*The ups and downs of Dougie Smalls

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The S21 Round 2 kicker has had an up and down S22, to say the least. After a mediocre season kicking in S21, fans and media were unsure what to expect. In Week 1, Smalls hit 4 of 4 field goals in the season opening loss in Colorado, including two from over 40 yards. Smalls was a bright spot in a bad opening start for a stacked Yellowknife team and a huge hit for his fantasy football owners (which were few).

In the next two weeks, Smalls would keep his accuracy streak up, hitting 4 more field goals and 100% of his extra points. But in Week 4, fans quickly begin to question the kicker again. As he missed an easy extra point and an easy 30 yard field goal. Both of which were critical, in the 23 to 20 win over the struggling Baltimore Hawks. In the next few weeks, his struggles would continue, missing two more extra points. Not a great look for the kicker who was once touted as the most accurate kicker in the SEC.

Many fans blamed the inaccuracy on a lack of focus on football, as Smalls announced his Championship Fighting Universe career in the offseason. Smalls has proclaimed multiple times that football is his number one priority, but getting TKOed in his 2nd career fight, which happened during football season, doesn’t sit well with the critics.

However, this week’s game pointed to a comeback for Smalls, repeating his top fantasy performance from Week 1 with 4 critical field goals, again with two from over 40 yards. With 5 weeks left, where will Smalls end in the kicker rankings? Can he recover from his missed extra point bug? Or maybe more important to fans, can he help a playoff bound Yellowknife team finally change the ending?

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