Fantasy Football Week 6 Kicker Streamers: Brandon McManus, Matt Gay, and More

While we know that injuries are a big part of football, we generally think that at least our fantasy kicker can stay healthy. They get pulled muscles and such, but kickers usually stay away from hard contact and don't get broken bones, concussions, etc.

Indianapolis' Spencer Shrader was the top fantasy kicker entering Week 5. On his second extra point attempt against the Raiders, he was hit way late after the kick and suffered torn ligaments in his knee, ending his season. Even at a seemingly innocuous position, we can't count on the top guys staying healthy.

With even more need for streamers, let's look at three kickers with good matchups in Week 6 who are widely available in fantasy leagues and can be picked up and inserted into your lineup. Most stats are from NFL.com.

Use FantasySP's defensive rankings to find the players and groups with the best matchups each week.

Matt Gay, Washington Commanders vs. Chicago Bears

There's a common theme that you'll find with all three of our defensive teams here: they give up a lot of points. In Chicago's case, they have allowed the fifth-most points per game. Even though they had a bye last week, the Bears have still given up more points than the average team.

Gay has been a very good kicker in his career, making nearly 85% of his field goal attempts. Gay missed five extra points in his rookie year, but he has only missed three total XPs in the five-plus seasons since that time. For all his success, it's odd to see Gay already on his fourth team.

He has made nine of his 12 kicks this season, with two of the three misses coming from over 50 yards. Misses happen, but the odds are in Gay's favor that he will miss fewer kicks going forward.

Washington's offense was very good against a tough Chargers defense last week, as Jayden Daniels returned from a two-game absence. The Commanders averaged 8.9 yards per pass attempt and 5.8 yards per rush attempt in Week 5, both numbers well above average. When this team is clicking, they score a ton of points.

Gay is a good kicker playing with a good offense and has a very good matchup in Week 6. That sounds like a good streaming player. Gay is also a multi-week option because his team plays Dallas next week, who has given up the fourth-most points.

Joshua Karty, Los Angeles Rams @ Baltimore Ravens

The Rams drafted Karty in the sixth round last year. It has been an uneven experience, as Karty missed five field goal attempts and four extra points as a rookie and has now missed three more field goals and two extra points in 2025.

He has still made a lot of kicks (38 FGs, 44 XPs), but things tighten up quickly for potential playoff teams when kicking woes appear. Blocks have been an issue, and while that's not always the kicker's fault, someone must take the blame, and it often falls on the man swinging the leg. Karty's status may be a little tenuous.

He still plays for an above-average offense and gets plenty of chances to kick, so Karty has fantasy value. Other than missing out on the potential points, missed kicks don't generally hurt your score in fantasy football, so rostering a kicker who is a little wild isn't an immediate deal-breaker.

Karty ranked 15th among fantasy kickers last year, just 10 points from the top 10. He is currently tied for 13th and just four points short of the top 10 in 2025. This is a guy who can be a valuable fantasy player in the right situations.

The matchup this week couldn't be much better, as the Ravens have allowed the most points of any team. The next closest unit, the Jets, have given up 20 fewer points. Baltimore's opponents are averaging over 35 points per game!

I don't like using kicker fantasy points against teams as a stat because so much randomness goes into when kickers get an opportunity to score big in fantasy, but Baltimore has given up the sixth-most fantasy points to kickers; when it matches the raw points, it's worth noticing the connection.

While there is consternation, Karty is still the guy in LA, and he has a great matchup in Week 6. After Houston just scored 44 points on the Ravens, I can't wait to see what the Rams have in store.

Brandon McManus, Green Bay Packers vs. Cincinnati Bengals

McManus was a godsend last season for the Packers. When rookie Brayden Narveson struggled mightily to start the year, they signed McManus to take over, and he proceeded to make 20 of his 21 field goals and all 30 of his extra points. He has already missed two FGs and an XP this year, ironically guaranteeing a worse season after just one month.

McManus' career rate is just OK at 82.1%, but his many years spent in Denver are part of that. With half his games a mile above sea level, the Broncos weren't shy about letting McManus try long field goals. Of his 61 career misses, 17 of them (almost 28%) are from over 50 yards. He has made over 90% of his kicks under 50 yards.

Cincinnati has allowed the third-most points through Week 5, just one point behind the Jets for second place. We knew the Bengals would have a subpar defense, but things have looked even worse without Joe Burrow steadying the offense, as short fields have set an already faltering unit back even more.

I said before that bad defenses were the theme here, and the Bengals fit perfectly into that description. McManus is also a decent weekly option, as Green Bay is in the top 10 in most points per game scored, hitting at least 27 in three of their four games.