Who Should I Start? Dustin Hopkins or Riley Patterson


Week 1 Projections

Fant.
Pts.
Rush.
Yds.
Rush
TD
Rec. Rec.
Yds.
Rec
TD
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Dustin Hopkins News

Browns Release Dustin Hopkins

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.


Week 1 Projections

Fant.
Pts.
Rush.
Yds.
Rush
TD
Rec. Rec.
Yds.
Rec
TD
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Riley Patterson News

Dolphins Re-Sign Kicker Riley Patterson

Thursday, March 12, 9:04 AM

The Miami Dolphins announced on Thursday that they re-signed kicker Riley Patterson to an undisclosed deal. The Dolphins moved on from Jason Sanders, who missed the entire 2025 season due to injury, and also signed former Atlanta Falcons kicker Zane Gonzalez earlier this week. The 26-year-old Patterson filled in nicely for Sanders last year, making 27 of his 29 field-goal attempts and 34 of his 35 extra-point opportunities over 17 games. However, because of Miami's inconsistent offense, he finished as just the No. 16 kicker in overall fantasy points. Given how well Patterson kicked in 2025, he should be considered the favorite for placekicking duties in Miami over Gonzalez going into the 2026 regular season this fall. In his five years in the NFL, Patterson has made 87.4% of his 103 field-goal attempts, including going 7-for-13 from 50-plus yards out. If he wins the starting job this summer, Patterson will be a low-end starting kicker in deeper fantasy leagues.


Dustin Hopkins vs. Riley Patterson

Still trying to decide between Hopkins and Patterson? Check on the latest news to make sure both players are active and healthy. Our PPR projections show that Dustin Hopkins is projected to score 0.0 points this week while Riley Patterson is projected to score 0.0 points.