Week 15 Rankings (2020): Top 15 Kickers

by Ray Kuhn

Kickers fly under the radar until they decide a playoff match-up and all of a sudden you pay attention. That is what happened last week with Justin Tucker’s 54-yard field goal in overtime, and you never know who will strike next. All you can do is look for upside where you can find it while remembering just how fickle the position really can be. Let’s take a look at how our options rank for this week:

1. Justin Tucker – Baltimore Ravens – vs. Jacksonville
2. Graham Gano – New York Giants – vs. Cleveland
3. Jason Sanders – Miami Dolphins – vs. New England
4. Harrison Butker – Kansas City Chiefs – at New Orleans
5. Younghoe Koo – Atlanta Falcons – vs. Tampa Bay
6. Daniel Carlson – Las Vegas Raiders – vs. LA Chargers
7. Jason Myers – Seattle Seahawks – at Washington
8. Tyler Bass – Buffalo Bills – at Denver
9. Will Lutz – New Orleans Saints – vs. Kansas City
10. Rodrigo Blankenship – Indianapolis Colts – vs. Houston
11. Cody Parkey – Cleveland Browns – at NY Giants
12. Mason Crosby – Green Bay Packers – vs. Carolina
13. Joey Slye – Carolina Panthers – at Green Bay
14. Matt Gay – Los Angeles Rams – vs. NY Jets
15. Greg Zuerlein – Dallas Cowboys – vs. San Francisco

Notes:

• The Giants looked flat out terrible on offense last week, but the only place for them to go is up after that performance. Daniel Jones was extremely limited on one leg and things should get better either based on his improved health or Colt McCoy returning under center. Regardless of what happens, Graham Gano will likely be more involved in the offense and so far this season he has proven to be up to the task. Gano has missed just two kicks, one field goal from beyond 50 yards and one extra point, and that efficiency is invaluable. With eight field goals from 40 to 49 yards along with four more from beyond 50 yards, leg strength is also not an issue.
• After two down weeks in which he attempted just one field goal, although he was successful on all five of his extra points, Rodrigo Blankenship was back on track last week. He made all three of his field goals last week, along with five more extra points as the Indianapolis offense was nuts, and by nature of production he is one of the top kickers in the league. What is interesting is that for all of his success, he is truly a value dependent option. Yes he does have nine field goals from beyond 40 yards, he has yet to make a kick this season of more than 50 yards so I am going to be cautiously optimistic with him this week.
• It has been an up and down season for Tyler Bass, but he is still a borderline top-five option. What also works in Bass’ favor is that he is taking on the Broncos this week on the road, with the benefit of the altitude, who have allowed the most points to opposing kickers so far this season. Since Week 9, Bass has made at least two field goals per game with only one game with less than three extra points (two), and there is no reason why we can’t expect to see that continue this week.