Chiefs Keep Butker Over Tucker in Week 8 — But the Clock Is Ticking
Butker is 11-for-16 (68.8%) and just missed two in a Week 7 blowout. Kansas City signed Justin Tucker to the practice squad anyway.
A 68.8% kicker with Tucker lurking is not a startable fantasy PK.
- Butker 11-for-16 on FGs, 68.8% — career worst
- Missed two FGs in Week 7's 20-3 loss to Seattle
- Tucker went 30-for-30 in his Chiefs tryout
- Butker: 47 PPR pts through 6 games (2026)
- Tucker ranks #1 at PK in our model, #26 overall
Kansas City is sticking with Harrison Butker against Denver on Sunday, even though his season has quietly become a problem. Butker is just 11-for-16 on field goals in 2026 — a 68.8% conversion rate that's by far the worst of his career — and he capped a brutal stretch by missing two kicks in last week's 20-3 loss to Seattle. Andy Reid said Butker will "probably" keep the job in Week 8, and special teams coordinator Dave Toub was even firmer about it.
Here's the twist: the Chiefs brought three kickers in for workouts this week and then signed eight-time All-Pro Justin Tucker to their practice squad. Tucker reportedly went a perfect 30-for-30 in his tryout, and Toub said 60% of those kicks landed inside a six-foot window dead center of the uprights. That's not a courtesy look. That's a team taking notes.
Why Tucker Isn't Playing Yet
Toub insists this is about fixing Butker, not replacing him — he framed the Tucker signing as both insurance and a mentorship play. Tucker knows what a slump feels like: he missed a career-high eight of 30 attempts in his final Ravens season, then sat out all of 2025 serving a 10-game suspension. Toub also pointed to Butker going 10-for-10 at Wednesday's practice through 28-mph wind gusts as proof the real version is still in there.
Believe that if you want. The reality is a future Hall of Fame kicker is sitting on the practice squad, fully eligible to dress, after torching a demanding 30-kick audition. The leash on Butker just got dramatically shorter, and everyone in that building knows it.
The Fantasy Angle
Butker sits at #191 overall in our model and 24th among kickers, with just 47 PPR points through six games in 2026 — and his last five outings have run 7.8 fantasy points below his season average. That's a bottom-tier PK you shouldn't be rostering in standard leagues anyway, and the missed kicks only make his weekly floor scarier. Tucker, by contrast, grades out as our #1 kicker (#26 overall) off his 126-point 2024 campaign.
The move: sit or drop Butker in any format where you can stream the position. If you're in a deeper league and you've got a bench spot to speculate, stash Tucker now — the first time Butker misses in a close game, Kansas City's hand gets forced, and a Chiefs kicker is instant fantasy gold.
