We had the top tier locked down last week with Trey McBride (TE1) and Jake Ferguson (TE) in the top tier while fading Tyler Warren (TE7) at a similar price. But Oronde Gadsden was the player to have as he came out with a big breakout game with 7 targets for 9 for 164 yards and a TD, blowing up at his price. Hopefully, you at least had him stashed like we mentioned in the Week 7 Waiver Wire article - if not, you had to pay a pretty penny to get him this week!

Anyway, last week is in the books, so it’s time to move on to Week 8. With a season high 6 teams on bye, it’s a thinner crew than usual, but we still have decent options at every level to balance out your lineups. So let’s dig in. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Top Tier Picks For Week 8

Tyler Warren - DraftKings: $5,500 | FanDuel: $7,200

Trey McBride is on a bye week, so we don’t have him to fall back on. And that’s fine, as we used him last week and he was the TE2 overall - gives us a chance to diversify. And, when we look at the metrics we care about, Tyler Warren is the next best option after McBride.

There are only three tight ends on the season that are top five in both route participation and target share. They are Trey McBride, Tyler Warren, and Juwan Johnson (more on him later). Warren is also second in yards per route run among tight ends, behind only the part-time Dalton Kincaid.

On top of all that, Warren’s history as a converted QB gives him gadget potential that could result in a rushing or passing TD in any given week. He’s already gotten carries and attempted a pass. The Titans to us aren’t the great tight end defense that their points allowed might suggest they are, so Warren is our top play this week. Though this next guy is the sneaky top-tier option.

George Kittle TE San Francisco 49ers - DraftKings: $4,500 | FanDuel: $6,100

So I was a little surprised to see that George Kittle caught zero passes last week, as I’m sure you were as well. So I went back to watch all 24 of his routes last week (he ran 24 of 28 possible routes, which is what we like to see). And what I found out is that George Kittle did not look bad - the Falcons' safeties looked GREAT. This thread has some clips I pulled if you’d like to see a bit of what I saw.

Right now, the Falcons are allowing the fewest fantasy points per game to TEs behind Jessie Bates and rookie of the month Xavier Watts. Houston has also been a bit of a difficult matchup for tight ends, but I expect the 49ers to make a concerted effort to get Kittle more involved here in his second week back. So, with a lot of folks probably off Kittle with the matchup and his goose egg last week, we are going contrarian this week. 

 

 


 

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Picks For NFL Week 8

Evan Engram, TE, Denver Broncos - DraftKings: $4,100 | FanDuel: $5,300

Don’t look now, but Evan Engram is catching his stride. He dealt with multiple ailments to start the year. And that saw him operate as a part-time player early on, with him not registering even a 50% snap share for the first six weeks. But his usage in the pass game has steadily increased, and he actually hit a 67% route participation this week.

He might be more of a cash game option since we don’t know if he’ll ever be an every-down guy. But we really can’t ignore that he’s gotten at least six targets in four straight games, including eight last week. The Dallas Cowboys can’t help but get themselves involved in shootouts, and this is the only game on the slate with an over/under above 50. 

Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons- DraftKings: $3,900 | FanDuel: $5,300

Kyle Pitts will always offer upside with his athleticism. It’s just rare to have tight ends with the speed to rip off 50+ yard plays. Which Pitts hasn’t done much of this year, but he did it twice last year - and he could do it in any given week.

Not only does he have that ceiling, but his floor has been oddly good as well. He’s only had one game with fewer than 7.5 PPR points, and that game, he still had nearly five. This game against Miami could be pretty good conditions for him to put it all together and give us a monster game. As the following tweet suggests, the underlying numbers have actually been great, so we know there’s a beast sleeping there, ready to break out.

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Value Picks For NFL Week 8

Cade Otton TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - DraftKings: $3,400 | FanDuel: $5,500

We’ve got a fairly specific strategy in this range this week. And what we are doing is dividing it up into three players. There’s really no such thing as a “safe” play in this price range. But we have our safe(ish) DraftKings play, our safe(ish) FanDuel play, and our high-risk, high-reward value play.

Cade Otton is our safe(ish) DraftKings play. All three of these guys are similarly priced. But he’s in the best offense, has the best quarterback, and has the best conditions this week. Chris Godwin was already out, and now Mike Evans is out too. It’s a fine matchup vs. New Orleans, and somehow, on DraftKings, the price for Otton actually came DOWN after a nine-target game. They raised it on FanDuel to the point that Otton is more expensive than guys like Evan Engram and Kyle Pitts, who we like better, so we aren’t using him there.

Dalton Schultz TE, Houston Texans - DraftKings: $3,300 | FanDuel: $5,100

This one is a contingent play for now. It’s at least contingent on Christian Kirk being out. Schultz has actually caught at least five passes in four straight contests, including nine last week. If Christian Kirk is out, we feel good enough to use him and, if Nico Collins doesn’t clear concussion protocol, well, we’ll feel even better. 

Schultz is a fine option on DraftKings, too, as he’s $100 cheaper than Otton. But we mentioned that Otton is fairly expensive over on FanDuel - this is where Dalton Schultz shines. There are actually six tight ends priced between Schultz and Otton on FanDuel, whereas they are back-to-back on DK. So Schultz is out cash game FanDuel option.

Juwan Johnson TE, New Orleans Saints - DraftKings: $3,300 | FanDuel: $5,200

As we mentioned earlier in the Tyler Warren section, Juwan Johnson is quietly one of only three tight ends on the season that is top five in both route participation and target share. But lately he’s struggled to regain his insane earlier pace when we were crushing with him in lineups. The problem? He hasn’t been healthy. He suffered an ankle sprain in the Bills game and has not quite looked the same. Until last week.

That’s the bet we are making this week. Juwan Johnson finally had no injury designation last week, and he came out with five catches on seven targets for 79 yards, which is a lot closer to his first three games. If Johnson is back closer to what he was doing earlier this year, then his price against the Buccaneers this week just doesn’t reflect what his upside is. He’s had some bad weeks lately, so the floor isn’t stellar, but the upside is there.

Bonus TE Dart Throw For Week 8

Greg Dulcich TE, Miami Dolphins - DraftKings: $2,500 | FanDuel: $4,000

This is a bad idea. And you probably shouldn’t do it. But I’m going to in just one lineup, just because he’s so cheap. Darren Waller is out - possibly for multiple weeks with a pec injury. Tanner Conner and Julian Hill have given you virtually nothing. So they elevated Greg Dulcich from the practice squad. This is probably his last chance in the NFL to show he belongs.

He might not even play behind the current pass-catching tight end, Tanner Conner. And we already laid out why the Falcons are a terrible matchup for tight ends. But we've seen guys like Albert Okwuegbunam and Darren Waller himself join the active roster and immediately contribute. Just one lucky TD at $2,500 is all it takes for glory. Like I said, you shouldn’t do it. But I’m going to - for old time’s sake.

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Fades For Week 8

Harold Fannin TE Cleveland Browns - DraftKings: $4,400 | FanDuel: $5,200

In theory, the Harold Fannin Jr play makes sense. The Patriots, on paper, are letting up points to tight ends. And Harold Fannin has been pretty good. But there are two curveballs here. The biggest one is that David Njoku returned to practice in a limited capacity and might play. The other is that the Patriots might not actually be that bad against the tight end, as the numbers show. 

The two Panthers TE touchdowns to Tommy Tremble and Mitchell Evans were in a blowout. Taysom Hill scored a rushing TD, which DraftKings counts against them. In fact, per DVOA over at FTN Fantasy, they actually grade out as a top 10 team vs. the TE when you consider all the factors. So we aren’t spending up for Fannin. Not while he’s the fourth-priced tight end on DraftKings.

Theo Johnson, TE, New York Giants - DraftKings: $3,700 | FanDuel: $5,600

I actually like the idea of stashing Theo Johnson in redraft and dynasty leagues. He’s quietly been the second target behind on the team since Malik Nabers went down, behind only Wan’Dale Robinson. The problem for us is this gauntlet of tough matchups. The Broncos last week were tough, but the Eagles have arguably been the best defense against the tight end. And they literally just shut Theo Johnson down the week before last.