I am so happy we have finally made it to December. Even though the weather here in Chicago has been far more appropriate for September or October, I love December. I love snow—except when I have to drive—and Christmas shopping and the fantasy playoffs. I also love the way the tight end position is shaping up for DFS this week.
November was pretty boring at tight end. We reached a point a few weeks ago where it seems like all the tight ends were appropriately priced, especially the bargain options. Due to players suffering or returning from injuries, that is no longer the case. The premium options now cost about what they should, while there are several value and bargain options who are underpriced. I may still play Antonio Gates or Greg Olsen in a lineup or two, but mostly I am going cheap at tight end this week.
| FanDuel | Draft Kings | Fantasy Feud | ||||||||||||
| Player | Tm | Opp | HorA | Tar/G | Rec/G | Yds/G | TD/G | $ | PTS/G | Opp Pts Allowed | $ | PTS/G | $ | PTS/G |
| Greg Olsen | CAR | ATL | home | 8.7 | 5.2 | 76.4 | 0.5 | 6600 | 12.35 | 12.4 | 6900 | 16.48 | 115500 | 12.35 |
| Jordan Reed | WAS | CHI | away | 8.3 | 5.8 | 57.4 | 0.6 | 5900 | 11.01 | 6.4 | 5100 | 14.94 | 97900 | 11.01 |
| Delanie Walker | TEN | NYJ | away | 7.8 | 6.1 | 72.7 | 0.4 | 6100 | 11.22 | 7.3 | 5600 | 16 | 116200 | 11.22 |
| Tyler Eifert | CIN | PIT | home | 6.2 | 4.2 | 47.5 | 1.1 | 6300 | 12.17 | 11.2 | 5600 | 15.75 | 113400 | 12.17 |
| Travis Kelce | KC | SD | home | 6.8 | 4.7 | 60.9 | 0.3 | 6000 | 10.38 | 12.6 | 4700 | 13.18 | 108800 | 10.38 |
| Antonio Gates | SD | KC | away | 8.7 | 5.6 | 60.1 | 0.6 | 5700 | 7.35 | 6.1 | 4600 | 15.01 | 93000 | 7.35 |
| Gary Barnidge | CLE | SF | home | 7.8 | 5 | 68.1 | 0.6 | 6200 | 13.02 | 6.9 | 5000 | 16.06 | 89900 | 13.02 |
| Scott Chandler | NE | HOU | away | 3.4 | 1.9 | 21.6 | 0.3 | 5800 | 4.99 | 8.6 | 3800 | 6.08 | 87800 | 4.99 |
| Jacob Tamme | ATL | CAR | away | 6 | 4.3 | 49.2 | 0.1 | 5200 | 7.13 | 8.4 | 3400 | 10.01 | 70900 | 7.13 |
| Benjamin Watson | NO | TB | away | 6.3 | 4.5 | 53.5 | 0.3 | 5300 | 8.97 | 9.7 | 4400 | 12.27 | 73100 | 8.97 |
| Julius Thomas | JAC | IND | home | 7 | 3.9 | 37.3 | 0.5 | 5900 | 5.38 | 10.9 | 4200 | 10.98 | 90600 | 5.38 |
| Jason Witten | DAL | GB | away | 6.7 | 5 | 46.2 | 0.2 | 5500 | 7.62 | 11.9 | 4500 | 10.53 | 65800 | 7.62 |
| Charles Clay | BUF | PHI | away | 6.3 | 4.2 | 43.3 | 0.3 | 5100 | 7.46 | 7.7 | 3500 | 10.24 | 62900 | 7.46 |
| Austin Seferian-Jenkins | TB | NO | home | 5.3 | 3.3 | 56.7 | 0.7 | 5500 | 2.62 | 16.3 | 2700 | 14 | 75700 | 2.62 |
| Richard Rodgers | GB | DAL | home | 5.7 | 4 | 36.6 | 0.5 | 5600 | 8.54 | 6.8 | 3900 | 11.17 | 77600 | 8.54 |
| Heath Miller | PIT | CIN | away | 5.1 | 3.5 | 35.5 | 0.1 | 5400 | 5.42 | 8.5 | 3200 | 8.09 | 55900 | 5.42 |
| Crockett Gillmore | BAL | SEA | home | 4.7 | 3.3 | 41.2 | 0.4 | 5200 | 6.88 | 12.2 | 3300 | 10.12 | 49800 | 6.88 |
| Jordan Cameron | MIA | NYG | home | 4.8 | 2.2 | 25.5 | 0.2 | 5000 | 4.5 | 14.3 | 2500 | 5.72 | 41800 | 4.5 |
| Kyle Rudolph | MIN | ARI | away | 5.1 | 3.3 | 29.5 | 0.3 | 5000 | 6.2 | 7.8 | 3600 | 8.45 | 60500 | 6.2 |
| Owen Daniels | DEN | OAK | home | 5 | 2.9 | 31.3 | 0.3 | 5200 | 5.62 | 13.6 | 2800 | 7.79 | 52400 | 5.62 |
| Zach Ertz | PHI | BUF | home | 6 | 3.6 | 36.6 | 0.1 | 5000 | 5.78 | 8.8 | 2600 | 7.85 | 54200 | 5.78 |
| Eric Ebron | DET | STL | away | 4.8 | 3.1 | 35.7 | 0.4 | 4900 | 6.02 | 9.4 | 3000 | 9.07 | 50600 | 6.02 |
| Coby Fleener | IND | JAC | away | 5.5 | 3.6 | 31 | 0.2 | 4900 | 5.76 | 13.7 | 3000 | 7.85 | 50800 | 5.76 |
| Will Tye | NYG | MIA | away | 4.1 | 2.7 | 32.9 | 4900 | 3.15 | 8.8 | 2800 | 5.84 | 48900 | 3.15 | |
| Dwayne Allen | IND | JAC | away | 2.3 | 1.3 | 10.7 | 0.1 | 4600 | 1.78 | 13.7 | 2500 | 2.97 | 30000 | 1.78 |
| Luke Willson | SEA | BAL | away | 1.9 | 1.3 | 17.1 | 0.1 | 4800 | 3.3 | 7.4 | 2500 | 3.53 | 40000 | 3.3 |
| Ladarius Green | SD | KC | away | 4.7 | 3.1 | 36.3 | 0.4 | 5000 | 5.75 | 6.1 | 3000 | 9.53 | 49800 | 5.75 |
| Vernon Davis | DEN | OAK | home | 5 | 3 | 32.3 | 5200 | 1.4 | 13.6 | 2900 | 5.6 | 43200 | 1.4 | |
| Clive Walford | OAK | DEN | away | 2.4 | 1.5 | 17 | 0.3 | 4700 | 3.86 | 10.4 | 2500 | 4.7 | 32700 | 3.86 |
Premium Options
Gates has proven he is an elite fantasy tight end when healthy, and he is relatively healthy now. Gates has at least 50 receiving yards in six of his seven games this season.
He is clearly the top fantasy tight end if Rob Gronkowski is out again. Olsen costs a lot more than Gates, especially on DraftKings, but he may be worth the price.
Value Options
Chandler is only a value option on DraftKings, but his price on that site is so low, I had to mention it here. Chandler is priced the same as Antonio Gates on FanDuel and FantasyFeud, and while that feels right to me, I slightly prefer Gates.
I would be lying if I told you I know what Austin Seferian-Jenkins is. He had five catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns Week 1, missed nine games due to injury, and then caught three passes for 31 yards last week. I’m not convinced Seferian-Jenkins will have more than five receptions in any game this season while Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson are healthy. As much as anything, this is a pick against the Saints’ defense, which is really terrible. I probably won’t play him next week, when he will likely cost a lot more.
Tamme has scored just one touchdown this season, which is why his price is so low. He is clearly limited by Atlanta’s stagnant offense, but I have to believe he has also run into some bad luck. Tamme is a pretty nice value at this price, and he will be a very good play if he finds the end zone.
Bargain Options
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Zach MillerWith Martellus Bennett on IR with broken ribs, Miller should see nearly all of the Bears’ tight end targets Sunday. Miller had just two catches for 10 yards in the one game Bennett missed this season, but one of those catches was for a touchdown. Miller is dealing with his own cracked rib, and Washington has been pretty stingy to opposing tight ends, but there is no doubt he is underpriced this week.
The only thing Tye hasn’t done since Larry Donnell went down is score a touchdown, but even with all of the Giants’ red zone weapons, Tye should hit pay dirt sooner or later. Tye is averaging 4.7 receptions for 66.7 yards in his last three games, and I will gladly take those numbers at this price.