NFL DFS Plays Week 1: Low ownership picks for DraftKings

Tight End

Highest Ownership Projected: David Njoku, Pat Freiermuth, Mark Andrews, TJ Hockenson, Tyler Higbee

Often overshadowed by his other-worldly talented teammates and a bit inconsistent, George Kittle ($5700) remains one of the best tight ends in football. With Christian McCaffrey expected to see a large portion of the running back ownership and Deebo Samuel/Brandon Aiyuk flirting with 10 percent as well, I am pivoting to Kittle who will be sitting around or below 5 percent. In the 6-game stretch where Brock Purdy stepped in as the 49ers QB, he threw 13 touchdowns. Kittle was responsible for 7 of those and only had 4 before Purdy stepped in. Seems like a good reason to pair these two together this week at a combined 7-8 percent ownership.

Kyle Pitts ($4500) is arguably the most athletically gifted TE in football despite being a terror to fantasy owners and DFS players the last two seasons. I am not going to argue that Pitts is a safe play this week, but with a new stud RB to take some eyes off of Pitts along with another year of development for Drake London, we could be looking at a decent spot for a guy who is still 6-foot-6, 247 pounds. Facing a Panthers team with a rookie QB who could face some adversity in the early part of the season, the Falcons should have plenty of opportunities to control the ball and get Pitts some looks in the red zone.

Two other low-ownership plays I like this week at tight end would be Chig Okonkwo ($3800) and Hayden Hurst ($3000). Okonkwo had a pretty solid run in the second half of the season for the Titans last season as a rookie in a time share. As the primary guy now, he has ample opportunity to put up a solid performance week in and week out at what is a low cost to start the season. With plenty of eyes on Derrick Henry and DeAndre Hopkins, I like Chig in Week 1.

On the other side of Kyle Pitts, Hayden Hurst returns to the NFC South after time with the Ravens, Falcons and Bengals. Hurst is certainly not a gamebreaker but provides a cheap, low-owned option in a situation where he could be a safety blanket for rookie Bryce Young to start the season. With DJ Chark out, Adam Thielen questionable and Miles Sanders being a historically boring option in the passing game, Hurst will fall into a few great opportunities on Sunday.