Who Should I Start? Matt Prater or Rodrigo Blankenship

Tuesday, October 15, 7:55 PM

The Arizona Cardinals placed kicker Matt Prater (knee) and defensive lineman Bilal Nichols (neck) on Injured Reserve on Tuesday, meaning both players will have to miss at least the next four games. Nichols will miss the rest of the season. To replace Prater on the active 53-man roster, the Cardinals elevated Chad Ryland from the practice squad. In the last two games with Prater out, Ryland has gone 5-for-6 on field goals and made both of his extra points. Prater made all six of his field goals and went 10-for-10 on extra points in his four games, surpassing the career 1,800-point plateau. The earliest Prater will be eligible to return from IR will be after the team's Week 11 bye for a Week 12 contest against the division-rival Seattle Seahawks. Ryland will be a poor streaming option for fantasy managers in Week 7 against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night.

Monday, August 21, 6:14 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers waived kicker Rodrigo Blankenship on Monday. Blankenship lost the kicking battle to Chase McLaughlin in training camp this summer and will now look to latch on with another team before the start of the 2023 regular season. The 26-year-old spent last year with the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals, going 4-for-5 on his field-goal tries and 4-for-5 on extra points in just three total games. As long as Tampa doesn't bring in more competition for McLaughlin to close out the preseason, he should enter Week 1 as the team's starting kicker. McLaughlin, 27, made 83.3 percent of his 36 field-goal attempts and made all 21 of his extra-point tries in 16 games with the Indianapolis Colts in 2022. The kicking position in Tampa won't be as exciting in fantasy now that Tom Brady isn't running the offense in 2023.