Cam Little or Jake Bates: Toss-Up — Week 1 Start/Sit Verdict

Too close to call — the edges cancel out.

Cam Little and Jake Bates grade out even this week. Little's best edge is red-zone opportunity (1.6 to 1.4 stalls per game), Bates's best edge is the game script (27.8 implied points to 24.0) — and they cancel out. Start whichever player's game you trust more this week.

Cam Little

K6JAXvs CLE

8.88.88.8 Projected Points

Start

Jake Bates

K8DETvs NO

8.78.78.7 Projected Points

Start· medium

Why Cam Little

Start

Starting K with elite leg strength. Proven range well beyond 55 yards.

Start — K6 by consensus, projects K7 this week: 1.6 red-zone stalls a game, and 8.8 pts projected vs CLE.

Calm forecast at kickoff.
2.1 FG tries projected, just over the 2.0 league median this week.
JAX's offense stalls in the red zone 1.6 times a game (2025) — that's where kicker points come from.
Vegas has JAX at 24 points as 7.5-point favorites.

Why Jake Bates

Start· medium

Starting PK with a massive leg. Big-range field goal threat beyond 55.

K9 in a dome with a 27.8 implied total — 2.9 projected XPs plus 1.7 makes and 50-plus range give Bates a top-10 floor.

Kicks indoors — no weather risk.
1.9 FG tries projected, just under the 2.0 league median this week.
DET's offense stalls in the red zone 1.4 times a game (2025) — that's where kicker points come from.
Vegas has DET at 27.8 points as 7-point favorites.

The call

The 27.8 implied team total as a 7-point favorite is the key number: that volume of scoring means 2.9 projected extra points on top of 1.7 made field goals, which is exactly how kickers hit 8-plus.
Dome game, no weather risk — one of the few variables that actually separates kickers is neutralized here.
Locked-in PK1 with no injury designation, 79% accuracy (27/34) and a 59-yard long with 50-plus makes in 4 games, so the long-range upside is live.
Only mild caution: 1.9 projected attempts and 1.4 red-zone stalls per game mean he needs the offense to keep stalling short of the goal line for field-goal volume, so the score leans XP-dependent.

Head-to-head stats

Metric	Cam Little	Jake Bates
Projected points	8.88.88.8	8.78.78.7
Consensus rank	K6	K8
Projected FG attempts	2.1	1.9
Red-zone stalls / game	1.6(2025)	1.4(2025)
Kicking conditions	Calm forecast at kickoff	Indoors, no weather risk
Implied total · spread	24.0-7.5	27.8-7.0
Field-goal %	88.2%(2025)	79.4%(2025)
Depth chart	K1	K1
Start/Sit record	—	0–0+1 toss-up