By SCOTT FELTS
We continue our fantasy football season preparations with rankings and draft strategies for the specialists in your league. In most leagues these specialists are kickers and team defense/special teams.
I’ll provide a little background on a few of the kickers and defenses and then provide you with my rankings.
Kickers
Brandon Aubrey has finished first, first, and third in kicker fantasy scoring in his first three seasons in the league. He’s easily the top kicker to come off the board.
Jason Myers finished as the top-scoring fantasy kicker last season with 202.0 points, although he finished second in fantasy points per game (11.9) behind Houston’s Ka’imi Fairbairn.
Harrison Mevis joined the Rams midway through the 2025 season and made 18 of 19 field goal attempts and 48 of 48 extra points. If Mevis continues to be accurate, he should have a chance to rack up a lot of points for the Rams.
Let’s look at my 2026 kicker rankings.
- Brandon Aubrey (DAL)
- Ka’imi Fairbairn (HOU)
- Cameron Dicker (LAC)
- Jason Myers (SEA)
- Harrison Mevis (LAR)
- Chris Boswell (PIT)
- Chase McLaughlin (TB)
- Andy Borregales (NE)
- Cairo Santos (CHI)
- Wil Lutz (DEN)
- Jake Elliott (PHI)
- Matt Gay (WAS)
- Tyler Bass (BUF)
- Younghoe Koo (ATL)
- Evan McPherson (CIN)
- Justin Tucker (BAL)
- Daniel Carlson (LV)
- Greg Zuerlein (NYJ)
- Jake Moody (SF)
- Brandon McManus (GB)
- Dustin Hopkins (CLE)
- Matt Prater (ARI)
- Riley Patterson (DET)
- Nick Folk (TEN)
- Chad Ryland (MIN)
There are different strategies when drafting kickers. My personal preference is to typically wait until the last round to take my one and only kicker and then, as the season unfolds, watch kicker rankings and make adds and drops when someone is on a hot streak. Any kicker outside of the top five shouldn’t be drafted before your final pick in my opinion. I rarely ever roster two kickers unless I end up with a top five kicker and will only roster a second on the week my starter is on a bye.
Defense and special teams
Like kickers, the majority of the time, I am taking my D/ST in the last couple of rounds. Every once in a while if position players are thin I will reach for one of the top four defenses and then either not pick a backup D/ST or pick the backup in the next-to-last round before my kicker.
A lot of successful owners will stream defenses weekly based on matchups. There are usually good weekly rankings and strength of schedule rankings available to make the best decisions. I’ll provide my overall top 25 here though so that you can prepare for your drafts.
The Houston Texans defense is an easy top pick for 2026. They’re coming off a strong 2025 season where they allowed the fewest yards and second-fewest points in the league.
The Denver Broncos are another top defense, having led the league with 68 sacks in 2025. Their run defense was also elite, allowing just 3.9 yards per carry.
Because of huge offseason moves, the Los Angeles Rams defense is another top fantasy option for 2026. They traded for Myles Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and Trent McDuffie, an All-Pro cornerback, while also signing Jaylen Watson.
- Houston Texans
- Denver Broncos
- Los Angeles Rams
- Seattle Seahawks
- Philadelphia Eagles
- New England Patriots
- Minnesota Vikings
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Baltimore Ravens
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Green Bay Packers
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Detroit Lions
- Cleveland Browns
- Buffalo Bills
- Atlanta Falcons
- New Orleans Saints
- Indianapolis Colts
- San Francisco 49ers
- Dallas Cowboys
- Miami Dolphins
- New York Giants
- Washington Commanders
- Chicago Bears
That does it for the specialists. Next week, we take a look at the top players to trade for coming out of your drafts as you prepare to start your season.