Week 2 Fantasy Football: Top Kicker and D/ST Streaming Targets

We spend a lot of time each week talking about offensive football players, and for good reason: those are the guys who drive fantasy football. Some owners will focus solely on those guys, though, and either ignore kicker and D/ST or throw in the same player/group every week without giving it much thought.

For those who look to play matchups and stream the positions, there is an advantage to be found by targeting weak teams and pivoting before the guy in your lineup has a bad game (or two…or three).

Let's look at two kickers and two D/ST groups that have good matchups in Week 2 and/or other circumstances that make them appealing in fantasy football. Most stats are from NFL.com.

Use FantasySP's weekly projections to find the players who are expected to excel and help make your toughest lineup decisions!

Kickers

Cairo Santos, Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings

While we are usually looking to target the worst defenses with streamers, this has as much to do with the offense as the defense we are facing. Ben Johnson said he wanted the Bears to have the highest-scoring offense ever, and while coaches say a lot of things in the preseason, Chicago came out and showed what they can do, putting up 59 points on the Panthers in Week 1.

Santos only had one field goal, but he kicked eight extra points. Some owners will try to find kickers in offenses that are good enough to get into field goal range but not score touchdowns, but that's impossible to project from week to week. I like finding guys on successful offenses who will give their kicker scoring chances, and the Bears certainly did that in the opening game.

Minnesota has a decent defense, though they get overhyped by people who treat their coordinator like the second coming. This isn't a great matchup, but Santos is available in more than half of fantasy leagues, and he is a kicker who can stick on your roster all season if you don't have a solid option.

Will Reichard, Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears

And let's look at the other side of the coin. Minnesota started a little slower in Week 1 before going off in the fourth quarter, eventually scoring 39 points against the Packers. Like Santos, Reichard had just one field goal, but he did kick four extra points, so it wasn't a dud of a game for the kicker.

This one is more about the matchup, though. While the Bears put up a ton of points, they also allowed 37 to the Panthers. Chicago had a vulnerable defense last season, as though they forced a lot of turnovers, they were among the 10 worst pass defenses and gave up the 10th-most points.

If the Bears are going to score points, opponents are going to throw a lot to try to keep up. That will bring plenty of points if Chicago is lacking defensively, so fantasy players facing them will have nice upside, including kickers.

One note on this one: The game is being played in Chicago rather than the indoor conditions in Minnesota, so weather needs to be verified on Sunday morning before inserting either kicker into your lineup.

Defense/Special Teams

San Francisco 49ers vs. Miami Dolphins

San Fran's defense wasn't drafted in a lot of fantasy leagues, and it makes sense when they had a seemingly brutal matchup against the Rams in Week 1. Well, whether it had to do with the travel plans or something else, the 49ers shut down LA, allowing just seven points in a dominating performance while causing two turnovers.

The matchup is much easier in this one, as the Dolphins were projected to be one of the worst teams entering the season and proved that to be true in the first week by losing to the Raiders 27-13. Malik Willis had a decent day, but he was sacked five times, and Miami turned it over twice while scoring just one touchdown.

Now facing what could be a top-line defense, things aren't looking up for the Miami offense in this one. The 49ers' D/ST might be worth keeping on your roster, and the matchup here points toward good things. They follow this one with games against the Cardinals and Broncos, so San Francisco is set up to continue their stingy ways.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Cleveland Browns

Oh boy. It's tough to call a team the worst in the league after just one game; every team is going to have an off day and put up a lousy performance from time to time. It was expected from the Browns, though, and they were dominated by the Jaguars from beginning to end in Week 1, eventually losing 34-10 and not scoring a touchdown until there were less than two minutes remaining in the game.

While Deshaun Watson actually had decent efficiency from a yards-per-attempt perspective, he was sacked five times, threw an interception, and fumbled, though he was able to recover it. We haven't seen Watson have any real success in over a half-decade, and an underwhelming team around him won't help raise his level of play. There is young potential on the roster, but it might be a few years (and a major upgrade at quarterback) before that group really has a chance to take off.

Tampa didn't have a great performance in the opening game, giving up 33 points to the Bengals. Part of the issue was losing four fumbles, setting up the Bengals with great field position a few times (and a fumble return touchdown in the first quarter). The Bucs actually held Cincy to just average efficiency in both the pass and run games and scored a defensive touchdown of their own on a Josiah Trotter interception.

More than trusting Tampa Bay, though, this one is about their opponent. We will likely be looking to attack the Browns with opposing defenses all season, and this is the perfect opportunity with a group that is only owned in about 10% of leagues before the waiver period passes.