In our ongoing series of fantasy topics to debate, we have covered many of the "important" positions, but we have yet to discuss the forgotten, throwaway spot reserved for the kicker. Every year in drafts around the country, teams wait until the very end to draft their kicker. Any kicker will do, right? As long as he has a pulse and a job, most kickers are interchangeable.
Now, I am not even a little bit interested in debating who the best kickers are in fantasy...it is not that slow of a news day. But I am interested in talking about why we can't pump up the action a little by allowing kickers to play more of a role in our leagues.
I hate the idea of having "pointless" or "throwaway" spots on my fantasy team. Each and every player on my roster is important, and I enjoy strategerizing my way through the draft. The thought that it "doesn't matter" who I have at kicker depresses me. I want it to matter.
One of the ways to do this is to kick up the ways a kicker can impact a fantasy score on a weekly basis. If your league is a totally vanilla type of league, with boring default scoring, this probably won't work for you. However, if your league employs bonuses for every position, why not include a bunch of bonus options for the kicker? Make the kicker decision matter. Now, I still don't think this would impact the draft that much, since most teams would still take just one kicker. But they might grab the top kickers sooner.
The real change would be the in-season roster management. You would see kickers flying on and off teams based on matchups, weather, etc. The difference between winning or losing a week could actually come down to whether or not you have a kicker playing inside a dome or a kicker facing wind and rain. It could make the kicker become valuable in trade scenarios, which could help marginal deals get completed. Most of all, it would be yet another way for the dedicated fantasy owners out there to out-coach their counterparts.
I dream of the day when fantasy owners not only consider using a kicker as a FLEX player in any given week, but win consistently with that strategy. Until that day, the waiver wire will continue to be stocked with kickers that nobody wants or needs.
Consider this an open thread to discuss Fantasy Football.
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