Who Should I Start? Matt Prater or Riley Patterson

Thursday, September 4, 1:13 PM

The Buffalo Bills signed free-agent veteran kicker Matt Prater to their practice squad on Thursday, according to Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team. Fantasy managers that drafted Tyler Bass (hip) as their starting kicker need to pay close attention heading into this weekend. Although Bass was limited in Wednesday's practice, he could be in danger of missing the Week 1 game on Sunday night against the Baltimore Ravens. If Bass is questionable on Friday's final injury report, we'd suggest going in another direction at the position unless you want to get stuck choosing from a kicker from the Monday night game between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears. Bass has been managing a hip injury since the end of July, although he was able to take part in the preseason finale two weeks ago.

Wednesday, August 27, 7:51 PM

The Miami Dolphins officially signed free-agent kicker Riley Patterson to their practice squad on Wednesday, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Patterson is expected to be elevated to kick against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1 of the regular season on Sunday, Sept. 7, in place of the injured Jason Sanders (hip). The Dolphins put Sanders on short-term Injured Reserve on Tuesday, meaning he'll miss at least the first four games of the 2025 season. The 25-year-old Patterson will get a shot to fill in as Miami's kicker until Sanders returns, although he won't really be a starting kicking option in 12-team fantasy leagues. Patterson has already kicked for five different teams in his four NFL seasons and has made 85.1% of his 74 field-goal attempts and 96.5% of his 112 extra-point tries. He's gone just 4-for-9 from 50-plus yards out.