Who Should I Start? Matt Prater or Cairo Santos

Friday, January 3, 12:10 PM

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said that veteran kicker Matt Prater (knee) "will not go" in the Week 18 regular-season finale on Sunday against the division-rival San Francisco 49ers. Prater suffered a meniscus injury in his knee earlier this year and missed the last three months as a result. The 40-year-old kicker only ended up playing in four games in 2024 before injuring his knee in his fourth year with Arizona and 18th year in the NFL. In the four games he was active, Prater made all six of his field-goal attempts (one from 50-plus yards) and was successful on all 10 of his extra-point tries as well. Prater will be a free agent heading into his age-41 season in 2025. Chad Ryland will close out the year this weekend as Arizona's kicker. He's bounced back from a tough rookie season with the Pats to go 26-for-30 on field goals and 21-for-22 on extra points in his 12 games with the Cardinals.

Tuesday, December 24, 2:19 PM

Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos should not be viewed as a viable streaming option on Thursday evening when the Bears host the Seattle Seahawks. Last weekend, Santos went 1-for-1 on attempts and 2-for-2 on extra points during their loss to the Detroit Lions. Over the past four weeks, Santos has only attempted two or more field goals in a single game on one occasion. During this span he attempted zero field goals in two of the games. Even though he holds a strong 84.6 FG% since Week 9, Santos has not been given enough volume to provide a solid fantasy output. During the fantasy playoffs, it is critical to target kickers on high-scoring offensive units and the Chicago Bears do not fit that criteria. Facing a Seattle Seahawks defense that has allowed the tenth-fewest fantasy points to opposing kickers, fantasy managers should look elsewhere for a streaming option.