2014 Fantasy FootballChris GarosiFantasy Football Salary Cap Analysis

2014 Fantasy Football Daily Fix: Week 8 Tight Ends

DailyFixDKFeaturedImageIt is on to week 8 of Daily Fantasy Football at DraftKings. I’m back again this week to offer my picks for the Tight End position at DraftKings. Last week showed that the more you know, the more you don’t know sometime as we saw Gavin Escobar, Cooper Helfet and Jeff Cumberland put up relatively big numbers last week. So, let’s see if we can find one of those diamonds in the rough for Week 8 DFS slate.

This is a great week to check out DraftKings and pick up a new way to play fantasy football.

DraftKings Tight End Recommendations

If you’ve never played on DraftKings before, you can get a deposit bonus by signing up. And there are different options to pick from at DraftKings for any skill level.

Also, a gentle reminder on the scoring for Tight Ends – this is a PPR site so remember that when selecting players. The full for scoring for Tight Ends is at the end of this column.

Tight Ends can also be used in the flex position at DraftKings. However, with the entire world of RBs and WRs at your disposal, it would be unlikely you’d have to head to the TEs to pick up a flex play. Jimmy Graham is always in play as a flex option.

Let’s take a look at a couple of options at each price point. For those who are new to the column, I’ll generally look at a couple of options in each pricing tier broken out based on the socioeconomic status of 1970s sitcom families. And I’ll always cover Jimmy Graham.

I’ll mention Football Outsiders a lot over the season – the passes per game and yards per game stats I use are from Football Outsiders. Here is the link to Football Outsiders’ 2013 stats. FO stats for 2014 are here and I like to use the defense versus types of receivers to fill out my rosters.

Teams on bye: New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers – No Larry Donnell and Vernon Davis this week – not huge losses as both players have been inconsistent this year.

The Graham Tier

Jimmy Graham | Saints | $5,600 – Pass again this week. Graham was active last week, but didn’t score a single point. It’s not clear if he’s going to play this week and even if he does, it’s not worth the risk.

The Jeffersons

Rob Gronkowski | Patriots | $5,900 – The Bears give up the fourth most yards to TEs on the season and Gronk is now fully healthy. The Pats are a tough team to bet on with offensive players, but Gronkowski is back fully integrated into the lineup as he’s averaged 10 targets per game over the last three weeks.

Greg Olsen| Panthers | $5,500 – Of the high priced options, Olsen has the best matchup facing the third worst defense versus TEs (Seattle) in DraftKings. Over the last three weeks, Olsen’s lowest point total has been 18.2. He’s going to be in a lot of cash game lineups this week for good reason.

All in the Family

Owen Daniels | Ravens | $4,100 – Daniels looks to be back! He put up six catches on nine targets and picked up a TD against the Falcons. The Bengals also give up the most passes to TEs per game in the league at 10.7 per game and have given up four TDs to TEs in the last three weeks. The Bengals LB corps is banged up so this should be a solid play especially in cash games. Daniels is likely going to be  in most of my lineups this week.

Jordan Reed | Washington | $4,000 – Reed is back healthy and putting up double digit scoring each week. He matches up against the Cowboys this week who struggle against the TE. My only pause is that Colt McCoy will now be at QB (no Robert Griffin III won’t be starting no matter what the coaching staff says about his “wild card” status).

Good Times

Charles Clay | Dolphins | $3,500 – Clay looked to be fully healthy last week for the first time all season. He gets a favorable matchup against a Jags team that doesn’t defend the TE well. And QB Ryan Tannehill seems to have figured out Bill Lazor’s offense (much like Nick Foles took time to figure it out last year in Philly and then took off). Look for Clay to pick up another TD this week.

There is a mix of el cheapo options that you could consider if you need to save a couple of hundred bucks from Clay. Heath Miller ($3,300) and Zach Ertz ($3,200) both have cherry matchups, but aren’t always a big part of their teams’ offenses so you’re hoping for a TD to get over the 10 point line.  I’d rather have Clay than those two and you should be able to make your lineup work.

Good luck in Week 8!

10 Receiving Yards = +1PT (+0.1PT per yard is awarded)
Reception = +1PT
Receiving TD = +6PTs
100+ Yard Receiving Game = +3PTs
Fumble Lost = -1PT
2 Point Conversion (Pass, Run, or Catch) = +2PTs
Offensive Fumble Recovery TD = +6PTs

The full DraftKings scoring system is here.

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