FanHouse NickFolk

Another week, another fantasy football ranking with Stephen Gostkowski atop kickers. He is second overall in kicking points (three behind Lawrence Tynes), but we expect Tynes to be kicking extra points against the lowly Raiders. Gostkowski's Patriots will face a tough Broncos defense. They'll be able to move the ball, so you'll see a mix of field goals and extra points, during what will result in double-digit fantasy points for Mr. Gostkowski.

1. Stephen Gostkowski, NE at DEN
2. Neil Rackers, ARI vs. HOU
3. Josh Scobee, JAX at SEA
4. Nick Folk, DAL at KC
5. Steven Hauschka, BAL vs. CIN

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The playoffs are either upon us or one week away in the majority of fantasy football leagues. With this in mind, Fantasy FanHouse is examining what you can expect from the fantasy relevant players on each team.

Dallas Cowboys

The opposing defenses: at PIT (1st against pass, 1st against run), vs. NYG (10th against pass, 5th against run), vs. BAL (2nd against pass, 3rd against run)
The skinny: Ouch. This is quite the tall order for a team with lots of fantasy weapons -- when healthy. The 'Boys have revved up that offense in the past two weeks, but it was against lesser defenses. Statistically, the Giants are the worst defense the Cowboys will face this fantasy playoff season. That just sounds bad, doesn't it? You still probably have to stick with the studs, but after that it's a huge fall-off.
The must-starts: None
The likely starts: Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Jason Witten, Nick Folk
The spot-start: Marion Barber (only because he's injured -- if he's totally healthy he's a must-start)
The no-starts: Roy Williams, Tashard Choice, Martellus Bennett, Miles Austin, Patrick Crayton
The D/ST: The status partially hinges upon the health of DeMarcus Ware, but this group can get to the quarterback with the best of 'em, and they have big play ability in the secondary. They are a low-end starter at this point.

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

It's no secret that opposing teams score points on the Lions. The Titans are coming into Ford Field with a massive chip on their shoulder, following a loss at home. They won't find many problems, and that includes their kicker, Rob Bironas. He'll feel quite comfortable inside.

Nick Folk is coming off a 19-fantasy-point day, and the Cowboys get another hapless defense. Hopefully the Cowboys' offense doesn't score only touchdowns.

I also love both night-game kickers, as the Cardinals and Eagles should be able to move the ball. There's a good chance of many kicking points in that game.

All told, four of this week's top six kickers are participating on Thanksgiving.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Rob Bironas, at DET
2. Nick Folk, vs. SEA
3. Rian Lindell, vs. SF
4. Jason Elam, at SD
5. Neil Rackers, at PHI

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

The Broncos offense is really good. The Raiders defense is pretty bad, but they've been able to put the clamps on teams in the red zone and in the passing attack recently. The two teams are playing each other in the sea-level-challenged confines of Denver.

I'm smelling a good fantasy kicker! Loving some Matt Prater this week.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Matt Prater, vs. OAK
2. Jason Elam, vs. CAR
3. Jeff Reed, vs. CIN
4. Stephen Gostkowski, at MIA
5. Nick Folk, vs. SF

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

Nick Folk was pretty much the consensus number one kicker this preseason, no matter where you looked. I have had the pleasure of avoiding the disappointment of owning him, because he was pretty much always taken before the last round and I thankfully have a rule against that.

This week, though, he's back. The Cowboys are coming off a bye week in which they got nearly all their weapons healthy, most importantly Tony Romo. I expect the scoreboard operator to be busy in Washington, and we can't expect the Cowboys to totally be firing on all cylinders, which means a few stalled drives mixed in with the multiple TDs. Plus, Folk's just the best kicker in the league when given the chance to be.

More analysis after the rankings.

1. Nick Folk, at WAS
2. Jason Elam, at ATL
3. Matt Prater, vs. DEN
4. Rob Bironas, at JAX
5. Matt Bryant, vs. MIN

When news today hit that Dallas quarterback and fantasy superstar Tony Romo would be sidelined four weeks with a broken pinkie finger, many people made that same fantasy owner face: "Oh no, how will this affect my team?"

This news comes right off a three-touchdown, 321-yard performance that had most owners smiling in their blue and white, but now will have to look at other options still available on the wire. Even after that petty performance against the Chargers, Matt Cassel faces the worst pass defense in the NFL with the Broncos next Monday night. Also, Matt Schaub is up against the Lions, Bengals and Vikings for the next three weeks, so as far as replacements, you could probably do worse.

The thing with the Romo injury is it isn't just the Tony owners that will feel the effects of this. Like a nasty aftershock to an earthquake, owners of some of the other Dallas stars will be closely monitoring this situation. Here are some of the key fantasy players coming out of Dallas and which way their numbers might go over the next four weeks.

Marion Barber -- At first glance a logical person might assume his numbers will decrease. A solid running option for a passing team, Barber tends to get his yards when the defense is keyed up on the big play, something Romo and company tend to favor. So, with Brad Johnson behind center, defense stack the box, right? Well, I believe they take away some of his rushing yards but quarterbacks that are tossed in these type of situations normally take some time to get comfortable with the deep pass. This could spell dump-downs for Barber, who tends to make the best out of a five-yard pass. Look for Barber's numbers to stay fairly level to the pre-pinkie days.

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Here's Week 6 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory.

Studs

Drew Brees, QB NO (26-30, 320 yards, three touchdowns) -- Brees is slowly become the elite of the elite at his position, carding his fifth game in six weeks with at least 320 passing yards. The Purdue graduate is basically picking apart opposing defenses week in and week out and is on pace to eclipse Dan Marino's single season passing yardage record set in 1984. After the game, new head coach Tom Cable of Oakland said, "You have to use him as a model if you are the Oakland Raiders." Now 3-3, Brees and the Saints will face an exposed Panthers defense next week and then host a Chargers secondary that gave up 350 yards to Jay Cutler in Week 2. Needless to say, don't expect his numbers to drop.

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

Once again, we'll try to find a kicker who plays on a capable offensive team ... that has the chance to sputter inside the red zone. I'm going with Matt Prater. The Broncos can throw the ball, but they are likely to be without Tony Scheffler and maybe even Eddie Royal. That means blanket coverage on Brandon Marshall by the Jags physical secondary. Plus, the Broncos haven't run the ball especially well, so the coverage gets tighter as the ball approaches the end-zone and the field shortens. Finally, Matt Prater has a booming leg and kicks in thin air.

I'd like to say that was fun. Still, it's a job ... some more:

- Not sure how the Browns can keep the juggernaut Giants out of the end-zone ... but extra points still count for one, and if the G-Men falter one time you're looking at a nine point day. John Carney is kicking for the Giants this weekend, by the way, not Lawrence Tynes.

- I finally love Shayne Graham. The Jets are just bad enough to allow points, but good enough to stop the Bengals deep.

- Robbie Gould never disappoints. Ever.

1. Matt Prater, vs. JAX
2. Shayne Graham, @ NYJ
3. Nick Folk, @ AZ
4. John Carney, @ CLE
5. Robbie Gould, @ ATL

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

The top two kickers on pretty much every rankings sheet heading into the season were Nick Folk and Shayne Graham. Folk currently sits 16th in fantasy points and Graham is all the way down at 25th. This is why, from time to time, I say this position should be eliminated from fantasy. You can't educate yourself into a fantasy kicking expert, because it's a total crapshoot.

For this week, I think the Bears will find themselves in Detroit's red zone quite frequently, so I'm throwing Gould atop the rankings. The same goes for Lindell, Prater, and Scobee. Those teams have the capability to get into field goal range and then not convert into TDs.

I do expect Nick Folk to be busy, but extra points are only worth one. As for Graham, well, do we really think the Bengals will score? I don't.

1. Robbie Gould, @ DET
2. Rian Lindell, @ ARI
3. Matt Prater, vs. TB
4. Josh Scobee, vs. PIT
5. Neil Rackers, vs. BUF

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

Honestly, no one else even had a chance. When I saw Josh Scobee sprint about 60 yards and mug a ball-dude (pictured here ... seriously, he's ripping at it like he plays for Lovie Smith) for the football which he booted as the game-winner, I knew I had my number one kicker for week four. That was awesome. You know when people say something like, "act like you've been there before?" Well, he has. He had already kicked a long game-winner against the Colts in his career. Whatever. It doesn't matter. He's my boy now.

- Loving the chances of the Titans being held out of the endzone by the Vikes, yet getting close enough in the field position game to give Rob Bironas several long field goals.

1. Josh Scobee, vs. Hou
2. Rob Bironas, vs. Min
3. Nick Folk, vs. Was
4. Mason Crosby, @ TB
5. David Akers, @ Chi