NFL

3 FanDuel Kickers to Target in Week 13

Brandon Gdula  —  @gdula13 Dec 2nd, 2016
Wil Lutz is in a dome against a weak defense in a likely shootout. Who else could you consider at kicker?

In fantasy football, every point counts, and points are the only way you can win.

You need to maximize output from each and every player on your roster, and "punting" a position is never truly ideal. Sometimes in season-long leagues, you simply are stuck without any better options than who is on your roster already, but in daily fantasy football, where you are in control of every player you pick, there are no excuses.

So when you're making your lineups on FanDuel, don't leave kicker for last and choose whichever minimum-salary player fits in.

Move the position higher up on your priority list and learn to love the kicker. Start by targeting these three guys in Week 13.

Wil Lutz, New Orleans Saints

FanDuel Price: $4,800

This week, one implied team total stands out above the rest, and it belongs to the New Orleans Saints at 29.5 points. Against the Detroit Lions at home, they are six-point favorites, suggesting they will be in a position to settle for field goals. Plus, our algorithm sees them winning this one more than 71% of the time.

Wil Lutz isn't super cheap, but he's in a dome with the highest over/under of the weekend (53) by four full points against the second-worst defense in action, by our Net Expected Points (NEP) metric.

Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots

FanDuel Price: $4,900

The New England Patriots are much bigger favorites than the Saints are, 13 points over the Los Angeles Rams. Their implied total is 28.75, and they have an 82% chance to win this one, according to our algorithm. That checks the boxes.

His price isn't quite as nice as Lutz's, and there's a wind of nine miles per hour to consider, but no team should be able to settle for field goals as comfortably as the Patriots, and only a handful of teams look likely to score as much as they will, too.

Josh Lambo, San Diego Chargers

FanDuel Price: $4,600

With weather concerns and poor matchups, minimum salary kickers this week are tough to trust. Find an extra C-note and roster Josh Lambo. His San Diego Chargers are 54.9% favorites over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, per our algorithm, as 3.5-point favorites. That's not too promising. Also not super promising is his implied team total of "just" 25.5 points.

But weather concerns are minimal, and the temperature is projected to be a comfortable 72, and that matters. We project Lambo to be a top-five value at the position this week.