Week 1 DFS is the best. And not just because football and NFL DFS lineups are back in general. It’s because it’s the single easiest week to take advantage of pricing. 

Not only is the pricing all over the place, but it came out a month ago and a lot has changed since then. Our NFL DFS Week 1 TE Coach article could be based on players mispriced by that alone!

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 1 TE Coach For FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

What we do here as always is look at the DraftKings and FanDuel main slates for Week 1 NFL. We’ll give you some top tier TE plays, mid-tier TE plays and value TE plays to fit ANY lineup build. 

We’ll also let you know which tight ends to fade if you are someone that enters multiple lineups. So, let’s dig into our NFL DFS Week 1 TE Coach series and kick the season off right!

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Top Tier Picks For Week 1

Trey McBride, TE Arizona Cardinals - DraftKings: $6,100 | FanDuel: $6,400

The Buffalo Bills have historically been pretty good against the tight end. But they not only had to move on from safety Jordan Poyer this offseason due to cap issues but they also lost one of the better coverage linebackers in the league, Matt Milano to a torn bicep. If he does return, it won’t be until the NFL playoffs

That leaves Trey McBride in a nice spot, facing off against an untested Dorian Williams and Taylor Rapp, who is a great tackler but is a liability in coverage. In fact, his play can be so reckless at times I’d label him as a “general liability”. The over/under for this matchup is also one of the highest at 48 so we can expect some fireworks here.

From the point Zach Ertz went down last year, the only tight end that got more targets than McBride was Evan Engram (who had the second most targets for a tight end of all time). McBride is a solid pick on either platform - he’s oddly only  the 5th most expensive TE on FanDuel so we love that. On DraftKings he’s the most expensive but that’s full PPR, his better format.

Dalton Kincaid, TE Buffalo Bills - DraftKings: $5,800 | FanDuel: $6,800

This slate doesn’t give us many elite options to choose from because Travis Kelce, Sam LaPorta, Mark Andrews, George Kittle, Dallas Goedert etc. are all playing primetime games. If you want to spend up, there are two pretty clear options in our opinion.

As we mentioned, this game has a 48 point over/under and the Bills are favored by 6.5 giving them one of the highest implied point totals of any team. We’re hoping this one turns into a shootout meaning we can potentially stack assets from both sides. 

With Stefon Diggs vacating ~150+ targets and nearly 70 first downs a year, someone is going to need to step up. If Kincaid takes on the role we think he could, this might be the last time the pricing is this friendly on Kincaid. We especially like his price on DraftKings given that he just set the Bills record last year for receptions in a season by a tight end. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Picks For NFL Week 1

Kyle Pitts, TE Atlanta Falcons - DraftKings: $4,600 | FanDuel: $6,300

I love when these DFS sites slap a QUESTIONABLE tag on a player that isn’t really questionable. The “hamstring” issue that was reported actually only amounted to a couple missed plays, per Kyle Pitts himself. He literally returned to practice moments later. Yet that tag will hopefully scare some folks away.

This is another player who could break out in a BIG way this year. With his size, speed and deployment, there aren’t many comparables that are actual tight ends. In fact, there aren’t many receivers that were 6’6” and ran a 4.5 either. He’s basically a taller Dez Bryant or a slower Calvin Johnson. And he already had a 1,000 yard season with Matt Ryan. We watched Evan Engram play well with Eli Manning, struggled with bad QB play, then bounce back in a big way with Trevor Lawrence. That could be the Kyle Pitts story except he’s only 23.

So this is another guy where this might be the cheapest we see his price all year. On DraftKings they somehow have SEVEN tight ends priced ahead of him, making him a mid tier option when, to use, he’s an elite option. Get him in there somewhere.

Pat Freiemuth, TE Pittsburgh Steelers - DraftKings: $4,400 | FanDuel: $5,300

We actually did a full write-up on why we love Pat Freiermuth this year. And none of that has changed. Russell Wilson won the job, as we hoped. Arthur Smith still loves his tight ends (173 targets to the tight end last year). And Diontae Johnson and his 9 targets per game are still gone.

We expect George Pickens to be the top option here. Who is next after him? Rookie Roman Wilson hardly played this offseason dealing with an injury. Van Jefferson? He was with Arthur Smith in Atlanta and did nothing. Calvin Austin is more of a gadget/slot/return man. The door is wide open for Muth here.

On DraftKings maybe go Muth if you REALLY need to pivot to save that $200 but, on FanDuel, Freiermuth is a smash. He’s $1,000 cheaper than Pitts and half PPR might be the best format for Muth.

Hunter Henry, TE New England Patriots - DraftKings: $4,200 | FanDuel: $4,900

Here’s another player we’ve been high on all off-season (that we also did a full write-up on). The short and sweet is that he has always been good vs. man to man which has made him solid in the red zone. He tied for the second most TDs last year among TEs despite the Patriots only throwing 16. 

The Patriots also threw ZERO tight end screens last year while the new offensive coordinator, Alex Van Pelt, orchestrated an offense that called the second most of any team. Say what you will about upside, Jacoby Brissett is probably the better passer at this moment than Drake Maye. And the target competition for Henry is THIN. It’s basically KJ Osborn, Demario Douglas and some rookies. Henry could easily be a focal point of this team.

Despite all of those elite tight ends being off the main slate, DraftKings still found 11 tight ends to price ahead of Hunter Henry - including some of our massive fades. I can’t believe some people would spend all offseason doing research then just flip a coin with Taysom Hill. Have they no pride?

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Value Picks For NFL Week 1

Greg Dulcich, TE Denver Broncos - DraftKings: $3,000 | FanDuel: $4,600

The pricing for the Week 1 slate comes out WAY too early. The dust isn’t even close to being settled yet. With Greg Dulcich, it not only turned out that he’s healthy and good to go but the Broncos also released Tim Patrick - his main competition for a “big slot” role in this offense.

There is a world here where Greg Dulcich plays around 50% or more of his snaps from a WR spot as Sean Payton’s Jimmy Graham-Lite in this offense. How do I know that? Because we not only saw it Week 1 last year but we saw Lucas Krull operate in that role down the stretch last year. With Jerry Jeudy gone now, there are targets to be had.

Part of me does want to make ONE lineup with Lucas Krull just because Sean Payton really seems to like him and he’s just above the bare minimum price at $2,600. But, with Dulcich at $3,000, that’s where most of our value dart throws are going to be made.

Hayden Hurst, TE Los Angeles Chargers - DraftKings: $3,000 | FanDuel: $4,800

In 2019, the “starting” tight end for Greg Roman’s Baltimore Ravens was Nick Boyle. He played 768 snaps. They also had Mark Andrews, who operated in most of a pass down role, but only played 495 snaps. Despite that, Mark Andrews finished as a top five tight end in fantasy football.

What does that have to do with Hayden Hurst? Well, Greg Roman is now the Chargers offensive coordinator. And we don’t care one bit if Will Dissly is the “starter”. He’s a blocking tight end. He’s Nick Boyle. Hayden Hurst is the best bet to catch passes here.

Now, just like with Lucas Krull, we might make ONE lineup with Stone Smartt at the bare minimum $2,500 based on uncertainty in this offense. But Hayden Hurst at $3,000 is the much more realistic play. If you are making a lot of lineups like we do, you’ll want to have some Hurst ones in there at this price. 

NFL DFS WEEK 1 TE COACH BONUS DART THROW - Kylen Granson, TE Indianapolis Colts - DraftKings: $2,900 | FanDuel: $4,700

We like Dulcich better on FanDuel at his price but, if you REALLY need that extra $100 on DraftKings to make your lineup perfect, Granson is a dart. The pricing came out before Jelani Woods was put on season ending IR and Josh Downs has been struggling to get healthy so Granson could find some targets in the slot. 

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Fades For Week 1

Cole Kmet, TE Chicago Bears - DraftKings: $4,100 | FanDuel: $5,100

This one really makes no sense to me. Let’s put aside the fact that they are starting a rookie quarterback in his first ever game. And that the Titans defense was top three against the tight end last year. And that they have three starting WRs in DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze. All that is bad.

What is even worse is that offensive coordinator Shane Waldron is NOTORIOUS for rotating tight ends. Going back to when he was the Rams tight end coach in 2017, he has never had a TE play 75% of the snaps on the season. And, that same year, his TE room drafted a guy named Gerald Everett. Who he brought to the Seahawks. And now to the Bears.

Gerald Everett doesn’t block so you can expect Cole Kmet to handle that while Everett gets to be the “move” TE and play the slot. And both of them are drawing dead anyway because they are competing to be the fourth target on the team.

What is the upside? You basically need him to score a random TD just to get your money back and any TE can do that. Give yourself a chance at upside. And, if you are going to start a Bears tight end, you might as well pay down for Gerald Everett. I would not be shocked if he outscores Gerald Everett both this week and on the season. 

Dalton Schultz, TE Houston Texans - DraftKings: $4,900 | FanDuel: $5,600

Dalton Schult was already in trouble. Last year, in games where one of Nico Collins and/or Tank Dell was out, Schultz averaged 7 targets per game. In the games where both were playing, that number was 4.4. And THEN they added Stefon Diggs. It’s just too crowded here.

Too many times I see folks chasing last year or chasing touchdowns. If you want to chase touchdowns, there is a much cheaper way to do it than paying up for the TE7 on DraftKings. They don’t need to feed Schultz anymore with that WR group.

Noah Fant, TE Denver Broncos - DraftKings: $4,000 | FanDuel: $5,000

You can essentially just copy and paste what was said about Collins, Dell and Diggs and replace that with DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Then also add in that Noah Fant has been dealing with a toe injury in practice all week. Just not the bet we make.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 1 TE Projections