Who Should I Start? Dustin Hopkins or Evan McPherson

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, September 13, 2:51 PM

Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson made his only kick attempt, a 35-yarder, in the Week 1 win over the Cleveland Browns. He also made both extra-point attempts. The Bengals offense had issues getting anything going in the opener, with quarterback Joe Burrow tossing for 113 yards off a miserable 14-for-23 passing (60.9%). Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins also struggled, combining for five receptions. With that in mind, a poor offensive showing in divisional matchups hasn't been that uncommon for Cincy over the years, so there's reason to believe a turnaround for Burrow and company could be on the horizon. If the signal-caller can lead the offense into the Red Zone more often than he did against the Browns (there's a good chance he will), McPherson should be more productive in Week 2, making him a practical choice for any fantasy lineup.