Points are points. I always say that if you don’t want to play with kickers, then don’t. But if you do have to plug one into your roster, pay attention.
The same can be said for defenses, although most people take their defense more seriously. Many fantasy head-to-head matchups are won or lost by one point or less. Don’t let your defense or kicker be the reason you’re on the losing side of a matchup.
Here are some quick takeaways on the two positions from the 2016 season.
Kickers
The top-scoring kickers of the 2016 season, Matt Bryant and Justin Tucker, scored nine or more fantasy points in 13 of their 16 outings.
Seven kickers averaged more than nine fantasy points per game. In standard scoring, of all the tight ends in the league, only Rob Gronkowski averaged exactly 9.0 points per game. In a 12-man league, you have a 58.33 percent chance to have a kicker that averages more points per game than your tight end options.
In 2016, six kickers completed 100 percent of their PATs. 10 kickers were perfect in 2015. 29 were perfect in 2014.
Of the six that converted on every PAT, only Justin Tucker, Dan Bailey, Adam Vinatieri and Greg Zuerlein kicked more than 20 extra points on the season. In 2015, instead of kicking an extra point from the 2-yard line (which had been the standard before), teams were forced to kick from the 15-yard line. Also, the defending team could score two points if they grabbed possession of the ball and took it back the other way. After collecting two years of data, the differences in PATs is staggering.
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