The sands of time are slipping through our fingers here folks. And there’s really only a few grains (games) left. Luckily for us in the tight end world however, there’s actually an abundance of good tight end options. So many that running two tight end sets in DFS isn’t a crazy thought. So, as always, let’s dig into the big slate this week and navigate which pivotal play might form the selection of big fellas. 

As a reminder, here is how we separate the groups here.  We do it this way so that you have an option no matter how much (or how little) money you have available to spend on tight end.

Top Tier:  the safest and most expensive guys available if you want to pay up

Mid Tier: affordable players that offer the best bang for your buck

Value Tier: the bargain bin players that are risky by nature but can have the huge upside in terms of value created

Fades: The guys we feel are the worst value proposition that you should actively avoid

For Week 2 we now have actual statistical information from the first week to analyze so this is where the real money is made.

Be sure to check out the rest of the NFL DFS Coaches and DFS Watch List throughout the week!

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NFL DFS TE Top Pick

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs

Travis Kelce had a down year. So much so that he described his People’s Choice Athlete of the Year nomination as “F***ing nonsense”. But you know what else is nonsense? His pricing this week. He’s an incredibly affordable $6,000 on DraftKings (12% of your budget) and $7,100 on FanDuel (11.8%) but his pricing on Yahoo is absurd. He’s $16 which is only 8% of your budget. There are FOUR tight ends priced higher than Kelce. Because they meet in the playoffs so often, these teams have played six times over the last few years. And Kelce has averaged 23.6 fantasy points in those games. Even in his “down year”, he got 10 targets and had 83 yards earlier this year when they met. Kelce had three drops in the extreme cold this past week but still managed to catch his other seven passes for 71 yards. Kelce is the play at the high end and folks are going to be off of him for once in favor of guys like LaPorta and Kittle.

 

NFL DFS TE Mid-tier Picks

Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills

We’re going to come right back the other way in this game with Dalton Kincaid in the mid-range. Since getting his shoulder and his thumb healthy, Kincaid has bounced back nicely with at least six targets in all three of his last games. Even in a tough matchup with the Steelers he was able to find paydirt. L’Jarius Sneed has been a huge problem for WR1s in recent weeks so he's going to be all over Stefon Diggs. If Kincaid doesn’t step up in this one, the Bills are in big trouble. Kincaid is the second highest priced tight end on FanDuel so we aren’t using him there most likely. He’s about 9.5% of your budget on Yahoo and DraftKings but he’s actually priced HIGHER than Kelce over there so we are only using Kincaid if we go two tight end sets. On DraftKings though there are four tight ends priced higher and full PPR is probably his best format so that’s where we slot him into the TE spot. 

 

Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens

This is a late addition with the news that Mark Andrews will NOT be active. Likely is a reasonably priced 9% - 9.5% of your budget on DraftKings and FanDuel but he's only $13 on Yahoo which is 6.5%. He'll be operating in the Mark Andrews role for a great matchup with the Texans so he's a viable option on all three platforms. I know we said we were going Kelce on Yahoo at $16 but, with this news, we are mixing in a couple Likely lineups. 

 

NFL DFS TE Value Pick

Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

We know Cade Otton was capable of good things as we’ve seen it in the past this very season. Once Chris Godwin got healthy they got away from him a bit but they rediscovered him last week with eight catches on 11 targets for 89 yards. His day could have been even bigger but he had a couple tough drops. With his big snap share and him being involved this week I’m surprised they only jacked his price up on FanDuel. On DraftKings he’s 7% of the budget which is rock solid but on Yahoo he’s actually the bare minimum $10 which is only 5%. To put in perspective, he’s $4,800 on DraftKings and his Yahoo price equivalent would be $2,500. So, if you play on Yahoo, you need at least one Otton lineup. 

 

Bonus Dart Throw

Noah Gray, Kansas City Chiefs

If you need a bare minimum priced player to make the lineup work, it’s Noah Gray. Is it a sexy play? No. Does he have 100 yard upside? Almost certainly not. We are hoping he catches a random touchdown. And, if you can catch a random touchdown, you can catch two right? Noah gray has gotten at least a target this year in every game but one and he's actually gotten three or more targets in nine games this year. That’s all we can ask for from a bare minimum priced player on DraftKings. On Yahoo though, use Cade Otton. 

 

NFL DFS TE Fade

Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans

Dalton Schultz is a rock solid player. And we like him in the right matchups. This is not the right matchup. The Ravens have been one of the best teams all year against the tight end. And against all positions for that matter. Touchdowns are a big part of what gives Schultz upside and it terrifies us that the over/under for TD passes for C.J. Stroud is set at 1.5 +154 with DraftKings SportsBook. The Browns are a tough defense for tight ends and Schultz only caught one pass against them - that just happened to be a touchdown. I’d honestly rather just bet on C.J. Stroud throwing a couple TD passes instead. In fact, I am betting on C.J. Stroud at that line.