NFL DFS TE Picks, Thanksgiving Day: Week 12 TE Coach
Welcome to the FREE preview of the NFL Week 12 DFS Playbook for Thanksgiving Day 2023!
Last week we called Stone Smartt’s touchdown as our TE value play, and we faded Evan Engram’s 29-yard stinker. We’ll look to have another strong set of NFL DFS TE picks for Thanksgiving so you can have the happiest of holidays.
As always, we have position-by-position picks and analysis to cover all of your bases. Be sure to check out our QB picks, RB picks, WR picks, and D/ST picks in our other “Coach” articles for the Thanksgiving NFL DFS slate. Now let’s kick off Week 12!
Top DFS TE Pick For Turkey Day: Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
This one for me is contingent on one aspect. Packers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell is a tough matchup for tight ends, but he left the game this week with a shoulder/neck issue. On Tuesday’s estimated practice report he was listed as OUT, so there’s a chance he’s not ready to go in a couple of days. If that’s the case, I’m expecting a bounce back week for the rookie tight end after he has been in a little fantasy football slump here.
If Campbell is a go, I might pay the extra price of admission for George Kittle, who has the better matchup. Kittle had struggled early on in games when the 49ers receiving corps was healthy, catching three or fewer passes in each of those games. But this past week he proved that he still has upside from week-to-week regardless of target competition.
All things considered, on Thanksgiving’s DFS slate, I’d prefer to save some salary and pick LaPorta as my top tight end. Those salary savings could come in handy elsewhere since there are so many other studs playing on Turkey Day.
NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Play: Logan Thomas, Washington Commanders
The three options in this range for DFS tight ends are Jake Ferguson, Luke Musgrave, and Logan Thomas. Ferguson will obviously be a popular pick, and folks love the shiny rookies so Logan Thomas could be overlooked.
Thomas has actually run the second most routes of any tight end this season, which is an even more interesting stat when you consider that he missed a game and a half after suffering a concussion on a dirty hit from Kareem Jackson (surprise, surprise) back in Week 2. Terry McLaurin, Jahan Doton, and Logan Thomas are the three players on this team that routinely run 85-90% of the routes. Thomas also has the type of consistency we like to target for DFS purposes, hauling in at least four receptions in each of his last five games.
Most importantly, Thomas has four games this year with eight or more targets. The only other tight ends with four or more games of 8+ targets are Travis Kelce, T.J. Hockenson, Evan Engram, and David Njoku. That creates a weekly upside that you don’t see from too many other tight ends. Put him in your player pool as a solid TE pick on the Thanksgiving DFS NFL slate.
NFL DFS TE Value Play: Peyton Hendershot, Dallas Cowboys
With only three games on the slate and most of the viable tight ends priced appropriately, we have to get pretty sneaky with our value plays in this price range. So sneaky, in fact, that we’re looking at a player that might not even be activated for the game. But his window to return was already activated and last week, after he participated in a fully padded practice, he told reporters that his ankle was fully healed and all that remained was getting his conditioning up to speed. They didn’t activate him for Sunday, but that sounds promising for his potential return on Thanksgiving.
In the three games he played before getting hurt, Hendershot was playing nearly 50% of the snaps at times while rotating with Jake Ferguson. He also lined up at WR for 30 snaps and even got a goal-line carry. If he’s activated, he’s the best bet of the bare minimum-priced players to score a touchdown and jump in that red Salvation Army kettle.
If they don’t activate him, your next best value play for $2,500 on DraftKings would be Tucker Kraft, whose usage has ticked up slightly over the past two weeks. We’d rather take a shot on Hendershot.
Player News
Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly said “What I have been told is the Steelers view Jonnu Smith as a TE, a slot WR, and a fullback.”
As expected, it appears the Steelers have already confirmed their intention to use Smith in a versatile way. During his 2023 breakout with the Falcons in Arthur Smith’s offense, Smith lined up 29 times in the backfield, 274 times as an inline tight end, and 268 times in the slot, per PFF. We would expect to see similar usage with the Steelers in 2025, which could relegate Pat Freiermuth to more of a traditional inline tight end role after he posted a career high 268 slot snaps last season. Before last season, Freiermuth had never lined up more than 180 times in the slot. The lack of receiving upside on Pittsburgh’s roster could keep both tight ends somewhat fantasy relevant this season, but Smith undoubtedly has the higher upside heading into training camp.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports the Dolphins “are now in conversations with multiple teams” about a trade for a TE.
With Jonnu Smith now in Pittsburgh, the Dolphins suddenly find themselves very thin at tight end. If the season started today, the starting job would likely come down to either Julian Hill or Pharaoh Brown, which is far from ideal. We would expect the Dolphins to find a new tight end in the near future, but where that comes from is anybody’s guess. An interesting veteran option could be Mark Andrews, who is entering the final year of his deal with the Ravens, and looked like a potential cap casualty earlier this offseason; while a younger option could be the Raiders’ Michael Mayer, who was selected No. 35 overall in 2023 only to lose his role to Brock Bowers the following season. This is all speculation for the time being, but we would expect some names to emerge as rumors of a potential trade ramp up.
Steelers acquired TE Jonnu Smith, CB Jalen Ramsey, and a 2027 seventh-round pick in exchange for S Minkah Fitzpatrick and a 2027 fifth-round pick.
Smith will also sign a one-year, $12 million extension with the Steelers, per Schefter, which puts him under contract through the 2026 season. Smith broke out for 88-884-8 in his first and only season with the Dolphins, which came a year after he went for 50-582-3 with the Falcons under current Steelers OC Arthur Smith. There was mutual interest between the two sides to reunite in Pittsburgh once it became apparent that the Dolphins were unlikely to offer Smith the new extension he wanted following his breakout. His arrival to the Steel City makes for an interesting one from a fantasy perspective. For now, Pat Freiermuth remains on the roster and is only a year from signing a four-year, $48.4 million extension. The lack of talent in the Steelers’ passing game could create an environment where both tight ends co-exist, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that the Steelers now have two tight ends who ranked top-12 in slot snaps last season. The departure from Miami likely means Smith’s fantasy stock will take a hit in Pittsburgh’s run-heavy offense, although his ability to lineup all over the formation should work to his advantage. It’s safe to assume Freiermuth’s stock takes a hit as well, but we would expect to see plenty of 12 personnel from the Steelers this season.
Dolphins acquired S Minkah Fitzpatrick from the Steelers in exchange for CB Jalen Ramsey.
Steelers acquired CB Jalen Ramsey from the Dolphins in exchange for S Minkah Fitzpatrick.
The Dolphins trading Ramsey was always a matter of when, not if. Now, the 30-year-old corner has a new home in Pittsburgh, where he will join veteran corner Darius Slay and the recently signed Aaron Rodgers. It was reported last week by Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer that the relationship between Ramsey and the Dolphins was “past the point of no return,” which now stands to benefit the Steelers, whose pass defense ranked 22nd in PFF coverage grading (58.0) and ranked 25th in passing yards allowed per game. Ramsey appeared in all 17 games for the Dolphins last season and earned a PFF coverage grade of 71.9 while forcing two interceptions and breaking up 11 passes. While he may have lost a bit of a step as he enters his 10th season, Ramsey remains a solid presence on the outside and should pair nicely with Joey Porter Jr.
Titans CB L’Jarius Sneed (quad, knee) said he is “healthy” and “ready to get back on the field.”
Sneed ultimately caveated the initial statement by saying he is as “healthy as [he’s] been,” effectively acknowledging that his balky knee will likely require continued maintenance. Overall, this is good news for both Sneed and the Titans’ defense, though. The veteran cornerback is capable of covering wide receivers both on the perimeter and in the slot.