Who Should I Start? Matt Prater or Rodrigo Blankenship

Monday, December 15, 5:32 PM

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott said on Monday that kicker Matt Prater (quadriceps) will be out in Week 16 versus the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, according to Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN. McDermott described Prater's injury as week-to-week, meaning there's a chance he could miss multiple games. The Bills will bring in a new kicker for this week and possibly beyond. Prater was successful on all five of his extra-point opportunities in the win over the New England Patriots in Week 15, but he picked up a quad injury along the way and will now be sidelined for at least one game. Fantasy managers still battling in the playoffs this week will need to search for a replacement for the 41-year-old placekicker. Prater has filled in nicely for Tyler Bass (hip), who is out for the entire season, making 18 of his 20 field-goal tries and 43 of his 46 extra points in 14 games.

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.