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FanDuel advice: TEs, Ks, D/STs in Wild Card weekend
Don’t overlook these positions just because they have lower ceilings.
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
It’s tempting to want to blow off the secondary positions when picking a FanDuel fantasy football lineup. You know, pick quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers that you like, and just take whatever tight end, kicker and defense you can afford.
To a point, it’s not even the worst strategy. We know the guys at the top-flight positions have higher ceilings in the vast majority of weeks (yes, occasionally there will be an Arizona-defense-against-Green-Bay situation, but we’re talking the norm), and there’s less variance among kickers and the like, so if you’re going to give less consideration to a position, make it those.
Still, though, the best FanDuel players might not dwell on the secondary slots, but they don’t ignore them. Every week of the playoffs, I’m ranking the tight ends, kicker and defenses for FanDuel that week, taking their salaries into account.
There will be three charts to follow, with justifications for each afterward:
Tight ends
| Rank | Wide receiver | Team | Opponent | Salary |
| 1 | Jordan Reed | WAS | GB | $7,400 |
| 2 | Tyler Eifert | CIN | PIT | $6,400 |
| 3 | Travis Kelce | KC | @HOU | $6,200 |
| 4 | Kyle Rudolph | MIN | SEA | $5,100 |
| 5 | Richard Rodgers | GB | @WAS | $5,200 |
| 6 | Heath Miller | PIT | @CIN | $5,600 |
| 7 | Ryan Griffin | HOU | KC | $4,800 |
| 8 | Luke Willson | SEA | @MIN | $4,800 |
- There's just no way to pick against Jordan Reed at this point. He's been crazy hot.
- I haven't set any actual weekend FanDuel rosters yet, but I'd be willing to bet every one I do use will have Reed or Tyler Eifert. Those are the only two I trust right now, as the others have had more than a few underwhelming performances of late. This is the week to spend on tight end.
Kickers
| Rank | Kicker | Team | Opponent | Salary |
| 1 | Chris Boswell | PIT | @CIN | $4,900 |
| 2 | Blair Walsh | MIN | SEA | $4,700 |
| 3 | Steven Hauschka | SEA | @MIN | $5,100 |
| 4 | Dustin Hopkins | WAS | GB | $4,600 |
| 5 | Mike Nugent | CIN | PIT | $4,800 |
| 6 | Cairo Santos | KC | @HOU | $4,800 |
| 7 | Nick Novak | HOU | KC | $4,600 |
| 8 | Mason Crosby | GB | @WAS | $4,500 |
- The Steelers opened the season two-point-crazy. Whether that was because they knew Josh Scobee would struggle or just to test out a new strategy, I can't say, but either way, they've cooled off the strategy of late, with only two such tries since the start of December. That's coincided with Chris Boswell becoming the most productive kicker in the game. I'm happy to spend a bit on him.
- In a normal FanDuel week, I'll dive to the bottom for a kicker, picking someone from the bottom of the price barrel and only upgrading if I find myself with a few hundred dollars left at the end. This week, though, the only such kicker is Mason Crosby, who has six games of four or fewer fantasy points this year and only three in double digits. He's been a strong kicker historically and still has a big name, but I want no part of him in the playoffs.
Defense/special teams
| Rank | Defense | Opponent | Salary |
| 1 | Kansas City | @HOU | $5,100 |
| 2 | Seattle | @MIN | $5,100 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh | @CIN | $4,500 |
| 4 | Houston | KC | $4,600 |
| 5 | Washington | GB | $4,300 |
| 6 | Green Bay | @WAS | $4,500 |
| 7 | Cincinnati | PIT | $4,400 |
| 8 | Minnesota | SEA | $4,500 |
- A lot of picking a defense, even in season-long fantasy, is opponents. Find someone facing a Kellen Moore-esque quarterback, and half your job is done. Well, AJ McCarron aside (he's fine, if not great), there are no such backup/struggling guys in Wild Card weekend. So we look at who has done well of late. And man, that Kansas City defense has been on fire of late. Almost all season, really. The unit had negative-5 and negative-6 fantasy points in Week 3 and 4, but otherwise has been a fantasy monster all year.
- Take out that inexplicable Week 16 awful game against St. Louis, and Seattle has allowed negative fantasy points to opposing defenses since its Week 9 bye. The offense has been clicking like no other of late. As relatively productive as the Minnesota defense has been in recent weeks, I'm not touching anyone going against Seattle.
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