Who Should I Start? Joey Slye or Jake Bates

Friday, October 10, 2:16 PM

Tennessee Titans kicker Joey Slye (calf) has officially been ruled out for the team's Week 6 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders due to a calf injury, per Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com. Slye leads the league in both field goal attempts (17) and makes (13 through five weeks so far this season. With Slye sidelined, Tennessee will reportedly let veteran Matthew Wright handle the kicking duties in Week 6. Wright has appeared in 29 games across five NFL seasons for six different teams. He's made 55 out of 63 (87.3%) of his career field goal attempts. Wright should be avoided by fantasy managers in Week 6 against Las Vegas.

Wednesday, December 24, 10:39 PM

Across 15 games this season, Detroit Lions kicker Jake Bates has converted on 22 of 28 field goal attempts and 52 out of 54 extra-point tries. Bates has the benefit of being tied to the Detroit offense, which enters Week 17 ranked second in the NFL in points per game (30.1). However, Bates and the Lions will face one of the league's top scoring defenses in Week 17 when they travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings. Over the last three weeks, Minnesota has allowed opponents to score an average of just 13 points per game. In the first matchup between the two NFC North division rivals this season in Week 9, the Lions were held to 24 points, their fourth-lowest mark in a game in 2025. If there's one benefit for Bates, the game will be played indoors, which eliminates any weather concerns for the kicking game. Bates remains a viable starting kicker for fantasy managers in Week 17, but he profiles as a low-end option rather than a must-start player at the position against Minnesota.