It is on to week 12 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 was another disappointing week for the TE crew. There hasn’t been a lot of consistency week to week for this position. However, we soldier on to find the best value for this week.

Bye weeks are coming to a close – we have just two teams on bye and then we are done with them. Let’s see if we can find one of those diamonds in the rough for Week 12 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: Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers are on bye – no Greg Olsen and no Heath Miller, but we shall overcome.

The Graham Tier

Jimmy Graham | Saints | $7,000 – Graham laid an egg last week and comes back this week against a tough Baltimore Ravens defense that has only give up two TDs to TEs and not more than four catches to a TE this year. He also injured after a big hit against the Bengals so that may have had something to do with his poorer than expected showing. The Saints lost a weapon on offense in Brandin Cooks so perhaps Drew Brees will look more to Graham. That said, I think there are better (read: cheaper) options than Graham this week. I’d stay away.

The Jeffersons

Rob Gronkowski | Patriots | $7,900 – Looks like I’ll cover Gronk each week too. Gronks’ matchup is OK, but he’s nearly matchup proof. I don’t expect Jonas Gray to run for 200 yards again so Gronk should be back on the scene this week. However, I don’t think you need to spend big bucks at the TE position this week.

Coby Fleener | Colts | $5,200 – Fleener should have all of Andrew Luck’s TE targets this week, but his price is higher than I’d hoped to see. He should be one of the top five TEs this week, but might be a bit too expensive to fit in to most lineups.

All in the Family

The value this week is in the middle. I’d be happy with any of these three guys in my lineups this week.

Martellus Bennett | Bears | $4,000 – Bennett started the season on fire, but has cooled considerably since then. He faces the Bucs who give up the third most pass attempts to TEs. So, Bennett should have the opportunities, it’s a question of executing. I’ll probably have Bennett in a number of my GPP lineups.

Charles Clay | Dolphins | $4,000 – Clay faces the Broncos who have given up TDs to TEs in three of the last four and four of the last six games. And those two TEs who didn’t score (Jared Cook and Vernon Davis) aren’t exactly hall of famers.  I like Clay’s upside a lot this week and he should be in your lineups this week.

Larry Donnell | Giants | $3,900 – Eli Manning struggles from time to time with who he should or shouldn’t throw the football to during the game. However, Donnell has found success even while Manning throws the ball all over the field. He’s been double digits in points three of the last four weeks so his floor is high and will likely be my cash game play this week as he faces off against the second worst defense versus TEs in DrafKings and gives up the most pass attempts to TEs.

Good Times

Austin Seferian-Jenkins | Buccaneers | $3,000 – ASJ’s matchup couldn’t be better, but he’s coming off a disappointing performance last week even though he looked to be enterting a plus matchup. He’s a punt option only for me as he’s struggled on the road (only six catches in four games and no TDs), but the upside for a double digit day is there due to the Bears’ porous defense.

Niles Paul | Washington | $3,000 – Jordan Reed suffered another injury? Say it ain’t so. Well, with Reed’s injury potentially holding him out of Week 12, Niles Paul pops back on the TE radar this week. Paul had a couple of big games while Reed was out early in the season and this week’s matchup against the 49ers gives him an opportunity to do it again. The Niners have given up three TDs to TEs in the last two games and average 7.3 pass attempts to TEs.

Good luck in Week 12!

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.