I’m back with the Week 11 DraftKings recommendations for Tight Ends and Kickers. First, a note about a great DraftKings offer. New depositors will get a free ticket into a Millionaire Grand Final qualifier.  So you can get a free game with any deposit you make.  What are you waiting for?

News and Notes

• Teams on bye for Week 10: Dallas Cowboys and St. Louis Rams so we lose Jason Witten and Jared Cook for this week.
• Thursday night game: Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans – if you don’t play the Thursday night game, Coby Fleener and Delanie Walker are limits to you. The Titans are relatively friendly to TEs so Fleener could be an option for you as the Colts look to rebound. Walker shouldn’t be touched as the Colts are death to TEs.
• Arian Foster officially hit the IR on Monday with season–ending back surgery. It’s worrisome for Foster and his owners (and anyone who invested in his stock offering). He will be ready for camp, but it will be interesting to see if the Texans push to re-sign Ben Tate to continue to back up Foster as Arian has become a bit of an injury risk. He’ll certainly slide out of the first round in next year’s drafts.
• Bobby Rainey and Brian Leonard will now fill in for the Bucs at RB as Mike James hits IR. Rainey is the play for me as he has more upside. Leonard is what he is. He’s a plodding runner who can catch the ball out of the backfield. Rainey has some juice and could break off a big run or two in a game. It will be a timeshare, but go with the upside here.
• Ed Reed was released by the Texans. He’s done. He was a fantastic IDP player, but that time is long past. Hopefully, he bows out after getting his big payday from the Texans.

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.

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Finally, a gentle reminder on the scoring for Tight Ends – this is a PPR site so remember that when selecting players.

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

The full DraftKings scoring system is here.

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. I’ll mention Football Outsiders a lot – the passes per game and yards per game stats I use are from Football Outsiders. Here is the link to Football Outsiders’ 2012 stats. FO has updated their stats for 2013 and you can find them here.

The Graham Tier

Graham disappointed last week as he spent a good chunk of the game on the sidelines. And for the first time this season he’s not the most expensive TE play ($7,400 – $100 lower than Rob Gronkowski). He can explode at any time, but he’s just too risky to put into your lineup week in and week out. You’ll see that I’m going to advise to go cheap on TEs this week.

The Jeffersons

Jordan Cameron | Browns | $5,100 – Cameron’s matchup doesn’t look great, but as you dig a bit deeper on the Bengals resume, you see they haven’t faced the toughest TEs. Moreover, Cameron had 10 catches, 91 yards and a TD back in week 4 against the Bengals. Finally, the Bengals have given up TDs to TEs in three of their last four games.  Cameron is likely my play this week, though I may take from the Good Times tier depending on the rest of my squad.

All in the Family

Greg Olsen | Panthers | $4,200 – Greg Olsen struggled last week, but it was a defensive battle where points are at a premium. However, he’d scored in his prior two games and picked up double digit points in those two weeks. This week, the Panthers play Monday night against a New England team that has been good against TEs, but still gives up 8.3 passes per game to TEs (fourth most in the league) so the chances should be there for Olsen.

Good Times

Scott Chandler | Bills | $3,400 – Chandler has what looks like a great matchup, but I’d look a little closer. Rex Ryan should be able to dial up a defense that confuses rookie QB E.J. Manuel. And, if you look at who the Jets have faced at TE, it’s a Murderers’ Row – they’ve faced Tony Gonzalez, Jimmy Graham, and Rob Gronkowski. Chandler did have success in week 3 against the Jets so he’s an option, but know that the Jets probably aren’t as bad as you think.

Zach Miller | Seahawks | $3,300 – Miller gets a great matchup against the Vikings who give up the third most points per game to TEs and average a TD per game to TEs. Miller has shown up in other games where his matchups have been favorable (15 points against noted doormat Arizona in Week 7).

Rob Housler | Cardinals | $3,300 – Housler was a sleeper candidate to break out this year. He has all of the physical tools to be a beast, but he’s been held back by nagging injuries and having to play football for the Arizona Cardinals. However, he’s had double digit points in two of the last three weeks.

From Way Downtown

Marcedes Lewis | Jaguars | $3,000 – Lewis may be finally rounded into shape after missing extensive time earlier in the season. The Jags face the Cardinals who are the friendliest team to TEs in the league (and give up a TD per game on average to TEs). I picked incorrectly last week on the TE who would score against the Cards, but Lewis should be the man this week and makes a great cheap play.

DraftKings Kicker Recommendations

Your weekly update on this guy is that he’s still not on a roster. Sadly.

A reminder of the DraftKings scoring is below.

There are distance-based bonuses for kickers and no penalties for misses so you can take on risk without penalty.

Extra Point = +1PT
Field Goal 0-39 Yards = +3 PTs
Field Goal 40-49 Yards = +4PTs
Field Goal 50+ Yards = +5PTs

We have the same spread as last week as the most expensive kickers are at $4,000 and the bottom sits at $3,000. A few hundred dollars may not sound like a lot, but every bit counts when assembling your roster. Again, I can’t suggest paying too much for a kicker so we’ll look at the options further down the line.

Rian Lindell | Buccaneers | $3,000 – Lindell gets the friendly Atlanta Falcons who give up 2.5 FGAs per game. Lindell had 12 points in their earlier matchup and the Falcons have only gotten worse since then.

Steven Hauschka ($3,600) and Kai Forbath ($3,300) make two other viable options this week with solid matchups. If you have the money, Nick Folk ($3,900) is the play this week. His matchup is great and it’s the Jets’ week to win.