Week 8 was a thin one at tight end across the board but we managed to hit TE2 (Kyle Pitts) and TE3 (Zach Ertz) so have to feel good about that. We also go decent value from dart throw Tanner Hudson in the deeper ranges. We’re on to Week 9 now though, which is looking to be equally thin with six teams on bye so let’s see what we can squeeze out of this group.

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!

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NFL DFS TE Top Plays for Week 9

Top Tier

None

This week there really isn’t any option that you just spend $7K on because, well, there isn’t. There isn’t even one that is $5.5-$6K. Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, and Dallas Goedert all play in prime time games while George Kittle and Dalton Schultz have bye weeks. And that’s okay - it lets us save some money to spend at other positions. So we’ll move on and give you an extra dart throw pick at the value tier.

Mid Tier

Zach Ertz, Arizona Cardinals

I know we said there weren’t any elite priced plays but that doesn’t mean there aren’t elite values. And there are two guys that should jump off the page at you this week with their pricing around $5,000, Zach Ertz is the first at $5,100 on DraftKings which is only about 10% of your budget (on Yahoo he’s over 11% so skip that). Ertz was supposed to fall by the wayside with the return of DeAndre Hopkins but an injury to Marquise Brown has kept him in that top mix (currently TE3 on the season). He’s gotten the second-most targets and second-most red zone targets of any tight end while maintaining a top-five snap share at the position. This week, he gets the Seattle Seahawks who are literally dead last vs. the tight end so the only concern is that he might be a little TOO chalky. But it doesn’t get much safer if you want to pay up for the most expensive tight end this week (even though he’s really not all that expensive).

Gerald Everett, Los Angeles Chargers

It’s pretty much the same story here with Everett if you think about it. Keenan Allen was set to return and, right as he did, Mike Williams got hurt. This kept Everett in the mix to be a top-two target on his team for the foreseeable future, which  is one of the most important factors when it comes to elite production. We wish he was playing more snaps (he plays like ~60% of the snaps compared to ~85% for Ertz) but, despite that, he’s top-10 in routes run, has the seventh-most targets, and the fourth-most red zone targets among tight ends. This week, he gets Atlanta who is giving up the fourth-most points to the position and has also found themselves in some shootouts (five of their games have cleared the 50 point O/U marker including last week going to 37-34). He’s a little cheaper on Yahoo than he is on DK so I’d use him there, Ertz on DK.

Value Tier

Evan Engram, Jacksonville Jaguars

I know that we’ve recommended Engram a number of times but, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Over the last four weeks, since the Eagles game played in the remnants of a hurricane, no tight end has more targets than Engram’s 29 (Kelce had his bye during that span so technically Kelce would be ahead in targets per game but second to Kelce isn’t a bad place to live). Engram is an elite athlete who is running the routes, getting the targets, and he finally found paydirt (should have been two but the Broncos defender elected to take a pass interference penalty in the end zone on the second one). He’s only $3,300 and he’s playing the Raiders who are a bottom three team vs. the tight end so you aren’t going to get an easier play to make. You have to make at least one Engram lineup.

Will Dissly, Seattle Seahawks

This one comes with a bit of a caveat. All year long, Dissly has split snaps with Noah Fant which has been annoying for both. This week though, Fant has popped up on the injury report with a hamstring issue. If Fant can’t go or even if he doesn’t log a full practice on Thursday or Friday, Dissly has a juicy matchup against Arizona who are the second-worst team vs. the tight end. Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf have both dealt with various ailments of their own this year so Dissly could be in a smash spot. But we don’t really love him if Fant is good to go. So have to pay attention on this one. At $3,000, he’s pretty cheap but I would either pivot up to Engram or down to a dart throw if Fant is a full go.

Bonus Dart Throw

Brock Wright, Detroit Lions

This is going to be a very popular play this week but it might be for good reason. The pricing for DFS came out before TJ Hockenson was moved in a surprise trade to the Vikings. So Wright is the bare minimum price on pretty much all platforms. We’ve seen him step up at times in Hock’s absence and even provide a red zone target so you might have to mix him in somewhere just to make sure you aren’t missing out on easy chalk. He needs to clear concussion protocol though and, if he doesn’t, pivot to James Mitchell. 

Fades

T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings

We mentioned above that he just got traded which might sound like fun, but he also needs to learn a new playbook and get chemistry with a new QB. On top of that, he faces what has quite literally been the best team against the tight end so far this year. Throw in the fact that he’s the second-most expensive guy on the slate and it’s just not worth the risk.

Mike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins

This player just feels like fool’s gold to me this year. He’s being propped up by touchdowns as of late, but he’s really not playing a full snap share. In fact, Durham Smythe is really the starting in-line tight end with Gesicki splitting the slot with Trent Sherfield. That’s why last week he played only 46% of the snaps despite scoring. And that game he had two touchdowns? Durham Smythe was out. The Bears have been surprisingly good vs. the TE this year (6th best vs TE) so I just see no reason to make this play.

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