Sportsnaut
The kicker position is typically saved for the last pick in fantasy football drafts, with managers routinely playing the streaming strategy. It’s often the best approach to take, especially when you’re willing to look at the right NFL stats to determine some of the best fantasy kickers this week.
Before Sunday’s games kick off, our fantasy kicker rankings our focused on five underrated options for fantasy manager to consider for Week 12.
Cairo Santos might not be one of the most accurate kickers in the NFL, but our focus is on volume. Since returning from injury, the Chicago Bears placekicker has averaged 3.3 field-goal attempts and 2.5 extra-point attempts per game. Part of the reason for the high volume of attempts is that Chicago’s offense has found the end zone on just 54.3 percent of its red-zone trips this season. On Sunday, the Bears face an opponent that has allowed the fourth-most field goal attempts (25) this season and boasts the sixth-best red-zone defense (51.4 percent touchdown rate). This is one of those games where we see Santos putting up 10-plus fantasy points.
Related: Best Fantasy Streaming Defenses this Week
Cam Little has been a big weapon for the Jacksonville Jaguars this season, but the offense’s inconsistency has resulted in sporadic performances. We don’t have a ton of confidence in this Jaguars offense finding the end zone three-plus times against the Arizona Cardinals, even with Arizona allowing the eighth-most red zone touchdowns (22) this season. Jacksonville has a tendency to stall in the red zone with a 56.8 percent touchdown rate, and Arizona is tied for the fourth-most field goal attempts allowed (25) this season. Little has a shot at putting up 9-15 points on Sunday.
Related: Week 12 Fantasy Rankings
Brought in to replace Joshua Karty, Los Angeles Rams kicker Harrison Mevis hasn’t attempted a field goal in his first two games with the team but he is 9-for-9 on extra-point attempts. The Rams offense won’t be nearly that efficient finding the end zone on Sunday Night Football against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Facing a defense that is tied for the fewest red-zone trips allowed (25) this season, we think Mevis will be busier from distance and could deliver 10-plus points for fantasy managers.
Related: NFL Defense Rankings 2025, Week 12 Fantasy Defense Rankings
It takes special circumstances for a Cleveland Browns kicker to make our list. So, the fact that Andre Szmyt makes it here should tell you a lot about the level of domination we expect to see from the Browns defense on Sunday. Cleveland could legitimately take over at the line of scrimmage, creating short fields through takeaways and three-and-outs that allow this Browns offense to get in field goal range four-plus times. That will set up Szmyt, who has made 90 percent of his field-goal attempts (9-for-10) in the...
