2012 Fantasy Football Week 10: Kicker Rankings and Projections

Last week was a big test for Blair Walsh’s fantasy value as the Vikings traveled to Seattle. While Christian Ponder struggled in the passing game, the Vikings offense continued to move the football because of Adrian Peterson’s outstanding play. Walsh converted both of his field-goal opportunities and yet again blasted another attempt over 50 yards, this one from 55 yards out.

Walsh has kicked a field goal of at least 49 yards in six of his eight games and has kicked a 50-yard field goal in five games. As was the case this past week, Walsh has proven that he can remain accurate during road games as he has converted 19 of his 20 opportunities this year.

Quickly becoming one of the elite legs in the game, Walsh is clearly a weekly starter the rest of the season.

What Did We Learn From Week 9?

- After a couple of key conversions from over 50 yards, it appeared that Matt Bryant had the trust of coach Mike Smith to receive opportunities from that range in the future. Unfortunately, the Falcons were down 6-3 in the second quarter, and Smith passed up a chance for about a 53-yard attempt, opting to punt the football instead.

While Bryant made four field goals on the day, he also missed two others and received no opportunities over 46 yards. Bryant is still a top-five kicker, but he clearly doesn’t have a full vote of confidence from his coach for field goals past 50 yards.

- The Giants continue to struggle in the red zone, and Tynes picked up two more field goals this past week. This came with Eli Manning throwing for only 125 yards and Ahmad Bradshaw running for less than 50 on the day. Tynes should remain a top-five kicker in fantasy leagues going forward.

Sean’s Week 10 Watch List

- Justin Tucker is 15-of-16 this year on field-goal attempts but has only totaled four field-goal conversions in his past three games. We should expect more in the future as Baltimore is typically a good team for opportunities, and John Harbaugh has confidence in him to strike from over 50 yards.

With a home game against the Raiders this week, we should see a bounce-back performance from the rookie.

- I talked about Dan Carpenter as an option last week as it appeared that his mechanics looked better in prior weeks. Carpenter converted both of his attempts last week and is worth a look off of the waiver wire again as the Dolphins face off against the Titans this week.

- Greg Zuerlein has slowed down in recent weeks in terms of opportunities and accuracy. Zuerlein will continue to support one of the bigger legs in the NFL for years to come, but I’m a little concerned about the Rams' play overall on the road going forward. Playing in San Francisco this week, it could be another down week for the talented rookie.

1	Blair Walsh	Lions
2	David Akers	Rams
3	Stephen Gostkowski	Bills
4	Matt Bryant	@ Saints
5	Lawrence Tynes	@ Bengals
6	Justin Tucker	Raiders
7	Robbie Gould	Texans
8	Nick Novak	@ Buccaneers
9	Matt Prater	@ Panthers
10	Sebastian Janikowski	@ Ravens
11	Shayne Graham	@ Bears
12	Greg Zuerlein	@ 49ers
13	Jason Hanson	@ Vikings
14	Dan Bailey	@ Eagles
15	Dan Carpenter	Titans

Week 10 Standard Rankings – QB | RB | WR | TE | Flex |