There’s just something decidedly unexciting about our 2015 Fantasy Football kicker rankings. It’s tough to put some perfume on a pig sometimes, even in this awesome exercise of rankings Fantasy Football players.

But we’re going to do our best, as we take a deeper dive into the top 30 Kicker Rankings.

Now, we’re not telling you that the kickers are ultra-important – and the fate of your Fantasy team falls on the backs of your Fantasy kicker.


But we’re also not going to tell you that it just doesn’t matter who you pick.

Let’s look at it this way – the difference between the top kickers and the average kickers in Fantasy Football last season was a difference of about 25 total Fantasy points in standard scoring.

To take it to a more granular perspective, the difference between owning the third-best kicker last season, Adam Vinatieri, and the 17th-best kicker, Josh Brown, was a total of 26 Fantasy points. That works out, in a 16-game NFL season, to be a per-game difference of about 1.625 points.

There are very few Fantasy games each week in your league that come down to just a couple points, but they definitely happen each season.

By comparison, those 26 Fantasy points was about the difference between drafting Eagles rookie Jordan Matthews (135.2 Fantasy points) or drafting Greg Jennings (110.20) as your Fantasy WR2. Wouldn’t your team have been much better off with the rookie out of Vanderbilt than the aging veteran in Minnesota?

The point is – don’t worry about drafting the best Fantasy kicker necessarily, but just make sure you don’t disregard the position altogether.

Also, don’t be afraid to go against the grain and pick your kicker in the second-to-last round of your draft – especially if you are drafting near the end of that second-to-last round, and you can snipe the owners around you.

Check out our other sets of 2015 Fantasy Football rankings:

• 2015 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
• Top 30 Quarterbacks
• Top 60 Running Backs
• Top 60 Wide Receivers
• Top 30 Tight Ends
• Top 20 Kickers
• Run a Free One-Man 2015 Mock Draft

Top 30 Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings For 2015

1. Stephen Gostkowski, New England: You have to like a kicker on one of the best offenses in the league, especially after Week 4, when Tom Brady returns with a huge chip on his shoulder.

2. Steven Hauschka, Seattle: Heck, he’s not even the best “Steve” among NFL kickers! Much like Mason Crosby did for so many years, Hauschka excels despite playing in a cold weather open-air stadium in the north. Only two kickers had more field-goal attempts last season than Hauschka’s 37, and no one kicked a longer field goal than his 58-yarder in Week 8. While Jimmy Graham might make some of the Seahawks’ failed drives turn into touchdowns, Hauschka remains a great Fantasy kicker in this offense.

3. Adam Vinatieri, Indianapolis: Vinatieri will see many of his field goals from last season turn into extra points this season, but our hope is he adds enough extra points to make up that difference.

4. Justin Tucker, Baltimore

5. Dan Bailey, Dallas: One thing to note when drafting kickers is to target those kicking on turf of some sort. Ten of the top 16 kickers in successful field goals last season kicked on turf, including Bailey, which seems to mean more than the climate.

6. Mason Crosby, Green Bay: This offense has the best quarterback in the league, one of the best running backs and two of the best wide receivers, with a third wide receiver getting noticed as a sleeper pick this offseason. Crosby should have plenty of chances once again.

7. Cody Parkey, Philadelphia: If Chip Kellly’s offense stalls under these new quarterbacks, Parkey could see a ton of opportunities inside the 35-yard line.

8. Blair Walsh, Minnesota: With the Vikings offense starting to come together, including Teddy Bridgewater’s development, Walsh should see enough opportunities to get him Fantasy starter status again. His booming leg (just one kicker had more 50-yard FG attempts last year) makes him more valuable in distance-bonus leagues, too. At just 24 years old, Walsh could be a top-10 kicker for the next decade-plus.

9. Matt Bryant, Atlanta: For leagues with bonuses for long-distance field goals, Bryant led the league in 2014 in field goals over 50 yards (seven) and attempts at that distance (10). Bryant kicks on turf (check) inside a dome (check), and he made 27 or more field goals in four of the past five seasons. All of those factors make him a top-10 kicker in Fantasy play once again.

10. Connor Barth, Denver: The Broncos are going to slow it down and try to run it more, which means we could see more stalled drives inside the 20.

11. Josh Brown, N.Y. Giants

12. Matt Prater, Detroit

13. Phil Dawson, San Francisco

14. Nick Novak, San Diego

15. Caleb Sturgis, Miami

16. Graham Gano, Carolina

17. Chandler Catanzaro, Arizona

18. Garrett Hartley, Pittsburgh

19. Dustin Hopkins, New Orleans

20. Greg Zuerlein, St. Louis

21. Dan Carpenter, Buffalo

22. Nick Folk, N.Y. Jets

23. Mike Nugent, Cincinnati

24. Randy Bullock, Houston

25. Cairo Santos, Kansas City

26. Kai Forbath, Washington

27. Patrick Murray, Tampa Bay

28. Josh Scobee, Jacksonville

29. Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland

30. Ryan Succop, Tennessee

These 2015 Fantasy Football Kicker rankings likely won’t be the key to you winning your league this season, but they very well could be the key to winning one or two games, which is the difference between making the playoffs or missing them.

Don’t forget to check out our 2015 Quarterback rankings, Fantasy Running Back rankings, Fantasy Wide Receiver rankings and Fantasy Tight End rankings!