Tight end has been a dicey position so far this year. And last week, especially in DFS, with the top two scoring tight ends of the week, Tucker Kraft and Zach Ertz, both playing on Thursday. Lucky for us, we had two of the next best three options in our article in Trey McBride and Juwan Johnson, and also got decent weeks from Tyler Warren and Harold Fannin. We correctly faded Evan Engram and Sam LaPorta as well, so a solid Week 3 all around.

We’re on to Week 3, where we, once again, have a full complement of games to work with. That will be true again in Week 4, before Week 5, when we see guys like Tucker Kraft and Kyle Pitts kicking off the bye weeks. Let’s enjoy it while it lasts and make some moolah!

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Top Tier Picks For Week 3

Brock Bowers TE Las Vegas Raiders- DraftKings: $6,000 | FanDuel: $7,400

Yes, the knee worries us. It worries us for typical redraft leagues. In DFS, we are building a portfolio of lineups that provide us the highest possible upside. And, Brock Bowers in this matchup this week is not something we can leave out.

This past week, you saw it with Tucker Kraft - the Commanders just did not have an answer for the tight end. Bobby Wagner is still great against the run, but he’s a liability against the pass. Yes, Bowers could be limited slightly by this knee. But Pete Carroll made it clear to reporters that they need Bowers out there and not on a part-time basis. Bowers was ramped up to a bigger workload in the second half of Week 2, and I expect that to carry over into Week 3, where he should be a focal point once again.  

Tucker Kraft TE Green Bay Packers - DraftKings: $4,700 | FanDuel: $6,500

We are monitoring this Tyler Warren toe injury, though he did speak with reporters, so it might not be that serious. If he’s a full go, we’ll probably use a little Warren. But Kraft is a very talented player and, lately, things have broken his way for fantasy.

Specifically, a broken collarbone for Jayden Reed helps Kraft. These are the two players who occupy the short-range area for the Green Bay Packers. And they are often the guys who get screens and gadgety handoffs. Now Kraft is free to operate in that fashion himself, which is a big reason he popped off in Week 2. The one aspect of his game that concerns us is that he is asked to pass block at times, and Myles Garrett could call for that on occasion. But he’s pass-blocked on over 15% of his snaps in both of the first two weeks and still delivered, so we’ll utilize him again here vs. Cleveland. 

UPDATE it is starting to look increasingly like Tucker Kraft will be OUT this week. Outside of Bwoers we don't really love a lot of the pay up options but Tyler Warren is likely your next best bet in this range. 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Picks For NFL Week 3

Juwan Johnson, TE, New Orleans Saints - DraftKings: $3,900 | FanDuel: $5,700

Over on FanDuel, they have increased the price for Juwan Johnson - as they should. Which is fine because we have a different mid-tier pick to use over on FanDuel anyway. On DraftKings, they did not bump up the prices for Juwan Johnson much - only $300, which means he’s still under $4,000. And DraftKings is the full PPR format, which is better for Johnson anyway, so that works out just fine for us.

Through two weeks now, Juwan Johnson leads all tight ends in route participation and targets. That’s a PPR dream. He also faces the Seattle Seahawks, who, through two weeks, have allowed the second-most points to the tight end position. We will continue to use this play on DraftKings until they make drastic adjustments to the price, simple as that.

Kyle Pitts, TE New England Patriots, DraftKings: $3,900 | FanDuel: $5,400

As I mentioned, FanDuel has adjusted Juwan Johnson’s price. Which is fine - we’ll just use Kyle Pitts over there. Pitts is the same price as Johnson and DraftKings, but he’s $300 cheaper on FanDuel, and FanDuel scoring might lean into Pitts’s skillset. He is one of the fastest tight ends in the league and had multiple 50+ yard plays last year, which can favor half PPR formats.

Last year, Pitts was deployed as a part-time player, but that hasn’t been the case this year. Last week, he actually ran 100% of the routes. They also used Charlie Woerner for a decent snap share as an inline tight end, which is actually great for us as long as Pitts is running all the routes - having guys like Woerner out there helps consolidate that target among Drake London, Darnell Mooney, and Kyle Pitts.

Pitts also gets the Carolina Panthers this week. Jaycee Horn will likely take away a WR every play like he did last week with Marvin Harrison. That leaves Pitts to potentially get some decent looks, like Trey McBride did last week. You can use either Pitts or Johnson on DraftKings at these prices, but we like Pitts on FanDuel. 

T.J. Hockenson, TE Minnesota Vikings, DraftKings: $3,800 | FanDuel: $5,800

There is a very specific circumstance where we are using T.J. Hockenson this week - and I think it’s worth a lineup or two. Carson Wentz is only $4,000 on DraftKings, which is the bare minimum. We don’t like Hockenson’s price on FanDuel, but we do like it on DraftKings. There is a world where Carson Wentz is simply a better NFL QB at this moment than JJ McCarthy. And Jordan Addison is suspended for one more week. So we are throwing in some Carson Wentz/Justin Jefferson/T.J. Hockenson stacks just to see. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Value Picks For NFL Week 3

Chig Okonkwo TE Tennessee Titans - DraftKings: $3,400 | FanDuel: $4,900

This play has returned value for us where we’ve used it so far. But it hasn’t yet hit in a big way - and I think Chig is absolutely capable of that. One of these weeks, he’s going to deliver multiple X on his meager price.

Why do we believe that? Well, for starters, he’s playing a much bigger role than in previous years. He’s played 88% and 76% snap percentages are much better than the 61% he averaged last year. This past week, he was second on the team in routes run behind only Calvin Ridley and tied for second in targets with rookie Elic Ayomonar. So the floor is good.

The second part is his athleticism. That’s what creates the ceiling. Chig has 97th percentile speed - he ran the same 40 time as George Kittle. And Chig, Kittle, and Kyle Pitts are the only tight ends over the last five years to have multiple 40+ yard plays in the same season. One of these weeks, we are going to see Chig combine that great usage with his explosive ability, and we’ll see him break out in a big way. So, as long as he’s this cheap, we’ll have him in some lineups. 

Jake Tonges TE, San Francisco 49ers - DraftKings: $3,100 | FanDuel: $4,800

Yes, Luke Farrell caught the touchdown pass. But we don’t chase flukey things like that. We look for sustainable metrics that lead to targets and HOPE that leads us to big plays and touchdowns. That’s a sustainable method for success. And Farrell is actually more expensive than Tonges, despite Tonges getting the better usage. 

The usage for Jake Tonges was actually pretty good this past week, with him running 33 routes to 19 for Farrell. In fact, Tongs ran more routes than the WR3 Kendrick Bourne (28). He’s no George Kittle, but he did catch all three of his targets in Week 1 when Kittle went down, and he just got five targets last week. The Cardinals have been one of the weaker defenses vs. the tight end thus far, so, at $2,900 on DraftKings, he’s the cheapest viable tight end out there. 

NFL DFS TE Bonus Dart Throw

Luke Musgrave TE, Green Bay Packers - DraftKings: $2,700 | FanDuel: $4,300

If Tucker Kraft is indeed out then Luke Musgrave will be a very popular pick but one that you should probably sprinkle into a few lineups. Since the injury happened mid-week in practice, Musgrave would end up being severely underpriced as the starting tight end for Green Bay, especially with Jayden Reed out. 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Fades For Week 3

Trey McBride, TE Arizona Cardinals - DraftKings: $5,700 | FanDuel: $7,000

Fully fading Trey McBride might not be a good idea if you are a volume player. He’s just too good to have zero exposure to, just like Brock Bowers. But this matchup is not a great one for tight ends. Fred Warner and the gang are a tough assignment, and they allowed the sixth-fewest points to tight ends last year. McBride himself was held to 53 and 65 yards in his two games, which is fine, but this is a guy that have multiple games with 120+ yards. Those are the games we are paying up for. 

Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE Carolina Panthers - DraftKings: $4,200 | FanDuel: $4,600

This might surprise you, as Sanders is a guy we like. And he’s fairly cheap once again. But folks are going to be chasing his 10-target game last week, which I think was a bit misleading. Sanders still rotates with Tommy Tremble, which caps his upside. The Panthers simply ran an absurd 85 offensive plays and dropped back to pass 85 times. The Falcons are a much tougher defense, especially for tight ends, so we will find other weeks to utilize JT Sanders.Â