Who Should I Start? Michael Badgley or Chase McLaughlin

Friday, July 26, 8:54 AM

Detroit Lions kicker Michael Badgley (hamstring) reportedly suffered a torn hamstring getting ready for practice on Thursday. According to Ian Rapoport, the injury will force Badgley to miss the entire season and the Lions will now try out new kickers to take his place. The 28-year-old joined the Lions in 2022 and appeared in 12 games while playing four games for them in 2023. Riley Patterson played in 12 games for the Lions last season, so he may be one of the kickers trying out for the spot this season. For now, fantasy managers will have to wait and see who wins the position in Detroit.

Monday, March 11, 5:15 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers agreed to an undisclosed three-year deal to re-sign kicker Chase McLaughlin on Monday, according to a source. McLaughlin will stay with the Buccaneers after going 29-for-31 on his field-goal attempts and 33-for-33 on his extra points in 17 regular-season games. The 27-year-old's success rate on field goals last year set a new single-season record, so it's no wonder why Tampa wanted the kicker back for another go-round in 2024 as their primary kicker. From a fantasy perspective, McLaughlin finished as the No. 16 kicker in terms of overall fantasy points in 2023. The Bucs offense should remain largely the same this year with quarterback Baker Mayfield and top wideout Mike Evans sticking around, so McLaughlin should enter the year as a matchup-based streamer at the kicking position in fantasy.