Ben Watson, TE, New Orleans Saints
DraftKings Price: $3,300
Projected Points: 10.3
Projected Value (points per $1,000): 3.12
Despite starting the season on a relatively slow note, it is clear that Benjamin Watson is trending in the right direction for fantasy owners.
After a decent 4-catch, 44-yard opening game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Watson took a step back in a Week 2 win over the Cleveland Browns. His targets increased, however, something that happened again in Week 3's overtime win against the Falcons, when he finished with 5 catches on 6 targets for 71 yards.
Watson enters this week's game as the 16th-highest scoring tight end in terms of DraftKings points. His 80% catch rate is tied for fifth among tight ends with at least 10 targets, and he ranks 11th in Reception NEP per target.
This week he faces a New York Giants defense against whom streaming tight ends was commonplace in 2017. The Giants have given up just the seventh-fewest DraftKings points per game to the position this year, but they've faced the TE21, TE42, and TE45. Watson with Drew Brees throwing to him is another matter entirely, and if the Giants focus on slowing down Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas (good luck), then Watson will be there to wreak havoc.
Watson's last appearance against the Giants came when he was with the Saints in 2015. In the infamous 52-49 Saints win, Watson finished with 9 catches for a career-high 147 yards and a score.
While we certainly don't project that type of output from him this week, we have him pegged for 10.3 DraftKings points, which is good enough to return the highest projected value at the tight end position this week.
Ian Goldsmith is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Ian Goldsmith also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username zoidbergs_revenge. 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.