Who Should I Start? Matt Prater or Eddy Pineiro

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.

Friday, January 3, 9:44 PM

Carolina Panthers kicker Eddy Pineiro hasn't gotten many opportunities to kick field goals the past few weeks. Over the past four games, he has only attempted three field goals. The silver lining for Pineiro is that between Weeks 10 and 13, he made nine of his 11 field goal attempts. In Week 18, the Panthers take on their division rivals, the Atlanta Falcons, who have allowed the sixth most fantasy points to opposing kickers, giving some hope for Pineiro in this contest. However, the lack of consistent attempts makes it difficult for fantasy managers to trust Pineiro in this one. The 29-year-old comes in as K27 in the latest RotoBaller kicker rankings for Week 18. There are likely better options at the kicker position for fantasy managers.