It is on to week 14 of Daily Fantasy Football at DraftKings. I’m back again this week to offer my picks for the Tight End position at DraftKings. We (editor extraordinaire Brett Talley and myself) have big news below as we have decided there has been a seismic shift in the TE landscape.

Hopefully you took some of my advice on the cheap guys last week. Should we go that route again? Read on to see what we should do for Week 14. I’ve also added a quick look at the Thursday game options at the end of the column.

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 Rob Gronkowski is always in play as a flex option. Jimmy Graham has disappointed us too many times. He is no longer our #1 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 Rob Gronkowski.

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: None

The Gronk Tier

Rob Gronkowski | Patriots | $8,000 – Gronk is our new exalted one after Jimmy Graham laid a goose egg last week. We will speak no more of Mr. Graham. Gronk’s ascension to the throne comes at a difficult time as he faces the second toughest defense against TEs in the San Diego Chargers. As I noted last week, Gronk hasn’t been worth his big price tag outside of a couple of Gronk-sized weeks. I’ll pass this week as the matchup is too tough for my liking.

The Jeffersons

Jimmy Graham | Saints | $6,500 – Graham’s matchup…ah…forget him man. He’s dead to us.

Coby Fleener | Colts | $5,200 – Fleener is here so that you can avoid him. He had a huge week last week and now his price is inflated. He is going to share the TE spotlight with Dwayne Allen as he returns from injury.

All in the Family

I think I’m going to get my TE option this week from this tier. There are some cheap options below, but many of them are pure punt plays. If you don’t feel confident about anyone in this tier, head to the bottom and punt and pray.

Antonio Gates | Chargers | $4,700 – Gates is coming off his first double digit performance since Week 8 and had his highest yardage output since Week 2. Gates’ value this season has ebbed and flowed with his ability to score TDs. He faces the Patriots who have given up TDs to TEs in four of their last six games including last week to Richard Rodgers.  

Heath Miller | Steelers | $4,600 – Miller had another nice week last week and he’s now put double digit totals up in back to back weeks for the first time this season. His matchup is good again this week, but be careful going overboard as the Bengals poor defense against TE is skewed by some early season blowups. They haven’t given up double digit points to a TE since Week 7.

Jordan Reed | Washington | $4,600 – Reed was the man last week for Washington and Colt McCoy loves to get him the ball. He’s a bit more expensive than I’d like as his matchup is pretty tough on the surface. However, the Rams do give up 7.4 passes to TEs per game (11 th in the league) so the opportunities should be there for Reed again.  Moreover, the Rams have faced some pretty poor TEs this year with Jason Witten or Travis Kelce probably being the toughest matchup so far.

Good Times

Dwayne Allen | Colts | $3,600 – While Coby Fleener should be avoided, I think Allen is an option down here in the lowest price tier. Allen should be back this week and gets a fair matchup against the Browns. The Browns look great against the TE, but again haven’t really faced a Murderers’ Row of opponents.

Kyle Rudolph | Vikings | $3,300 – Rudolph picked up a TD last week to give him back to back 8+ point outputs. He’s not a huge part of the Vikes’ offense, but he gets the Jets who struggle mightily against the TE.

Tim Wright | Patriots | $3,200 – Hear me out here. Yes, never trust a Patriot player (outside of Gronk). The Patriots scheme to their opponents’ weaknesses more than any other team. As a result, you can never quite tell where the ball will go on offense. However, in reviewing some of the data on Pro Football Focus, I stumbled upon Tim Wright as a nice matchup as a slot WR. He’s set face off against Marcus Gilchrist who has been a subpar corner this year according to PFF. The last time he had a similar matchup (poor slot CB to face off against) was week 12 against Detroit and Cassius Vaughn. He picked up five catches for 36 yards and two TDs. He’s a deep GPP play, but if you squint you can see a lot of value there.

Jared Cook | Rams | $3,000 – Cook was Graham-esque last week also putting up a big fat zero. However, he gets the friendly Washington defense that gave up two TDs (and should have given up three) to Coby Fleener last week. Cook can put up numbers against poor defenses (see his games against the Cardinals and Cowboys). His ceiling is probably 12 points, but at minimum salary he gives you flexibility elsewhere.

Jordan Cameron | Browns | $3,000 – Another punt option here in Cameron. He’s been a huge disappointment this year (he hasn’t had more than three catches in a game), but he’s at a minimum salary with a great matchup. Another GPP option for everyone this week.

Thursday Game – Dallas Cowboys at Chicago Bears

Both Jason Witten ($4,700) and Martellus Bennett ($5,200) have wonderful matchups. If you want to play one, I’d go with Witten simply because he’s $500 cheaper. They are both top 10 options this week so if you can fit one into your weekly lineup, there is value there.

Good luck in Week 14!

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.