<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Kickers don\u2019t get very much love in the fantasy game, and you know why? It\u2019s only because they don\u2019t deserve it. I\u2019m sorry, kickers. You guys are integral to the real-life game, deal with a ton of pressure quite gracefully, and are worthy of the praise that comes all too infrequently. The harsh reality, unfortunately, is that kickers just don\u2019t really matter in fantasy football. They populate the very end of your draft. Even if you have a good one, you can rationally drop him during his bye week. The easiest way to find the worst pick in your draft is to first see if anyone selected a kicker before the last two rounds. That\u2019s the worst pick in your draft.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Having said all that, kickers remain a component of nearly every fantasy league. You may not think about them until 200 players have had their names called in your draft, but you\u2019re going to have to think about them eventually. When you do, we\u2019ll be there to help.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;Fantasy football top 300: Our comprehensive fantasy draft cheat sheet&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;Elite: Dan Bailey, Cowboys&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bailey has been a top-10 kicker in all four of his years in the NFL, but there\u2019s reason to believe this will be the best season of his career. He has one of the biggest legs in the league, drilling 11 field goals of 50 yards or more over the last two seasons, including a career-high 56-yard strike last year. Bailey has also connected on 18 of his 19 field goal attempts from between 40 and 49 yards in the last two years. Perhaps most importantly, Bailey is tied to a Dallas offense that should be among the best in the league this year and plays his home games indoors.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even though the Cowboys lost DeMarco Murray, they still have Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, and a cast of characters in the backfield to keep the offense clicking this year. In fact, Murray\u2019s exodus could be a boon for Bailey\u2019s fantasy value. With Murray now punching in touchdowns in Philadelphia, there\u2019s a chance the Cowboys will stall more often in the red zone, resulting in more field goal tries for Bailey. The fifth-year player out of Oklahoma State attempted just 29 field goals, the fewest of any kicker who finished in the top 10 in fantasy points. If Bailey can get up into the mid-30s in field goal attempts this year, he\u2019ll be the top scorer at the position.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;PRIMERS: Quarterback | Running back | Wide receivers&amp;nbsp;| Tight ends&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;Breakout: Dan Carpenter, Bills&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After five middling seasons in Miami, Carpenter has turned into a top-tier fantasy kicker with the Bills. He was the No. 10 kicker in 2013 and rose to No. 6 last season, knocking through 34 of his 38 field goal attempts. Like Bailey, Carpenter has one of the longest ranges in the league. He has made three kicks from 58 yards or deeper, including a career-long 60-yard blast in 2010. Once the Bills are inside their opponents\u2019 45-yard line, they\u2019re in Carpenter\u2019s range.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Over the last two years, the Bills\u2019 offense has been good enough to consistently provide Carpenter with plenty of field goal attempts, but not quite good enough to substitute too many of his field goals for extra points. Carpenter trotted out for 36 field goal attempts in 2013 and 38 last year, the second-most over the last two seasons. The Bills may have added LeSean McCoy, but the offense could still lack efficiency with one of Matt Cassel, Tyrod Taylor or E.J. Manuel at the helm. Carpenter should be in line for the first top-five season of his career.\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;Steal: Shaun Suisham, Steelers&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u200BSuisham is at the back end of one of the league\u2019s best offenses, tacking on the extra point after a Steelers touchdown or cleaning up with a field goal when they fail to hit pay dirt. Last season, Suisham scored the seventh-most points in the league despite 13 kickers having more field goal attempts, but somehow&amp;nbsp;Suisham is the 12th kicker off the board in typical drafts. Even if the Steelers\u2019 offense is too efficient in the red zone, Suisham is going to have a ton of scoring opportunities.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Extra points may not be ideal for kickers, but they\u2019re usually indicative of a high scorer at the position. Last season, the five kickers with the most extra points finished first, second, third, fourth and eighth in fantasy points. With Pittsburgh\u2019s offense looking like a juggernaut this season, Suisham will almost certainly get somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 or 50 cheap points, even with the change in extra point rules. Suisham is a near lock to be a top-10 kicker this season and could easily work his way into the top five.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;Reach: Stephen Gostkowski, Patriots&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gostkowski has led the league in scoring in each of the last three seasons and has been a top-three kicker in six of his nine career seasons. He\u2019s justifiably seen as the top kicker heading into this season and holds that spot in our rankings. So why is he a reach? Kicker is a fungible position with a lot of turnover year to year. If you draft a kicker\u2014remember, you don\u2019t actually have to draft one\u2014it should be with one of your last two picks. Given that Gostkowski will be the first kicker off the board in most drafts, he\u2019s a reach. Unless you\u2019re backed into a corner, the first kicker selected is usually one of the worst picks in any draft.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This, of course, is not Gostkowski\u2019s fault. Kicker simply is not an important position in fantasy leagues. You\u2019re better off drafting your seventh running back or receiver before taking your kicker. Someone in your league is going to use a pick in the 12th or 13th round to take Gostkowski. You do not want to be that person.\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;Injury Risk: Robbie Gould, Bears&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It\u2019s hard for a kicker to be a legitimate injury risk, especially when you consider that you aren\u2019t devoting significant resources to the position. Sure, a kicker or two is going to get injured this year, but if you\u2019re using a 17th-round pick on him, it doesn\u2019t much matter. Gould has been one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history, but he has missed three or more games in two of the last three seasons. Gould missed the final three games of the 2012 season with a calf injury and sat out four games last season due to a balky quad.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There\u2019s no reason to get yourself invested in a kicker who has had two different leg injuries in the last three seasons. That proposition becomes even less attractive when you consider that Gould is entering his age-33 season. The Bears kicker is appropriately priced, checking in as the No. 19 kicker in the consensus ranking on FantasyPros. Unless you\u2019re in a very deep league, you can do better.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong &gt;MORE FANTASY:&amp;nbsp;Thomas's value hurt on Jaguars&amp;nbsp;| Johnson a solid WR2&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;h3&gt;Rookie: None&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There aren\u2019t any rookies who are expected to be starting kickers this season. Kyle Brindza, who is in camp with the Lions, could supplant Matt Prater as the starter in Detroit, but it is unlikely.\r\n\r\n\r\nKICKERS\r\n\r\n&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t&amp;nbsp;\r\n\t\t\tplayer\r\n\t\t\tteam\r\n\t\t\tvalue\r\n\t\t\tbye\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t1\r\n\t\t\tStephen Gostkowski\r\n\t\t\tNE\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t4\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t2\r\n\t\t\tDan Bailey\r\n\t\t\tDAL\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t6\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t3\r\n\t\t\tMason Crosby\r\n\t\t\tGB\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t7\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t4\r\n\t\t\tSteven Hauschka\r\n\t\t\tSEA\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t9\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t5\r\n\t\t\tJustin Tucker\r\n\t\t\tBAL\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t9\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t6\r\n\t\t\tConnor Barth\r\n\t\t\tDEN\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t7\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t7\r\n\t\t\tShaun Suisham\r\n\t\t\tPIT\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t11\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t8\r\n\t\t\tAdam Vinatieri&amp;nbsp;\r\n\t\t\tIND\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t10\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t9\r\n\t\t\tCody Parkey\r\n\t\t\tPHI\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t8\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t10\r\n\t\t\tCaleb Sturgis\r\n\t\t\tMIA\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t5\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t11\r\n\t\t\tMatt Prater\r\n\t\t\tDET\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t9\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t12\r\n\t\t\tMatt Bryant\r\n\t\t\tATL\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t10\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t13\r\n\t\t\tDan Carpenter\r\n\t\t\tBUF\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t8\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t14\r\n\t\t\tBlair Walsh\r\n\t\t\tMIN\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t5\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t15\r\n\t\t\tNick Novak\r\n\t\t\tSD\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t10\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t16\r\n\t\t\tRobbie Gould\r\n\t\t\tCHI\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t7\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t17\r\n\t\t\tGraham Gano\r\n\t\t\tCAR\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t5\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t18\r\n\t\t\tPhil Dawson\r\n\t\t\tSF\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t10\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t19\r\n\t\t\tJosh Brown\r\n\t\t\tNYG\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t11\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t20\r\n\t\t\tChandler Catanzaro\r\n\t\t\tARI\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t9\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t21\r\n\t\t\tRandy Bullock\r\n\t\t\tHOU\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t9\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t22\r\n\t\t\tMike Nugent\r\n\t\t\tCIN\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t7\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t23\r\n\t\t\tGreg Zuerlein\r\n\t\t\tSTL\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t6\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t24\r\n\t\t\tSebastian Janikowski\r\n\t\t\tOAK\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t6\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t25\r\n\t\t\tNick Folk\r\n\t\t\tNYJ\r\n\t\t\t$1\r\n\t\t\t5\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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