Player Rankings Kickers - Sport Fanatics Fantasy Football

The player rankings are based on projected statistics for the 2008 football season. UPDATED: September 1, 2008

RANK	NAME	TEAM	BYE	PS(*)	TIER	COMMENTS
1	Nick Folk	DAL	10	*	1	Excellent FG kicker inside of 50 yards. Will get plenty of XP's and a good amount of FG's. Plays on one of the better offensive teams in the NFL.
2	Adam Vinatieri	IND	4	*	1	Mr. Clutch plays home games in a dome for a high powered offense. A top kicker, but do not expect long FG's from him.
3	Stephen Gostkowski	NE	4	*	1	Kicks for the best offensive team in the NFL. Will get a ton of XP's, but home games are in a bad weather stadium later in the season.
4	Shayne Graham	CIN	8	*	2	Over the past several years has been near the top in scoring. Plays on a good offensive team. A definite top 6 kicker pick.
5	Nate Kaeding	SD	9	*	2	Plays on a good offensive team, good defensive team and in nice weather for all home games. Not a boomer, but consistently kicks for a high percentage.
6	Josh Scobee	JAX	7	*	3	Hurt his leg in week 1 last season and missed half the season. Like the Jaguars, is not flashy but is a solid starting fantasy kicker.
7	Mason Crosby	GB	8	*	3	With Brett Favre leaving the frozen tundra, there are questions about how good the offense will be under Aaron Rodgers. We still see them as a top 12 offense, plus Crosby led the league in scoring last season and was 3 of 5 from 50+ yards.
8	Josh Brown	STL	5	*	3	Moved from Seattle to St. Louis where he will like the dome home games. Has a big leg (3 of 5 from 50+ yards), but is not always the most accurate kicker.
9	Phil Dawson	CLE	5	*	3	Doesn't have a real strong leg, but plays on a good offensive team that has several playmakers. Should get plenty of scoring attempts again this year.
10	Jeff Reed	PIT	6	*	3	Is not great, but has been a consistently good scorer for the last 5 years. Plays on a home field not good for kickers, but is still worthy of a starting kicker position on your fantasy team.
11	Kris Brown	HOU	8	*	3	On the rise in the rankings. Finally kicked with good accuracy last season to go along with his great leg strength. Was 5 of 5 from 50+ yards last season. When Andre Johnson is playing, Brown is a solid fantasy starter.
12	Neil Rackers	ARI	7	*	3	Has a very strong leg, but is not that accurate anymore form 50+ yards. If Matt Leinart can put things together, Arizona offense could put up some good points again in 2008.
13	Rob Bironas	TEN	6	*	3	Titans had trouble in the red zone last year, so Bironas had 39's FG attempts. We would expect 30-32 FG's attempts this year, but the good news is he has a strong leg (4 of 5 form 50+ yards).
14	John Kasay	CAR	9	*	4	Should get more FG attempts this season with Jake Delhomme back in the fold. Also, the entire offensive supporting cast looks better than last season.
15	Robbie Gould	CHI	8	*	4	The offense does not scare anyone. They will need every point they can get, so expect plenty of FG attempts. The defense should be very good and give the offense better field position than most teams.
16	David Akers	PHI	7	*	4	Borderline fantasy starter, we think of him as a backup. McNabb and Westbrook are quality players, but the rest of the offense is average at best. Was a pitiful 2 of 10 from 40+ yards last season.
17	Ryan Longwell	MIN	8	*	4	Good offensive line, very good running game and a decent defense are not enough to have us rate Longwell as a fantasy starter. The receiving group is below average and QB Tarvaris Jackson needs further seasoning.
18	Jason Hanson	DET	4	*	4	With Offensive Coordinator Martz moving on, the offense will not be as fast paced. He is getting up in age (38), but does play his home games in a dome.
19	Matt Stover	BAL	10	*	4	The Ravens offense is well below average, thus the number of attempts that Stover gets will be lower than most kickers.
20	Martin Gramatica	NO	9	*	4	He has won a tough battle with rookie Taylor Mehlaff for the Saints kicking job. Is a decent backup fantasy kicker option.
21	Matt Bryant	TB	10	*	4	The Tampa offense just does not give him enough opportunities. Better choices are available on draft day. Has played poorly this preseason.
22	Lawrence Tynes	NYG	4	*	5	Had exploratory knee surgery during preseason, everything looks ok but he may miss the first week or two of the season. Even though he is kicking for the Super Bowl champs, he is not worthy of a starting fantasy kicker spot.
23	Mike Nugent	NYJ	5	*	5	The Jets offense should be improved with Favre at the helm, but there are still better choices available on draft day.
24	Olindo Mare	SEA	4	*	5	With injuries to rookie Brandon Coutu, it appears that Mare will win the Seattle kicking job. Not the kicker he used to be, but would be an ok bye week replacement.
25	Rian Lindell	BUF	6	*	5	The Buffalo offense just does not give him enough opportunities. Better choices are available on draft day.
26	Joe Nedney	SF	9	*	5	The 49ers offense should be improved, but will struggle again this season. Better choices are available on draft day.
27	Shaun Suisham	WAS	10	*	5	Plays on an average offensive team. Accuracy is just ok. Better choices are available on draft day.
28	Matt Prater	DEN	8	*	5	With Jason Elam moving on to Atlanta, Prater appears to have the Denver kicking job. The mile high air should help with distance kicks, but we would not be surprised to see a veteran come in and provide competition. Better choices are available on draft day.
29	Jason Elam	ATL	7	*	5	Accurate kicker who can no longer make the long FG's. Atlanta's offense looks as though it will struggle this season. Should not be considered a fantasy option for you on draft day.
30	Sebastian Janikowski	OAK	5	*	5	Can boom it, but the Oakland offense looks as though it will struggle this season. Should not be considered a fantasy option for you on draft day.
31	Nick Novak	KC	6	*	6	Appears to have won the Chiefs starting kicker job over Jay Feely and Connor Barth. Should not be considered a fantasy option for you on draft day.
32	Dan Carpenter	MIA	4	*	6	Undrafted rookie appears to be the Miami kicker entering the season. Should not be considered a fantasy option for you on draft day.
33	Brandon Coutu	SEA	4		7	In a tough battle with veteran Olindo Mare for the Seattle kicking job. We would stay away from him at this point as he has been injured much of the preseason.
34	Taylor Mehlhaff	NO	9		7	Lost to veteran Martin Gramatica for the Saints kicking job. We would stay away from him at this point.
35	Jay Feely	ZFA			7	Was the kicker for Miami last year, but was cut at the beginning of camp. Lost out on the KC kicking job.

3 fantasy points for every field goal made between 1-39 yards, 4 fantasy points for every field goal made between 40-49 yards, 5 fantasy points for every field goal made 50+ yards and 1 fantasy point for every extra point made.

Tiers: Based on typical starting lineup of 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 K and 1 DEF/ST

2 - Very good fantasy player, not quite in the elite class but better than a typical fantasy football starter.

3 - Good fantasy player, worthy of a spot on your starting fantasy football roster.

4 - Average fantasy player, not worthy of a spot on your starting fantasy football roster but a player who usually starts or plays a lot for his NFL team.

5 - Below average fantasy player, starters who put up poor fantasy numbers or backups who see some playing time.

6 - Poor fantasy player, typically backups or specialist players who have limited playing time.

7 - Bottom of the barrel fantasy player, likely no or very little playing time unless there are injuries.

2008 FOOTBALL PLAYER RANKINGS - KICKERS