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
Bears signed GM Ryan Poles to a three-year extension through 2029.
Both Poles and head coach Ben Johnson are now under contract through the 2029 NFL season. Ownership was evidently pleased by the duo’s first offseason together and decided to keep the partnership intact for the foreseeable future. Poles still had two years left on his past deal, at the time of today’s signing.
The Athletic’s Jacob Robinson says to “expect an offense-heavy start” for Travis Hunter.
How the Jaguars will utilize Hunter’s two-way ability remains a mystery. Still, Robinson believes the No. 2 overall pick will see more than his fair share of snaps on offense after spending “the majority of minicamp lining up as receiver.” Robinson adds that Hunter is also adding weight after weighing in at 188 pounds at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine. Hunter caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns during his final season at Colorado while averaging 13.1 YPR. He figues to be featured on most passing plays opposite Brian Thomas Jr. and could earn a significant role early in Liam Coen’s passing attack.
49ers FB Kyle Juszczyk said Christian McCaffrey looks healthy and “so explosive” ahead of training camp.
The buzz continues to build around McCaffrey, who battled through bilateral Achilles tendinitis last season and was limited to just four games after suffering a PCL sprain in Week 13. McCaffrey, 29, totaled just 348 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown last season, but totaled 2,023 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2023. Assuming he stays healthy this season, McCaffrey has the chance to be poised for another big season. The veteran running back has averaged 22.1 PPR points per game in 31 games with the 49ers since being traded to them midway through the 2022 season. He’s still a three-down threat who possesses elite pass-catching upside, and could see a workload similar to 2023, when he led the league with 339 touches. As McCaffrey’s ADP continues to creep higher into the first round, it sounds like there is little reason to fade him at this point in time.
NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco said “it’s not out of the question” for Brandon Aiyuk (knee) to play in Week 1, but believes landing on the PUP list to open training camp is still likely.
Maiocco said Aiyuk is doing well in his ACL and MCL injury recovery, saying the knee is ahead of schedule. However, the 49ers “want to be extra cautious with him” and “the feeling inside the organization has always been don’t take any chances.” Maiocco expects Aiyuk to be placed on the PUP list when veterans report to training camp on July 22 and to remain on the PUP list when the regular season begins. Returning in Week 5 or Week 6 is “quite possible” and Maiocco believes Aiyuk will get up to speed quickly.
Najee Harris’ agent Doug Hendrickson said that Harris “sustained a superficial eye injury” during “a fireworks mishap” on the 4th of July, “but is fully expected to be ready for the upcoming NFL season.”
There is more to learn about Harris’ injury specifics and his road to recovery, but this is good news. A surface-level injury suffered by the eye is, of course, different than an elbow abrasion. But from a vision standpoint, Harris is seemingly expected to be in football shape come September after suffering an eye injury that resulted in two hospital visits just last weekend. We will wait for more details to fully assess his 2025 outlook, though it stands to reason that the coaching staff will safely ease him into live action.
The Mercury News reports Najee Harris was injured by a “fireworks explosion” during a July 4th celebration.
The incident reportedly occurred at 12:20 a.m. on July 5th. Per the report, “the nature and severity of Harris’ injury could not immediately be verified” and “officials said that other people had been hurt in the blast, but did not specify their number or how severely any of them had been injured.” Harris reportedly visited two hospitals following the accident. Neither the mode of transport nor the reason for the relocation was shared. Rumors swirled online and locally earlier today about the nature of the injury, but details have been difficult to come by and “Antioch police said on Thursday they were still investigating the incident actively.”