Kickers in Best Ball: When to Draft a Kicker and How Many You Need
Kickers in best ball leagues require a platform-specific approach because rules vary. Some best ball formats require a kicker in the starting lineup. Others do not include kickers at all. Before applying any kicker strategy, confirm your league’s rules.
Kicker Strategy Quick Reference
| Situation | Action | When | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Format requires a K slot | Draft exactly one kicker | Final 2 rounds; never before Round 15 | Wasting Round 10–14 on a kicker; opportunity cost is a real WR or RB |
| Format has no K slot | Do not draft a kicker | N/A — they score no points and take a roster spot | Auto-habit drafting a kicker when the format excludes them |
| Two managers draft kickers before Round 17 | Consider moving up one round | Round 16 at earliest if your target is being taken | Panicking and drafting kicker in Round 13–14 because one person moved early |
| Target kicker type | Kicker on elite offense in dome/warm climate | Last rounds | Kicker on a run-heavy offense with limited FG attempts — low floor |
| How many kickers | One is sufficient in most formats | Roster end | Drafting two when you have better speculative options available |
| “Best” kicker vs any kicker | Target kicker on highest-scoring offense | Last round available | Defaulting to a name-brand kicker regardless of offense quality |
Leagues That Require a Kicker
If your best ball format requires a starting kicker (1 K slot), you need to roster one. The question is when.
When to draft your kicker. The overwhelming best ball consensus: draft your kicker in the final round, or at minimum in the last few rounds. The difference between the best kicker and the worst kicker in a season is smaller than the difference between any other positions. Spending a Round 10 pick on a kicker when you could draft a WR4 or RB3 is a meaningful opportunity cost.
Kicker ADP in most best ball formats clusters in Rounds 17–20 for good reason. Every other round offers more expected value than spending a slot on a kicker.
How many kickers to draft. In a standard best ball roster with 1 K slot, one kicker is sufficient. Unlike RBs (where you carry depth for injuries), kicker injuries are rare enough that most managers run with one. If your format gives you 20+ roster spots and kickers are cheap in the final rounds, drafting two does not hurt — but it is not necessary.
Which kicker to target. The kicker on the highest-scoring offense you can get. Kicker points are driven by:
- Red zone offense: Teams that score more touchdowns still need extra points; the kicker on a 35-point-per-game offense scores more than the kicker on a 20-point offense
- Field goal range attempts: Teams that attempt more kicks in the 40–55 yard range generate more kicker points
- Climate and dome advantage: Kickers playing in domes or warm climates have higher floors because weather does not reduce accuracy
The kicker on an elite offense in a dome situation is the best available in best ball. Roster them last, but target the right one.
Leagues That Do Not Include Kickers
Some best ball formats (particularly larger tournament formats) have removed kickers from the lineup entirely. In these formats:
- Do not draft a kicker — there is no slot for them and no points awarded
- All other strategy remains the same
If you are entering a new best ball format for the first time, check the scoring rules before draft day to confirm whether kickers are included.
The Bigger Question: Positional Opportunity Cost
The real kicker strategy question is not “which kicker” — it is “what am I giving up by drafting a kicker earlier than necessary?”
A Round 12 kicker costs you a potential speculative WR with upside, a handcuff RB in a good situation, or a backup TE who could inherit targets.
A Round 19 kicker costs you almost nothing. The skill is delaying the kicker pick as long as possible without missing the position entirely — taking your kicker only after all more valuable picks are exhausted.
In practice, this means watching the kicker ADP during your draft. If other managers start taking kickers in Rounds 15–16, you may need to move earlier to avoid missing your target offense. If kickers are not going until Round 18, there is no reason to move before Round 17.
For how kicker strategy fits within the broader best ball roster construction framework, see: Best Ball Receiver Depth: How Many Wide Receivers You Should Roster in Best Ball. For how stacking strategy interacts with kicker selection on the same offense, see: Best Ball Stack Building: How to Construct QB-WR Stacks That Win Tournaments.