College football is fanatic. There’s no question. But NFL football is the backbone of fantasy football. So, anytime we get a special Saturday NFL slate, that’s cause for celebration. To celebrate, let’s cover the special Saturday NFL DFS slate AND do picks for a Sunday slate. We have all that Chig Okonkwo money from last week so why not splurge a little right?

Top Tier:  the safest and most expensive guys available if you want to pay up

Mid Tier: affordable players that offer the best bang for your buck

Value Tier: the bargain bin players that are risky by nature but can have the huge upside in terms of value created

Fades: The guys we feel are the worst value proposition that you should actively avoid

Be sure to check out the rest of the NFL DFS Coaches and DFS Watch List throughout the week!

| NFL DFS Watch List | DFS Playbook | QB Coach | RB Coach | WR Coach | TE Coach | D/ST Coach | Value Plays | 

NFL DFS Week 15 Tight End Top Plays

NFL DFS TE Top-Tier Plays for Saturday

TJ Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings

At the top tier, I’m going with TJ Hockenson. Ever since the trade to the Vikings, he’s been completely locked in with Kirk Cousins and the targets are highly consolidated. In fact, Hockenson (48) has more targets than Adam Thielen (41) since arriving. This is the one game on the Saturday slate with real shootout potential (48.5-point over under) so Hockenson is the guy if you are paying up. Hockenson is about 10-11% of your budget so pretty similarly priced across all three platforms.

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Plays for Saturday

David Njoku, Cleveland Browns

The upside for Njoku is simply too tantalizing in this price range after seeing what he is capable of last week when healthy with Deshaun Watson. He played 96% of the snaps so there is no concern there. He caught seven of nine targets and he capped it off with a touchdown. Njoku is back and in a BIG way. He unfortunately has terrible matchups in Week 16 and 17 but we can still use him vs. the Ravens this week which isn’t so bad. He’s 8.4% of your budget on DraftKings, 9% on Yahoo, and 10% on Fan Duel so DraftKings is a slight discount.  

NFL DFS TE Value Plays for Saturday

Kylen Granson, Indianapolis Colts

The big Jelani Woods game really changed the way we think about the Colts' tight ends but folks might not realize that Kylen Granson was out for that game. When Granson returned, Woods went right back in the bottle with only 12 routes run (Mo Alie-Cox ran 10 while Granson ran 22). It’s not the sexiest play but the fantasy gamers who are chasing past performances will likely be piling on Woods while we sneak in with the lower-rostered Granson and take it down. 

NFL DFS TE Fades for Saturday

Mike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins & Dawson Knox, Buffalo Bills

Mike Gesicki was already an easy fade because he hardly plays but I really don’t want any part of this snow-game pass attack. Some people are going to look at the Dolphins ranked 30th against the tight end and think they are being sneaky here but the reality is that this will likely be a run-heavy game in what should be a low-scoring and easy win for the Bills. Not enough upside there for me - Dawson Knox has one career 100-yard game on his resume and I can’t imagine he adds a second in a storm. Fade the public. 

NFL DFS TE Top-Tier Plays for Sunday

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs

It’s really not even fair to pick Travis Kelce for the top tier anymore. So we are just going to say this then give you another option — if you can afford to play Kelce, he’s always a good pick. 

Dalton Schultz, Dallas Cowboys

Out of the rest of the top dogs, we really like Dalton Schultz. Kelce is $7,800 on DraftKings and everyone else is under $5,000 so Schultz is incredibly affordable at $4,400. Last week against the lowly Texans, he commanded 10 targets, catching six for 87 yards. This week, he gets the Texans' division-rival Jaguars — who are even worse against the tight end (25th in DraftKings points on the season). Schultz had one concerning week vs. the Giants where he blocked on 10 pass plays but his 37 routes last week was second only to CeeDee Lamb (42) and in Week 13, he tied for the lead in routes run with 30. He’s ~9% of your budget on DraftKings and Yahoo while he’s 10.8% on FanDuel, so he's a better option on the first two than the latter.

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Plays for Sunday

Greg Dulcich, Denver Broncos

Greg Dulcich has been fairly productive for us at his price point in certain matchups and this week he gets the stone-worst defense in the league vs. the tight end. Courtland Sutton is out so it leaves Dulcich and Jerry Jeudy once again at the top of the pecking order. Some folks might be scared off with Russell Wilson banged up but those folks are probably forgetting that we’ve already seen Brett Rypien lead this team before. And in that game vs. a decent Jets defense, he threw Dulcich nine targets. He’s only $3,200 on DraftKings still (7% of your budget) making him a steal over there. He’s $16 on Yahoo (8%) and $5,600 on FanDuel (9.33%) so maybe less appealing over there.

NFL DFS TE Value-Tier Plays for Sunday

Chigoziem Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans

If it ain't broke, don’t fix it. Or in this case, it kind of IS broke but DraftKings and Yahoo refuse to fix it (FanDuel has caught on). This guy has essentially been locked in for five targets a game and they even mixed in a carry last week. Why is he still only 6% of your budget on DK and Yahoo (he’s 8.5% on FanDuel). He’s done all that while playing ~50% of the snaps or so and, if they decide to actually unleash him with Treylon Burks out, he could have even greater upside. Not to mention, he gets the Los Angeles Chargers and Derwin James has now missed two practices in a row…

Special FanDuel Play

Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals

In all three of the examples above, the players were more expensive on FanDuel than the other two. So we didn’t want to walk away without an option for gamers that need someone over there. They generally do price their tight ends higher but there are gems to be found. After Kyler Murray went down, Colt McCoy seemed to like McBride as he finished the day with six targets and that was against Kyle Dugger who is typically great vs. the tight end. He’s only $4,500 on FanDuel (plus he’s pretty reasonably priced on the other platforms too so not a bad cheap stab anywhere really). 

NFL DFS TE Fade for Sunday

Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers

It seems crazy to say it considering how consistent he’s been but this guy simply has not been healthy. He’s been dealing with a foot injury for a couple weeks and he’s only played 55% and 56% of the snaps the last two weeks. He’s also missed a couple practices this week. I really don’t like starting guys who are banged up or who are coming off injury if I can afford it (looking at you, Dallas Goedert). Both guys face top-10 defenses vs. the tight end so an easy fade for me this week. 

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