Week One is an absolute bloodbath every year. We know that. But hidden in the chaos of that battlefield are some data points that we can use to get leverage in Week 2. We went from having no information at all to having a full wealth of it for all 32 teams.

That doesn’t mean that all the fantasy football DFS mysteries have been unraveled. And that’s a good thing. When we spend up, we want certainty, but when it comes to dart throws, uncertainty is our friend. In our NFL DFS Week 2 tight end coach article, we have a little bit of everything for you - and one DFS Tight End Play of the Week that we are smashing into lineups everywhere. So let’s dive in. 

NFL DFS TE Top Tier Picks For Week 2

Trey McBride TE, Arizona Cardinals DraftKings: $6,900 | FanDuel: $7,500

We have entered into Travis Kelce territory with Trey McBride. He’s clearly the top pass-catching tight end in all of fantasy football. The only question is whether they can price him high to deter us from using him in DFS. Right now he’s still in “if you can afford it, use him” territory.

The Seahawks have an interesting safety deployment group with Julian Love, Ty Okada, and Nick Emmanwori, who plays a lot of hybrid nickel. Emmanwori has been limited coming off ankle surgery, though, and just picked up a hip issue. Ty Okada also has not participated in practice this week with a hamstring issue. McBride is a fine play either way but could be even better if those guys aren’t 100%. 

Colston Loveland TE, Chicago Bears, DraftKings: $5,000 | FanDuel: $5,800

Colston Loveland this week is a “trust the process” play in DFS. Last week, in what should have been a great matchup, he threw up a zero spot. That was despite his team hanging nearly 60 points. This week, the matchup isn’t necessarily as good.

But Colston Loveland quietly had great deployment. He had the second-highest route percentage behind only Trey McBride. He ran 63% of his routes from a WR spot. He was hardly asked to pass block, and he had a high aDot. Both of his targets were first reads, and one was in the end zone. If you believe in the work we do, Colston Loveland is primed to have big weeks at any given time. You don’t go away from those guys - you lean right in and hope that the rest of the field is paying attention to the wrong details. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Picks For Week 2

Mark Andrews TE, Baltimore Ravens - DraftKings: $4,400 | FanDuel: $5,200

This should be a chalky play this week. But I do think it’s a good one and worth exploring if the price is right for your lineup and it aligns with your narratives (especially if you are using Saints). A 47-point over/under on this one with the Ravens favored is good news for the Ravens - those conditions are how we got the Saints-Lions game last week.

Declan Doyle is clearly using Durham Smythe as the inline/blocking tight end (42 snaps but only 9 routes run). That’s the Cole Kmet role from Doyle’s Bears days. Mark Andrews gets to play the Colston Loveland role (68% routes run from a WR spot, 26% first-read target share). That led him to get six targets here. Andrews is already involved but, now with Ja’Kobi Lane having surgery on a broken arm and Zay Flowers dealing with a hamstring issue, Andrews might be even more needed. 

Pat Freiermuth TE, Pittsburgh Steelers- DraftKings: $3,700 | FanDuel: $5,400

We NEVER chase last week’s touchdowns. It’s just not a smart play, and you would be shocked how many people do it. But we WILL chase the underlying metrics. And those actually were there for Pat Freiermuth. We actually wish he DIDN’T score a touchdown last week so his pricing would be different and fewer people would be on him. 

The usage for Pat Freiermuth was night and day compared to Arthur Smith. Last year was a rotational, pass-blocking mess. This year, Muth ran 72% of the routes, 70% of which he ran from a WR spot. He only pass-blocked on 1 play, so 2.8% of his snaps. And he got that end zone target, which he converted. It’s going to show the Patriots as the “best” defense vs. the tight end, but a one-game sample size vs. AJ Barner does not make them actually the best. That will hopefully scare some people off. 

NFL DFS TE Value Picks For Week 2

Dalton Schultz TE, Houston Texans - DraftKings: $3,200 | FanDuel: $4,000 

DFS Tight End Play of the Week

I’m going to be honest with you guys here; this pricing for Dalton Schultz makes no sense at all. In Week One, Schultz was pretty clearly the second-best option besides Nico Collins. In fact, he finished second on the team in targets last season as well. Jayden Higgins and Tank Dell were already out; now Nico Collins is getting tests done on his hamstring? They almost HAVE to lean on the tight end.

Last week, Schultz ran 74% of the routes (top 10 for TEs); he ran 64% of his routes from a WR spot, which is high for anyone, not just for him, and he got 7 targets with an 18% first-read target share. Now he goes up against the Bengals, who were arguably the worst team of all time against the tight end last year. Schultz is the TE DFS Play of the Week by a mile on DraftKings; Schultz is the 14th most expensive TE on FanDuel but the 25th on DraftKings. 

Greg Dulcich TE, Miami Dolphins - DraftKings: $3,200 | FanDuel: $4,000

Greg Dulcich did not deliver last week. So I get it if folks don’t want to roll these dice again. But Dulcich did quietly run 77% of the routes, per Pro Football Focus. That actually puts him in the top 10 for tight ends in route participation in Week One.

The Dolphins are still sorting things out and getting their feet under them. In the first game, we saw Caleb Douglas lead the team in targets but, in Week Two, it could easily be one of the other route leaders, Malik Washington or Greg Dulcich. If Dulcich doesn’t do much again, you probably won’t see us making this move anymore, but it’s worth a stab at his price with so much uncertainty in Miami. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Fades For Week 2

Tucker Kraft TE, Green Bay Packers - DraftKings: $4,900 | FanDuel: $5,200

We had Tucker Kraft in the fades last week coming off a major injury. And he ran less than 50% of the routes. They did their best to give him looks when he was out there, but a guy like this really needs his explosiveness to rip off the chunk plays that make magic happen. Until we see that from Kraft or we see him at least run more than 50% of the routes, we are keeping Kraft on ice. DFS is about big-time upside, which is especially true for the bigger tournaments, so we aren’t paying up for a guy in a part-time role. 

George Kittle TE, San Francisco 49ers - DraftKings: $4,600 | FanDuel: $4,600

Same sentiment here with Kittle as with Kraft. How does he make his money? It’s on those big, explosive plays. Kittle also ran less than 50% of the snaps, and his usage dwindled as the game went on. A guy like T.J. Hockenson coming off major surgery took three full games to get back up to a full-time snap share. I know Kittle is Kittle, but I need to see him actually LOOK like Kittle before we start paying these prices. Kraft is the 4th most expensive TE on DraftKings, and Kittle is 6th.

Kyle Pitts TE, Atlanta Falcons - DraftKings: $4,500 | FanDuel: $4,600

Much like Colston Loveland, Kyle Pitts quietly had great deployment this week. And, much like Colston Loveland, he put up a goose egg. But, unlike Colston Loveland, Kyle Pitts is dealing with absolutely atrocious QB play. Cooper Rush could not push the ball past the line of scrimmage to save his life. He even missed Pitts on a wide-open pass down the seam that could have changed his entire day. No Pitts until we see some sort of change at QB.