Yardbarker: Nate Kaeding

Fantasy Football Week 5 Rankings - Kickers

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:59:39 -0500

As we approach week 5 of the fantasy football season your team should be rounding into shape. If you started out bad, you should be adjusting your roster along the way and hopefully turning things around, this is not quite panic time yet. If you started out well you probably had a good draft and have been keeping an eye on the waiver wire, but don't get complacent it's not over yet. Hopefully everyone followed the Bruno Boys advice and waited until the last round in the draft and found one of the many gems that were available. Many fantasy teams even picked up a stud kicker off waivers. These weekly rankings have changed drastically over the past five weeks. Matt Prater went un-drafted in many leagues and this week he tops these rankings. As a matter of fact, the top five has changed each and every week. We have said it over and over; it's not the sexy position, but equally as important as the others. Just a few points often decide fantasy football games. You need to have a complete team to win a championship. Now please enjoy the Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Week 5 Kicker Rankings. ------------------- 1. Matt Prater (Denver Broncos) vs. Tampa Bay The Broncos offense struggled against Kansas City last week, but it resulted in more field goal attempts for Prater. He was 4 for 5 on field goal attempts, including two over 50 yards. Tampa Bay's defense should stall the Broncos just enough for Prater to get many opportunities this week in the thin mountain air. Point Projection: 12 points ------------------- 2. Nate Kaeding (San Diego Chargers) @ Miami Kaeding has gotten plenty of opportunities to score points this year and that should continue this week against the Dolphins. Look for Kaeding get back into double digit points. Point Projection: 11 points ------------------- To see where your KICKER rankins in Week 5 click the link below...

Fantasy Football Week 4 Rankings - Kickers

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:57:26 -0500

What an exciting start we have had to this NFL football season. There have been many ups and downs. Quarterbacks like Jay Cutler and Phillip Rivers have come into their own right before our eyes, while Tom Brady has been lost for the season and Peyton Manning has struggled to return to form from off-season surgery. Rookies like Matt Forte, Chris Johnson, Steve Slaton, Jonathan Stewart, and Darren McFadden all have shown the potential to be stars in this league. While many fantasy football weeks, even seasons may hinge on the production of skill players like the ones mentioned above, any veteran fantasy footballer knows that it takes a complete team to win a championship. Many fantasy football games are decided by a few points, so not only do you need to make sure you start the right skill players, you better make sure you start the best possible option as kicker. That being said, please enjoy the Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Week 4 Kicker Rankings! -------------------- 1. Nate Kaeding (San Diego Chargers) @ Oakland Kaeding is 5 for 5 on field goal attempts the last two weeks for a total of 24 points. Now, the Chargers head to Oakland to play a Raiders team that fell apart in the 4th quarter in a week 3 loss to the Bills. Kaeding should once again post double-digit points as the Chargers will continue to pour on the hurt on Oakland. Point Projection: 11 points -------------------- TO FIND OUT WHERE THE REST OF THE KICKERS RANK THIS WEEK, CLICK THE LINK...

Jets-Chargers Aftermath

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:11:43 -0500

As predicted here, the Chargers blew out the NY Bretts last night on MNF. Here are my takeaways of what we learned from the game.

> The bloom is coming off the Favre rose pretty quickly, really. San Diego had three picks last night (two of them from the Sainted One), and could have had a couple more. The thing about Favre's picks is that they really don't all come from the man trying to force things or going for big plays; he throws picks of every variety, really, which is something you have to do if you are going to throw more of them than any other QB that has ever played.

In the first quarter, with the game in the balance, Thomas Jones comes out in the flat, then turns the pattern upfield. Favre throws five yards behind him, and Antonio Cromartie makes a great break on the ball but can't make the catch. It's an easy pick-six if he brings it in, but it goes in the scorebooks as just an incompletion.

Now, if a rookie QB makes that play, it's part of the learning curve. If Tarvaris Jackson or Rex Grossman makes that play, it's grounds for benching. Brett Favre? It's part of the whole package, baby. One question: why?

Either he doesn't know the playbook -- at which point, um, you can and should take him to task for being unprepared and/or moronic -- or he simply made a glaring physical or mental mistake. Or, and this is really the crux of the biscuit, maybe he's just not very accurate anymore, even in the short game, which is where most of his passing happens now.

The Jones ball wasn't even a pick, but it was just awful on every level. The MNF guys all took the opportunity to polish Cromartie's knob, and he is a pretty great young corner, albeit a big gambler. But what they missed is the biggest reason why, if Brett Favre is the quarterback of a team that you care a lot about, you better have a lot of other good things going on with your team.

> San Diego might still win the West -- eventually, Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall have to stop being Brady to Moss, don't they? -- but I don't see the window of opportunity looking very wide for this team any more.

Without Shawne Merriman, they don't get enough push (even when the game was close and the Jets had abandoned the run) on defense, and the secondary, while good, isn't great -- Jammer is reliable but not a shutdown guy, Cromartie will bite on pump fakes and take bad lines, and the safetys don't do enough.

But the most telling point about the Chargers is the coverage teams. Kickoff and punt coverage is an early indicator of a team's talent pool. If your team is covering these well (without using starters), it means that the back-ups are athletic and have the building blocks in place to be productive players. When they don't cover, it means that the tail end of your roster is being staffed by reaches and draft busts who have the gig because they couldn't find anyone better.

Now, the Jets do have outstanding kick returners. Leon Washington is among the top five in the NFL at it, and they had Jerricho Cotchery bust a big one when Washington was gassed in the fourth. The Chargers also were kicking off all night, thanks to the porous Jets secondary and a good night for QB Phillip Rivers. But the Chargers threw in the towel on it at one point (squib kicks, pooch kicking), and that was with a kicker (Nate Kaeding) who usually is good for putting some distance into his kickoffs.

Since the Chargers have the very dangerous Darren Sproles returning kicks, and Kaeding and Scifres doing good work with their own feet, there are very good individual performers on the Charger special teams. No one is going to think that they will lose because of them. But I'm here to tell you, it ain't necessarily so. I've watched enough Eagle Football under the Reid Era to know... if your coverage teams are costing you yards every game, that eventually comes back to haunt you.

> In the fourth quarter, with the game officially into Pump Your Stats Mode (and who says that real football doesn't care about fantasy?), the Jets went into a spread offense with no RB at all (so much for that canny pick of Thomas Jones on my part in too many leagues) and moved the ball. Given the situation of the game and their need to get Saint Brett up to speed with the offense somehow, this made all the sense in the world, and if the Jet defense had shown up at all, they might have found themselves in a game late.

But in going for two down two scores, the spread went from useful to downright silly. After three consecutive Charger penalties on pass plays, the ball was at the half-yard line. The play call then wasn't a plunge into the line, an inside draw handoff, or even a simple Favre sneak. Instead, it was another pass, this one incomplete. Was head coach Eric Mangini still paying attention, or does he not trust his team -- with a physical offensive line that they spent big bucks on (Alan Faneca, Damien Woody) -- to not get a half yard?

> I don't watch college football, so maybe I'm missing something here. Three games into a pro career is hardly the time to break out the fork.

But, um, Jets fan? If this guy in the Vernon Gholston jersey is a football player, I'm an airplane. And that was after he got his very first professional tackle (yay! in only his third game!) and recovered a fumble. Let's just say that your video montage of draft pain just got a little longer...

> I realize this last point is blasphemy, but if I was a Jets fan last night, I was more scared -- and well, you can add much before that -- when Sproles had the ball in his hands, not Tomlinson.

Maybe LdT is still coming back from injury and rust, and maybe Sproles is never going to be a guy you can give the ball to 20-25 times a game, considering that he's all of three inches taller than me. But he's got a burst that the reputed #1 RB in all of football just doesn't have any more.

Having said that, I'd still give you Thomas Jones for him in trade. Quickly.

Fantasy Football Week 3 Rankings - Kickers

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:03:06 -0500

After two exciting weeks of NFL football action one thing can be said; you never know. No matter how much as we study for our drafts, things never seem play out exactly as we have planned. Some of us are happy sitting atop our respective fantasy football leagues 2-0, while some of us are on suicide watch at 0-2. Whether you are undefeated, winless or sitting at .500, one thing remains true for all of us. We need to make sure that we start the best possible line-up on a weekly basis. We have to see how our players stack up against the rest of the competition, based on who is hot and who has the best match-up. Please enjoy the Fantasy Football Week 3 Kicker Rankings. -------------------- 1. Stephen Gostkowski (New England Patriots) vs. Miami With Matt Cassel and Co. only managing one TD, Gostkowski was 4 for 4 in field goal opportunities. Expect another big game against the Dolphins. Although the Patriots should manage more then one TD in week 3. Point Projection: 12 points -------------------- 2. Nate Kaeding (San Diego Chargers) vs. NY Jets Kaeding was 3 for 3 on field goal attempts with 3 extra points in the Charger's heartbreaking loss to the Denver Broncos. With a banged up LaDainian Tomlinson the Charges may have more field goal attempts then in the past. Kaeding should have a big game on Monday night. Point Projection: 12 points -------------------- To read the full article, click the link below...

Fantasy Football Week 3 Start Em & Sit Em

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:25:49 -0500

Whether you're 2-0, 1-1, or 0-2, you need to remember that there's a lot of fantasy football still to be played. I mean, I don't know about your league's, but the ones I'm a part of dont' hand out a trophy after just two weeks of play. Nope, you're in it for the long haul, whether you like it or not. As such, 15 more weeks of crucial line-up decisions need to be made, but as always, we are here to help you through it. So, take a gander at the Week 3 Start 'Em & Sit 'Em report below. -------------------- QUARTERBACKS - START 'EM JT O'Sullivan (San Francisco 49ers) vs. Detroit After week one, it looked like the San Francisco 49ers made a mistake going with O'Sullivan as their starting QB this year, but O'Sullivan rebounded nicely from his 195 yard and 3 turnover debut, torching the Seahawks for 321 yards and a TD in week 2. Perhaps, JT will be Mike Martz's latest and greatest project, following in the steps of Kurt Warner or Jon Kitna, though it is still too early to tell. However, one thing is for certain, we love O'Sullivan in week 3 against the Lions. Not only do the Lions rank 25th against the pass this season, but you know Martz is going to want to score an absurd amount of points against his former employee, thereby letting O'Sullivan loose. -------------------- To read more, click the LINK below...

Broncos V. Chargers Preview

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:27:42 -0500

The last time the Broncos played the Chargers in Denver, they lost 41-3. I was at that massacre and I basically witnessed a funeral procession as fans left the stadium at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Remembering that game and the game in December where Philip Rivers talked a little trash to J

Fantasy Football Week 2 Rankings - Kickers

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:40:15 -0500

The first week of NFL and fantasy football is in the books, and boy, does it feel good to have football back. Many of us didn't move from in front of the TV or the computer all day long on Sunday. Fantasy football was finally here and no one was going to ruin it for us. Our families know by now that the opening day of the NFL is like a holiday for football fans all over the world, especially us fantasy football fanatics. With the first week in the books, it's now time to start preparing for week 2. Not only should you should be scouring your leagues waiver wire looking for the hot free agents. You need to evaluate your own players and see how they stack up this week. The best way to do this is to check in with the Bruno Boys for our Weekly Positional Rankings. Many fantasy football games come down to a few points, so you need to make sure you start the best possible player at each position and yes this includes your kicker. Please enjoy the Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Week 2 Kicker Rankings! -------------------- 1. Nick Folk (Dallas Cowboys) vs. Philadelphia This has game of the week potential and it's on Monday night. The Eagles and Cowboys both had offensive explosions in week 1. This should be a high scoring affair and Folk will benefit from it, kicking his way to the top spot. Point projection: 11 points To read where the rest of the kickers rank, click the link...

Fantasy Football Week 1 Rankings - Kickers

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:13:48 -0500

After what has seemed like an extremely long off-season, NFL football kicks off the 2008 season this Thursday as the Washington Redskins travel to New York to face the Super Bowl Champion Giants. By now most of us have drafted our fantasy football teams for 2008. If you used the 2008 Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets to study for your draft you should feel comfortable that you drafted a solid team, but you have to make sure you always start the best line-up possible each week. This goes for all positions, yes even the kickers, and to make sure that you make the right decision, the Bruno Boys will continue the time honored tradition of it's weekly positional rankings. Enjoy, the Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Week 1 Kicker Rankings. -------------------- 1. Stephen Gostkowski (New England Patriots) vs. Kansas City Gostkowski had 74 extra points in 2007 and was a great option kicking for the Patriots. He has an excellent match-up in week 1 against the Chiefs, moving ahead of Nick Folk for week 1's top honors. Point projection: 11 points To read more, click the link...

NFL Kickers: If the Fantasy Shoe Fits ...

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:50:44 -0500

Kicker is one of the few fantasy positions that can cause a GM to sweat. But as Screaming Sports' Hugh Duckwall explains, after the elite few, they're all the same. So if you miss out on a big name, take a deep breath and look for the best option available.

Fantasy Football Mock Draft Recap: Rounds 13-14 Results

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:05:21 -0500

To many people think the final two or three rounds of their fantasy football drafts are pointless, but as we have said before, every round is important. In fact, often times these are the rounds in which you can find yourself a hidden gem or make sure that you've snagged a kicker or defense that will perform at a high level throughout the season. Also, the final rounds are when the Bruno Boys Fantasy Football kicker philosphy comes into play. In case it slipped your mind, think OFFENSE! Thats right, use these last two rounds to grab yourself a kicker who is in a high powered offense. Yes, 5 field goal games from your kickers are nice, but it's always better to take the guaranteed points from your kicker. Yes, this does mean that someone like Nate Kaeding is a safer pick than Rob Bironas, despite Bironas converting on 11 more field goals last season. Let's check out to see how Rounds 13-14 (final rounds) played out in the Fantasy Sports Matrix draft which was hosted by Yahoo Sports and took place on August 13th, 2008. The scoring system is "standard" scoring and each team starts 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 RB/WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DEF. To see how the final rounds of the DRAFT played out, click on the LINK below...

The Roadmap - Fantasy Football

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:13:10 -0500

While many people will obsess over who their first round pick may be, I challange anyone to name me a single league which was won as a result of a first round pick. No, often times it's those sleepers, the value picks, that get the job done. For example, last year Tom Brady, Adrian Peterson, and Randy Moss were universally drafted in rounds 3-5 last year, yet I'll bet their names can be found on a large majority of 2007 fantasy league championship rosters. What I've decided to do is put together a list of round by round gems and busts based on a ten team league, one gem and one bust per round. I'll be using the comprehensive ADP list we had published earlier. Away we go...

2008 Fantasy Football Bust Rankings - Kickers (Busts)

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:37:35 -0500

What do Neil Rackers in 2006 and Robbie Gould in 2007 have in common? Both of these kickers were overvalued based on the previous season and thus taken too early in drafts and continued to cause stomachaches for owners all year long. In 2005, Rackers was a guy that owners were willing to take a last round flier on, mainly because the Arizona Cardinals had a young up and coming offense. Owners that took a chance on Rackers were rewarded with 152 fantasy points, as he converted 40 of 42 field goal attempts. Gould had a similar 2006 season. He also was either drafted late, or available on waivers in 2006 and ended up putting up 143 fantasy points hitting 32 field goals and 47 extra points. Now we point out a trend, both Rackers and Gould followed surprise high output seasons by being drafted sooner and producing an average of 25 less points the next year. As you prepare for your upcoming draft, remember you don't want to be the one to overvalue a player (especially a kicker) and end up with this year's BUST. To make sure that doesn't happen, it is now time for the 2008 Bruno Boys "Bring out the Pepto" Kicker Rankings. To see which kickers might be in for a rough 2008 season, click the link below...

Pick your Fantasy Football Kicker with some Statistical Perspective

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:23:40 -0500

Bruno Boys Fantasy Football guest columnist Sara Holladay breaks down fantasy football kickers from a statistical perspective. She looked at stats from 2003-2007 and compared final fantasy football rankings for kickers with a slew of other offensive rankings. All of this helped her determine what is the best route to go when you are considering which kicker your should target in your fantasy football leagues. This is a can;t miss article that could help you snag the best kicker available in your draft, without having to take a kicker in the earlier rounds. Dont miss and check it out now...

Chargers Getting A Kick Out Of Kaeding

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:57:22 -0500

The Chargers are hoping kicker Nate Kaeding will continue his impressive work on the field. Kaeding booted a 53-yard field goal against the Cowboys on Saturday. The fifth-year kicker went 4 for 4 in the AFC Championship Game last year after a leg injury. Each of his five kickoffs on Saturday were fielded inside the five yard line by Dallas.

Chargers Getting A Kick Out Of Kaeding

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:57:22 -0500