Elimination of the Kicker Position

[Fantasy Sports Guru]

I would like to see our Contract League eliminate the kicker position and replace that spot with another flex position. Last season, the top 16 kickers averaged 8.84 points per game, less than 9 points from an offensive position. Instead, utilizing either an RB, WR or TE offers more potential points and adds another skilled player to our rosters.

Would like to hear what the rest of you thing about this.

Something else to keep in mind: most mainstream dynasty leagues do not employ a kicker.

[Moorestown Big Dogs]

I have several opinions about this, and unfortunately they do not all point in the same direction.

The first is that I like Fantasy Sports to reflect the real game as much as possible. So that is one point in favor of keeping the kicker.

The second is that, more importantly from my perspective than the "limited points", most kickers score in a pretty tight range, with the top 25 of them averaging within 3 points per game. So they do not, over the course of a season, have a big impact on winning or losing. But then again, from one week to another there is a pretty wide variance. My kicker, Carlson, varied between 0 and 14 points last season, and that can make a difference in our match-ups. So this one is neither completely for or against the proposal, maybe slightly in favor.

And then there is the thought that it would allow us to play another "Flex" player who "offers more potential points". The positive case for this is clear. Particularly early in the season when there are no byes or injuries we may have guys who will average 12-15 points sitting on our benches who we would like to play. The negative is that during the rest of the season, when we have 2-4 guys out for byes, and another couple out injured, we probably throw in a guy who might hit double figures, but is just as likely to score 0-2 points. My guess is that for those weeks the average from those Flex players would be 8.84 points, so a wash versus having a kicker. A side thought - if we go in this direction, I would want kickers to be able to play in the Flex slot, as they would be a strategic choice.

Finally, if we take this perspective with the kicker position, why are we not taking it with the Defensive positions? They tend to be closely grouped, like the kickers, with only a 3-4 spread between the best and the 25th, and the DBs and DLs score very similarly to the Kickers. The LBs score more, but only because we have tweaked their scoring, in the Dynasty leagues they are also in the same range as the kickers and other D players. If we want Kickers to be more relevant pointwise, we could tweak their scoring. (Maybe Extra points to 1.5 each, and FGs 30-39=4, 40-49=5, 50+=6)

So in the end I lean against this idea, although I do see where it is coming from it just doesn't make the game better in my opinion.

[Stark Direwolves]

Stay away from the young IDPs I've drafted! Definitely keep IDPs.

I'm kind of interested in the superflex position that includes the kicker. That's intriguing.

For the most part I align with MBD on this.