NFL DFS Week 18 TE Coach: Travis Kelce, Hunter Henry, Michael Mayer

Week 1 of fantasy football is the wild west. There’s so much uncertainty, so many moving parts. Anything can happen. And that’s a lot of fun, especially in DFS.

Week 18 is fun for a different reason. It’s a different beast. There are must-win games, meaningless games, and everything in between. There are even some incentives and milestones to factor in as well. Do we go with the chalk plays in the important matchups? Or do we take a shot on a backup or a young guy getting his first shot? Those are the key questions in the crazy world of Week 18 DFS!

NFL DFS TE Top Tier Picks For Week 18

Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals - DraftKings: $7,500 | FanDuel: $8,200

Trey McBride already hit his big milestone last week, setting the record for the most ever receptions in a season. But that doesn’t mean they are done here. McBride is a competitor, and any chance you have to build on an all-time great season and make that record even harder to obtain, you go for it. 

McBride actually already has a top-five all-time PPR season for tight ends with 302.4 points. With 14 points here, he’d jump all the way up to second ahead of Travis Kelce, behind only Rob Gronkowski’s 330.9 points. He has a chance here to cement his season statistically as one of the best, if not the best, of all time. And, with Marvin Harrison Jr out, he could make it happen.

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs - DraftKings: $4,700 | FanDuel: $5,200

We almost never make “vibe-based” plays. We usually just have enough data, narratives, injuries, matchups, etc., to make our decisions based on that. But this might be one spot we are willing to make an exception. Plus, after having Travis Kelce in this article so many times over the years, it just wouldn’t be right not to talk about him one last time.

As far as the data goes, Kelce has been playing plenty of snaps. He’s also gotten decent targets, including catching five of six from Chris Olodakun last week. Plus, he historically does really well against the Raiders. But the reality here is that you only go with this play if you want to do it because it could very well be the last Chiefs game ever for Travis Kelce. We’ve seen teams lean on these guys one last time so they can go out with a bang. And I wouldn’t be shocked at all if the Chiefs gave Kelce some extra looks, especially in the red area. What do they have to lose? Losing would actually be good for them. 

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Picks For Week 18

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

Over the last six weeks, Hunter Henry has basically had one truly bad week. And that was against the Buffalo Bills, who everyone struggles against. He’s great vs. man to man, which translates well to the red area - that has seen him score touchdowns in back-to-back weeks. And he has a great matchup this week with the Dolphins.

We don’t know for sure which wide receivers will be available this week. We expect Stefon Diggs to play despite his issues, but Mack Hollins and Kayshon Boutte have also been banged up. On top of that, Hunter Henry quietly has an incentive he can hit in this last game. He gets an extra $250K with five more catches on the season. Feels pretty reasonable to get him there, and that would be a pretty good day at his price. 

Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints - DraftKings: $4,200 | FanDuel: $5,300

Juwan Johnson was in our DFS article last week, too - and he delivered in a big way. With DeVaughn Vele out and the Jets struggling against the tight end, the situation made a lot of sense. During the game, in-line tight end Foster Moreau went down, and the setup became even better. Vele is on IR, and Moreau has already been ruled out for this week, so Johnson is once again on the radar for us. This Tennessee secondary has been ravaged by injury, as we’ve highlighted in this article for multiple weeks now.

NFL DFS TE Value Picks For Week 18

Michael Mayer, Las Vegas Raiders - DraftKings: $3,500 | FanDuel: $5,200

The Raiders have been accused of “folding up the tent” by putting guys on IR early. Maxx Crosby himself has expressed his displeasure with being put on IR. But, at the end of the day, you still have to go out there and play the game with the guys you’ve got. And with Brock Bowers also on IR, Michael Mayer is what they’ve got. 

Mayer went out last week and played virtually the whole game. He played 54 of 58 snaps while running ~90% of the routes. And that led to 9 catches on 10 targets for 89 yards. I’m not sure what has materially changed from last week to this week, where he wouldn’t be utilized in that fashion. But the price really hasn’t changed much  - and that’s good for us. 

Chig Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans - DraftKings: $3,400 | FanDuel: $5,100

The tight end split in Tennessee has been a pain in the ass this year for fantasy. Chig Okonkwo and Gunnar Helm keep having these games that are “just okay” with neither really popping off in a big way. If it were just one of them out there, we likely would have a more useful fantasy asset. 

That said, Gunnar Helm has been playing through a toe injury. And that has seen a little bit more work for Okonkwo, who has gotten 6, 8, and 7 targets in his last three games. He’s also scored in his last two. Helm has not yet practiced this week, so maybe they will finally just let him rest and get right. Even if he does play, I do expect more Okonkwo than Helm once again.  

NFL DFS TE Fades For Week 18

Tyler Warren TE, Indianapolis Colts - DraftKings: $4,400 | FanDuel: $5,800

We don’t have a huge sample size of Riley Leonard here. But, in the sample size we do have with Leonard, he did not connect well with Tyler Warren. Only 1 catch for 2 yards in fact. Michael Pittman Jr. led catching 8 of 10 targets when Leonard was in there. That, on top of the chance Leonard just plays poorly again, has us not super interested in paying up for Warren. And, if it’s Anthony Richardson at QB, that could be even worse for Warren.

Dallas Goedert TE, Philadelphia Eagles - DraftKings: $4,000 | FanDuel: $5,700

Listing Dallas Goedert here is really just a placeholder for “any banged-up tight end on a team without much to play for”. Even if they play, it might not be for long. That goes for Dallas Goedert, Jake Ferguson, Dalton Kincaid, and Dawson Knox. Goedert just happens to be banged up, and his QB is resting this week, so he’s the poster child.