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, November 26, 11:08 PM

Detroit Lions kicker Jake Bates was one of the heroes of his team's Week 12 win over the New York Giants, bending in a 59-yard field goal to send the game to overtime. After a relatively shaky start to the season, Bates has now made six straight field goal attempts over his last three games. He'll have a second straight game in the friendly confines of Ford Field in Week 13 against the Green Bay Packers. For his career, Bates is averaging 8.6 points per game at home, compared to 7.4 on the road. If there's one concern for Bates in Week 13, it's Green Bay's prowess as a scoring defense. The Packers have held three of their last four opponents to 16 points or fewer and held the Lions to 13 points in the first matchup between the two teams this season in Week 1. Still, Bates profiles as a solid starting kicker option for fantasy managers in Week 13.