DraftKings Price: $7,000
Projected Points: 16.6
The Miami Dolphins are traveling to face the New England Patriots as the current AFC East divisional leader. The Patriots actually find themselves as seven-point favorites with an implied team total of 27.25 points. This puts Rob Gronkowski squarely on the map as an elite tournament option in Week 4.
The interesting thing about tight ends is that they normally do better when their team is in control of the game rather than when their team is throwing the ball a lot and trying to come from behind. It makes sense, too. Running backs and tight ends both rely on touchdowns to smash value and to do that, normally, the offense needs to be in the red zone for the two positions to score their touchdowns (outside a Vance McDonald Herculean type stiff-arm and 75-yard touchdown).
The Patriots being big favorites at home lends itself to the narrative that we could see multiple "Gronk Spikes" in this game. The Dolphins have yet to allow a touchdown to opposing tight ends in 2018, but they did give up 94 receptions and double-digit touchdowns in 2017 to the position. Surprisingly, Gronk doesn't have a single red zone target in 2018, but I expect that to change in Week 4.
With Gronkowski receiving just eight, four and five targets through the first three weeks of the season, DFS players might struggle with paying up for the massive ceiling that he has if they focus on his floor at this price tag. Savvy players will capitalize on this fear.
Mitch Carl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Mitch Carl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username fcurev. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.