NFFC Message Boards

BigBlueNation wrote:I've pushed the team kicker concept for a few years. Good Luck

Kickers are a big part of the NFL game so they should stay. I am warming up to team kicker concept, but not in combination with DST.

I agree, yes for the Team Kicker, but they don't need to be in combo with the Team Defense. They are technically special teams, but it's a different version of special teams than the normal DST considerations (Kick Returns vs. actual Kicks).

I like team kicker, especially for DE's. Craziest year I have ever seen for kicker injuries cuts etc, not even the smartest drafter alive could have predicted half of it, lots of randomness.

Team kicker has been a hell of an idea for quite some time. No idea why nobody has taken the bull by the horns. It is probably ignored because it would require some work to program it into the scoring. Easier to be lazy and just get the stat feeds for the individual kickers, even if the players don't want individual kickers. Never going to be an issue that is a big enough deal for people not to play, so therefore doesn't seem to be a big enough deal for operators to make the effort to change it.

I'm in for team kicker.

Here's another one that I know we are all tired of.......stop penalizing Team Defenses on points allowed when the offense throws a pick 6 or opposing defense scores any TD. Defense should be rewarded/penalized based on it's own efforts.
I never draft a D....Detroit for example... thinking "maybe I should pass on them because it's a coin flip every week that Stafford throws a pick 6"

Coyote Streakers wrote:I like team kicker, especially for DE's. Craziest year I have ever seen for kicker injuries cuts etc, not even the smartest drafter alive could have predicted half of it, lots of randomness.

I'm not going to weigh into the Team Kicker debate here, but I did look up the kickers' stats and I think it felt much worse than it was in 2015. Maybe I'm wrong, but of the Top 20 Kickers drafted in the NFFC 15 of them finished in the Top 25 in scoring. I'm not sure there's another position with the same type of numbers. Those who finished outside the Top 25 were:

Cody Parkey, ADP of 6 among kickers and injured
Matt Bryant, ADP of 8 (28th now in scoring)
Shaun Suisham, ADP of 9 (injured in pre-season)
Greg Zuerlein, ADP of 15 (26th in scoring)
Nick Folk, ADP of 17 (29th in scoring)

Josh Scobee (22), Patrick Murray (25) and Garrett Hartley (29) were other kickers in the Top 30 at that position who disappointed.

On the other hand, surprises were Graham Gano (ADP of 19 at the position, now 2nd in scoring among kickers), Josh Brown (16, 3), Cairo Santos (21, 4) and Brandon McManus (26, 7). Obviously those owners would have benefited just the same by drafting a Team Kicker, but I'm pointing out that there were as many pleasant surprises here as disappointments.

The difference between top kickers and those around #20 are about 4 points per game. Not a huge swing, but enough to look at this. Again, I'm not weighing in on this and continue with the discussion, but outside of Pittsburgh having all kinds of trouble and Parkey going down early maybe this position wasn't as turbulent in 2015 as it seems. Or maybe I'm wrong, which could be right.

Route C wrote:I'm in for team kicker.

Here's another one that I know we are all tired of.......stop penalizing Team Defenses on points allowed when the offense throws a pick 6 or opposing defense scores any TD. Defense should be rewarded/penalized based on it's own efforts.
I never draft a D....Detroit for example... thinking "maybe I should pass on them because it's a coin flip every week that Stafford throws a pick 6"

I agree. It's always bugged me that a defense gets dinged for something outside its control.

Well here is how I see it as a player from the very first draft ran this year (which is where I think you have to look at it from unless you're saying you don't care about your early drafters as there is a grand prize involved in the DC's):

Teams who’s kickers have been the same from the first DC to now (I think):
Ne, Car, Nyg, Kc, Ari, Bal, Min, Sea, Cin, Dal, Gb, Ind, Buf, Oak, Det, SF, Ten for a total of 17.

Teams who haven’t (I’m sure I haven’t remembered all of these exactly right):
Den: Barth to Mcmanus
Was: Forbath to Hopkins
No: Hopkins to Hocker to Forbath
Jax: Scobee to Myers
Pit: Suisham to Scobee to Hartley to Boswell
SD: Novak to Lambo
TB: Murray to Brindza to Barth
Phi: Parkey to ??? (feels like they had a few guys this year) to Sturgis
Nyj: Folk to Bullock
Hou: Bullock to Novak
Mia: Sturgis to Franks
Stl: Zuerlein to Hocker
Atl: Bryant to Graham to Bryant
Total of 13.

Teams who when the slow drafts started I often saw both kickers get picked bc of uncertainty:
Chi: Gould and Feely
Cle: Cundiff and Coons
Total of 2.

That is almost the same turnover I see out of RB's and WR's most years (40-50ish%). The GIANT difference being that I can attempt to back up my RB's and WR's or just draft a million of them. If a kicker gets hurt, they have no back up and I have no idea who they will sign. In the slow drafts it's turned into a lot of "are you lucky enough that a team signs your kicker when an injury happens" like with about 5-6 names off of that second list.

Speaking only as a fantasy player I dislike the Team Kicker idea. Defense is a collective position with 11 players contributing to the production. Kicker is not. If we're going to go with team kickers we might as well go with Team QBs, Team RBs, Team WRs and Team TEs. Are kickers volatile? Sure, but so is every position. How many Calvin and Dez owners were jumping up and down last week? Or Brady owners. Or Gurley owners the previous two weeks. I like drafting the right kicker or finding the one off the Waiver Wire who could turn to gold for me. It's also the easiest position on your roster to address on the WW because nobody spends anything to get a kicker. So you can always find someone for $1 who can come through for you. Again, speaking only as a fantasy player I would never play in a Team Kicker format. I wouldn't enjoy that at all.

Tom Kessenich wrote:Speaking only as a fantasy player I dislike the Team Kicker idea. Defense is a collective position with 11 players contributing to the production. Kicker is not. If we're going to go with team kickers we might as well go with Team QBs, Team RBs, Team WRs and Team TEs. Are kickers volatile? Sure, but so is every position. How many Calvin and Dez owners were jumping up and down last week? Or Brady owners. Or Gurley owners the previous two weeks. I like drafting the right kicker or finding the one off the Waiver Wire who could turn to gold for me. Again, speaking only as a fantasy player I would never play in a Team Kicker format. I wouldn't enjoy that at all.

So kickers are so important and crucial to your game plan and satisfaction index that you wouldn't play a contest that had team kicker? That seems ridiculous. Kickers get drafted in the last two rounds because they are basically the same. Predicting kicker points on a week to week basis is nearly impossible. A "good" kicker is worth on average about two points per game more than a "bad" kicker. I suppose there is strategy to everything - just seems that the fluky nature of kickers, the relative unpredictability in outcomes, the lack of skill involved in predicting kicker outcomes, and the roster spots available makes the team kicker concept a valid one. I would be 100 percent in favor of such and would love to see this considered seriously for next year. However - unlike you, I will still play regardless of the kicker rule !