Happy Thanksgiving from our Sporting News crew to you! There's no better way to celebrate than with a DraftKings lineup that will have you rooting for something all day long.
The parade is over, Santa Claus has made his way to 34th Street in New York, and the holiday season is officially here. The guests are on their way, and last-minute preparations are in full swing. The good news is that crafting the perfect DFS lineup is a lot like having a meal to remember. It needs a great main dish surrounded by sides that add to the experience. Of course, you also need some appetizers and desserts to start and end a terrific day at the table. There's plenty for us to be thankful for, and we're about 11 hours of football away from adding this winning lineup to that list.
Before we break down all of our picks, here are the most notable scoring rules for DraftKings contests: Full-point PPR, four-point passing TDs, three-point bonuses for 100 rushing yards, 100 receiving yards, and 300 passing yards.
MORE THANKSGIVING DFS:
FD full slate | GB-DET | WAS-DAL | SF-SEA
Thanksgiving DraftKings Picks: NFL DFS lineup for GPP tournaments
Thanksgiving Thursday slate, $50,000 budget
QB Dak Prescott, Cowboys vs. Commanders ($6,800). Prescott is a man on a mission as the Cowboys seemed determined to get their QB into the MVP discussion. Dallas is throwing the ball like it's going out of style, as Prescott is averaging 37 pass attempts per game since the Cowboys' bye week. Washington is allowing the third-most passing yards per game (272.6) and was just torched through the air by Tommy DeVito. Every great meal needs a main dish, and Prescott is one half of the stack that will have many feasting on Turkey Day.
RB Christian McCaffrey, 49ers @ Seahawks ($8,700). Turkey, much like every other main dish in existence, gets all the love and fanfare, but people fail to recognize that the sides are what make a great meal. You're not pairing turkey with anchovies and serving it up to a guest, so why we would elect to put Prescott into the lineup with a terrible running back that won't see the field? McCaffrey has been mashing just about anyone that stands in his way this season, but he unfortunately just saw his great touchdown streak come to an end two weeks ago. He promptly found paydirt last Sunday and is ready to start a new streak. Arguably the best fantasy contributor playing on Thursday needs to be in your lineup.
MORE THANKSGIVING NFL: ATS picks | Best props | Start-sit
RB David Montgomery, Lions vs. Packers ($6,300). Montgomery has been stuffing the box score all season long, and he'll kick off our lineup on Thursday by doing it once again. The carries haven't quite been there like they were earlier in the season for the running back, but he's received 12 in each game since returning from injury and scored a touchdown in both while posting 76 and 116 yards, respectively. Perhaps you're serving some spinach-related dish, or maybe some spinach dip as an appetizer. There's no doubt in our minds that Montgomery will channel his inner "Popeye" as he tries to replicate his performance in Week 4 against these Packers, one that saw him score three touchdowns.
WR CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys vs. Commanders ($8,700). We weren't planning on serving Lamb this holiday season, but we can't possibly keep the Cowboys' star out of our lineup on Thanksgiving. Fantasy owners have to be thankful for the run he's been on, with five touchdowns in his past four games to go along with three games of 150 yards or more. While Prescott is on this heater with his arm, most of the time it's pointed in Lamb's direction. Against this horrific Commanders' defense, Lamb might have them waving the white flag by halftime. The Prescott-Lamb stack might be the best the NFL has to offer on Thanksgiving.
WEEK 12 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
WR Jahan Dotson, Commanders @ Cowboys ($4,600). The Commanders will lose -- it's just a question of by how much. Washington has been frisky at times, but Sam Howell can only do so much to make up for a bad offensive line and an even worse defense. This is a classic game of not having enough talent, but the Commanders will score at some point. Facing that negative game script, we like Dotson's upside to find the end zone or at least post some good-looking numbers with Howell slinging the ball all afternoon. At worst, this pick is essentially a donation to the Salvation Army kettle in Dallas. At best, we might win some real money to drop in there.
WR Jayden Reed, Packers @ Lions ($4,200). Reed has quickly established himself as the best of the Packers receivers. Christian Watson has been a ghost, Romeo Doubs is inconsistent, Dontayvion Wicks (concussion) is likely out on Thursday, and the tight end Luke Musgrave (abdomen) is in the hospital. Oh, and Aaron Jones (knee) is unlikely to play. That leaves Reed, who has scored a touchdown in two straight, including one rushing last week. Reed could end up being used as a gadget guy to help replace Jones in addition to his normal work as a WR. Being versatile on Thursday is a good thing, like that one cousin who can fix the stove if it stops working, crack a joke to lighten the mood, and also talk about things other than politics or sports.
WEEK 12 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
TE Jake Ferguson, Cowboys vs. Commanders ($3,900). As we come to the end of our lineup, we're thinking about desserts. Which players could put the cherry on top of a fantastic day? We've settled on Ferguson and Jameson Williams. Ferguson is the classic dessert, a slice of your favorite pie. He's reliable, and you know what to expect. The tight end has a big role in the offense and just saw his three-game touchdown streak end on Sunday. He should be ready to start anew thanks to Washington's porous defense. Ferguson has a stable floor and an even higher ceiling, making him arguably our favorite TE of the day.
FLEX WR Jameson Williams, Lions vs. Packers ($3,400). Williams is the trendy dessert, the one that a family member saw on Pinterest or TikTok and decided to give it a shot. At first, you're hesitant, but the potential of it becoming your favorite dessert is just too much to pass up. Williams is good for a few deep shots a game, and that will be no different against the Packers. We saw him haul in a long touchdown last Sunday, and he could very well do it once or twice on Thursday. The potential return on investment is too good to pass up. Of course, anyone playing Williams has to understand the boom-or-bust risks. With all eyes on the likes of Amon-Ra St. Brown and friends, we are completely fine with taking the plunge.
DEF Lions vs. Packers ($3,200). With all the injuries up and down their roster, it would be easier to list the Packers who will actually be suiting up on Thursday. There are going to be quite a few no-shows, leaving multiple seats open at the table. While many DFS players will flock to the Cowboys' and 49ers' D/STs, we're there to scoop up the Lions, who put forth a solid effort in Week 4 against Green Bay, winning 34-20 and posting 10 fantasy points in the outing. With two turnovers and five sacks, this is the group we want to trust on Thursday, so they'll be on our side heading out to the stores on Friday.
Best SuperDraft NFL DFS Picks for Thanksgiving
We're also listing our favorite Thanksgiving DFS lineup on SuperDraft, with some of our picks and analysis overlapping.
For those unfamiliar, SuperDraft's DFS scoring involves point multipliers as opposed to traditional salary-capped or tiered contests. A winning lineup will likely feature a strong mix of stud fantasy contributors with 1x-1.6x boosts, as well as a few matchup-based sleepers with larger multipliers. Each player is assigned a scoring multiplier based on their value as determined by SuperDraft. Users can roster any player in their lineup with no restrictions.
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Here are the most notable scoring rules for SuperDraft NFL contests: Half-point PPR, four-point passing TDs, two-point bonuses for 100 rushing yards, 100 receiving yards, and 300 passing yards.
MORE SUPERDRAFT DFS: How to play SuperDraft
- QB: Dak Prescott, Cowboys (Multiplier 1x)
- RB: Christian McCaffrey, 49ers (Multiplier 1x)
- RB: David Montgomery, Lions (Multiplier 1.3x)
- WR: CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys (Multiplier 1x)
- WR: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Lions (Multiplier 1.05x)
- WR: Brandon Aiyuk, 49ers (Multiplier 1.2x)
- TE: Logan Thomas, Commanders (Multiplier 1.5x)
- FLEX: RB Brian Robinson Jr., Commanders (Multiplier 1.3x)
Our SuperDraft lineup mirrors most of our logic from the DraftKings version up above, stacking Prescott and Lamb, while our RB duo of McCaffrey and Montgomery are primed to produce in a big way. Because of the nonexistent salary cap, we went for safer options in St. Brown and Aiyuk over some of the sleepers who made it into our traditional DFS lineup. We also like the upside of Robinson and Thomas, who will be active in the Commanders' passing game thanks to the negative game script they'll likely be facing.
