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FanDuel advice: TEs, Ks, DEFs in Divisional weekend
There’s still a lot to consider, even as we have fewer and fewer teams playing.
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When filling out your FanDuel lineup for a given week, picking players at just about any position can be overwhelming. Even in these playoff weekends, with eight teams, four games, you have a lot to consider. It’s not like, for example, there’s that big a difference in kickers; is that any more or less true when it’s eight against 32?
To that end, each week of the playoffs, I’m ranking the players at each fantasy position. These rankings aren’t only based on performance, but they consider salary; 80 yards and a touchdown is way better from a $4,600 tight end than from a $6,600 one.
Earlier today, I looked at quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers. Below, I’ll hit the last three positions, starting with tight ends, then kickers, then defenses. At the end of each chart I’ll give a few notes about why the rankings are the way they are:
Tight ends
| Rank | Tight End | Team | Opp. | Salary |
| 1 | Travis Kelce | KC | @NE | $6,600 |
| 2 | Greg Olsen | CAR | SEA | $6,500 |
| 3 | Rob Gronkowski | NE | KC | $8,300 |
| 4 | Scott Chandler | NE | KC | $4,600 |
| 5 | Owen Daniels | DEN | PIT | $4,800 |
| 6 | Darren Fells | ARI | GB | $4,700 |
| 7 | Richard Rodgers | GB | @ARI | $5,100 |
| 8 | Heath Miller | SEA | @DEN | $5,400 |
| 9 | Luke Willson | SEA | @CAR | $4,800 |
- Frankly, this might be too high for Rob Gronkowski. He looks increasingly unhealthy, and while with Gronk you only need one, he's so much more expensive than the others at his position that I worry about putting too much on him.
- In only two games this year did Scott Chandler go for more than 40 yards, more than three receptions or more than five targets. They were in Week 12, when Gronkowski got hurt, and Week 13, when he was out. In those two games, Chandler averaged 4.5 catches on nine targets and 59.5 yards. He scored in both. If Gronkowski is down, Chandler needs to be up.
Kickers
| Rank | Kicker | Team | Opp. | Salary |
| 1 | Cairo Santos | KC | @NE | $4,800 |
| 2 | Chandler Catanzaro | ARI | GB | $4,800 |
| 3 | Brandon McManus | DEN | PIT | $4,700 |
| 4 | Stephen Gostkowski | NE | KC | $5,200 |
| 5 | Steven Hauschka | SEA | @CAR | $4,700 |
| 6 | Graham Gano | CAR | SEA | $4,900 |
| 7 | Mason Crosby | GB | @ARI | $4,500 |
| 8 | Chris Boswell | PIT | @DEN | $4,700 |
- Seven different kickers outscored Cairo Santos this year, including four guys still alive in the postseason. The thing is, though, that Santos reached 20 fantasy points in a game twice this year, as many times as all seven kickers ahead of him combined. He had a wide range in performances, and in FanDuel you want that kind of upside. Add in the fact that the Chiefs have, in Jeremy Maclin and Spencer Ware, two touchdown weapons banged up. Santos could see a lot of action.
- Since taking over the Pittsburgh kicking job, Chris Boswell has been strong. Still, with Antonio Brown almost certainly out, DeAngelo Williams looking likely to join him, Ben Roethlisberger banged up and Landry Jones ... not very good, it's hard to imagine the Pittsburgh offense reaching a lot of scoring situations against that strong Denver defense.
Defense/special teams
| Rank | Defense | Opp. | Salary |
| 1 | Denver | PIT | $5,300 |
| 2 | Arizona | GB | $4,800 |
| 3 | New England | KC | $4,700 |
| 4 | Pittsburgh | @DEN | $4,700 |
| 5 | Kansas City | @NE | $4,600 |
| 6 | Seattle | @CAR | $4,700 |
| 7 | Carolina | SEA | $5,000 |
| 8 | Green Bay | @ARI | $4,200 |
- Look up a few inches to all my issues with the Pittsburgh offense this weekend. That works going the other way, too, and the fact that the Denver defense is the most expensive this weekend by $300 doesn't change much of anything.
- I have no idea what to make of this weekend's Seattle/Carolina game. I could see it being 10-7, in which case you'd probably be happy with either defense. I could see it being 31-27, in which case you probably want to avoid either. And I could see a blowout either way. What I'm saying is ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Good luck.
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