Who Should I Start? Matt Prater or Riley Patterson

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.

Saturday, January 4, 9:52 PM

Atlanta Falcons kicker Riley Patterson is a solid fantasy option this weekend in his team's divisional clash with the visiting Carolina Panthers. The 25-year-old has been fine since taking over the Falcons kicking job for an injured Younghoe Koo (hip). In four appearances this season, Patterson has been automatic on his 11 XP attempts but has missed a field goal try in each of his last two games. He'll get a dream outing in Week 18 against a Panthers defense that's allowed the most points per game in the league (31) and the most fantasy points per game to the kicking position (10.5). The Falcons bolster a 28-point implied point total for the contest, so the Memphis product projects to be afforded a few chances to get on the board against one of the league's worst defenses. Patterson ranks as RotoBaller's K10 ahead of this weekend's slate of action.