Streaming Fantasy Football Kickers? Draft These Guys for Week 1

Every fantasy football pundit will tell you the same thing: wait until your final pick to draft your kicker. The main reasons are that kicker fantasy performance is mostly random, as you don't know who will get opportunities to kick field goals on a weekly basis, and that there isn't much difference between kickers in fantasy scoring.

Over the past three seasons, the average difference between K1 and K2 was just 10 points, or 0.6 points per week. K1 only outscored K10 by an average of 44 points (2.4 per week). Here are the average differences at the other offensive fantasy positions over that same time in standard scoring:

• Quarterback: QB1 to QB2 34.6 points (1.9 per week), QB1 to QB10 109.1 points (6.1 per week)
• Running Back: RB1 to RB2 29.4 points (1.6 per week), RB1 to RB10 117.5 points (6.5 per week)
• Wide Receiver: WR1 to WR2 25.8 points (1.4 per week), WR1 to WR10 100.6 points (5.6 per week)
• Tight End: TE1 to TE2 29.3 points (1.6 per week), 65.6 points (3.6 per week)

It just means more to get the top players at those other positions, and we generally have a better idea of who will score among that top group at the skill positions than we do at kicker. Over that same three-year span, only 40% of the kickers who were in the top 10 one year returned to that lofty group the next season.

If you take that advice and skip kicker until the final few rounds, you will inevitably miss out on the top players drafted at the position. That means that you will likely be streaming kickers during the season until you get lucky enough to pick up a keeper. Streaming starts in Week 1, so it's important to draft players who have good matchups in the first few weeks of the season.

Let's look at three kickers who start off with good matchups during the first three weeks of the season. These guys are all being drafted outside of the top-10 kickers, so you will likely be able to grab them with your final pick. Most stats are from NFL.com, and past fantasy points and rankings are from FantasyPros.

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Great Outlooks, but Being Drafted

There are four kickers who fit our criteria for this list, but they are all being drafted among the top eight kickers and don't fit as streamer types that you could definitely grab with your final pick: Brandon Aubrey (Cowboys), Cameron Dicker (Chargers), Jason Myers (Seahawks), and Eddy Pineiro (49ers). The first three listed there are the top three kickers off the board in that order, while Pineiro is going eighth (according to ESPN's ADP rankings).

That means you're probably not getting Aubrey, Dicker, or Myers unless you draft them early. Pineiro could be available, as at least a few other owners will likely wait to take their kicker as well, and if you can get him, he has strong matchups against the Dolphins and Cardinals in Weeks 2 and 3.

The 49ers face the Rams in Week 1 in a game being played in Melbourne, Australia. That game will be at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, and while there is plenty of time to make sure the field is in shape, I'm always a little skeptical of games being played on non-football fields. That could be enough to turn the most risk-averse owners off Pineiro in Week 1, but he will probably be fine and should get plenty of opportunities during the season playing with San Francisco's offense.

Jake Elliott, Philadelphia Eagles

First Three Opponents: Washington Commanders, Tennessee Titans, Chicago Bears

Elliott is my favorite kicker pick from this group of three who are being drafted outside the top 10. Let's start with the biggest negative: Philadelphia is famous for going for it on fourth down when in field goal range, relying on the Tush Push and a dynamic offense. Elliott was only 24th in field goal attempts last season, but he was eighth in 2024 and only two attempts from 12th in 2023; he should get scoring chances in an offense that still features high-level players.

His first three games are against the teams that allowed the sixth-, fifth-, and 10th-most points last season. Last year's results don't necessarily mean a team will be bad/good on defense again in 2026, but it's the best data we have to go on along with guesses made based on roster changes.

Washington added several new defensive starters, including Odafe Oweh, K'Lavon Chaisson, and top-10 pick Sonny Styles. Tennessee brought in John Franklin-Myers and Jermaine Johnson II on the defensive line, among others. The Bears have several seasons worth of new players, including new first-round safety Dillon Thieneman. All those changes could bring improvements, but until we see it, it's reasonable to think all three defenses could be below average again in terms of allowing points.

I like Elliott's chances of getting plenty of scoring chances, particularly early in the season. I'm grabbing Elliott in any mock draft in which I don't end up with a top option (generally it's either Pineiro or Elliott).

Ben Sauls, New York Giants

First Three Opponents: Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, Tennessee Titans

Sauls took over at the end of the year last season, kicking in the final three games and making all eight of his field goals and all seven of his extra points. He didn't attempt a kick from over 45 yards, so the degree of difficulty wasn't high, but Sauls did make three field goals from 57-plus yards in his final year in college, so he has shown that he can make long kicks.

While New York's offense has plenty of potential, we haven't seen them perform at a high level, leaving a little bit of risk. This is about streaming, though, and two of the Giants' first three opponents were poor defensive teams last season. We already touched on Tennessee above; Dallas is the other appealing target here. Last season, the Cowboys allowed more points than any other team, over 30 points per game. There were no sweeping changes, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see Dallas struggle mightily again on defense.

The Rams are a much tougher group, having given up the 10th-fewest points last season. They also made major upgrades, trading for both Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie and signing Jaylen Watson; it's not a stretch to say that LA could have a top-three defense this season. That might make Sauls a no-go player in Week 2, but even if you just drafted him for Week 1, there's a great matchup against Dallas.

Joey Slye, Tennessee Titans

First Three Opponents: New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants

What could be better than facing the Jets and the Giants? We talked about Tennessee being a great target, but the Titans also have a friendly slate early in the season against the two New York teams, which allowed the second-most (Jets) and seventh-most (Giants) points last season.

Just like with Sauls, there's a tough matchup in the middle, so you might only grab Slye for Week 1. Philadelphia allowed the fifth-fewest points last year, and I don't anticipate them falling off defensively, so let's not test the Eagles early. (Slye might still be there to pick up again anyway in Week 3 if the Giants start off poorly defensively, so there's not much risk in dropping him. It's the same story with Sauls.)

Slye is a veteran who has proven to be an effective player. While he missed seven field goal attempts last season, five of them were from 50-plus yards, so it's not like he was shanking the easy ones. His 80% success rate overall was right in line with his career work; it's not above average, but it's fine for streaming purposes.

The bigger issue is Tennessee's offense, which scored the third-fewest points. Some fantasy owners like grabbing guys on offenses that will get close to the end zone but not score, but I'd rather grab a kicker on a potent offense that will give him chances to kick the ball. There's going to be risk with Slye not getting opportunities every time he takes the field, but the matchup seems like a good one in Week 1 (even after the Jets made a few upgrades in the offseason).

Conclusion

Pineiro and Elliott are my favorite kicker draft picks this year if you don't get one of the top guys. The numbers prove that waiting to draft your kicker until the end is the best plan, so skipping guys like Aubrey, Dicker, and Myers is a better play if those guys go in rounds 9-12, as ESPN has them pegged by ADP.

One caveat is if you're in an auction league: I like the ploy of nominating my favorite kickers and defenses my first few times around because you are going to spend $1 on those positions anyway, so you're not missing out on anything by nominating Aubrey for a buck the first time around to see if you can steal him early. If another owner wants to spend $2 (or more), so be it; they used an extra dollar or more that they can't use later. It doesn't cost you anything.

If you're in a snake draft, though, follow conventional wisdom and wait on your kicker, grabbing one of the guys listed above as a value play instead. If you can't get Pineiro or Elliott, I'm fine with grabbing Sauls or Slye (in that order).