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Fantasy football rankings 2021: Top 10 kickers in your draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
We’ll be honest: You shouldn’t lose sleep over choosing a kicker in your fantasy football draft.
While some kickers can put up points consistently regardless of their opponent, you can find decent success playing the matchup game and using the waiver wire to add a kicker who has a favorable matchup that week.
That means it’s not really worth it to draft a kicker until the last two or three rounds. But once the run on kickers starts, it’s good to know who’s the best of the bunch, because there are a handful of names who are strong bets to perform every week.
You’ll find plenty of those names below, so let’s break down the top 10 kickers in fantasy football entering the 2021 NFL season.
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1. Harrison Butker, Kansas City Chiefs (Bye Week: 12)
You can’t go wrong with either Butker or Justin Tucker here, but Butker kicks for a far superior Chiefs offense that should put up points in bunches this season. He drilled 25 of 27 field goals last season and made 54 extra points, tied with Tucker for fifth in the NFL.
2. Justin Tucker, Baltimore Ravens (Bye Week: 8)
Tucker’s 26 field goals made last season were a career-low, as he’s topped 30 field goals in six of his nine NFL seasons. The Ravens gave Lamar Jackson some help this offseason by signing Sammy Watkins and drafting Rashod Bateman, so we wouldn’t be surprised if Tucker is back in the 30-field-goal range in 2021.
3. Younghoe Koo, Atlanta Falcons (Bye Week: 6)
Koo has come a long way since being released by the Patriots in 2019. The 26-year-old led the NFL in field goals made for Atlanta last season and was second only to Jason Sanders in fantasy points. Regression is possible after Julio Jones’ departure, but Koo still should rank among the league’s highest-scoring kickers.
4. Greg Zuerlein, Dallas Cowboys (Bye Week: 7)
“Greg the Leg” went just 3-for-9 on 50-plus-yard field goal attempts last season, but he led the league with 41 attempts. If he can improve his accuracy in 2021, he should have plenty of opportunities to put up points with Dak Prescott back under center.
5. Rodrigo Blankenship, Indianapolis Colts (Bye Week: 14)
The Colts’ bespectacled rookie sensation missed just three kicks under 50 yards last season to finish as the sixth-best kicker in fantasy. If Carson Wentz rediscovers his mojo with
6. Tyler Bass, Buffalo Bills (Bye Week: 7)
Bass came up clutch for fantasy managers late in 2020, posting at least eight fantasy points (standard scoring) in his final eight games. Expect the 24-year-old to pick up right where he left off in 2021 with the Josh Allen-Stefon Diggs connection in full effect.
7. Ryan Succop, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Bye Week: 9)
Can’t go wrong with drafting the kicker of the defending Super Bowl champs. Succop hit a career-high 52 extra points last season thanks to Tom Brady rejuvenating the Bucs’ offense, and all the usual suspects are back for 2021.
8. Jason Sanders, Miami Dolphins (Bye Week: 14)
The best kicker in fantasy last season, Sanders nailed eight of his nine field goal attempts from 50-plus yards and made the most of a Dolphins offense that often sputtered in enemy territory. That number should regress to the mean in 2021, but Sanders is still worth drafting.
9. Wil Lutz, New Orleans Saints (Bye Week: 6)
Lutz probably won’t break any scoring records in the first year of the post-Drew Brees era, but he’s a safe bet for the top 10 playing in a dome in the kicker-friendly NFC South.
10. Matt Prater, Arizona Cardinals (Bye Week: 12)
Prater could use a change of scenery after making just 75% of his field goals in Detroit last season. Arizona is a friendly kicking environment and Kyler Murray leads a potent Cardinals offense, so the 36-year-old veteran has plenty of upside.