For once Trey McBride fully let us down. Even with the lack of receiving touchdowns, he’s at least been a target machine. Outside of last week, that is. Our Saturday play, Mark Andrews, was the highest scorer on his slate. 

Hunter Henry found the endzone for us and Dalton Kincaid at least got 7 targets, though he didn’t do much for us. But McBride let us down. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 17 TE Coach For FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

Hopefully in your real leagues, you survived a tough tight end week and made the championship. 

But this is DFS so, all season long, we’ve only cared about the week right in front of us and getting a good return. So, we aren’t about to stop now. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Picks For Week 17 Saturday Slate

Hunter Henry, TE New England Patriots - DraftKings: $4,200 | FanDuel: $5,500

You can absolutely pay up for Trey McBride if you would like - he’s a viable option despite the down game last week. You know who else is a viable option after having one down game over the last few weeks? Hunter Henry.

If we aren’t going to throw away Trey McBride after having 4 targets last week despite the game going to overtime, we aren’t going to stop using Henry because he had only 4 targets the week before last vs. ARI. Last week Henry got 8 targets and, in the three games before that, he had 9, 8, and 9. 

He also finally managed to find paydirt against a tough Bills defense. Henry might be the second most expensive tight end on the slate but, on DraftKings, he’s a full $2,000 cheaper than Trey McBride. 

Lucas Krull, TE Denver Broncos - DraftKings: $2,600 | FanDuel: $4,800

We really don’t love the pay-down options on this slate. They juiced up the price on our guy Stone Smartt, plus Hayden Hurst and/or Will Dissly could be back. Not ideal.

If we are going to pay way down, the best dart throw might be Lucas Krull. They rotate the tight ends but Krull has the best role of the bunch.  Adam Trautman and Krull both played 28 snaps while Nate Adkins played 21 but Krull ran double the routes of the next highest guy and play 16 snaps at a WR spot. 

As far as super cheap players, you won’t find another guy with multiple targets three weeks in a row, but the truth is we are just hoping for a touchdown at this price. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Top Tier Picks For Week 17

Jonnu Smith, TE Miami Dolphins - DraftKings: $5,700 | FanDuel: $6,800

***With Tua Tagovailoa likely OUT today we are pivoting to either Bowers as the pay up or TJ Hockenson. Otherwise, go down to mid tier***

Just like Trey McBride on the Saturday slate, paying all the way up for Brock Bowers is on the table. He has a decent matchup with New Orleans. In this price range though we really don’t love the other options. 

David Njoku is dealing with a knee issue that has kept him out of practice. And the Vikings have been hesitant to fully unleash T.J. Hockenson. More on that below. Jonnu Smith has been one of the most pleasant surprises in fantasy football this year, especially down the stretch. 

Mike McDaniel had been working to fill out the roster to run his version of the scheme that SF runs but he had been lacking a true two-way tight end. Jonnu is one of the few tight ends with the athleticism to operate in that “George Kittle” role. 

Over the last six games, Jonnu has 8+ targets in four of them all while accumulating 5 touchdowns. He’s not a bad bet against the Cleveland Browns this week. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Picks For NFL Week 17

Dalton Kincaid, TE Buffalo Bills - DraftKings: $4,300 | FanDuel: $5,800

Despite being part of a rotation, Dalton Kincaid once again got 7 targets last week. He wasn’t able to get much done with them but he has consistently gotten looks. 

Since Week 5 he leads all tight ends that have run at least 70 routes in targets per route run. And the only game where he didn’t get 6 or more targets over that span was the Colts game where he saw 5 targets on only 18 snaps before leaving with an injury.

Kincaid has yet to really deliver for us with a big game but the conditions are there. As long as he’s being targeted at this level, we’re going to keep mixing him into lineups until he has that big game. We’re hoping that happens before playoff DFS. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Value Picks For NFL Week 17

Chig Okonkwo, TE Tennessee Titans, DraftKings: $3,600 | FanDuel: $5,400

There is a reason we only have one mid tier pick. And that’s because this play makes a lot of the mid tier ones irrelevant. This should be a popular pick amongst fantasy gamers that pay attention to the right details. And for good reason. Here’s what we wrote in the waiver wire article with regards to Okokwo.

“This is a player we’ve always been fond of. Unlike most of the tight ends out there, Chig has the athleticism to actually break off big plays. In fact, over the last half decade or so, there have only been three tight ends to break off three or more 40+ yard plays in one season. George Kittle, Kyle Pitts, and Chig Okonkwo.

He hadn’t been heavily featured in the game plan with Will Levis under center. But, so far, Mason Rudolph is loving his tight ends. In Week 15, when Levis was pulled, Josh Whyle played additional snaps when they pulled the starters. 

Okonkwo played 63% of the snaps and got 10 targets while Whyle played 26% and got 5 targets. This week Chig played 85% of the snaps and got 11 targets while Whyle played only 9 snaps and got zero. The Titans get the Jaguars this week, so Chig is our best bet right now if you are adding someone.”

Despite all that info, they did not really juice the price for Okonkwo on DFS as much as you would expect for a guy that has gotten 20+ targets over the last two weeks. So get him in there. 

Payne Durham, TE Tampa Bay Buccaneers - DraftKings: $2,900 | FanDuel: $4,200

With Cade Otton out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went “next man up” at the tight end position. And that next man was Payne Durham. He stepped right into the Otton role playing 93% of the snaps and catching 5 of 7 targets. 

Now, he didn’t do a whole lot with those targets. So we aren’t running out to start him in our championship matchups. But, at this price point, no one is getting 7 targets. No one is usually getting 3+ targets, to be honest. So he’s a solid price point and he gets a read matchup with the Buccaneers.

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Fades For Week 17

T.J. Hockenson, TE Minnesota Vikings - DraftKings: $4,500 | FanDuel: $5,700

T.J. Hockenson is a “safe” play in redraft leagues because he should be involved. But they have been hesitant to fully ramp him up since he returned from his ACL injury. They need him for the playoffs and we all saw what happened with Jonathan Brooks. 

Last week the Vikings dropped back to pass 42 times which saw Justin Jefferson run 42 routes and Jordan Addison run 41. Last year Hock would have been right with him but, this year, he ran only 30. If he were cheaper he would be easier to consider. 

Jordan Akins, TE Cleveland Browns - DraftKings: $2,700 | FanDuel: $4,900

You might be tempted to use Akins if David Njoku is out. And that isn’t a terrible play. But just know that he splits snaps with Blake Whitehart when Njoku is out. 

That was true in Weeks 2, 3, and 4 earlier this year as well as Week 15 recently where he played 33 snaps and Whiteheart played 23. That’s a far cry from the 93% snap share we got from Payne Durham. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 17 TE Projections