Chase McLaughlin or Nick Folk: Who Should You Start?
Preliminary board2026 Week 1 · deterministic head-to-head · Verdicts based on PPR scoring.
Verdicts sharpen as practice reports land.
Start McLaughlin — the game script and consensus rank edges are too wide to ignore.
Chase McLaughlin plays in the better game script (23.5 implied team points to 19.8) and is the higher consensus play (K15 to K17). No signal favors Folk this week. The gap is narrow.
Chase McLaughlin
K15TBvs CIN
8.48.48.4 Projected Points
Toss-Up
Nick Folk
K17ATLvs PIT
7.87.87.8 Projected Points
Sit
Why Chase McLaughlin
Toss-UpVeteran starting placekicker. Reliable leg with strong field-goal accuracy.
Toss-up — K15 consensus and projection: 1.4 red-zone stalls a game, and 8.4 pts projected vs CIN.
- 2.0 FG tries projected, right at the 2.0 league median this week.
- TB's offense stalls in the red zone 1.4 times a game (2025) — that's where kicker points come from.
- Vegas has TB at 23.5 points as 3.5-point dogs.
- 84% on field goals (2025), with a 50-plus make in 7 games.
Why Nick Folk
SitVeteran starting K. Steady, accurate kicker with long-distance experience.
Sit — K17 by consensus, projects K22 this week: 1.2 red-zone stalls a game, and 7.8 pts projected vs PIT.
- 2.0 FG tries projected, right at the 2.0 league median this week.
- ATL's offense stalls in the red zone 1.2 times a game (2025) — that's where kicker points come from.
- Vegas has ATL at 19.8 points as 3-point dogs.
- 97% on field goals (2025), with a 50-plus make in 6 games.
Head-to-head stats
| Metric | Chase McLaughlin | Nick Folk |
|---|---|---|
| Projected points | 8.48.48.4 | 7.87.87.8 |
| Consensus rank | K15 | K17 |
| Projected FG attempts | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Red-zone stalls / game | 1.4(2025) | 1.2(2025) |
| Implied total · spread | 23.5+3.5 | 19.8+3.0 |
| Field-goal % | 84.2%(2025) | 96.6%(2025) |
| Depth chart | K1 | K1 |
| Start/Sit record | 0–0+1 toss-up | — |
Signal breakdown
- 8.4 vs 7.8 projected PPR pointsChase McLaughlin +
- Rank 15 vs 17Chase McLaughlin +
- 2.0 vs 2.0 projected attemptseven
- 1.4 vs 1.2 red-zone stalls per gameChase McLaughlin +
- Kicking weathereven
- Implied 23.5 vs 19.8 team pointsChase McLaughlin +
- No injury designationseven
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