickers stand out from the others, nor are any appreciably worse. I favor the AFC guys because the wind is supposed to be less impactful in Kansas City, but it’s a slight difference; all four guys are close to the same.
The best DFS strategy is to pick all the other positions first then see who you have enough money left for at kicker. You’ll see a lot more separation at the other positions, making it less important who you pick here (and more based on luck).
Conference Championship Round Fantasy Kicker Rankings
- Harrison Butker, KC
- Tyler Bass, BUF
- Jake Elliott, PHI
- Zane Gonzalez, WSH
