A Weekend Stuffed with Football

How was everyone’s Thanksgiving? Stuffed until you couldn’t eat anymore? Slept off the turkey? Did you watch some football? Played games? A little bit of everything?

My Thanksgiving holiday was great, a fun time with family where I ate too many desserts to the point that today at a second gathering I couldn’t manage to eat but one full helping of food and one small bit of dessert. I’m feeling old, even though I probably shouldn’t be!

But there’s more football on the horizon! There are no bye’s this week, so we have a full slate of games on Sunday. It’s been a packed week for those of us (myself included) who play DFS, especially if you play more than one sport! Even then, for season-long not only did you have to worry about three Thanksgiving games but a black Friday game, so you’re constantly looking at lineup scores.

We’re going to quickly recap the Thursday and Friday games before looking ahead to Sunday.

With multiple possibilities of games to choose from for Thursday, my wife and I settled on having the single Friday game be the focus of our showdown. We had the same Dolphins: Mostert, Hill, Jason Sanders, and the Miami DST. The only place we differed was the Jets; she had Boyle and Allen Lazard, I had Breece Hall and Tyler Conklin.

Unfortunately, because of everything going on associated with family gatherings and all, I missed the report that Lazard was ruled out, so I didn’t get the chance to let her adjust before the game started. Boyle managed to keep things close enough that had she adjusted, there was a fair chance she could have won.

So Lazard was ruled out before the game but after we had made our lineups vs getting injured and ruled out, I’ll extend some grace and say this week was just for fun. We shall continue our faceoff on Monday night. 😎 

Thanksgiving and Black Friday Fantasy Recap

🧀 For the Packers, the main takeaway I had was: IT‘s ABOUT TIME CHRISTIAN WATSON! It was never a question of athleticism or ability, but just harnessing it for football and having it translate to on-field success. It was his best game of the season by far, and I hope he continues to produce. Jayden Reed led the Packers in targets, I can’t say he’s the WR1 in Green Bay just yet but he’s certainly cementing his place in the pecking order.

For the Lions, Sam LaPorta continues to show he’s a top-5, maybe even top-3 dynasty tight end. We’ve seen such a wealth of talent come into the tight-end position this year, as well as seeing second-year players take the next step (aka Jake Ferguson) that the position is looking fairly bright in dynasty. 🦁 

Washington needs an offensive line. For both their running backs and quarterback. They could end up high enough in the draft that they would be foolish not to look at the QB options in 2024, but I doubt any rookie quarterback is going to fare any better than Howell behind a Swiss cheese line. Yes, I am a Howell stan. But, I do believe that I have some merit with this point. Invest in your defense and offensive line, let them develop, and get your quarterback afterward if Howell doesn’t work out. Otherwise, you run the risk of perpetuating the situation.

🤠 Rico Dowdle is a player you must stash if you have Tony Pollard. He only had four touches, but he was the only running back other than Pollard to touch the ball. Should the Cowboys be heavily favored (in games such as this), he even makes for a nice flex play.

I’m not feeling the Geno experiment anymore for Seattle. He’s a solid quarterback but I think the magical run is over. Last season he averaged 1.8 passing TD per game. This year it’s 1.1. His interception rate is up too. His passing and rushing yards per game are down. It’s just been a rough year to roster him.

Christian McCaffrey did CMC things. Deebo Samuel did Deebo things. Aiyuk was a little quiet other than his touchdown play. So was George Kittle now that I think about it. Brock Purdy had a bit of a disappointing game but I’m still moving forward with confidence in him. ⛏️ 

The Jets? Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, and Tyler Conklin. Move on. Brownlee might get a little more run with Tim Boyle at QB but I’m not expecting much.

Just another day in the office for the Dolphins, who started out slow but finished strong against the Jets. Well, stronger maybe. They had their issues but overall they beat up on NY. 🐬 

Things to look out for in Week 12

• 🏴‍☠️ I wrote an article earlier this week on Fantasy Six Pack talking about Cade Otton. The Colts are top-10 in the NFL in yards and receptions allowed to tight ends, yet have allowed only one touchdown to the position. Either they tighten up against them in the red zone or they have just been lucky. Otton is top 10 in red-zone targets this season and could be in for a score here.

• Also, Rachaad White has a great matchup this week against Indy. The Colts are tied for the third most rushing scores allowed to running backs this season. He’s getting the volume needed, and he’s a near lock in my cash lineup in DFS this week.

• 🐦️ Gus Edwards should have fun against the Chargers, who aren’t a terrible matchup for running backs. I wouldn’t say they’re great, but they are good. Keaton Mitchell is another back I could see starting if I needed the extra boost in my flex spot.

• ⛪️ The Saints vs Falcons is going to be an interesting matchup. Both defenses have been good against wideouts on the season, and New Orleans has the edge in run defense. Alvin Kamara should still be in your lineup, and you might not have a choice with Chris Olave. But with Michael Thomas out, Rashid Shaheed makes for a fun and interesting play in both redraft and DFS formats. For the Falcons? It’s Bijan and I’m out.

• 🔥 Derrick Henry has not been good the last couple of weeks, but I think he has a get-right game against Carolina. Tennessee is favored in this matchup, and Henry has finished no worse than RB13 in half-PPR scoring in the three games the Titans have won.

• ⚫️ 🟡 🔴 I like Jaylen Warren a lot this week against Cincy. It’s a divisional matchup and it has the chance to get spicy, but whenever there is a coaching change teams seem to respond positively, at least in the short term. I can’t say that I’ve studied how teams do after a coaching change, but with the Matt Canada offense being so inept, I don’t see how the Steelers don’t improve.

• Giants vs. Patriots: the game everyone wishes they could return their tickets for. “Saquon and move on” for New York. If you really need someone, Wan’Dale would be my choice, but I can’t say I like it.

• 🇺🇸 The Patriots have a few more options, Rhamondre, Zeke, and Demario Douglas are all worthy starts in my opinion. Douglas is in my cash lineup in DFS at the time of writing. I really wish I could say JuJu because love the player, but I’m just not confident in him yet.

• 💀 I’m having a tough time deciding on whether I should start any Raiders unless I absolutely have to. I’m in a situation where I need to start Josh Jacobs, but in another league, notably my Scott Fish Bowl league, I’m sitting him in favor of Gus Edwards of all people.

• 🏹 Start your Chiefs though. Well, the main four of Mahomes, Kelce, Rice, and Pacheco anyway. I’m not holding out hope for a Justin Watson 11-target game repeat.

• 🐆 Jacksonville and 🐄 Houston are going to be one of the premiere matchups this week. I didn’t think I’d write that this season, but here we are. Stroud vs. Lawrence is something we’re hopefully going to get twice a year for a long time. If Dameon Pierce plays, I’m staying away from the Houston backfield (even then, Singletary is risky). Their wideouts are a different story. Fire up Tank Dell and Nico Collins!

• Jacksonville is a more interesting puzzle. Houston has been on the tougher side against wideouts this season. Christian Kirk had a solid game against them in week three, posting a 4-54-1 stat line. Evan Engram was the Jaguars’ leading receiver in that game and has yet to catch a TD this season on 74 targets. Calvin Ridley could be an interesting option with Zay Jones back, but I want to see a little more consistency between the Jaguars receivers before I confidently start them.

• 🏇 The Broncos have picked it up on defense the past few weeks and Cleveland is one of the best in the league. I’m staying away from this game for fantasy unless I have a Jerome Ford or Javonte Williams.

• 🐏 With the Rams releasing Darrell Henderson, that gives me a lot of confidence to play Kyren Williams. Right now it looks like Cooper Kupp is going to play, so both he and Puka Nacua are going to find their way into lineups this week.

• 🦬 Stefon Diggs is in a smash spot this weekend against Philadelphia’s struggling secondary. He’s failed to top 34 yards in each of the past two games but the Bills will be forced to throw with Philadelphia being the very definition of a pass funnel defense. I think this is going to be a “squeaky wheel” situation. Khalil Shakir is another interesting option to consider with Gabe Davis being so inconsistent.

• While I like the talent and ability of Isaiah Likely, I can’t help but feel he’s a trap. And I really hope he’s not. It’s more of a gut feeling but that’s how I feel with Andrews out. Zay Flowers and Odell Beckham are interesting options, however.

• ⚡️ What happened to Austin Ekeler? I’m willing to give him some extra chances because we know he can be good, we’ve seen it this season. But the Baltimore defense is very good and can keep him in check. Hope for some passing down work and a touchdown.

• 🪓 Speaking of backfields: stay away from the Bears vs. Vikings game. Chicago has picked up on their run defense and the Bears backfield is a mess. But, you can give the receiving options for each side a shot. 🐻 

Have a great weekend and I will see you all on Tuesday!