Who Should I Start? Dustin Hopkins or Will Reichard

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.

Wednesday, December 24, 3:12 PM

Ironically, given the tortured history of the Minnesota Vikings, the most consistent thing about their 2025 season has been kicker Will Reichard, who can once again be considered a fantasy lineup option for a Christmas Day matchup against Detroit. The Alabama alum is a perfect 18-for-18 on field goals inside 50 yards this year, 28-for-28 on extra points, and 27-for-29 on field goal attempts overall. The Lions rank 27th against fantasy kickers, although Minnesota will be starting Max Brosmer at quarterback due to an injury to J.J. McCarthy (hand). Ranked as RotoBaller's No. 11 kicker this week, Reichard comes with the notable risk of an offense led by an undrafted rookie. But he's ultimately up against a bad defense, playing indoors, and in terrific form, giving him lineup potential.