Who Should I Start? Cairo Santos or Rodrigo Blankenship

Saturday, November 22, 9:59 AM

Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos is coming off his best game of the season in Week 11, knocking down four of five field goals, including the game-winner to beat the division rival Minnesota Vikings. It's been an up-and-down year for Santos, who's fought through injuries and kicker controversy with Jake Moody earlier in the year. With Moody in Washington and the injuries behind the veteran kicker, Santos will look to fire off a strong finish to his 12th season. He faces a great matchup in Week 12, against a Pittsburgh Steelers defense that has allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to kickers this season. With good weather expected and a ton of confidence, Santos is worth starting in Week 12.

Monday, August 21, 6:14 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers waived kicker Rodrigo Blankenship on Monday. Blankenship lost the kicking battle to Chase McLaughlin in training camp this summer and will now look to latch on with another team before the start of the 2023 regular season. The 26-year-old spent last year with the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals, going 4-for-5 on his field-goal tries and 4-for-5 on extra points in just three total games. As long as Tampa doesn't bring in more competition for McLaughlin to close out the preseason, he should enter Week 1 as the team's starting kicker. McLaughlin, 27, made 83.3 percent of his 36 field-goal attempts and made all 21 of his extra-point tries in 16 games with the Indianapolis Colts in 2022. The kicking position in Tampa won't be as exciting in fantasy now that Tom Brady isn't running the offense in 2023.