Daily Fantasy Football Tight End Primer: Week 10

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, Chiefs ($6,700 on FanDuel)

Maybe you've heard this before -- it's a bad week for tight ends.

Oh, you have, like, every week? Well, it's worse than usual as we have just three players projected for more than 7.0 FanDuel points. Yes, it's that bad.

Kelce tops our projections as we peg him for 13.7 FanDuel points. The expectation is that Patrick Mahomes will be back, giving Kelce a boost. There's nothing all that special about the matchup at the Tennessee Titans, but our models project Kelce to pace tight ends in catches (5.77), targets (8.73), yards (71.77) and touchdowns (0.51) -- by a wide margin in most of those categories -- this week.

If you're paying up, Kelce's floor/ceiling combination is worth the investment as we forecast him for nearly three more FanDuel points than any other tight end.

Austin Hooper, Falcons ($6,600)

Hooper is likely to be popular in a game that should attract the masses as the Atlanta Falcons-New Orleans Saints clash holds a 51.0-point total, the second-highest on the slate. There are a lot of ways to stack this game, and those who load up on the Saints can bring it back with Hooper.

We project him for 7.3 targets, second at the position. He hasn't seen fewer than five looks in any game this year while getting at least seven targets in all but two outings. Hooper has a touchdown in three straight, and his volume keeps him in play on a weekly basis.

Mid-Range Options

Jack Doyle ($5,200) and Eric Ebron ($4,900), Colts

The Indianapolis Colts' offense is in a great spot at home versus the Miami Dolphins, sitting with a 27.25-point implied total, the third-best of the week. While Marlon Mack figures to be the biggest beneficiary, Doyle and Ebron could benefit, as well. With T.Y. Hilton looking iffy, these two should be pushed up the Colts' target totem pole.

Doyle's volume isn't elite, but he's seen at least four targets in four of his last five games, with a single-outing high of eight in 2019. Ebron has more big-play ability and could get some squeaky-wheel treatment after voicing displeasure with his role.

We're really just hoping for a touchdown with either of these guys, and our projections have both with 0.29 scores, tied for the fourth-most of the week.

Mike Gesicki, Dolphins ($5,300)

On the flip side of that game, Miami is sans Preston Williams, who was hogging a ton of red zone work. Williams' 38.5% red zone target share ranks second among all pass-catchers.

Gesicki is starting to deliver on his pre-NFL Draft hype. An athletic phenom, he has logged at least six targets in three of his seven games and is coming off a six-catch, 95-yard day last week.

The Colts have allowed the fourth-most FanDuel points per game to tight ends, and Gesicki can keep the good times rolling on a day when Miami should get back to seeing a negative game script.

Tournament Plays

Mark Andrews, Ravens ($6,800)

Andrews is $100 more than Kelce and is coming off a Week 9 game in which he played a season-low 34.3% of the snaps. Those two things should keep people off of him, making him a solid GPP play.

Prior to last week's three-target dud, Andrews was averaging a 49.8% snap rate and had between seven and nine targets every week. The matchup in Week 10 is sublime as the Baltimore Ravens go on the road to face the Cincinnati Bengals. Andrews torched Cincy for six receptions and 99 yards in Week 6, and Baltimore (26.50-point implied total) should have no trouble moving the ball on a Bengals D that's fifth-worst in the league going by our schedule-adjusted metrics.

Given how top-heavy tight end is this week, Andrews isn't going to completely fly under the radar, but he makes for a good tourney pivot off of Kelce. We project him for 10.4 FanDuel points, making him our TE2 for this main slate.

O.J. Howard, Buccaneers ($5,000)

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me five or so times -- well, maybe I'm just not very smart. But Howard might unretire for this week.

The matchup couldn't be better as the Arizona Cardinals have been railroaded by tight ends this year, surrendering 18.2 FanDuel points per game to the position, the most in the league. Remember when T.J. Hockenson looked like Gronk in Week 1? That was versus Arizona. Remember when Greg Olsen turned back the clock for 75 yards and two tuds? Yep, the Cards.

This game could very easily turn into a shootout, and with a slate-best 52.0-point over/under, it'll be one of the most popular game stacks of the week. Jameis Winston, Kyler Murray, Chris Godwin, Mike Evans and Christian Kirk should all see good levels of ownership. Howard is a way to get exposure to this game without eating chalk.

Could he flop? You know it. But if he hits, he could swing tournaments.