Who Should I Start? Rodrigo Blankenship or Evan McPherson

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.

Sunday, September 10, 10:02 PM

Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson nailed a 42-yard field goal during the loss to Cleveland on Sunday. However, he missed his following try on the next series. In all fairness, McPherson was the only person who put points on the board for the struggling Bengals offense, and the weather conditions weren't ideal, either. While the 24-year-old seemed to take a step backward last season, he's still one of the best kickers in the NFL. Fantasy managers should keep him starting in Week 2 against the Baltimore Ravens.