When putting together a GPP lineup, many players treat the kicker as an afterthought, yet as a player who takes up a treasured fantasy roster spot, this position can and often does make the difference between winning a large payout and a min-cash (or worse). Some DFS players simply feel that the kicker position is too random to spend much time handicapping and will either just look at the cheapest one they ‘recognize’ as good or will just plug in the highest priced kicker who fits into their lineup once the other positions are locked in.

There is also the mantra kicked around that since the upside for the position maxes out at a lower total than the skill position spots, that it is a less important decision to make. Well, you can’t complete a jigsaw puzzle without the smallest piece and you can’t take down a GPP without getting some help from the guy that stands next to the coach for 59 minutes a game.

Now that we have a nine week sample from the 2015 season, let’s look at the scoring from the kicker that each FanDuel Sunday Million winner has gotten:

Points from kicker, Weeks 1 though 9:
11, 9, 17, 13, 8, 13, 20, 14, 17

Average per week:
13.55 points

Salaries paid for kicker:
5,100, 4,500, 5,000, 4,700, 4,800, 4,500, 4,700, 4,600, 4,800

Average per week:
4,744 paid for kicker

FanDuel’s pricing at kicker ranges from 4,500 through about 5,100 normally, so you can see from the above numbers that only twice in nine weeks has a strategy of going min-price on the kicker been a winning move. When we look a little deeper at the matchups, we can see how each of those two weeks of 4,500 kicker usage was a savvy play:

Week 1: (5,100) – Seattle kicker @ St. Louis
Week 2: (4,500) – Giants kicker at home vs Atlanta
Week 3: (5,000) – New England kicker at home vs Jacksonville
Week 4: (4,700) – Carolina kicker @ Tampa Bay
Week 5: (4,800) – Atlanta kicker at home vs Washington
Week 6: (4,500) – Detroit kicker at home vs Chicago
Week 7: (4,700) – Minnesota kicker @ Detroit
Week 8: (4,600) – Dallas kicker at home vs Seattle
Week 9: (4,800) – Giants kicker @ Tampa Bay

From the above data, we see a few interesting patterns starting to emerge. Of the nine weeks played to date, six times the kicker on the winning Sunday Million team came from either a domed stadium game or from a game at Tampa Bay. In fact, what might be more significant is that three of the past five weeks have seen the kicker come from a domed outing. As we head into winter and the elements start playing a larger and larger factor, domed games and games played in a warm area, when accompanied by a high over/under total for the game, present a solid breeding ground for winning kickers.

The field isn’t a negative element in terms of footing, which leads to coaches more often going for a FG in spots where it would be impossible in bad weather. With the ball on the 36 yard line on 4th and 2, you aren’t getting a FGA out of your kicker if it’s windy and sleeting.

Getting back to the two weeks where a min-priced kicker was on the winning Million team, we find that conditions were optimal for usage:

Week 2 – Atlanta at Giants, presented a high over/under and a warm day in New York between two teams that can both move the ball against anyone.

Week 6 – Chicago at Detroit – here we had a min-priced kicker for Detroit in the dome. In fact, Ford Field worked out so well for the Week 6 winner that the Week 7 winner used the same move to help grab his win.

In summary, although it is true that kickers have a lower ceiling than your skill position players, the floor of a zero point shutout makes the potential gap between kickers greater than you’re likely to face at QB. Fortunately, there are solid handicapping factors that can be incorporated into your search for the optimal play at the position. Keep an eye on the best values in dome and warm weather games with high over/unders and you might be rewarded with a trip to the bank on Tuesday.