Who Should I Start? Cairo Santos or Rodrigo Blankenship

Friday, September 12, 11:29 PM

Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos had a rough start to his 12th NFL season. He connected on three extra points but went just 1-of-2 on field goals, missing a crucial 50-yarder that ultimately proved to be the difference in the loss to the Minnesota Vikings. To make matters worse, on the final kickoff, the Bears needed Santos to boot the ball out of the end zone, but his short kick was returned and forced the clock to run down to the two-minute warning. Frustration with Santos' kicking strength appears to be growing in Chicago, as the team signed former 49ers kicker Jake Moody to the practice squad ahead of Week 2. With the Bears traveling to Detroit, Santos enters the week ranked as K23 and should be considered unstartable in fantasy. This could be a make-or-break week for his job security.

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.