Our Week 4 DFS TE Coach was about as boom/bust as you can get. Which, if you’re going to be boom/bust, DFS is probably the place to do it.

We hit on three of the top five tight ends in DFS with Pat Freiermuth (2), Travis Kelce (3), and Dallas Goedert (4). But Kyle Pitts gave us a flat out zero. And our dart throws, Elijah Higgins and Hayden Hurst, did not come through.

 

 

 

In our defense, I don’t think there were many folks starting the TE6 AJ Barner or TE7 Blake Whiteheart on the week. If you did start them - you have to send me a screenshot on Twitter @CoopAFiasco.

NFL DFS Week 5 TE Coach For FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

Anyways, it’s on to Week 5. And bye weeks are officially upon us which narrows down our pool of options. 

And, with the current tight end landscape, that could make things challenging in this NFL DFS Week 5 TE Coach. But we’re always up for a challenge.

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Top Tier Picks For Week 5

Brock Bowers, TE Las Vegas Raiders - DraftKings: $5.500 | FanDuel: $6,300

Here’s how we are approaching the top tier. If Fred Warner is OUT with the ankle injury, Trey McBride is on the table (assuming he also gets cleared from the concussion issue). We’re probably going to steer away from George Kittle since he picked up a rib injury to go with his other ailments.

That leaves Brock Bowers as our top ranked guy in our NFL DFS Week 5 TE Coach. He hasn’t quite had a full snap share yet but, with Davante Adams on the outs and Michael Mayer banged up, it’s time they committed to their young star and made him a focal point. Even with the limited snap shares, we know what he’s capable with games of 9 and 6 receptions on his young resume. 

If we’re going to pay up, we want upside. And Bowers, being one of the best tight end prospects of all time, is someone that can deliver that. So we’ll pay that price of admission if we have a lineup that allows us to spend up. 

Dalton Kincaid, TE Buffalo Bills -  DraftKings: $5,300 | FanDuel: $6,100

We mentioned the rib issue for George Kittle. Well, we really don’t like messing with the hamstring for Evan Engram or ankle for David Njoku either. If we had to go with one it would be Engram who at least has a good matchup but we need to monitor his status and make sure he’s not limited in any way.

The guy we do like here is Dalton Kincaid. Yes, it’s been slow going. But the Bills have not really gotten themselves into a genuine shootout. They have either beaten up on opponents or gotten beat up on. We could see a back and forth here with the Houston Texans. And Kincaid is one of the few tight ends that is actually a top two target on his team this season in terms of target share. He scored early against the Jaguars before the Jaguars just gave up so we’ve seen him flash.

At this price point, the decision on Bowers vs. Kincaid honestly boils down to how you might need to maneuver money around. I’d suggest making a couple lineups with both but, if you need some extra scratch, Kincaid is cheaper than Bowers on both platforms.

Update with Khalil Shakir now ruled out for Sunday, Kincaid is an even stronger play

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Mid-Tier Picks For NFL Week 5

Mark Andrews, TE Baltimore Ravens - DraftKings: $4,000 | FanDuel: $5,900

Go ahead, call me crazy. Call me stupid. Call me a “snake oil garbage salesman”. I’m on Twitter and Reddit - I’ve been called it all. And I’m still not scared to take some stabs out here on upside, especially in DFS.

There is a world where Mark Andrews is washed. Or his ankle is not fully recovered from the high ankle sprain surgery. Or that maybe that car accident was worse than anyone is letting on. But Mark Andrews and John Harbaugh have both reassured us that he is healthy and he has big games coming. 

The Ravens have completed 12 and 13 passes in the last two games so no pass-catcher is having a “big game”. Zay Flowers caught one pass last week. Is he washed? No one would be shocked if the Bengals put up a fight this week. This game has a 50 point over under. And, despite four down games, would we really be shocked if Mark Andrews came out and had a big game? 

We act like he didn’t have four catches on five targets for 51 yards a couple weeks ago. Out of 64 games, there have only been 23 tight end games with 50+ yards. At this price, I’m making a Mark Andrews lineup. And I think you should too. 

Hunter Henry, TE New England Patriots DraftKings: $4,200 | FanDuel: $5,300

Last week we had Hunter Henry (correctly) in the fades section. But this is a new day. The Patriots don’t have to play the Jets and 49ers defense every single week. This week they get the Miami Dolphins who are equally struggling. Struggling so bad in fact that the Patriots are somehow favored to win a football game.

Hunter Henry obviously has the big 12 target game in Week 2. And, coasting on that, he is actually the only tight end in the league that leads their team in target share. It’s that ugly out there. There is reason to believe an ankle issue vs. a tough Jets defense followed by a nightmare matchup with Fred Warner has discounted what he is capable of. 

At this price, we just need 4+ catches and I think Henry is absolutely capable of delivering. Given the hail mary nature of the other tight end we listed in the mid-tier, this is differently your mid-range cash game play this week.

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Value Picks For NFL Week 5

Colby Parkinson, TE Los Angeles Rams, DraftKings $3,700 | FanDuel: $5,100

We haven’t included Colby Parkinson as an option yet this year. Why? Well, the first game was Sunday night and Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp were healthy. After that, we didn’t really like the matchups. We aren’t going to wheel Colby Parkinson out there against Fred Warner and the San Francisco 49ers, for instance.

With this week’s NFL DFS Week 5 TE Coach though, we like the matchup against Green Bay. The Packers are the fourth worst team in DVOA vs. the tight end this year and this game has a 48 points over/under which offers some shootout potential. 

Technically, Cooper Kupp leads the Rams in targets because he had that 20+ target game. But, among the players who aren’t injured, Colby Parkinson quietly leads this team. And he had three games with 5+ targets.

Tucker Kraft, TE Green Bay Packers - DraftKings: $3,500 | FanDuel: $5,300

We actually like Colby Parkinson better than Kraft - especially on FanDuel where he is cheaper. But that doesn’t mean Kraft isn’t a bad option if you are someone who makes a lot of lineups and likes to diversify.

On the plus side, he has emerged as the obvious starting tight end operating ahead of Luke Musgrave. Plus, Christian Watson is out which helps consolidate those targets a bit. He’s in a high volume offense with a good QB and a plus matchup vs. the Rams.

So what’s not to love? Well, he’s not quite the “top target” on team. In fact, he might be fourth behind Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, and Dontayvion Wicks. He did get 9 targets last week but they threw 54 times so that’s actually still only a 16.6% target share. 

Plus, after being the top waiver add in redraft leagues, he’s going to be SUPER heavily rostered at this price. That’s why we like Parkinson better. But it’s still a good player at a good price so mix him in some.

BONUS DART THROW: Harrison Bryant, TE, Las Vegas Raiders - DraftKings: $2,500 | FanDuel: $4,300

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a sneaky little bare minimum priced dart throw. And this one is essentially fishing for a touchdown. But a lot of the tight end position has been that lately.

With Michael Mayer out, the Raiders didn’t just stick Brock Bowers inline. They continued doing their two tight end sets and just used Harrison Bryant in Michael Mayer’s role. Then they had Bowers playing WR mostly with Jakobi Meyers and Trey Tucker.

I suspect Davante Adams has played his last snap in the silver and black. If Michael Mayer is out again, expect Bryant to pick up a decent chunk of snaps. Last week in his first action he caught two passes for 21 yards. That’s already more than can typically expect from a bare minimum priced tight end.

 

 

 

NFL DFS TE Fades For Week 5

Cole Kmet, TE, Chicago Bears DraftKings: $4,300 | FanDuel: $5,200

In Week 3 the Bears played 90 snaps and threw 52 times. That’s what happened. And that may have permanently juiced up Kmet’s price despite being completely unrealistic. 

Circumstances that also included not having Keenan Allen available. If we are just going to chase touchdowns, there are much cheaper ways to do it from our precious NFL DFS Week 5 TE Coach picks than Cole Kmet. 

Isaiah Likely, TE Baltimore Ravens - DraftKings: $4,400 | FanDuel: $5,700

This one may shock some folks out there, given how analytical we typically are. Chasing snap counts and target share and what have you. But we are going to lean on (gasp) the film. And, honestly, a little gut instinct. 

Watching these recent Ravens games have given me the distinct feeling that the Ravens have been utilizing Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar in some of these run heavy two tight end sets to ease the workload on Mark Andrews when they don’t need to lean on him. It’s been the Derrick Henry show running all over everyone. 

I think this is the week that the “squeaky wheel gets the grease” and Mark Andrews comes out to lead the tight ends in snaps, routes run, and targets. Call it a “hunch” if you want but I really don’t want to pay more for Isaiah Likely than Mark Andrews because I don’t think Isaiah Likely is better than Mark Andrews.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 5 TE Projections