Who Should I Start? Dustin Hopkins or Cameron Dicker

Tuesday, August 26, 3:18 PM

The Cleveland Brown released kicker Dustin Hopkin on Tuesday, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. It appears that Andre Szmyt will open the 2025 regular season as the team's placekicker, although the Browns could still bring in more competition before Week 1. Hopkins will be let go after spending the last two seasons kicking for Cleveland, where he went 51-for-63 on his field-goal attempts (81%) and 41-for-46 on his extra-point tries in 31 total games. The final straw for the 34-year-old veteran might have been when he missed one of his two extra-point tries in the preseason finale on Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams. Hopkins entered training camp on shaky ground at the position after going 18-for-27 on his field goals in 16 games a year ago.

Saturday, December 6, 4:37 PM

Los Angeles Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker remains a reliable option despite facing a Week 14 matchup that is expected to be one of the lowest-scoring games of the week. Dicker went 1-for-1 on field goals, hitting a 56-yarder, and was perfect on extra points last week against the Las Vegas Raiders. The drop from his usual top-three ranking to K11 reflects the conservative game projections against a strong Philadelphia Eagles defense and the uncertainty at quarterback, as Justin Herbert (hand) is listed as questionable. However, the game flow is expected to be run-heavy and competitive, which often leads to stalled drives and more field-goal opportunities. Considering Dicker's consistency and leg strength, fantasy managers should still view him as a dependable low-end K1 who is likely to get enough scoring opportunities throughout the game.