Who Should I Start? Dustin Hopkins or Brandon McManus

Thursday, January 11, 3:00 PM

Cleveland Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins (hamstring) has officially been ruled out for Saturday's wild-card playoff game against the Houston Texans after missing practice all week. Hopkins will miss his third straight game due to his hamstring injury. Riley Patterson, who has served as Cleveland's kicker the last two games with Hopkins out, will likely be elevated from the practice squad to the 53-man active roster for Saturday's playoff contest. The 24-year-old was the Detroit Lions' primary kicker for 13 games this year before getting cut and latching on with the Browns. In 15 total games between both teams this year, he's gone 16-for-18 on field-goal tries and has miss three of his 44 extra-point attempts. Fantasy managers should be looking for better options at the position on wild-card weekend.

Monday, March 11, 11:22 PM

Free-agent kicker Brandon McManus agreed to a one-year, $3.6 million contract with Washington on Monday night. The 32-year-old spent his first nine seasons in Denver before landing in Jacksonville for the 2023-24 campaign. He had one of the best seasons of his career, connecting on 30 of his 37 field goal tries while nailing all 35 extra-point attempts. McManus finished last season a borderline top-10 fantasy kicker, so there's no reason to believe he can't come close to matching that level of production. However, there will be plenty of better kickers ahead of him in pre-draft rankings heading into Week 1. Either way, the veteran will likely find his way onto most fantasy rosters.