ClutchPoints
While the 2025 NFL regular season is not here yet, fantasy football season is already in full swing. As the mock drafts of summer give way to the real deal of fall, millions of fantasy football players worldwide are looking for the best way to build their teams. While most previews focus on what sleepers to focus on snagging at running back, or why you shouldn’t take a quarterback early, there are two positions that are often overlooked: defense/special teams and kicker.
Sometimes, those positions are the difference between a title win and a loss. The defense you’re playing comes up with a timely interception return for a touchdown, or the special teams has a punt return score. Or your kicker has a game-winning 45-yard field goal, lifting his team and yours to victory. Knowing the best players to target at these positions can lead to a title win of your own.
There’s one thing you’ll notice with each of the kickers on this list: each one is expected to be a part of one of the league’s most explosive offenses. Makes sense, right? After all, the more points an offense scores, the more opportunities a kicker will have at extra points. The better they are at moving the ball against an opposing defense, the chances their kickers will see at field goals will increase. So, it makes sense to start with the kicker from one of the NFC’s best offenses: the Detroit Lions’ Jake Bates.
Let’s address the elephant in the room: will the Lions’ offense be as explosive and productive this season without former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson? It’s a fair question to ask. New offensive coordinator John Morton has worked with Detroit head coach Dan Campbell and the Lions in the past, as he was an assistant on the 2022 team.
Despite the OC change, all of the Lions’ major pieces are back. Quarterback Jared Goff has a deep and explosive supporting cast, fronted by wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and running back Jahmyr Gibbs. As long as their offensive core stays healthy, this offense will score points. That means Bates will get plenty of looks in every game this season. After a rookie campaign in which he went 26-for-29 on field goals en route to scoring 142 points, it’s certainly possible that Bates will eclipse the 150 point mark this season. Sounds like a kicker who should be considered as the top scoring player at his position in 2025, doesn’t it?
In a league where longer field goal attempts are being attempted with more regularity, it pays to have a kicker with a powerful leg. Take a look at Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Cam Little’s 70-yard field goal he made last weekend. Or San Francisco 49ers kicker Jake Moody’s absolutely drilled 59-yarder to beat the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday. It’s clear that the kicking...
