Week 8 Kicker Streamers and Starts – 2021 Fantasy Tiers, Rankings

October 31, 2021

Robert Lorge breaks down all 2021 fantasy football Week 8 kickers -- streamers, starts, sits, targets, avoids, and waiver wire pickups. His Week 8 rankings and tiers for all of the NFL kickers.

With all the byes across the league last week, fantasy managers should have been expecting some crazy outcomes. In that sense, it did not disappoint. When the Sunday games were done, the top-three kickers were Austin Seibert of the Detroit Lions, Graham Gano of the New York Giants, and Nick Folk of the New England Patriots. Just like we had it drawn up, right?

Week 8 will get some of the best fantasy kickers back into action. Kickers such as Greg Zuerlein, Tyler Bass and Greg Joseph all will be back in play. To top that, there are a lot of very fantasy-friendly matchups that should give fantasy managers plenty of options to choose from. In fact, as you'll find, I have eight kickers in the first tier this week, showcasing an excellent week for fantasy kickers.

Now that we are seven weeks into the season, there are plenty of numbers and evidence for fantasy managers to use to make their roster decisions. We will continue to use that data, such as the over/under spreads and fantasy points allowed to kickers. With that, let's get started.

Week 8 Kicker Rankings for Fantasy Football

Kicker Streamers to Target for Week 8

Brandon McManus, Denver Broncos

It's been a rough couple of weeks for McManus. After starting with weeks of 9, 13, and 16 points, he's scored just 14 points the last three weeks combined. His Week 8 matchup against Washington looks likes a nice bounce-back spot. The 44 point implied total is less than ideal, but there are a lot of other metrics that show McManus might be in line for a good day. For starters, Washington has allowed the most points through seven weeks and the second-most yards. Needless to say, the Broncos' offense should be able to find plenty of success. They've also allowed the fifth-most points to kickers at 11.3 points per game.

Evan McPherson, Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati looks like it might be the real deal this year. Both sides of the ball look much better than what they showed in 2020. On offense, a lot of that has to do with Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase. Like McManus, the implied point total does leave something to be desired at 43.5 points. However, the Jets have given up the ninth-most points across the league, which is certainly ideal for McPherson's fantasy prospects in Week 8. The Jets have allowed 15.8 points per game through seven games. Fire him up.

Graham Gano, New York Giants

The Kansas City Chiefs are a mess right now – a gigantic mess. Here's our first game with that implied point total that we're typically looking for, coming in at 52.5. This should be a fast-paced game and neither defense is very good. The Chiefs have allowed the third-most points and the Giants are seventh-most. Both teams are also in the top-1o for most yards allowed. The Chiefs have given up the 12th most points to kickers at 9.2. The Chiefs are way too talented to not have a big bounce-back game, and if that happens, the Giants will be in a position where they're chasing points.

Kicker Busts to Avoid for Week 8

Chris Boswell, Pittsburgh Steelers & Chase McLaughlin, Cleveland Browns

This is one matchup fantasy managers should be looking to avoid. The Steelers have given up the fifth-fewest yards in the league and the Browns have given up the fourth-fewest. The Steelers have been held under 24 points in all six of their games. The Browns' offense is really banged up. While they expect to get Baker Mayfield and Nick Chubb back this week, they'll still be without Kareem Hunt and possibly Odell Beckham Jr. While the Steelers have allowed 10.2 points per game to kickers, the Browns have only allowed 6.8 points per game. This is likely to be a hard-fought divisional matchup with an implied point total of just 42.5 points.

Nick Folk, New England Patriots

Fantasy managers should be noticing a trend with Folk through seven games. He has scored 57 points in four games, which is amazing. A lot of that has to do with the matchups. In those four games, the Patriots faced the Jets (twice), Dolphins and Texans. None of those teams have a winning record. In their other three games against the Saints, Buccaneers, and Cowboys, Folk has averaged just 5.3 points. In Week 8, Folk and the Patriots will face off against the Los Angeles Chargers who are way more like the Saints, Buccaneers and Cowboys than they are with the other four opponents. The Chargers have allowed the 17th-most points to kickers at 8.5 points per game.

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