Who Should I Start? Dustin Hopkins or Ka'imi Fairbairn

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.

Sunday, September 14, 7:26 AM

Houston Texans kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn made all three of his field goal attempts in Week 1, including a pair of long chances from over 50 yards. He accounted for all the Texans' scoring in their 14-9 loss to the Rams as the offense sputtered. If the offense continues to struggle to score touchdowns, Fairbairn could continue to get plenty of field goal chances, and on Monday night, he'll play at home in Houston's NRG Stadium, where the retractable roof usually leads to a friendly kicking environment. Fairbairn is the No. 6 kicker in the RotoBaller rankings, making him a solid starting option in most standard-sized leagues this week.