NFL Kickers to Start in Week 17: Fantasy Football Tiers, Rankings & Playoff Matchups

December 23, 2014

Real Talk Raph analyzes NFL kickers (K) to start or sit in Week 17 and the playoffs, and provides rankings & tiers for all fantasy football kickers. Start the right kicker in fantasy football and grab one off the waiver wire if needed.

It's Week 17 RotoBallers and we're still obsessing over place kickers for your fantasy football pleasure! Yes, that’s right – kickers. After all, points are points, and even though kickers are very difficult to predict for fantasy points week to week, having the right one in your Week 17 lineup could be a difference maker.

Afterall some of us with less astute league managers still have our championship round in this final week of the season, where others are either battling it out in a 2 week championship format, or just grinding out to the bitter end on the DFS circuit. (Even though I already took home my dynasty league championship in Week 16, I will surely have some lineups in at FantasyScore to enjoy the final week of the regular season)

We'd never abandon you before it was all said and done, but we are going to narrow down our tiers to the Top 15 kickers for Week 17 broken down into 3 tiers.

We're still here to give you that life changing analysis you so dearly covett, and help make your kicker streaming decisions for Week 17. Who doesn't need a little help making those dreaded lineup decisions a bit easier, especially in the fantasy leg department?

Some of these kickers may have good Week 17 matchups, and be available on your league’s waiver wire. Be sure to stay on top of the weekly NFL matchups and kicker opponents right here. It's been a pleasure serving you this season and we look forward to picking up right where we left off for Week 1 of the 2015 season. Until then, good luck with your championship round and DFS tournaments RotoBallers.

Tier 1 NFL Kickers: New England Patriots (Stephen Gostkowski), Indianapolis Colts (Adam Vinatieri), Philadelphia Eagles (Cody Parkey), Houston Texans (Randy Bullock), Seattle Seahawks (Steven Hauschka)

The NFL's leading scorer among kickers is none other than Patriots great Stephen Gostkowski. He's been the beneficiary of many high scoring totals in 2014 and gets to face off against the Buffalo Bills defense that allows 8.0 fantasy points per game on average. Former Pats great and current Colts veteran kicker Adam Vinatieri has a great matchup versus the Tennessee Titans in Week 17, a team that is allowing the second most fantasy points to opposing kickers. Cody Parkey is in tier 1 because of his enormous talent a great track record, but he missed some attempts in Week 16 and it appears that the lingering effects of his groin injury have come home to roost. Nonetheless he is a tier 1 kicker versus the division rival Giants who allow an average of 8.36 fantasy points per contest to opposing kickers.

Randy Bullock and the Texans get one of the better opponents of Week 17 as they draw a matchup versus the lowly Jaguars who are allowing the third most points per week to fantasy kickers. Rounding out the cream of the crop for Week 17 is the Seahawk's Steven Hauschka who also laid quite an egg for eager owners in Week 16. No worries because this is a new week and he gets to face off at home versus the St. Louis Rams defense that allows almost 8 points per contest on average. He makes a pretty solid play for Week 17, so if you have him on your roster, roll him out.

Tier 2 NFL Kickers: Denver Broncos (Connor Barth), Justin Tucker (Baltimore Ravens), Miami Dolphins (Caleb Sturgis), Carolina Panthers (Graham Gano), Buffalo Bills (Dan Carpenter)

Connor Barth is the Broncos third place kicker of 2014 and gets the 4th worst defense in the NFL versus fantasy kickers in Week 17. We like him as a sneaky waiver wire fill in or undervalued DFS kicker. Justin Tucker is a top 10 kicker in scoring and grades out in the top 5 based on Pro Football Focus. He is a must start versus the Cleveland Browns who are allowing a healthy average of 8.71 fantasy points per contest to the opposition. Caleb Sturgis is most likely an undervalued DFS kicker and a solid play all around in Week 17 as the Dolphins play host to the New Jersey Jets who allow an even 9 fantasy points per game on average to opposing kickers.

The Panthers and Graham Gano get to face off against the Falcons 5th worst defense versus fantasy kickers in Week 17 thereby making them a solid tier 2 start for the last week of the regular season. Last but not least, former Dolphins great Dan Carpenter rounds off our top 10 kickers for Week 17 as he faces off against a Patriots team that allows an average of almost 8 fantasy points per contest to opposing legs. Don't be scared to use him in what we expect to be a solid battle were kickers may get plenty of field goal attempts on both sides.

Tier 3 NFL Kickers: Minnesota Vikings (Blair Walsh), Pittsburgh Steelers (Shaun Suisham), Cincinnati Bengals (Mike Nugent), Diego Chargers (Nick Novak), Dallas Cowboys (Dan Bailey)

"Blair Witch" Walsh has been scary bad a couple of times this season missing some key field goals, but he cracks out third tier due to the fact that he'll be facing the worst team in the NFL versus fantasy kickers, the lowly Chicago Bears. Aside from allowing a healthy 10.71 points per contest on average, we love the sleeper potential here as he will almost surely be available for the plucking off your league's waiver wire. He will be in strong DFS consideration for Week 17 action on FantasyScore.com where you are required to set a kicker slot into your salary cap lineup. The Steelers main leg Shaun Suisham is also underrated as he faces off against the Bengals in Week 17.

Cincinnati is allowing a hellacious 8 points per game on average to opposing place kickers, so we like almost anyone against their mediocre defensive unit. Ohio's own and former Jets great Mike Nugent cracks our top 15 for Week 17 due to his extremely favorable matchup versus the Steelers, who are letting up an average of 8.43 fantasy points per game to kickers.  He can be used with pretty good confidence and will surely be an undervalued DFS kicker for Week 17's action. Nick "The Kick" Novak is fittingly in our last breakdown of the year as he faces off against a Chiefs team that allows an average of 8.93 fantasy points per game on average to kickers. We love him in this contest and will look for favorable DFS pricing across the board and use him as a budget buster wherever possible.

Last but not least, Dan "The Man" Bailey is drawing a rather tough Redskins defense that is pretty stingy versus opposing legs, only allowing an average of 7.36 fantasy points per contest. That being said, he is a must start option each and every week and should rarely be benched, so trot him out with confidence and pride as we close out the regular season with some more winning.

Good luck in your final championship week and choosing your DFS kickers in Week 17 RotoBaller's! Feel free to hit me up on Twitter @RealTalkRaph if you want to discuss these life changing choices any further.