After an absolutely ABYSMAL Week One at the tight end position, Week Two came in to save the day. And that of course was headlined by the return of our kings Mark Andrews and Travis Kelce. But we also had one of our best days yet in DFS. The TE1 and TE2 on the Week (TJ Hockenson and Hunter Henry) played in prime-time games and were not on the main slate. Here are the names we mentioned in the article last week and how they finished in PPR.

Mark Andrews TE3
Darren Waller TE4
Travis Kelce TE5
Evan Engram TE6
Zach Ertz TE7
Sam LaPorta TE8
Kylen Granson TE9
Dalton Kincaid TE16
Luke Musgrave TE36

Outside of Luke Musgrave, we did pretty solid there. So let’s get back into it, and let’s win some more money!

 

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NFL DFS TE Top-Tier Picks

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs 

Some weeks we go with the Chalk God, some weeks we don’t. This week we are planning to but there is one caveat. And that caveat’s name is Eddie Jackson. The strong safety left last week’s game and, as of the writing of this, he has yet to practice. This Bears pass defense was already bad but without him, it will be straight terrible. Their other starting safety, Jaquan Brisker, also briefly left last week’s game so we could be in line for a classic Kelce smashing. If Jackson does end up playing, I will edit this with a new option - tag me on Twitter @CoopAFiasco or on our Discord if you see any definitive news on Jackson. FanDuel usually makes us pay up for the cheap options but Kelce is 13.3% of your budget over there compared to 14.4% on DraftKings and 16.0% on Yahoo so, if you play FanDuel, this might be a good week to pay up.

Evan Engram, Jacksonville Jaguars

We are absolutely not afraid to keep riding with one meal ticket until the DFS sites adjust. Why make things harder on ourselves by getting cute? Evan Engram is top 7 in virtually EVERY stat we care about - route participation (83.3%), target share (17.81%), pass block rate (0%), routes run from WR rate (76.4%), YPRR (1.51). Would be nice if his aDot was a little higher than 4.1 but we can deal with that. This week he gets the Houston Texans so he should be fairly safe, especially in cash games. He’s 8.4% of your budget on DK and closer to 10% on Yahoo and FanDuel so he’s my DK play this week. He’s a better PPR player anyway and DK is full PPR.

Bonus Yahoo Play

Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens

We said we like Kelce on FanDuel and Engram on DraftKings. Kelce is a whopping $32 on Yahoo and Evan Engram and Mark Andrews are both priced at $20 on Yahoo. So Mark Andrews is the obvious pick on Yahoo if you play over there and are paying up.

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Picks

Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons

I know. I get it. Arthur Smith, we had him. But hear me out. We all know the “behind the scenes” numbers for Pitts are good. Remember all those stats we mentioned for Evan Engram above?


Player Route Part Target Share Pass Block% aDot WR Rate
Evan Engram 83.3% 17.8% 0% 4.1 76.4%
Kyle Pitts 91.7% 14% 0% 13.6 88.1

The only real difference is that the Jaguars actually throw with Trevor Lawrence and the Falcons don’t with Desmond Ridder. This week they pretty much have to against the Detroit Lions. And the Lions just lost their strong safety, CJ Gardner Johnson, to injury. If Kyle Pitts doesn’t do it this week then we won’t have him in this article again until something drastically changes. But folks are going to be off him in a week where he just might actually do something. And this is likely the cheapest he will ever be. Yahoo dropped him to an absurd 6% of your budget so you have to make a lineup with him over there if you play. He’s 7.8% on DK as well so a good price, 9% on FanDuel so maybe not there.

Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans

Schultz’s alignment has been rock solid so far. He’s running over 80% of the routes, running more than half his routes from a WR spot, and he’s only pass-blocking on 3.2% of the snaps. This week he gets a matchup where the Texans will have to throw against a Jags defense that isn’t amazing against the tight end. If you are just out on Kyle Pitts completely and just want something safe, Schultz is probably the guy coming off seven targets last week. He’s 7.5%-8% of your budget on all platforms so it’s pick your poison there.

NFL DFS TE Value Picks

Mike Gesicki, New England Patriots 

This one might confuse some people as Hunter Henry has been “the guy”. But it’s really not that confusing once you realize that Mike Gesicki doesn’t play tight end - he plays wide receiver. He’s lined up at WR for 97% of his snaps this year. And last week he got ramped up to a 70% snap share. The Jets killer corners of Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed really do not go into the slot - they have ONE combined snap in the slot all year. Ceedee Lamb played 47 slot snaps last week and they just didn’t go in there. So, while the outside WRs are getting destroyed, Gesicki has a chance to rack up some numbers from the slot. Hunter Henry could have another good day as well but Gesicki is just so cheap he’s worth a lineup or two. On FanDuel he is expensive and we are paying up at TE there anyway but Gesicki is around 5-6% of your budget on both DraftKings and Yahoo.

Durham Smythe, Miami Dolphins 

If Gesicki is your high-risk, high-reward play in this range then Smythe is your “safe” one. This guy has quietly run 97% of the routes so far this year which obviously leads all tight ends. The Dolphins have replicated the 49ers offense and have decided that Durham Smythe will be George Kittle. Who are we to argue? The Dolphins use fullback Alec Ingold the same way that the 49ers use Kyle Juszczyk so he’s playing almost half the game - that highly consolidates the targets among the top two WRs, the TE, and the RB. 

The fact that Smythe was able to catch three passes vs. the Patriots defense and Kyle Dugger is a miracle in itself so Smythe is probably undervalued at his price. He’s priced identically to Gesicki on DK and Yahoo and he’s only $100 more on Fan Duel. I’d say that Smythe is your pay-down cash game option this week whereas Gesicki is more of your GPP play.

NFL DFS TE Bonus Dart Throw

Cole Turner, Washington Commanders

The logic here is simple - Logan Thomas was looking pretty darn good in this offense orchestrated by Ron Rivera and Eric Bienemy who love using a TE out of the slot. But he got crushed with a brutal hit last week and has not practiced this week. Cole Turner is a converted wide receiver himself so, if Logan Thomas is out, we have to sneak him into a lineup somewhere.


NFL DFS TE Fades

Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys

Folks will be chasing last week’s touchdown and citing “red zone targets” but this guy has yet to run more than 50% of the routes in either game. And that’s while playing 60-75% of the snaps - he comes out of the game on pass plays at times which is bad news for a tight end. This play will likely trap fantasy gamers more than once this year, it’s a low-upside play.

Tyler Conklin, New York Jets

Aaron Rodgers being out is obviously the number one issue here but there still may be a week where we sneak Conklin in for a dart throw here or there in DFS. This is not that week. Kyle Dugger held Dallas Goedert to literally zero catches in Week One so a guy like Conklin is in a whole heap of trouble.