Who Should I Start? Matt Prater or Jake Bates

Thursday, January 15, 3:53 PM

Buffalo Bills kicker Matt Prater (quadriceps, calf) has been cleared to kick in the Divisional Round this Saturday against his former team, the Denver Broncos. Prater was held out of Tuesday's practice, was a full-go on Wednesday, and was limited on Thursday. The 41-year-old veteran aggravated a quad injury in the Week 18 regular-season finale against the New York Jets, but he was active last weekend and handled field goals and extra points in the Wild-Card win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Prater made both of his field goals (one from 50-plus yards) and all three of his extra points against the Jags. He'll have the thin air in Denver to his advantage on Saturday, but at less than 100% in a tough matchup, Prater is on the lower end of kicking options this weekend. The Broncos allowed the third-fewest fantasy points per game to placekickers in 2025.

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.