Here at Fantasy Alarm, we have a deep respect for the sacred holiday of Thanksgiving. What is more important than the four Fs: family, friends, food, and football? So to honor this glorious day, we offer not only one but TWO position coaches. One covering the Thursday/Friday slate and then one covering the Sunday main slate. Why shouldn’t you enjoy double the DFS action this weekend after all? So let’s dive in!

NFL DFS TE Top Tier Picks For Thanksgiving

Travis Kelce, TE Kansas City Chiefs - DraftKings: $6,300 | FanDuel: $7,700

The two top-tiered options for the Thanksgiving slate are Travis Kelce and Jake Ferguson. And they are fairly close in how they are priced. But in this range, we are looking for upside, and our best shot at that is via Travis Kelce.

The 2025 Cowboys are a good example of how injuries can sometimes trick us into thinking three players can all be highly productive on at the same time - something that really only rarely happens. As you can see in the chart below, Jake Ferguson saw an early-season spike, especially when CeeDee Lamb was hurt. Since then, he’s cooled off in the target department, maxing out at 7 targets over the last six games.

It’s Travis Kelce that’s actually closer to being a top target on his team as of late, which includes a game the week before last against the Broncos with 13 targets. The Cowboys have been getting themselves tied up in a lot of shootouts lately, so Kelce could be called on for volume here. The Chiefs are in must-win territory, and Kelce loves the big stage, so I could see a turkey leg in the future for him this week. 
 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Picks For NFL Thanksgiving

We have a very specific strategy in this mid-tier based on the platform. He’s how we are rolling it out.

Mark Andrews TE, Baltimore Ravens - DraftKings: $4,000 | FanDuel: $5,000

Starting tight ends against the Bengals this year has been the gift that keeps on giving. Last week, our “play of the week” was Hunter Henry against them, and he delivered in a big way with 7 catches on 10 targets for 115 and a TD. That’s not a fluke, as the Bengals have been ATROCIOUS against the tight end. They have allowed 23.6 PPR points per game to the tight end, when the next closest team has allowed 17.9. They’ve allowed 13 touchdowns in 11 games. They’ve also allowed the most receptions and yards. It’s wild. 

Given this info, you can use Andrews on either platform. But we definitely like his price on DraftKings (especially relative to the other options, as we will get to momentarily). Andrews is absolutely going to be the chalk play this week, so if you go with him, you might need to find some contrarian plays in other parts of your lineup. Or just nail down the absolute perfect chalk. 

Mike Gesicki TE, Cincinnati Bengals - DraftKings: $3,900 | FanDuel: $5,300

Typically for a smaller slate like this we’d only have one mid-tier play. But there’s a very specific spot were are considering some Gesicki lineups. And that spot is FanDuel. The price for Andrews and Gesicki is very similar on DraftKings but FanDuel has Gesicki prices way down to the point that he’s cheaper than guys like Noah Gray, Luke Schoonmaker, Ross Dwelley, and Drew Sample. And that makes no sense.

Mike Gesicki is not really a tight end. He hasn’t been for a long time. Just this week, in his first game back, he played 28 snaps. For 26 of those, he lined up at wide receiver. If you remember last year, in the games that Tee Higgins missed, Gesicki was fairly productive with three different games of 14+ PPR points, including a monster 100 yards, 2 TD game. So he can be used on either platform too but he is oddly cheap on FanDuel. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Value Picks For NFL Thanksgiving

Anthony Firkser TE, Detroit Lions - DraftKings: $3,500 | FanDuel: $5,800

Sam LaPorta is already out. Brock Wright is now trending towards out with a neck issue after landing directly on his head this past week. If Brock Wright plays, he’s out value pick for sure. If not, there is an opportunity here with the Lions team for someone to be the pass-catching tight end. Some folks think it might be Ross Dwelley, but I believe it would be journeyman Anthony Firsker.

Firsker has been a “move” tight end his whole career, primarily playing a hybrid slot/wingback/fullback role. In that capacity he actually have over 100 career catches, mostly with Arthur Smith in Tennesse. When Sam LaPorta dealt with injury in 2023, the Lions signed Firsker and he even caught a pass in a playoff game. With the LaPorta injury, the once again signed him, even activating him last week where he played 3 offensive snaps to 2 for Ross Dwelley. Dwelley is much more of a blocker than a pass-catcher and Zach Horton has yet to appear in a game all year so I wouldn’t be surprised if Firkser was utilized at TE for obvious pass plays. 

Robert Tonyan TE, Kansas City Chiefs - DraftKings: $3,500 | FanDuel: $5,800

This is a real long shot here. But here me out. We all know that Noah Gray plays a decent chunk of snaps as the inline tight end for Kansas City. And that he gets a few targets along the way. I mean, I look at Noah Gray’s 5 catches for 34 yards the last two games compared to 5 catches for 37 for Brock Wright or 2 catches for each of John Fitzpatrick, Luke Musgrave, or Josh Whyle and ask myself what’s really the difference?

And, at this stage, Noah Gray is almost certain to miss this game with a concussion. The only other tight end to play a snap for the Chiefs this year has been Robert Tonyan. If you want to give a shot to a guy that virtually no one else will be using to be super contrarian, this is the move. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Fades For Thanksgiving

Black Friday Tight Ends

If you are playing a bigger slate that includes the Thursday games and the Friday games, we don’t like using a tight end from the Friday game. Dallas Goedert is not one someone we trust as he doesn’t catch passes vs. man to man really and he has not been targeted in the endzone. Quite frankly, his TD run earlier this year was flukey. 

On the other side, the Eagles are not a good matchup for tight ends. FTN’s DVOA stat actually has them graded as the single worst matchup (though I would argue that the Bills are the toughest). Either way, we really don’t want to use Colston Loveland in that case either. The only option I’d really consider is maybe throwing a very cheap dart at Cole Kmet in a Black Friday showdown slate just to facilitate getting studs in the lineup. 

Noah Fant, TE, Cincinnati Bengals - DraftKings: $4,200 | FanDuel: $5,500

Folks might look at last week as a fluke for Noah Fant after he posted multiple productive weeks leading up to it. He had the six target game, he had multiple TDs as well in the stretch before the bye. But I don’t think this one is a fluke. With Gesicki back, Fant only ran 8 routes which was FOURTH on the team behind Gesicki (27), Tanner Hudson (13), and Drew Sample (11). Going back to the early season, Fant only played more snaps than Gesicki in super positive game scripts where blocking mattered more and we don’t expect that here. As you can see above, we aren’t afraid of the contrarian play but paying up for the TE4 in routes run here feels TOO contrarian even for us.