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Doug Orth | Archive | Email |
Staff Writer


Big Boards: Kickers & D/STs
Preseason Matchup Analysis
8/26/18
PPR | Half-Point PPR | Non-PPR | Ks & D/STs

Let’s pay our respects to the kickers and defense/special teams units that help us decide our fantasy fates each and every season.

 Kickers
Rk Player Tm Age
1 Wil Lutz NO 24
2 Greg Zuerlein LAR 30
3 Stephen Gostkowski NE 34
4 Justin Tucker BAL 28
5 Matt Bryant ATL 43
6 Jake Elliott PHI 23
7 Harrison Butker KC 23
8 Chris Boswell PIT 27
9 Josh Lambo JAC 27
10 Robbie Gould SF 35
11 Matt Prater DET 34
12 Brandon McManus DEN 27

And now the defenses…

Let’s revisit the color-coding system before we start:

Red – For a second-tier D/ST, this is generally a bad option to start that week (high-powered offense, low-turnover offense or both). For elite D/STs, expect them to struggle to create sacks/turnovers.

Yellow – For a second-tier D/ST, this is a questionable start at best. For the elite D/STs, expect average production.

White – This one can go either way, but I favor the D/ST over the matchup. For the elite D/STs, expect above-average production.

Green – For non-elite D/STs, the stage is set for a productive day. For the elite D/ST, this matchup is about as good as it gets.

“SD” refers to schedule difficulty. In short, here is how I scored each matchup:

Green - 1 point
White - 0.5
Yellow – minus-0.5
Red – minus-1

As you can tell, the defenses were not ranked based entirely on schedule difficulty. It was a strong consideration, however.

 Defense/Special Teams
Rk Team SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
1 Jaguars 8.5
2 Rams 5.75
3 Eagles 5.25
4 Vikings 5.25
5 Chargers 5.75
6 Texans 5.0
7 Ravens 4.75
8 Broncos 4.75
9 Patriots 4.75
10 Steelers 4.25
11 Saints 3.5
12 Titans 4.5
13 Bears 2.75
14 Bengals 4.5
15 Falcons 3.25
16 Giants 2.5

Some potentially good "fits" among the top 12 D/STs that stand out to me. (Due to the likelihood owners will not pursue two top-five D/STs (for example, the Jaguars and Rams match up well, but most owners don't like carrying two D/STs much less draft them in the mid-to-late rounds), I did not pair them up below.

Each of the teams below provide at least three matches to the main team's yellow- and red-colored bye weeks:

  • Jaguars - Bengals, Jets
  • Rams - Ravens, Steelers
  • Eagles - Saints, Titans, Bengals, Falcons
  • Vikings - Broncos, Patriots, Steelers, Bengals
  • Chargers - Broncos, Steelers, Saints, Titans, Bears, Bengals, Falcons
  • Texans - Ravens, Broncos, Saints, Titans, Bengals, Falcons, Giants
  • Ravens - Saints, Bears, Bengals, Falcons
  • Broncos - Patriots, Steelers, Saints, Falcons
  • Patriots - Saints, Titans, Bengals, Falcons
  • Steelers - Saints, Titans, Bengals, Falcons
  • Saints - Titans, Bengals
  • Titans - Bengals


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Doug Orth has written for FF Today since 2006 and been featured in USA Today’s Fantasy Football Preview magazine since 2010. He hosted USA Today’s hour-long, pre-kickoff fantasy football internet chat every Sunday in 2012-13 and appears as a guest analyst on a number of national sports radio shows, including Sirius XM’s “Fantasy Drive”. Doug is also a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.