Fantasy Football Recap: 2008 Kickers (The Bad)

At the end of every season we like to go back and recap how the players at each fantasy football position fared. And as with every season, there’s always the good, the bad and of course the downright ugly at each and every position.

In this fifth installment of the second part of our yearly “The Good, the Bad & the Ugly” series, we’ll take a look at the BAD kickers from a fantasy football standpoint.

The one consistency you will notice about this list of kickers is the fact that all of them were inconsistent over the course of the season. They showed flashes of “good”, but they also had many games in which they were pretty “ugly” and when you average it out you realize they were pretty “bad”.

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1. Nate Kaeding (San Diego Chargers)

Nate Kaeding was not terrible in 2008, scoring 127 points as he made 27 of 32 field goal attempts as well as 46 extra points.

He did manage to score in double figures in seven games, but he also had six games in which he scored six points or less.

This is not what many of us expected from Kaeding, as he was the Bruno Boys No. 4 ranked kicker in the preseason. The Chargers were supposed to have an explosive offense and an excellent defense, but injuries to some of their star players really slowed the Chargers down. That left Kaeding limited field goal opportunities.

Kaeding does not have the distance he had earlier in his career either, as he missed five field goal attempts from 40-49 yards. He did make his one attempt beyond 50 yards. He may not be a top five kicker in 2009, but if the offense can stay healthy next year Kaeding could be low-end starting kicker. 

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2. Joe Nedney (San Francisco 49ers)

Now in all fairness to Joe Nedney, not many people expected too much from him as he was ranked No. 27 on the Bruno Boys Preseason Kicker Rankings and he did finish the season with 121 points.

The problem with Nedney is that he had some games in which he was really "good", but behind an inconsistent 49ers offense, he had many games which were pretty "ugly".

He made 29 of 32 field goal attempts to go with 34 extra points in 2008 and if the 49ers can improve their offense in 2009 under new head coach Mike Singletary, Nedney could become a more consistent threat and more than a platoon kicker you start when the matchup is right.

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3. Matt Prater (Denver Broncos)

Matt Prater was one of the hot waiver-wire pickups early in the 2008 season when he scored in double figures in four of the Broncos first five games.

But he quickly became waiver-wire fodder as he only managed to go for 10 or more three times in the final 11 games.

He has a big strong leg and he does get to kick in the thin air of Denver eight times a year, but he struggled with his accuracy as he finished the season with 114 points, hitting 25 of 34 field goal attempts.

Keep a close eye on this situation during training camp and the preseason, as Prater is not a slam-dunk to be the Broncos starting kicker in 2009. If he does end up as a starting kicker next season he will likely be a nice backup kicker with upside.

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Fantasy Football Recap: 2008 Kickers (The Bad)