NFL Kickers to Start in Week 7: Fantasy Football Tiers & Rankings

Yes, that’s right – kickers. After all, points are points, and even though kickers are very difficult to predict for fantasy points week to week, having the right one in your Week 7 lineup could be a difference maker.

For those of you fantasy football owners out there who are streaming kickers, RotoBaller has got you covered with around-the-league analysis of the Week 7 NFL matchups.  This week shouldn’t be an issue with bye weeks, unlike Week 4, meaning there should plenty of waiver wire streamers and sleepers if needed.

We’re here to give you our analysis to help make your kicker streaming decisions and make your Week 6 lineup decisions a bit easier. Some of these kickers may have good Week 7 matchups, and be available on your league’s waiver wire. Be sure to stay on top of the weekly NFL matchups and kicker opponents right here. Good luck RotoBallers!

Teams that have bye weeks in Week 7: Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Week 7 Kickers: Tiers & Rankings

Tier 1 NFL Kickers: Arizona Cardinals (Chandler Catanzaro), San Diego Chargers (Nick Novak), Cleveland Browns (Billy Cundiff)

The Cardinals have themselves a bonafide ace kicker with the young Catanzaro doing work these days. Tied for the seventh most fantasy points for kickers, he should be a must-start every weak. Similarly, Nick "The Kick" Novak is also doing work with the 6th most points out of all place kickers. As long as the Chargers are this good, he gets started blindly every week. Last but not least, Billy Cundiff rounds off our top tier for Week 7 kicker matchups because the Browns are facing the lowly Jaguars who are worst in the NFL allowing 12.0 points per game to opposing legs. If any of these kickers are on your Week 7 waiver wire, grab them now.

Tier 2 NFL Kickers: Dallas Cowboys (Dan Bailey), Miami Dolphins (Calib Sturgis), Baltimore Ravens (Justin Tucker), New England Patriots (Stephen Gostkowski), Houston Texans (Randy Bullock)

Dan Bailey is my kicker man crush, and he's second in the league with a total of 66 fantasy points thus far in 2014, so you know he's a must start every week regardless of opponent. Calib Sturgis gets the Bears defense that allows the third most fantasy points to kickers at 10.8 points per game. Justin Tucker is 4th in the NFL in kicker points, with 58 on the year, and the Ravens offense is rolling making him a top 5 option every week.

The #1 place kicker in fantasy scoring is Mr. New England, Stephen Gostowski. With a whopping 66.0 points on the season, he also draws the Jets weak defense allowing an average of 8.0 points per game to opposing kickers, so you know the floor for his scoring is very low while his upside is as high as ever. Rounding off tier 2 is Texas native Randy Bullock. Although he looks more like a fullback, this former college kicking star draws the Steelers defense that is 5th worst in the league defending against kicker scoring (10.6 points per game average points surrendered). So stream him in for cheap off the Week 7 waiver wire if you need a slight advantage.

Tier 3 NFL Kickers: Indianapolis Colts (Adam Vinatieri), Seattle Seahawks (Steven Hauschka), New York Jets (Nick Folk), San Francisco 49ers (Phil Dawson), Cincinnati Bengals (Mike Nugent), Buffalo Bills (Dan Carpenter)

As the 5th highest scoring kicker through Week 6, Adam Vinatieri is always a good start because of his team's offensive reliability. Just don't expect any 50+ yard bonus points because this clutch veteran tops out at about 49 long. People want Steven Hauschka to be a higher scoring kicker than he really is; that notion leaves me baffled at times since he plays for a depressed offense and doesn't reach the 50 yard mark very often. In Week 7 he faces the Rams defense that has allowed 9.75 fantasy points per game, so consider him a fairly decent matchup start if you need to stream.

The Jets' Nick Folk is a bottom of the barrel option most weeks due to the horror show offense he plays behind. He's usually off the radar, but he'll get his shots this week in New England versus the Patriots defense that has allowed an average of 8.6 points to kickers thus far. Phil Dawson should be owned all around; after a slow start, he's in kicker "beast mode" and has enough leg and poise to be a #1 option any given week. Mike Nugent and his big inaccurate leg is a must avoid most weeks; this one is no different against the Colts. Dan Carpenter is always a flying under the kicker radar, and is a top 10 option almost every week.

Tier 4 NFL Kickers: Washington Redskins (Kai Forbath), Minnesota Vikings (Blair Walsh), Atlanta Falcons (Matt Bryant), Chicago Bears (Robbie Gould), St. Louis Rams (Greg Zuerlein), Pittsburgh Steelers (Shaun Suisham), Tennessee Titans (Ryan Succop)

Kai Forbath and the Washington Redskins offense are both horrible options to bank on in fantasy football; enough said. Blair Walsh should be good because he kicks half his games indoors, but the Vikings are the equivalent to a mediocre CFL team and Walsh's opportunities are severely limited with no extra points to help pad his kicking stats. Matt Bryant is a RotoBaller favorite and has delivered thus far with 52 total fantasy points in 2014. We like him better at home, so he can be sat this week against a pretty tough Ravens defense if better options are available.

Veteran Robbie Gould isn't much to bank on for fantasy glory, but he does face the Dolphins in Week 7 who have surrendered an average of 8.25 per game. In St. Louis, Greg "The Leg" Zuerlein gets a home showdown agains the Seahawks tough defense that only surrenders 7.0 points per game to kickers. Keep this leg on ice for Week 7 and look for a better matchup. Shaun Suisham is nothing enamoring by any means and gets the super stout Texans defense that has suffocated kickers to the tune of a 5.6 points per game. Ryan Succop is one of the worst in the league in total scoring, so avoid him like the plague in Week 7.

Tier 5 NFL Kickers: Detroit Lions (Matt Prater), Carolina Panthers (Graham Gano), Jacksonville Jaguars (Josh Scobee), Denver Broncos (Brandon McManus), New York Giants (Josh Brown), New Orleans Saints (Shayne Graham), Green Bay Packers (Mason Crosby), Kansas City Chiefs (Cairo Santos), Oakland Raiders (Sebastian Janikowski)

Matt Prater forgot how to make field goals, so until further notice, please don't fall for the hype. If he was that good, he'd still be kicking in the state that allows the sale and usage of recreational marijuana. Graham Gano has actually been a top 10 kicker thus far in 2014, but he faces the very stingy Packers defense that only allows 6.4 points per game to opposing kickers. Brandon McManus is facing the 49ers in Week 7 and they are even tougher and allow less points to kickers then the aforementioned Packers.

Josh Brown has not inspired confidence with his lackluster performance thus far and has the second toughest defense versus kickers in Dallas for Week 7. Shayne Graham is one of the bottom tier kickers because he doesn't score very often and because he faces the Lions stout defense this week. Since they only allow 6.4 points on average, we think you'd better gamble on a way better option if you want upside at the kicker position. Mason Crosby has the leg, but his team is too good at scoring touchdowns and they always seem to find a way out of kicking field goals. To make matters worse, he's facing the Panthers thuggish defense that only allows 6.6 points per game to kickers.

Cairo Santos was an appealing play versus a cakewalk opponent, but with the game being played in San Diego against the league's stingiest defense against opposing kickers (3.4 points per game average) stay away. Last but not least, old Sebi has only mustered a pathetic 19 total fantasy points thus far in 2014. Is it the arterial blockage? Rapid deterioration of brain cells due to his abundant recreational drug use? Or is just the god awful Raiders offense (yes, it's still awful even with Carr looking like Steve DeBerg in his prime). Either way, there is a reason he brings up the rear every week, so pretend you have a mild case of senility and forget all about him permanently.