Who Should I Start? Dustin Hopkins or Ryan Fitzgerald

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, November 8, 1:34 AM

Ryan Fitzgerald is a viable fill-in option if a deeper one is needed for Week 10. In last week's game against the Green Bay Packers, the Carolina kicker nailed his only field goal attempt and was 1-for-2 on extra point attempts. The rookie kicker has recorded an average of 7.2 fantasy points this season while hitting all of his field goal attempts in four of the last five weeks. Over the last four weeks, the Saints have allowed 10 points per game to the kicker position, which ranks 28th of all teams. New Orleans has also given up an average of 27 points to opposing teams, which is tied for 24th-most in the league this season. The matchup appears to be favorable for Fitzgerald, and while he is ranked just 18th at kicker by RotoBaller for Week 10, he could provide adequate fantasy totals.