Who Should I Start? Evan McPherson or Ramiz Ahmed

Wednesday, December 4, 3:42 PM

The Cincinnati Bengals placed kicker Evan McPherson (groin) on Injured Reserve on Wednesday. It was announced earlier on Wednesday that McPherson would miss some time due to his injury, and now he won't be eligible to return until the Week 18 regular-season finale against the division-rival Pittsburgh Steelers. With fantasy championship matchups in most leagues coming in Week 17, managers with McPherson on their rosters in redraft leagues can let him go. The Browns worked out and signed former Washington Commanders and Cleveland Browns kicker Cade York on Wednesday, and he will be their kicker in Week 14 on Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys. Like the Bengals in 2024, the 25-year-old McPherson was a fantasy disappointment in 12 game, going 16-for-22 on field-goal tries while missing just one of his 38 extra points.

Saturday, August 10, 7:37 PM

Washington Commanders kicker Ramiz Ahmed went 1-for-1 on his field goal attempts and 2-for-2 on his extra-point attempts on Saturday afternoon. His field goal attempt came from 40 yards out. This is important to note because Riley Patterson missed his lone field goal try from 39 yards out. Brandon McManus was originally brought in during free agency to serve as the starting kicker in D.C. but was let go in June due to being involved with a civil lawsuit. As a result, this opened up a competition between Ahmed and Patterson, and after the team's first preseason game, Ahmed may be in the lead. Patterson does have more experience in the NFL and has gone 59-for-67 throughout the first four seasons of his career. Ahmed made only one NFL appearance back in 2022 with the Green Bay Packers and moved on to play for the Birmingham Stallions in the UFL last spring. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor this competition as the winner could be fantasy-relevant, especially if rookie Jayden Daniels is able to adjust to the NFL fairly quickly and move the Washington offense downfield on a consistent basis.