Who Should I Start? Joey Slye or Rodrigo Blankenship

Friday, October 18, 12:39 PM

New England Patriots kicker Joey Slye has not been a dependable fantasy option over the last two weeks, but he could generate some streaming appeal in deeper leagues for Week 7. This Sunday, Slye will kick against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Given that the Jaguars have allowed the second-most points per game this season, the Patriots should have plenty of scoring opportunities, opening the way for Slye to get involved. Furthermore, the New England offense has shown additional signs of life ever since benching Jacoby Brissett for Drake Maye. Brissett averaged just 0.4 passing touchdowns per game as the Patriots' starter while Maye threw for three touchdowns in his first career start last weekend. Between a favorable matchup and the Patriots offense's upward trajectory, Slye becomes a fringe top-12 fantasy option at the kicker position. He's worth considering if your primary kicker is injured or on a bye week.

Monday, August 21, 6:14 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers waived kicker Rodrigo Blankenship on Monday. Blankenship lost the kicking battle to Chase McLaughlin in training camp this summer and will now look to latch on with another team before the start of the 2023 regular season. The 26-year-old spent last year with the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals, going 4-for-5 on his field-goal tries and 4-for-5 on extra points in just three total games. As long as Tampa doesn't bring in more competition for McLaughlin to close out the preseason, he should enter Week 1 as the team's starting kicker. McLaughlin, 27, made 83.3 percent of his 36 field-goal attempts and made all 21 of his extra-point tries in 16 games with the Indianapolis Colts in 2022. The kicking position in Tampa won't be as exciting in fantasy now that Tom Brady isn't running the offense in 2023.