The Salary Cap Roundtable Series
Joining a salary cap league can be intimidating for even a seasoned fantasy football player. Fortunately, the Footballguys staff has experience in this format and will help you. Over the summer, we'll cover various topics ranging from basic to advanced strategies.
Positional Allocation
Quarterbacks
Tight Ends
Wide Receivers
Running Backs
Kickers & Defenses
Myths, Mistakes, and Misconceptions
If your league has them, how do you treat the kicker and defense positions? Do you ever spend more than $1 on either of these positions? If so, what circumstance would make you do so?
Jeff Haseley
I will try to spend as little as possible on my kicker and defense. For the kicker position, I will target a veteran on a good offense. Dustin Hopkins (LAC) and Brandon McManus (DEN) are good targets this year. $1 should suffice for either. For defense, I will target a team with a good early schedule that I can stream for the rest of the way unless I find a gem. Denver, Indianapolis, and Baltimore are good targets that you may be able to get a $1.
Chad Parsons
In my memory, I have never spent more than a dollar on a kicker or defense. The only outlier circumstances might be where the positions score particularly well and there are no waivers with bigger rosters. If kickers are going for multiple dollars, I can see spending a little extra for the job security of some kickers over others on the shaky side. As for defense, it is so tough to pinpoint the top-scoring units year over year that being a serial waiver wire player has been my go-to approach for years. If the salary cap format is such that all defenses will be rostered then allocating a few extra dollars to the position is the pivot.
Jeff Bell
I would never spend over $1 on one of these positions. Kicker, I try to grab a piece of a high-value offense and wait until someone high-end gets dropped during bye weeks. I aim to stream defenses unless I find an elite defense that was mispriced.
Ryan Weisse
I play both of these positions as if I will be streaming all season long, so I never spend more than $1. The way I spend on other positions, I usually cannot afford more than $1 here anyway.
Christian Williams
These positions are the two most volatile year-to-year and week-to-week. From my perspective, anything over $1 becomes an overpay due to the waiver activity and ability to stream the positions.