Daniel Carlson or Tyler Bass: Who Should You Start?

Preliminary board

2026 Week 1 · deterministic head-to-head · Verdicts based on PPR scoring.

Verdicts sharpen as practice reports land.

Too close to call — the edges cancel out.

Daniel Carlson and Tyler Bass grade out even this week. Carlson's best edge is attempt volume (2.1 to 1.8 projected attempts), Bass's best edge is the game script (23.5 implied points to 20.8) — and they cancel out. Start whichever player's game you trust more this week.

Daniel Carlson

Daniel Carlson

K21NOvs DET

Projected Points

Toss-Up
Tyler Bass

Tyler Bass

K20BUFvs HOU

Projected Points

Sit

Why Daniel Carlson

Toss-Up

Toss-up — K21 by consensus, projects K23 this week: kicks indoors, and 1.5 red-zone stalls a game.

  • Kicks indoors — no weather risk.
  • 2.1 FG tries projected, just over the 2.0 league median this week.
  • NO's offense stalls in the red zone 1.5 times a game (2025) — that's where kicker points come from.
  • Vegas has NO at 20.8 points as 7-point dogs.

Latest on Carlson

Saints to sign two-time All-Pro kicker Daniel Carlson

The Saints are signing free agent kicker Daniel Carlson, his agents told The NFL Network's Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport.

ESPN · Aug 24, 2026

Reported by the sources listed — not independently verified.

Why Tyler Bass

Sit

Sit — K20 by consensus, projects K27 this week: 1.3 red-zone stalls a game, and 7.5 pts projected vs HOU.

  • 1.8 FG tries projected, just under the 2.0 league median this week.
  • BUF's offense stalls in the red zone 1.3 times a game (2025) — that's where kicker points come from.
  • Vegas has BUF at 23.5 points as 1.5-point favorites.

Head-to-head stats

MetricDaniel CarlsonTyler Bass
Projected points
Consensus rankK21K20
Projected FG attempts2.11.8
Red-zone stalls / game1.5(2025)1.3(2025)
Kicking conditionsIndoors, no weather risk
Implied total · spread20.8+7.023.5-1.5
Field-goal %81.5%(2025)
Depth chartK1K1

Signal breakdown

  • 7.7 vs 7.5 projected PPR pointsDaniel Carlson +
  • Rank 21 vs 20Tyler Bass +
  • 2.1 vs 1.8 projected attemptsDaniel Carlson +
  • 1.5 vs 1.3 red-zone stalls per gameDaniel Carlson +
  • Kicking weathereven
  • Implied 20.8 vs 23.5 team pointsTyler Bass +
  • No injury designationseven

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