Daily Fantasy Football Tight End Primer: Week 2
The great thing about daily fantasy football is that so much changes every week, with matchups, salaries and projected ownership all varying -- sometimes significantly -- from main slate to main slate.
At numberFire, we have a plethora of tools to help you as you build your lineups, and something we've added this season is an in-depth look at the four core positions. In this piece, we'll break down the tight end slot on FanDuel's main slate.
Let's take a look at some of the top tight end options this week. We'll reference our FanDuel projections, and betting lines come from our heat map.
Here we go.
High-Priced Stud
Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs ($8,000 on FanDuel)
So, this is gonna get pretty repetitive with Kelce, but we have to talk about him. Just as he was last week, he is the top play at the position for Week 2's main slate.
Our models rank Kelce in his own tier, projecting him for 16.3 FanDuel points, 3.6 more than any other tight end, and he's actually the top point-per-dollar play at the position despite being $900 more than everybody else.
The Kansas City Chiefs have a massive 30.0-point implied total for their road clash with the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders allowed the fourth-most FanDuel points per game to tight ends in 2018, and Kelce blow-torched them for 12 catches, 168 yards and two scores in the game in Oakland a year ago -- also notching five grabs for 65 yards against the Raiders in a Week 17 game in which KC didn't play their best squad.
Kelce's ceiling is through the roof pretty much each and every week, and the only negative here is that he'll likely be very popular, especially since Tyreek Hill's absence takes away one of the main options for those stacking with Patrick Mahomes.
Mid-Range Plays
Evan Engram, New York Giants ($6,400)
Engram is coming off a Week 1 game in which he was peppered with 14 targets, catching 11 of them for 116 yards and a score and registering a team-best 29% target share, per airyards.com. With Sterling Shepard looking iffy, at best, it's probably going to be Engram and Saquon Barkley carrying the mail for the New York Giants.
The former Ole Miss Rebel is our TE3 for this slate, and we have Engram getting 8.66 targets, second-most at the position. While the Giants' 21.0-point implied total is an eyesore, Engram offers a good floor with solid upside.
Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens ($6,100)
Andrews generated buzz this offseason, and he delivered in Week 1, catching all eight of his targets for 108 yards and a tuddie as Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens' offense went wild versus the Miami Dolphins. Andrews finished that one with a team-high 31% target share while getting a 29% air yards share.
The Ravens are in another plum spot this week as they host the fast-paced and defensively challenged Arizona Cardinals. Arizona just got schooled by rookie T.J. Hockenson (six catches for 131 yards and a score) in their opener, and their pass defense is in shambles with Robert Alford and Patrick Peterson out.
While Jackson probably isn't going to toss five scores again, Baltimore is sporting a 29.75-point implied total. The Ravens make for a nice offense to stack, with Arizona offering plenty of options to run it back, and Andrews is a great way to get exposure to Baltimore's passing game.
Darren Waller, Oakland Raiders ($5,400)
Waller's price was out before last week's Monday night game. If that wasn't the case, he'd probably be up in the low-$6,000s after he caught seven of eight targets for 70 yards.
The Raiders' offense looked surprisingly solid against the Denver Broncos while the KC defense didn't look so hot in Week 1, allowing Gardner Minshew to light them up in relief duty. We know it can be advantageous to use pass-game guys who are facing the Chiefs, and with Oakland holding a respectable 22.5-point total, Waller is our TE4 on this slate.
This is likely the last time you'll be able to get him for anything close to this salary.
Value Dart Throw
Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams ($4,500)
The Los Angeles Rams-New Orleans Saints game figures to be one of the most popular games in DFS this week -- maybe the most popular. It's got a 51.5-point total with a 2.5-point spread, and there's a lot of attention-grabbing guys to roster in this one.
One likely contrarian way to get exposure to the Rams is through Higbee. He saw five targets in Week 1 and found pay-dirt, though he had just 20 yards. On top of that, fellow Rams tight end Gerald Everett was targeted just once, and Higbee held a healthy edge in snap share (52% to 39%).
As always, you're risking a total dud whenever you pay this far down at tight end, but in what could be a shootout in LA, Higbee isn't a bad dart throw at a touchdown in an offense that scored at least 29 points in seven of eight home games in 2018.
Tournament Play
George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers ($7,100)
Kittle's final stat line -- eight receptions for 54 yards -- in Week 1 was a little underwhelming in what looked like a smash spot against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But he saw 10 targets and accounted for three of the San Francisco 49ers' four red zone targets all while registering a 37% target share, tops among tight ends. Oh, and he had two tuddies called back.
It's hard for any good tight end to go truly overlooked on any week -- especially Kittle, Kelce or Zach Ertz -- but Kittle might not see as much ownership as he should in what's a sneaky-good matchup for a game stack at the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cincy gave up the most FanDuel points per game to tight ends last season, and the Seattle Seahawks picked up 13.9 yards per completion versus them last week. There are big plays to be had here, and Kittle's priced in a bit of an awkward spot this week as those who don't pay all the way up for Kelce may opt to go with one of the three quality mid-range plays (Waller, Engram, and Andrews).
Kittle is capable of blowing up in this spot. He's our TE2 this week as we forecast him to score 12.7 FanDuel points.
