Who Should I Start? Dustin Hopkins or Chad Ryland

Friday, September 6, 9:32 PM

Cleveland Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins will kick off his 2024 season with a home matchup against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1. The Cowboys were tough on fantasy kickers last year, allowing just the 29th-most fantasy points per game to the position. Hopkins was a reliable kicker for the Browns in 2023, hitting 33 of his 36 field-goal tries, including all eight of his tries from 50+ yards. It remains to be seen how efficient the Cleveland offense will be this season, which coupled with the tough matchup, leaves Hopkins outside of the top-12 fantasy kicker options this weekend.

Tuesday, August 27, 8:31 PM

The New England Patriots released kicker Chad Ryland on Tuesday, according to a source. Ryland has officially lost the starting kicking competition in New England to Joey Slye and will now be looking for work elsewhere. The 24-year-old was the Patriots' starting kicker in 2023 after being drafted in the fourth round out of Maryland. He made just 64% of his 25 field-goal attempts in his rookie season while making 24 of his 25 extra-point tries for a bad offense. Ryland could end up rejoining the team's practice squad, but he's obviously not even close to being fantasy relevant. Slye, 28, made 79.2% of his 24 field-goal attempts for the Washington Commanders in 17 games last year, missing three of his 35 extra-point tries. Fantasy managers should avoid Slye in pretty much all formats in 2024.