Start Chris Boswell over Chase McLaughlin — Week 1 Start/Sit Verdict

Start Boswell — the consensus rank and projection edges are too wide to ignore.

Chris Boswell is the higher consensus play (K6 to K14) and projects 9.0 to McLaughlin's 8.4. McLaughlin's edge is red-zone opportunity, 1.4 to 1.2 stalls per game. The gap is narrow.

Chase McLaughlin

K14TBvs CIN

8.48.48.4 Projected Points

Start· medium

Chris Boswell

K6PITvs ATL

9.09.09.0 Projected Points

Start· medium

Why Chase McLaughlin

Start· medium

Starting placekicker with big-leg range and a 65-yard career long. Reliable from distance, though his 84.9% career accuracy sits around league average.

K14 undersells him: 1.4 red-zone stalls per game feed steady tries, 84% accuracy and seven 50-plus makes give him range most kickers can't match.

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.

The call

Tampa stalls in the red zone 1.4 times per game, which is exactly the profile that turns a 23.5 implied total into FG attempts rather than touchdown-only extra points — the sheet projects 2.0 attempts plus 2.1 extra points.
McLaughlin is 32-of-38 (84%) with a make from 50-plus in 7 games and a long of 65, so drives that stall near midfield still convert into points for you — that's real upside above his 8.4 projection.
Locked in as PK1 with no injury designation in a 3.5-point game, meaning the script stays competitive and the offense keeps kicking rather than sitting on a blowout lead.
Only caution is the open roof with no forecast yet; if game-day wind spikes, a dome kicker on the waiver wire becomes the safer play.

Why Chris Boswell

Start· medium

Starting PK and one of the league's most accurate. Big leg with proven cold-weather clutch production.

Boswell is the K12 play with a 22.8 implied total, 2.1 projected FG tries and 1.2 red-zone stalls per game feeding the leg.

2.1 FG tries projected, just over the 2.0 league median this week.
PIT's offense stalls in the red zone 1.2 times a game (2025) — that's where kicker points come from.
Vegas has PIT at 22.8 points as 3-point favorites.
84% on field goals (2025), with a 50-plus make in 6 games.

The call

Consensus K12 at 9.0 projected points is squarely startable in a 12-team league — no replacement-level kicker beats that baseline.
Pittsburgh's 22.8 implied total plus 1.2 red-zone stalls per game funnels drives into field-goal tries: 1.9 makes on 2.1 attempts with 2.4 extra points projected.
He's the locked-in PK1 with no designation, hitting 84% (27/32) and connecting from 50-plus in six games with a 60-yard long, so distance isn't a cap on his range.
Only real wrinkle is an open roof with no forecast yet — check wind before kickoff, but nothing in the sheet suggests a problem.

Head-to-head stats

Metric	Chase McLaughlin	Chris Boswell
Projected points	8.48.48.4	9.09.09.0
Consensus rank	K14	K6
Projected FG attempts	2.0	2.1
Red-zone stalls / game	1.4(2025)	1.2(2025)
Implied total · spread	23.5+3.5	22.8-3.0
Field-goal %	84.2%(2025)	84.4%(2025)
Depth chart	K1	K1
Start/Sit record	0–0+1 toss-up	—