Week One is chaos. You’re just doing your best to make an educated guess with all the moving parts, new coaches, and new schemes. In NFL Week 2, we have actual data to work with. Sure, it’s a small sample size. But we can also use that fact to our advantage. Some guys got good usage, but the game didn’t go their way for one reason or another. That creates an angle for us here in the NFL DFS Week 2 TE Coach.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 2 TE Coach for FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

So let’s dig into the data and information we have now, following the first slate of ball, and come up with some plays for this week. With no bye weeks until Week 5, we once again have a ton of options to choose from at every price point. No matter how you plan to utilize the TE position, we’ve got options. Let's now break down the best FanDuel and DraftKings plays in our NFL DFS Week 2 TE Coach. 

 

NFL DFS TE Top Tier Picks for Week 2

Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals

DraftKings: $6,000 | FanDuel: $7,000

Let’s get this one out of the way here. Brock Bowers is on the main slate (and quietly did not have ideal usage, possibly due to a knee issue). George Kittle is on IR. Trey McBride is the clear pay-up option on the main slate and, at his price, arguably the only guy you should be using in cash lineups.

Trey McBride’s usage profile for Week One, as always, was virtually flawless. His 97.4% route participation led all tight ends. His 27.6% target share was top 3. He didn’t block on a single pass play. He got four screens and also caught two passes vs. man to man, one of only five tight ends to catch more than one. He even broke a tackle, why not? This guy is about as locked in as you are going to get at the tight end position. His price is justified. 

Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens 

DraftKings: $4,700 | FanDuel: $5,700

If we are paying up, we’re paying all the way up for McBride. At Andrews’ price, he’s the cheapest of the elite tier, and he’s also the contrarian play, which we don’t mind doing from time to time. If you want to get different, this is the place to do it. 

Andrews had a bad Week One, but it wasn’t entirely his fault. Derrick Henry was running all over, and they only attempted 19 passes. On top of that, Matt Milano is one of the toughest cover guys for tight ends when he’s actually healthy. This week, he gets the Browns, which should be a much more favorable matchup where he can get involved, like Noah Fant last week, who found paydirt. We might like this pick even better at the price, though, so Andrews is only a guy we are using in a couple spots to be contrarian. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Picks for NFL Week 2

Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts

DraftKings: $4,500 | FanDuel: $5,500

There was some risk in drafting Tyler Warren for season-long drafts. Namely, that Michael Pittman and Josh Downs would lead this team in targets, leaving Warren as the odd man out. But in Week One, it was pretty clear who the odd man out was - Josh Downs.

Downs only played 49% of the snaps and only ran 51% of the routes. That translated to only two catches on three targets. With Alec Pierce primarily operating as the field-stretcher, that opened the door for Tyler Warren to be a top two target along with Michael Pittman, and Warren kicked that door off the hinges. 

Warren led ALL tight ends with a 31% target share. Given his deployment and utilization, he should be moving up the ranks faster than he is, but these DFS platforms sometimes move slowly in bumping up their pricing. We’re going to ride this Tyler Warren wave until the platforms adjust accordingly. 

Hunter Henry, New England Patriots

DraftKings: $4,000 | FanDuel: $4,900

Hunter Henry has been our “old reliable” option in this range for a long time, especially for cash games. Last week, he came out and garnered 8 targets, which was tied for third among tight ends with guys like Brock Bowers and Trey McBride. And he did that while having to pitch in blocking on 9 pass plays to help out against Maxx Crosby and company.

This week, we don’t expect him to be asked to chip in like that, blocking, freeing him up for more routes. Drake Maye was going to him often down the seam, and this is the same Dolphins defense that rookie Tyler Warren just carved up last week. Hunter Henry is an option both for cash games and GPPs at this price, given his red-zone prowess. Last year, he was top 5 in targets inside the 20 and tied for second among tight ends in targets inside the 10, despite the team not being there often. 

 

 

 

NFL Week 2 DFS TE Value Picks

Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints 

DraftKings: $3,600 | FanDuel: $5,000

There are a lot of options in the under $4,000 range this week, though a couple of them will certainly be popular. Luckily, there are a couple of hyped up guys coming out of week one, so we expect the ownership to at least be a little bit spread out.

It cannot be overstated how good the usage for Juwan Johnson was in Week 1. First off, he played 74 of 74 snaps. His blocking on only 1.9% of pass plays saw him run an absurd 95.6% route participation and landed him 11 targets, a 23.9% target share. He caught 8 of them, which led all tight ends last week.

This play is not without concerns. The quarterback is certainly not great. Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed both were pretty heavily targeted as well, and we can’t expect Spencer Rattler to attempt 46 passes each week. Plus, the 49ers are not an ideal matchup. So we aren’t going to be overweight on Juwan, but if you put in a lot of lineups, you should have a percentage of him mixed in.

Chig Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans

DraftKings: $3,300 | FanDuel: $4,900

In Week One, there are some basic tests we are looking for our tight ends to pass. The most obvious one is playing a decent amount. And a lot of tight ends were hopeful for failing that test (looking at you, Elijah Arroyo). But Chig Okonkwo passed with flying colors. His 88% snap share tied for TE7 on the week.

The Denver Broncos are one of the toughest defenses, and they were also a top 10 defense vs. tight ends in 2024. Their pass rush saw Chig have to stay in and block on 5 pass plays, which isn’t the end of the world, but is not ideal. He still ran 28 routes, which was second to Calvin Ridley (34) and Elic Ayomanor (30) and ahead of Tyler Lockett (27). His 4 targets were fine - nothing special.  

This week, however, Okonkwo will face the Rams, who were a bottom-five defense vs. the tight end last year. With Okonkwo sandwiched between two hype plays in Juwan Johnson and Harold Fannin price-wide, we’ll be giving him a look in some spots. 

Harold Fannin, Cleveland Browns

DraftKings: $3,100 | FanDuel: $5,000

Look, we don’t always chase last week’s success stories. But this one is a bit silly in the DFS world. Last week, DraftKings had Harold Fannin priced all the way down at $3,100. He then caught 7 of 9 targets. This week, they obviously fixed that pricing. 

Just kidding - he’s still $3,100.

Whether this inevitably ends up being the good chalk or the bad chalk is almost irrelevant to volume players. You have to have a certain percentage of players who are improperly priced. Any player who gets 9 targets, at any position, should not be $3,100. Sure, he was fourth on the team in route participation. He could easily be this year’s Isaiah Likely, who simply caught the other team off guard in Week 1, then will settle into their TE2 role. But we have to have some exposure to this guy after what he did last week. Our hands are being forced by the pricing. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Fades for Week 2

Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions

DraftKings: $4,800 | FanDuel: $5,900

I hate to use a cliche, but the Lions might have too many mouths to feed. Yes, LaPorta did get nine targets this week. But I don’t expect him to be a nine-target guy every week, especially with Amon-Ra St. Brown getting six and Jameson Williams getting five. In any given week, that could be completely flipped, and this past Monday, the Bears actually did a pretty good job of bottling up T.J. Hockenson. At his price, this is one spot where we aren’t going to chase last week.

Evan Engram, Denver Broncos 

DraftKings: $4,200 | FanDuel: $5,000

I have a lot of Evan Engram in my fantasy leagues. And I am nervous. Big time. Not just about the calf, but about the usage in general. Unless there was some sort of lingering issue we were unaware of, the injury to Engram seemingly occurred late in the game. And, before that, he was actually running less than 50% of the routes. Now, with the injury on top, he seems highly likely to be a part-time player even if he does play. Not going there.