Cairo Santos or Tyler Loop: Who Should You Start?
Preliminary board2026 Week 1 · deterministic head-to-head · Verdicts based on PPR scoring.
Verdicts sharpen as practice reports land.
Start Loop — the red-zone opportunity and game script edges are too wide to ignore.
Tyler Loop gets more red-zone stalls to kick from (1.9 to 1.4 per game) and plays in the better game script (26.5 implied team points to 23.5). No signal favors Santos this week. The gap is narrow.
Cairo Santos
8.38.38.3 Projected Points
Tyler Loop
8.58.58.5 Projected Points
Why Cairo Santos
SitVeteran starting K. Reliable mid-to-long range placekicker with consistent accuracy.
Sit — K11 by consensus, projects K16 this week: 1.4 red-zone stalls a game, and 8.3 pts projected vs CAR.
- 2.0 FG tries projected, right at the 2.0 league median this week.
- CHI's offense stalls in the red zone 1.4 times a game (2025) — that's where kicker points come from.
- Vegas has CHI at 23.5 points as 2.5-point favorites.
- 83% on field goals (2025), with a 50-plus make in 3 games.
Why Tyler Loop
StartStarting placekicker. Full-season kicking role.
Start — K10 by consensus, projects K13 this week: 1.9 red-zone stalls a game, and 8.5 pts projected vs IND.
- 2.0 FG tries projected, right at the 2.0 league median this week.
- BAL's offense stalls in the red zone 1.9 times a game (2025) — that's where kicker points come from.
- Vegas has BAL at 26.5 points as 3.5-point favorites.
- 88% on field goals (2025), with a 50-plus make in 1 game.
Latest on Loop
Baltimore signed Jake Moody to the practice squad three days after Tyler Loop missed two kicks in the preseason finale.
ESPN · Aug 31, 2026
Jamison Hensley breaks down the kicking situation for the Ravens.
ESPN · Aug 31, 2026
Jamison Hensley discusses whether Tyler Loop's job is in jeopardy after a lackluster preseason.
ESPN · Aug 29, 2026
Reported by the sources listed — not independently verified.
Head-to-head stats
| Metric | Cairo Santos | Tyler Loop |
|---|---|---|
| Projected points | 8.38.38.3 | 8.58.58.5 |
| Consensus rank | K11 | K10 |
| Projected FG attempts | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Red-zone stalls / game | 1.4(2025) | 1.9(2025) |
| Implied total · spread | 23.5-2.5 | 26.5-3.5 |
| Field-goal % | 83.3%(2025) | 88.2%(2025) |
| Depth chart | K1 | K1 |
Signal breakdown
- 8.3 vs 8.5 projected PPR pointsTyler Loop +
- Rank 11 vs 10Tyler Loop +
- 2.0 vs 2.0 projected attemptseven
- 1.4 vs 1.9 red-zone stalls per gameTyler Loop +
- Kicking weathereven
- Implied 23.5 vs 26.5 team pointsTyler Loop +
- No injury designationseven
Compare different players
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