Value of a Kicker

[Omniheart]

How important is a kicker on a football team? They are definitely one of the top leading scorer but it seems they get no respect. They are very similar to wide receivers in aspect that they have to be fed to perform. Seems really like they are looked down upon.If a kicker can nail a 50 yard kick every time, thats only 4 first downs and easy 3 points.Will they ever be respected as great players? Is it possible for a kicker to one day kick 60 yard field goal with consistency? If it is possible, would that make the kicker the most important player on the field?

[Bedreviter]

Jan Stenerud is in the NFL Hall of Fame, only having played the position of kicker. So I guess not all are looked down upon. Mike Vanderjagt and Adam Vinatieri also have gotten their fair share of praise.

[SuperUberBob]

Kickers don't get much respect because they don't get the media exposure that their teammates do. So, nobody really knows who they are with the exception of Adam Vinatieri.

As for the value of one, it depends. At a field like Mile High Stadium or some domed stadium, you can get away with having a weaker kicker. But at a place like Giants Stadium, the swirling winds kill a lot of long kicks, which is why we go through like one kicker every one or two seasons.

[Billy Bibbit]

Kickers are talked about way too much. They're often put in a position where they decide games, and since most fans have short attention spans and can only remember what happened in the last two minutes of a game, kickers get overrated.

Vinatieri is a case in point. He missed two very short field goals in the Super Bowl against the Panthers, but people remember him as a hero for making the game winner, even though he had a terrible game. Other things being equal I'd rather have Vinatieri than a replacement level kicker, but he's not the best kicker in the NFL. The money we're paying him would be better spent elsewhere. Getting him is one of the very few Colts' moves that I disagree with in recent years.

[Jack of Arcades]

Kickers are replaceable. Find a guy who can kick the [censored] out of the ball and give them a long, cheap contract. Let him go crazy.

[MCS]

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Vinatieri is a case in point. He missed two very short field goals in the Super Bowl against the Panthers, but people remember him as a hero for making the game winner, even though he had a terrible game.

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YAY YAY YAY SOMEONE ELSE FINALLY SAYS IT!!!! This "best/most clutch kicker ever" nonsense has got to go.

[TalkingDonkey]

In college, a good kicker is invaluable, and many times we have seen the presence of a solid kicker (or lack thereof) completely change a game strategy.

[Salva135]

One thing I dislike about kickers on fantasy teams is that it awards kickers on teams that are bad. The worse a team is offensively, the more likely that team will be fall short of reaching the end zone, and thus more likely to kick the field goal.

I don't really mind if kickers only got a reasonable maximum of 5-6 points a game like a defensive player would, but when kickers rattle off 5 FGs in a game and end up with like 20 points that decides a head-to-head matchup, it's just silly.

[dlk9s]

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One thing I dislike about kickers on fantasy teams is that it awards kickers on teams that are bad.

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This is incorrect, first of all, but even if it was correct, I don't see the problem. You draft a player who you think will score a lot of points for you. You don't get style points if the record of the player's NFL team is good.

[sixfour]

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One thing I dislike about kickers on fantasy teams is that it awards kickers on teams that are bad.

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Is this in the same way that it'll reward QB's and WR's on teams that suck and will pass more chasing games (see Detroit last year, albeit exaggerated by the fact that they've not been able to run at all post-Sanders)?