This is it folks. We are running out of games. And we are running out of NFL DFS slates. This weekend we have six football games as the NFL Playoffs get underway. And every week moving forward we’ll have fewer and fewer. So we need to strike while the iron is still a little bit warm and put one last chunk in the bank account before the long, cold NFL offseason. Let’s take a peek at the two slates for this NFL Wild Card weekend as we dive into top NFL DFS Tight End plays for both Saturday and Sunday's games on DraftKings and FanDuel.

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NFL DFS TE Top Picks for Wild Card Weekend

Saturday Slate

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs

The one site you might consider using David Njoku is DraftKings where Njoku is 9.2% of your budget and Kelce is 12.2%. On FanDuel Kelce is 12% and Njoku is 11.7% - if it’s that close we use Kelce. I have no idea what Yahoo is thinking, having Njoku set at $27 and Kelce at $19. That’s 12.5% for Njoku and 9.5% for Kelce. I know Kelce has had a couple down weeks to end the season but he’s fully rested after taking last week off and it’s the playoffs. This guy had back to back to back 80+ yard games as recently as 11/26, 12/3, and 12/10. Do we really think Travis Kelce went from a guy capable of playing well to a bum in a calendar month. This is the same guy that hung 12 for 179 and a touchdown on the Chargers on October 22nd. Folks are going to actually be fading Kelce this week and I think that’s a mistake. 

Noah Gray, Kansas City Chiefs

As far as discount options go, it’s basically Noah Gray and Durham Smythe. And I’m honestly not quite sure Smythe gives you that Gray doesn’t. They both basically get 2-4 targets per game and you hope for a random touchdown. But Smythe is more expensive than Gray on every platform, despite having the worse matchup. Gray actually caught three of three targets against the Dolphins earlier this year (and quietly outscored Travis Kelce in that game. He’s just above the bare minimum price on DraftKings and he is the bare minimum $10 on Yahoo. 

 

Sunday Slate

Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills

Let’s think about the narrative here. First game back for Dawson Knox, Kincaid keeps his role and gets eight targets. In fact, he played more snaps in that game than he did in the three previous games. In that game he gets a banged up shoulder and thumb. They take it easy with him in the blowout vs. Dallas then, after being limited all week in practice, he’s used sparingly against the Chargers. After that he’s back to being a full participant and hits us with 87 yards on seven targets and 84 yards on eight targets. We’re back to good time and this is a must win game so we expect Kincaid to be involved again. He’s a reasonable price on both DraftKings and FanDuel at around 9-10% of your budget but you HAVE to make a Kincaid lineup if you play on Yahoo. He’s $13 when the bare minimum is $10 making him 6.5% of the budget. That is silly. 

Davis Allen, Los Angeles Rams

Dawson Knox is an okay dart throw as he can score randomly at any given time. But he has not been running routes anywhere near the level of Kincaid. The Allen play for us is simple. Not only did Sean McVay tell us that Tyler Higbee has been “dealing with a lot of stuff” but they confirmed that Higbee separated his shoulder in the Week 17 game against the Giants. As they rested their starters in Week 18, we have no idea what condition Higbee is in. He could be severely limited or he could reaggravate that issue fairly early. Not only did we see the rookie out of Clemson catch four of four targets last week but, when Higbee was banged up in Week 14, Allen caught four of five targets for 50 yards and a score against a tough Ravens defense. At his price Allen doesn’t even need to play the full game, just get a couple looks at some point. 

 

Fades

Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans

The Browns have been one of the top defenses against the tight end all season. They were able to rest guys last week so the defense is fresh and ready to go. I’m not super interested in starting Schultz in those conditions. 

Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers

Kenny Picket loved dumping it down to Pat Freiermuth. But that does not seem to be what Mason Rudolph wants to do. If you take every quarterback that has dropped back 50 times, Kenny Picket’s yards per attempt ranks 40th at 6.4 yards. Mason Rudolph ranks first at 9.7. Rudolph is pushing the ball down field which has worked out well for the Steelers but it is not a good thing for Muth.

Detroit Lions Tight Ends

I don’t trust Sam LaPorta if he plays, not at that price. And, if he doesn’t play, Brock Wright is not a “sneaky” play. Everyone and their uncle is going to think they are doing something special when the reality is that Brock Wright isn’t special and they don’t need to throw to him. The Lions have won games without really throwing to LaPorta honestly.