Why Is There No Love for Matt Stover? (1 Viewer)

[theinnominator]

My league scores like most, with kickers getting the points they get. The thing I want to know. Why does footballguys.com rate Matt Stover so low? (13th, in rest-of-season value.) True, he misses, but the Ravens' offense is so low-wattage that Stover has more than enough opportunities. Indeed, he leads the league in makes and attempts. ...On my team, I dropped Stover in favor of the Patriots' Stephen Gostowski, following the advice of the footballguys themselves, and it cost me 14 points over four weeks. Blecch.

Any other thoughts. I realize kickers are not a sexy topic, but Stover seems way undervalued hereabouts.

 

[jagerbomb]

I know they had him ranked in the top 5 going into the season. I think the logic was that the great defense and a decent offense would give them plenty of chances for field goals, combined with his great accuracy. As is turns out, the defense is only good, not great, the offense is bad, and he hasn't been accurate.

 

[Arnold. S]

he was horrible this past weekend

 

[[scooter]]

Oh Matt Stover, you won me a fantasy trophy in 2000.

 

[BeachBums]

Do you seriously have nothing better to think about than kicker rankings?

 

[theinnominator]

Do you seriously have nothing better to think about than kicker rankings?

Do you seriously think that's a reasonable thing to ask in this space? Fourteen fantasy points bit me in the rump pretty hard. And, anyway, you can't dismiss the kicker's roster spot. A good kicker (and there aren't many) will usually outscore your tight end and defense combined. Chances are, in a 10-team league, Stover has more points (37) than any of your backup players. I guess, though, that the Ravens struggles and his alarming misses will take their toll over the season.

 

[Wadsworth]

Maybe it makes me a guppy but kicker is the one spot I almost never even think about. Once every couple of weeks I check free agency in my leagues and FBGs rankings and if there's a guy in free agency FBGs ranks higher than the guy I have I drop/add. Other than that I don't spend another minute thinking about it.

 

[BeachBums]

Do you seriously have nothing better to think about than kicker rankings?

Do you seriously think that's a reasonable thing to ask in this space? Fourteen fantasy points bit me in the rump pretty hard. And, anyway, you can't dismiss the kicker's roster spot. A good kicker (and there aren't many) will usually outscore your tight end and defense combined. Chances are, in a 10-team league, Stover has more points (37) than any of your backup players. I guess, though, that the Ravens struggles and his alarming misses will take their toll over the season.

My apologies for the flip reply.The reason you draft a kicker last is that a kicker is a kicker is a kicker. Yeah some of them suck or play for bad teams but in a ten-team league there's virtually no difference between the number one kicker and the number ten kicker. In my league the top kicker last year (Gould) had 45 points more than the number 24 kicker (Bironas) which averaged out over the course of the season is a bit less than three points a game.Yes that three points could cost you a game here or there, but it evens out over the course of the season. The difference between a good team and a bad one isn't the kicker. It's the value you got in the draft, how well you play the waiver wire and how lucky you are. IMO, you pick a decent kicker and play the matchup if you roster more than one.

 

[theinnominator]

My apologies for the flip reply.

The reason you draft a kicker last is that a kicker is a kicker is a kicker. Yeah some of them suck or play for bad teams but in a ten-team league there's virtually no difference between the number one kicker and the number ten kicker. In my league the top kicker last year (Gould) had 45 points more than the number 24 kicker (Bironas) which averaged out over the course of the season is a bit less than three points a game.

Yes that three points could cost you a game here or there, but it evens out over the course of the season. The difference between a good team and a bad one isn't the kicker. It's the value you got in the draft, how well you play the waiver wire and how lucky you are. IMO, you pick a decent kicker and play the matchup if you roster more than one.

Absolutely no offense was taken. And, more to the point, you are right, though I was not advancing a contrary argument. Kickers are largely inconsequential, but they aren't the most inconsequential part of your team. On average, I'll grant you that it's 3 points a game; but in reality, it can be 5 or 10 in any one game. So, statistically, it should even out over the course of a season, but that doesn't mean that it will. Even if it does, it doesn't help you in a head-to-head league. And, anyway, if this isn't the place to bring up how to massage another 30 or 40 points out of a fantasy team, then what is? It was just confusing to me that Stover was downgraded by so much when he was outperforming all but two other kickers, and has been a top 5 fantasy kicker for three of the past six years. I probably should have directed my question to the guys making the ratings, but there have been some good points made here.

PS. Value in the draft is a mirage. A good fantasy team, in my view, is mostly waiver wire, matchups and, maybe, a little luck. Injuries, obstinate coaches and unproductive seasons turn everyone's preseason cheatsheet upside down. To wit: Through the first four weeks of the season, only one of the top 5 rushers from last season is in the top 10, and guys like Ladainian Tomlinson and Larry Johnson are flirting with not even gaining 1,000 yards. It's early, but it's also safe to say L.T. is not going to produce like a No. 1 draft pick. ...Just my two cents.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Because he missed two easy field goals on Sunday, that's why. I'm thinking of dropping him.

 

[Christo]

Because he missed two easy field goals on Sunday, that's why. I'm thinking of dropping him.

He has a game like that every year. But he's consistently one of the best kickers out there.