I’m back with the Week 13 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 12: None. Byes are done thankfully. See what I did there?
• Thursday games: We get a full plate of games on Thursday for Thanksgiving. Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders at Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers at the Baltimore Ravens. We do lost Jason Witten who is a sneaky play against the Raiders this week as they’ve struggled lately against TEs.
• Aaron Rodgers is out again this week and Matt Flynn looks like he’ll get the nod at starting QB on Thanksgiving. Flynn looked like a new man last week in the comeback against the Packers. He’s not good, but can manage the game and knows the system in Green Bay.
• Michael Crabtree was activated from the PUP list. He doesn’t really do anything for me – the Niners passing offense is poor and Crabtree is coming back from a serious injury. He’s worth stashing in keeper leagues, but I don’t see much from him this season.
• The Patriots are heading to a hydra-based RB system killing the value of Brandon Bolden, Stevan Ridley and LeGarrette Blount. Shane Vereen remains a PPR stud as his role is still clear.

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

Jimmy Graham faces the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle this week. The Saints (and Drew Brees) are completely different on the road versus at home. Graham is the second most expensive TE ($7,200) on the market this week. He faces a stout Seahawks defense that will be without two of its top corner backs. It’s rare that a CB gets matched up with a TE, but Graham is such a player so he could benefit from the issues in Seattle’s defensive backfield.

The Jeffersons

Rob Gronkowski | Patriots | $7,400 – Gronk is a stud. The Texans are rated as a good defense against TEs. However, looking deeper they’ve given up double digit points to TEs in three of the last four games and a TD in two of the last three games. The Pats move Gronk around such that if you have the money, he’s a guaranteed money maker for you.

All in the Family

Martellus Bennett | Bears | $4,500 – Bennett had a great week last week picking up 16.9 points after hauling in four catches for 62 yards and a TD. Bennett has five or more targets in three of the last four weeks and  gets the Vikings this week who have given up the second most TDs to TEs this season.

Good Times

Jordan Cameron | Browns | $4,100 – Cameron has disappeared from the top scoring TEs over the last few weeks. However, his targets have ticked upward in the last couple of weeks (17 over the last two weeks) so the opportunities are there. And he’s got a matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars this week that are the second worst defense against TEs. Cameron is likely going to be my TE on all my teams this week.

Charles Clay | Dolphins | $3,900 – Clay has been on the sidelines in DFS games for much of the season. He had an early outburst, but has been relatively quiet. The Jets have been good the last couple of weeks against the TE, but they haven’t really faced anyone. I can see this game being ‘check-down city’ for Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins so Clay could be in for a big PPR day.

Brent Celek & Zach Ertz| Eagles | $3,000 and $4,100 – Our weekly look at the TEs facing the Cardinals defense. The problem this week is that the Cardinals face the Eagles and the Eagles have two TEs with neither being all that useful this season. If you are desperate, Celek is the play since he’s only $3,000 and has just as good a shot at putting up double digit points as Ertz does.

From Way Downtown

Ladarius Green| Chargers | $3,000 – The Bengals are very good (top 8) against TEs this year so this is a very deep play. However, Green showed a burst last week that is tough to find at the TE position. The Bengals have given up big reception totals to Jordan Cameron in both matchups and Green has at least as much athleticism as Cameron. He could be good for a  long TD somewhere in the game.

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.

Dan Carpenter | Bills | $3,000 – I will go back to the well once more and look to see who gets the Falcons this week and it’s the Bills. Carpenter had a good run early this year and then picked up 16 points last week. And remember, this game is in Toronto (at the Rogers Centre) so they have the option of closing the roof and making the weather moot.

Nick Folk is another solid option ($3,300), but weather could be an issue in New York. Both Rob Bironas ($3,100) and Robbie Gould ($3,300) also have good matchups.