Who cares about kickers?
That’s usually the sentiment surrounding the kicker position. However, this year, the kicker became a bit more important with extra points being worth more points and misses becoming commonplace.
It’s still a smart decision to pass on the kicker position until later in the draft, based on the amount separating the best kicker to a kicker with marginal output.
If fantasy owners in a 12-team league owned the top-12 kickers this year, the amount of points separating the top kicker to the 12th would only be 38 points. For some positions, that amount of points separates second from third.
But what about value when it comes to kickers? Stephen Gostkowski was the top preseason kicker and finished the season with 159 points, nine more than second place. His ADP, though, was 88, a monstrous 158 spots higher than his overall ranking of 246.
His ADP was only four spots lower than Cam Newton, who managed the most fantasy points this season. Even though Gostkowski finished first in kicking, that’s way too high to take a kicker.
There’s just not enough difference on a weekly basis to justify taking a kicker over a possible third running back, quarterback or second wide receiver.
Here’s our best and worst values among kickers for the 2015 fantasy football season.
Best value
Graham Gano
Very few thought the Panthers would score much entering the season. That’s likely why Newton’s ADP was so low.
But Carolina was the best team in the NFC for a reason, and its offense offered several opportunities for Gano.
Gano finished with 150 fantasy points, good enough for second place among kickers. That’s a far cry from his value to begin the season.
He was the 24th-ranked kicker entering the season with an ADP of 285, a much better number for a kicker to be drafted.
He registered his best year statistically this season at 83.3 field-goal percentage. He was at his best in the 40-49 yard range, converting 13 field goals, the most of any kicker.
Worst value
Adam Vinatieri
We’re basing this strictly on the public’s perception of Vinatieri.
He finished 17th among kickers in points with 115 this season, which isn’t good considering his No. 4 ranking among kickers in the preseason.
But what makes his output even more awful is fantasy owners’ habit of taking him too early in fantasy drafts.
Despite an overall ranking of 251, his ADP was 106, 145 spots higher than he was rated. We can understand why people were excited about the veteran, since the Colts were supposed to have a dynamic offense.
That didn’t happen, so the opportunities just weren’t there for him.
Good value
Robbie Gould
He had some serious struggles toward the end of the season, but for much of the year, Gould was as good as anyone in fantasy among kickers.
He still finished the season with the fourth-most points. He entered the season as the 25th-ranked kicker, with an ADP of 214 (his overall ranking was actually 302, which put him down as the 16th-highest ADP among kickers).
It wasn’t all great for Gould, who had some tough performances of five or less points. But he broke the team’s record for field goals this season and showed that he is normally an undervalued kicker in fantasy football.
Bad value
Matt Bryant
Much like Indianapolis’ offense was supposed to be this high-flying unit, the Falcons also were anticipated to follow that same trend.
That didn’t quite work for Bryant owners.
Despite his No. 8 ranking among kickers heading into the season, Bryant was not the kicker that many had hoped for.
Before his injury, he logged only two games with double-digit fantasy points. He attempted only 12 field goals in 10 games, and made nine of them.
He finished far off the pace from the top-tier kickers and was likely dropped before he was injured in many leagues.
