NFL DFS Week 18 TE Coach: Top DraftKings & FanDuel Picks
The craziest week for NFL DFS with the most opportunity is Week 1. The pricing comes out incredibly early and there is so much uncertainty that it’s chaos. The next craziest week? That would be NFL Week 18. There are teams resting starters. There are teams that will be scoreboard-watching that COULD rest starters. On the flip side, there are teams in MUST WIN situations treating this like a playoff game. AND, on top of all that, there are players that could chase contract incentives, milestones, and records. All that adds up to arguably the most fun NFL DFS slate of the year! And it comes the week after your typical leagues are most likely over! Let's take a look at the top tight ends, values, and fades for both Saturday and Sunday's NFL DFS lineups.
Be sure to check out the rest of the NFL DFS Coaches and DFS Watch List throughout the week!
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As a reminder, here is how we separate the groups here. We do it this way so that you have an option no matter how much (or how little) money you have available to spend on tight end.
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
SATURDAY TWO-GAME SLATE
Top Tier
Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans
This is the Saturday pay-up pick for us for sure. Not only has he been an integral part of the offense but this is also a must-win game for the Texans. If they win they are not only in but, with a little help, could still win the division. On top of that, Dalton Schultz has multiple highly obtainable contract incentives as we laid out here. The short and sweet is that he gets an extra $250K if he has six catches and ANOTHER $250K if he has 107 yards. That could easily happen in the normal course of a game but, if he gets close to either, I could see them helping him out. He’s $4,200 on DraftKings so a manageable price.
Value Tier
Charlie Kolar, Baltimore Ravens
Folks will be going with Pat Freiermuth or trying to guess a Colts tight end but we like going with the minimum-priced third-string tight end for the Ravens. Or, more accurately, the second string tight end ever since Mark Andrews went down. The Ravens already said they are resting their starters so Lamar Jackson and Isiah Likely will give way to Tyler Huntley and Charlie Kolar. Honestly, the Ravens have three tight ends that could start for multiple NFL teams and it’s not crazy to suggest that, if Kolar were on the Colts, he might be operating ahead of guys like Kylen Granson or Will Mallory. And, as we mentioned, we are talking bare minimum price.
SUNDAY MAIN SLATE
Top Tier
Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
Guys like Travis Kelce, David Njoku, and George KIttle are sitting this week out which limits our options at the top. Folks are worried about eliminated teams taking it easy but the Cardinals have been eliminated and they did not take it easy last week when they beat the Eagles. Go watch James Conner’s post-game interview and see if he is taking it easy. Trey McBride has been a focal point of this offense with the highest target share of any tight end over the last couple of months so he is locked in. We are definitely using him on FanDuel where he is actually cheaper than our next option, Evan Engram, but he’s affordable on all three platforms. We just have to hope they don’t give rookie Elijah Higgins an extended look this game. He did quietly play 28 snaps last week so the WR-turned-TE could be a deep dart throw himself if you wanted to dabble. But we think they lean on McBride, per usual.
Evan Engram, Jacksonville Jaguars
Even if Christian Kirk does play, we don’t expect him to jump off the IR, practice a couple of times, and play the whole game. Evan Engram has been as dialed in as any tight end this year and not only leads the team in receptions with 104 but leads all tight ends. This is a must-win game for the Jags so there’s no chance of resting guys or taking it easy here. Engram is cheaper than Trey McBride on DraftKings (10.8% of your budget vs. 12%) and on Yahoo (10.5% vs. 11.5%) though we already mentioned we are using McBride on FanDuel.
Mid Tier
Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys
We rarely use Jake Ferguson but this week he feels solidly priced. His output as of late has been mediocre with three games in a row of around 35-45 yards but he’s averaged 7.6 targets a game making him a safe cash game option. If the Cowboys get a big lead they might rest starters but first, you need to get a big lead to do that. And considering the NFC East division is at stake here, the Cowboys aren’t resting anyone until that game is well in hand. He’s between 9-10% of your budget on all three platforms which puts him on the radar no matter where you plan to play.
Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
The Green Bay situation still needs to sort itself out and, if Luke Musgrave plays (and possibly some of the WRs) we will be off both Musgrave and Kraft. The production for Juwan Johnson as of late isn’t a fluke according to Derek Carr himself. In case you don’t feel like watching that 20-minute press conference, Carr essentially says that Juwan hadn’t been fully healthy and it took a while for them to get on the same page. But now they are. JJ was playing 40% of the snaps as recently as a couple of weeks ago but he’s played over 70% in back-to-back weeks and scored three games in a row now. In a must-win matchup for the Saints, we like the idea of Juwan being heavily involved again. He’s 9% of your budget on FanDuel so we aren’t using him there but we do like him on DraftKings and Yahoo where he’s around 7%.
Value Tier
Robert Tonyan, Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are eliminated from playoff contention. Sure it’s fun to play spoiler but not at the expense of your player’s health. Cole Kmet has been dealing with a knee issue that saw him play only 13 snaps last week. It makes zero sense to roll him out there for a big workload on a bum knee in a game where it actually benefits your franchise to lose. Last week with Kmet banged up Tonyan played 39 snaps, ran 32 routes (out of a possible 40), and caught three of four targets for 40 yards. We like to pay up for tight ends on FanDuel but on DraftKings, he’s $2,800 (the bare minimum is $2,500) and on Yahoo, he’s $10 which IS the bare minimum.
Lucas Krull, Denver Broncos
Yes, we are doing it again. It is fun to get cute starting backup tight ends in Week 18 and we’ll certainly be doing our share of that. But flying right under everyone’s know is a tight end who has actually led his position group in route run for three weeks in a row now. And he has a soft matchup against the Raiders defense. FanDuel is no fun as always but $2,700 on DraftKings and the bare minimum $10 on Yahoo is just right for The Warrior Kings.
BONUS DART THROW
Izaiah Gathings. Kansas City Chiefs
You’ve probably never heard of this guy. And that is a good thing - he’ll be our secret. The Kansas City Chiefs had him in camp over the summer in July/August but ended up releasing him. Two weeks ago they signed him back to the practice squad. The Chiefs are resting their starter Travis Kelce but Noah Gray has also played more than half the snaps this season so he’ll get a rest too. Izaiah Gathings is a converted WR and he’s built more like one at 6’4”, 222. If they call Gathings up then it will be Blake Bell and him as the tight end options. Guess which one will be doing the blocking and which one will be running the routes? If they don’t call up Gathings from the practice squad, maybe throw a dart at Blake Bell but that is less fun.
Fades
Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
It’s easy to fade guys who are flat-out benched like Kelce and Kittle. LaPorta is one we worry about. He needs one catch to set the single-season rookie tight end reception record which I think he gets. But the single-season yardage record would be an insane game at 216 yards. I don’t think they even risk injury going for 140 yards. I think the Lions start their starters because Dan Campbell is that kind of guy and then they work in the backups in a game that won’t affect their seeding. Thanks for all the money earlier this year Sam but we are out here.
Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles will be scoreboard-watching. If the Cowboys win, their game does not matter. And Nick Sirianni has implied that the starters could be pulled if that’s the case. It’s just not the game I really want to play with my lineups considering Goedert hasn’t been a world-beater anyway.
Player News
The Athletic’s Zac Jackson reports that Browns TE Harold Fannin Jr. is “absolutely going to be involved in the offense.”
Jackson’s commentary is particularly noteworthy. Back in June, he believed Fannin was “considered more of a long-term project than an immediate contributor.” Jackson now believes the rookie tight end “is ahead of schedule, even if Stefanski won’t directly say it.” Fannin is “going to line up all over the formation,” which fits with his usage at Bowling Green State. Jackson counted Fannin, along with Joe Flacco and Jerry Jeudy, as players whose stock is rising. He counts “the rest of the pass-catching group” among those whose stock is down. Many things must fall Fannin’s way before he can be considered truly re-draft-relevant, but early returns suggest the Browns successfully drafted a capable contributor in Round 3 this year.
Cam Ward completed 2-of-7 passes for 42 yards in the Titans’ preseason Week 2 game against the Falcons.
Ward played three drives in this one, and his arm strength was evident despite the lackluster results. Among the Titans’ expected Week 1 receiving corps, only Chig Okonkwo and Van Jefferson Jr. joined Ward on the field. Neither player earned a target. Ward instead focused on honing his connection with fellow rookie, WR Elic Ayomanor, who caught 2-of-4 targets thrown to him by Ward for 37 yards. Ayomanor is unlikely to be re-draft-relevant this year but he should be rostered in dynasty.
The Browns are “cautiously optimistic” that Shedeur Sanders (oblique) can return to practice next week and play in the team’s preseason Week 3 game against the Rams.
Sanders will not play in the Browns’ preseason Week 2 game against the Eagles tomorrow. Kenny Pickett is rehabbing a hamstring injury and will not play either, though the team is “hoping” that Dillon Gabriel will “wake up feeling good enough” to play on Saturday, after rehabbing a hamstring injury of his own this week. Tyler Huntley will take most reps, if not. Joe Flacco has been bubble-wrapped as the lone healthy, proven player in the room.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that “there is still a possibility” for the NFL and Rashee Rice to “agree to a settlement on a suspension, that would allow Rice to be suspended at the start of the season.”
Per Pelissero, the NFL initially proposed a suspension lasting 10-plus games. Rice’s representatives argued for a far shorter suspension, in part because “there is no precedent for suspending someone for over half of the season.” With the two sides reaching an impasse, it was determined Rice’s case would be presented before Judge Sue L. Robinson, which could put Rice’s late-season availability at risk. Losing Rice early in the year would sting as well, with high-profile opponents like the Chargers, Eagles and Ravens on tap in Weeks 1-4. Both the team and the league are incentivized to get this issue sorted out as quickly as possible.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that Kirk Cousins is “finally healthy again and has impressed in training camp.”
Cousins dealt with a throwing arm injury in-season last year, but in the video segment, Pelissero curiously references Cousins’ 2023 Achilles tendon rupture, with regard to Cousins’ current health. The comment seemingly acknowledges that Cousins’ ability to plant and drive off of his surgically repaired right leg was compromised last year. The good news is Cousins’ zip has apparently returned. Pelissero names the Rams as a potential trade partner, given Matthew Stafford’s back injury and Cousins’ familiarity with head coach Sean McVay’s scheme via Falcons’ OC Zac Robinson, McVay’s former understudy. Cousins will not play in the Falcons’ preseason Week 2 game against the Titans tonight.
NBC Sports Houston’s Aaron Wilson reports, Joe Mixon (foot, ankle) “is not considered a lock to be ready for” the Texans’ Week 1 game against the Rams.
Wilson adds that “the Texans will take their time with managing his recovery and will not rush him back onto the field.” Mixon missed the entire offseason and remains out indefinitely, weeks into Texans training camp. Earlier today, Texans OC Nick Caley praised Dameon Pierce for his physical, violent playing style. Observing the backfield rotation in the Texans’ preseason Week 2 game against the Vikings tomorrow will be worthwhile for fantasy managers. In the same report, Wilson quotes Texans owner Cal McNair waxing poetic about his love of old school football: Playing tight defense and fielding a good rushing attack. The Texans’ backfield will be fantasy-relevant in Week 1, whether Mixon is active or inactive.