Tiers for kickers? Tiers for DSTs?
Hey look, somebody's gotta draft them.
Generally speaking, kickers and defense/special teams units are the easiest parts of a starting lineup to replace. Therefore, don't get too attached to any DST or kicker unless they're just kicking some serious butt all season long.
I don't think we'll see that from a DST, and we hardly ever see it from a kicker. Nope, not even Justin Tucker.
When I rank my kickers and DSTs, I do it with the elite options up first, then with the early year in mind. That's why you might see some peculiar DSTs in my rankings.
I also combine them in Tiers because we're usually drafting kickers and DSTs with our final picks. Or at least you should. Neither position should go before the third-to-last round of your draft.
Dave's Tiers updated through Aug. 30: QB | RB | WR | TE | K/DST
Third-to-last round | Second-to-last round | Last round |
| Browns DST | Ravens DST | Seahawks DST |
| 49ers DST | Cowboys DST | Matt Prater |
| Jets DST | Evan McPherson | Dustin Hopkins |
| Justin Tucker | Harrison Butker | Tyler Bass |
| Brandon Aubrey | Ka'imi Fairbairn | Eagles DST |
| | Chargers DST | Steelers DST |
| | Texans DST | Bears DST |
| | | Younghoe Koo |
| | | Jake Bates |
| | | Cameron Dicker |
| | | Bills DST |
| | | Jason Myers |