Week 1 DFS is awesome – the pricing comes out so early that there are a lot of advantages to be had. And even though the tight end position was a complete nightmare, with Isaiah Likely and Foster Moreau as the top two tight ends, we had the TE3 Kyle Pitts in our article coming out of the Mid-Tier. 

 

 

 

Trey McBride held things down in the elite tier (though Dalton Kincaid let us down). And we successfully faded guys like Cole Kmet and Dalton Schultz into the ground. Our NFL DFS Week 2 TE coach? That’s even more awesome than Week 1.

NFL DFS Week 2 TE Coach For FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

Now we have actual DATA. Games have been played so we can use that info to crush our Week 2 NFL DFS picks. And the beautiful thing, as you will soon find out, is that these NFL DFS platforms have not correctly updated their pricing for Week 2. 

There are still incredible DFS values to be had at the tight end position. So, let’s go to it with our NFL DFS Week 2 TE coach!

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Top-Tier Picks For Week 2

Trey McBride, TE Arizona Cardinals - DraftKings: $6,000 | FanDuel: $6,200

How Trey McBride is not the top priced option on DraftKings, the full PPR format, is beyond me. We have to make at least one Trey McBride lineup over there on principle alone.

Trey McBride last week had the second highest route participation behind only Kyle Pitts who isn’t on the slate. His target share of 29% was also second just behind Isaiah Likely at 29.3%. He’s running nearly 60% of his routes from a WR spot, his aDot of 8.4 yards is good and he didn’t pass block on a single pass play. I really don’t know what more you could want?

We already pointed out that he’s not the top priced option on DraftKings – he’s third. Last week we were using him on FanDuel too because he was TE5 in their pricing. Well guess what? He’s TE5 in FanDuel’s pricing again! His price actually went DOWN on both platforms despite having a solid matchup with the Rams. The chalk is the good chalk this week. 

Travis Kelce, TE Kansas City Chiefs - DraftKings: $6,200 | FanDuel: $7,400

We’re probably going to use McBride if we are paying up but we also expect a bounceback week from Travis Kelce. These guys have egos just like everyone else and, after a lackluster Week 1, I think Kelce gets more involved here. With Tee Higgins potentially returning and Ja'Marr Chase back up to speed, hopefully the Bengals will keep up their end of the bargain and this will be a decent contest. If last week’s Bengals show up, forget about it. 

There’s really no reason to spend up for Sam LaPorta, Mark Andrews, or George Kittle in terms of bang for your buck. If you are someone that makes a lot of lineups and you want to have a couple “safe” cash lineups where you send up at tight end, McBride and Travis Kelce are the two we like this week. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Picks For NFL Week 2

Brock Bowers, TE Las Vegas Raiders - DraftKings: $4,400 | FanDuel: $6,300

With our season-long fantasy rankings, we are a bit more conservative. We aren’t going to overreact or jump to conclusions. With DFS it’s the opposite. Why? Because sites like DraftKings and FanDuel are the ones who are conservative. They sometimes don’t move the pricing up as much as they should – and we have a short window to take advantage.

Such might be the case with Brock Bowers. We MIGHT have something here. 

If Bowers goes out and does anything close to what he did last week, he absolutely will not be priced under $5,000 on DraftKings again. Or outside of the top 10 tight ends on the slate on DraftKings. Maybe ever. Let’s take advantage while we can. And, if it turns out maybe he’s not a superstar this year, at least we gave it a shot when the pricing was there. 

Pat Freiermuth, TE Pittsburgh Steelers - DraftKings: $4,100 | FanDuel: $5,400

Of the tight ends that ran at least 50% of the routes, Pat Freiermuth actually led all of them in percentage of the routes he ran from a WR spot at 89.5%. Yes, more than Kyle Pitts, more than Mark Andrews. We may not like Arthur Smith but his offense has some benefits.

It would be nice if Russell Wilson was in there instead of Justin Fields but, if that were the case, Muth might not be so affordable. He did manage a 17.4% target share which was 7th among tight ends and that was on a 76% route participation. And, in this economy, four receptions was actually tied for TE4.

Freiermuth is very reasonably priced at $4,100 on DraftKings and $5,400 on FanDuel. Justin Fields might not provide the volume we like to see but he did hit up Cole Kmet with enough touchdowns to finish TE7 in fantasy in back-to-back years. So, let’s go touchdown hunting. 

Hunter Henry, TE New England Patriots - DraftKings: $3,800 | FanDuel: $5,000

We’ll go back to the well again with Hunter Henry here. The thought process has not changed. This offense is completely wide open with a bunch of journeymen and rookie wide receivers. It’s still settling itself out.

This past week Hunter Henry quietly led the Patriots pass catchers in snaps with 54 – the next highest was K.J. Osborn at 39. He led in routes run as well. Three targets isn’t great but it’s still a 12.5% target share when you only throw 24 times. Hopefully they throw more this week against Seattle and his redzone prowess finds Hunter in the Hen House. He was actually tied for TDs among TEs last season with 6 despite the team only throwing 16 last year.

Henry is a step down from both Brock Bowers and Pat Freiermuth in pricing on both platforms. If you need to scrounge up a few extra bucks on either platform, this is the place to do it.

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Value Picks For NFL Week 2

Hayden Hurst, TE Los Angeles Chargers - DraftKings: $3,000 | FanDuel: $4,600

We trust our process. So we’ll never sit here and say “I used that guy last week, I’m not going to use him this week”. Especially if the guy was priced at TE26 and finished TE17 – it’s not great but it was still slightly plus value. And we like what we saw behind the scenes.

Will Dissly “started” but he’s a blocking tight end so who cares? Dissly only ran 6 routes. Hurst meanwhile ran 24 routes which was third behind Joshua Palmer (28) and Quentin Johnston (24). And he ran 84% of those routes from a WR spot which was top 5 for tight ends last week. This could be a decent role for fantasy. 

We don’t mind Greg Dulcich again either who we had in this range last week if you want to sprinkle him in but he gets a tough Steelers defense here. Hurst gets the Carolina Panthers. The worst team in football who just lost Derrick Brown, arguably their best player. Hurst is dirt cheap on both platforms.

Theo Johnson, TE New York Giants - DraftKings: $3,000 | FanDuel: $4,500

Sometimes we catch a pricing mistake on one platform. But for it to happen on both platforms is fairly odd. Daniel Bellinger is priced higher than Theo Johnson on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Did they not watch the game?

Theo Johnson played 61 snaps to 16 for Daniel Bellinger. He ran 40 routes while Daniel Bellinger ran 8. He got 4 targets while Bellinger had 1. You would have to be outside your mind to consider Daniel Bellinger over the more athletic rookie Theo Johnson. Yet that is how it is priced.

Theo Johnson might do nothing because the Giants are terrible. But I’m making at least one Theo Johnson lineup on principle alone. These DFS platforms must pay for their disrespect. 

 

BONUS DART THROW Jordan Akins TE, Cleveland Browns - DraftKings: $3,000 | FanDuel: $4,700

We wanted to wait on this one as there was some talk about the Browns adding another tight end to the roster in the wake of a David Njoku injury that should see him miss multiple weeks. They opted not to. They did elevate Blake Whiteheart from the practice squad but the veteran Akins, who played with Deshaun Watson at Houston early in his career before joining the Browns, should get the bulk of the work today. 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Fades For Week 2

Mark Andrews/Isaiah Likely, TE Baltimore Ravens 

I just don’t like this situation right now. We loved Mark Andrews because the targets were highly consolidated at the top with Andrews and Zay Flowers. Last week Andrews still played more snaps than Isaiah Likely, ran more routes, and ran more routes from a WR spot, but Likely had the better fantasy performance. That is scary.

The reality here is that Mark Andrews was probably just a little rusty after not practicing following a car accident. And the scary thought is that maybe the targets will now be spread out in Baltimore, making both inconsistent. It’s just not a guessing game we are going to play this week. We need more info.  

Evan Engram, TE Jacksonville Jaguars - DraftKings: $5,400 | FanDuel: $5,900

This might be the first time we’ve ever put Evan Engram in the Fades column. Because we love Evan Engram. But we have to be honest here. The Jaguars, when everyone is healthy, spread the ball around. 

Last year Engram feasted when Christian Kirk was out. But Kirk is back. And they rotated a bit in the slot – Engram was actually TE18 in route participation. Plus the Browns are a tough defense. We’ll skip Engram this week. Even if he’s our guy a lot of other weeks.

Foster Moreau, TE New Orleans Saints - DraftKings: $2,600 | FanDuel: $4,700

Foster Moreau finished as the TE2 last week. And he’s very cheap this week. And that is a trap, according to this NFL DFS Week 2 TE coach. Despite “starting” and playing 51 snaps, he only ran 13 routes. And he blocked on 6 pass plays. Don’t do it. Yes, he was cool on Hard Knocks. Yes, beating cancer is a cool story. Don’t start Foster Moreau in fantasy football.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 2 TE Projections