Kill The Kicker

The position has been called a necessary evil.

A dude that's about half the size of the other players and with nary an ounce of their athletic ability trots out onto the field and kicks a ball like it's soccer. It all starts in high school when you have a fullback -- probably with an old-school flat-toed kicking shoe -- toe-bash his way to a 25-yard kickoff and make about half his extra points ... or you have an able kicker that came over from the soccer team because he didn't like the coach (translation: couldn't get on the field) or thought he could get hotter chicks being on the football team.

The position grows into what we see on Sundays: guys that have extraordinary precision and leg strength. Thus, they rarely miss field goals inside 50 yards and hit pretty solidly behind that mark. Yes, these guys are athletes, but are they truly football players? I like Robbie Gould and Adam Vinatieri as much as the next guy -- while hating Mike Vanderjagt and the Gramaticas -- and understand their role in the real game of football.

Necessary evil, I agree. Quite necessary in the NFL.

In Fantasy Football, however, it's not necessary at all ... but it's most certainly evil.

There is zero reason to keep kickers in fantasy. You'll hear:

- It's a real position. So is punter. So is guard.

- It's part of the fantasy game. Good things always evolve and adapt for the better. Keeping a kicker in fantasy is akin to not having instant replay because they didn't have it in the old days.

Actually, those are the only two arguments I've ever heard to keep kickers. I've been trying to eliminate the position from several of my leagues for years to no avail.

My argument: the difference between the top kicker and the 20th kicker in fantasy points for the entire season is usually an average of only a few points per week; if not one. See Neil Rackers in '05 and Gould in '06 as evidence that the best kicker is often an undrafted one. Owners aren't rewarded for being smart, they are rewarded for getting lucky. You could play Vinatieri against the worst defense in the league and have him come up with only four measly extra points while a guy that was bagging groceries last week could rack up about 10 fantasy points against the Patriots. There's no method to this madness.

Obviously, fantasy football is partially about getting lucky and there are some unpredictable aspects at every position to a certain extent. I get that. Kicker, however, is the only position that contains this much inaccuracy on a week-to-week basis.

If you haven't been convinced yet, consider this: every "expert" out there will tell you to never, ever, ever draft a kicker before the last round ... as will I. Honestly, if a position should never even be considered until the last round, why in God's name are we letting it have a hand in the outcomes of our leagues?

Enough is enough. Stop drafting kickers in fantasy football and replace the position with another flex spot.

In the meantime, I'll be a good sport and continue doing kicker rankings for those of us (again, my stupid league-mates) who refuse to evolve.

Just curious, of all the position rankings (coming this weekend), which is the one you'll read the least? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Kill the kicker.