After two straight very strong weeks, my picks weren’t quite as good in Week 8. On the bright side,my top kicking pick Rob Bironas hit two field goals beyond 50 yards. I won’t bore you with the busts I made, so we’ll get straight to the players that will do well in special teams next week.
Kick Returners
Leon Washington – Last week he had a huge game against the Bengals with five returns for 142 yards. The Cowboys should be able to get even more points than the Bengals, which should mean around the same number of returns. Dallas kicker Dan Bailey has just 65.6 yards per kickoff which is amongst the lowest in the league, which has led to 72% of his kickoffs getting returned.
Devin Hester – After a rough week, I’ll cheat a little and go with a starting receiver who also returns kicks. Over the past two weeks he has seen just three returns, but this season he’s averaged 26.8 yards per return which is amongst the best of returns with at least ten returns. The Eagles seem hot right now, which should mean the Eagles will score a bit, and the rookie kicker has had 61.5% of his kicks returned.
Joe McKnight – He has somehow managed 40 yards a return so far this year, which typically when you see that kind of number you think it’s on two or three total returns. However McKnight has returned the ball 13 times so far. He goes up against the Bills and Rian Lindell, who has allowed two thirds of his kickoffs to be returned, so even if McKnight gets just three opportunities he should do well.
Kickers
Matt Bryant – It will basically be a standard to take whichever kicker is playing the Colts and place him here. Bryant has been perfect at field goals, making all 11 of his kicks and half of them coming at a distance beyond 40 yards. The Falcons have had a rough schedule so far, so they can likely take that out against Indianapolis in a blow out to at least attempt to match the Saints performance.
Ryan Succop – While he had a rough start to the season missing three field goals in the first three weeks; he’s been a perfect eight for eight from Week 4 on. This should be the easiest opponent the Chiefs have the rest of the way in the Miami Dolphins. In the past he hasn’t been given the same opportunities as other kickers, but for at least one week that will be different.
David Akers – Other than missing kicks against his former team, he has been perfect on the year. Over the past three games he has made at least two field goals each week, and against a stumbling Redskins teams the opportunities should be there. The 49ers are a typical team that you know has some offense, but just not enough to always make it to the end zone.
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