Thanksgiving football provides us with three DraftKings Showdown NFL DFS contests to partake in, one for each of Lions vs. Bears, Cowboys vs. Bills and Saints vs. Falcons. That means that even if the first game doesn't go how you want, you'll have an opportunity to cash in some GPP tournaments for the second and third game. After all, you can never have enough football and daily fantasy football to go with your turkey and pie.
We take three slightly different approaches with our captains. Our early-game captain is our only RB, Bo Scarbrough. In game two, we try Dallas' No. 2 WR, Michael Gallup. And in the nightcap, we go with the best player available, Michael Thomas. You could also captain quarterbacks or deeper value plays, if that's what makes sense in your lineup construction, or even defenses in an early game that could get ugly.
MORE THURSDAY FANTASY:
FanDuel lineup | DraftKings lineup | Start/Sit
DraftKings Showdown Picks: Lions vs. Bears
Captain (1.5x price, 1.5x points): RB Bo Scarbrough, Lions ($11,100)
The Bears' defense will scare people off of Scarbrough here, but Chicago has been just league average against the run and we're looking at 15-plus touches for a bruising back in Scarbrough. The hope is that Bo is lower owned than a player with his floor and ceiling should be. Players like David Montgomery and Kenny Golladay might be more popular captain picks at slightly higher pricing.
FLEX: QB Mitchell Trubisky, Bears ($9,800)
This is a battle of two quarterbacks who accumulate ugly fantasy points, but in a game that's so hard to predict which team will look more beautiful of the two uglies, we're gonna use both. Trubisky runs less and throws more than Jeff Driskel, but he still brings both elements enough to feel like he can put up points even if there's a turnover or two involved.
FLEX: QB Jeff Driskel, Lions ($9,000)
Driskel's 63 rushing yards in Week 12 have me swooning over the difference in his perceived value versus real fantasy value. There's a great floor here, and if he limits turnovers and lucks into a few touchdowns, there's a pretty darn good ceiling, too. Just monitor his injury status, as he's questionable early in the week.
WEEK 13 DFS LINEUPS:
FD Cash | FD GPP | DK Cash | DK GPP | Y! Cash | Y! GPP
FLEX: WR Kenny Golladay, Lions ($8,800)
There's no Lions receiver with huge upside with Driskel, but he hasn't stopped trying Golladay deep a couple times a game. Golladay is also the most likely to accumulate via short volume, too, if Detroit decides to go that route.
FLEX: RB David Montgomery, Bears ($8,600)
The Lions allow more DK points to running backs than any other team and make a good case for Montgomery as the captain. The rookie wall may be close, though, as Montgomery hasn't looked great in recent weeks with Matt Nagy's play calling not helping. We still gotta go after this great matchup, though.
FLEX: TE Logan Thomas, Lions ($1,600)
Thomas has as good of a touchdown chance as anyone priced this low. The alternative lineup construction here is to pay down from either Golladay or Montgomery to use one of the D/STs in this spot instead of Thomas (if you feel especially strongly that this will be a blowout in one direction, that could be the way to go).
Note: If Driskel's hamstring injury gets worse and the Lions are forced to turn to David Blough at QB, I'd remove Driskel and Golladay and insert Allen Robinson and Marvin Jones.
WEEK 13 NON-PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
DraftKings Showdown Lineup: Cowboys vs. Bills
Captain (1.5x price, 1.5x points): WR Michael Gallup, Cowboys ($12,000)
With Tre'Davious White doing his thing on Amari Cooper (who's also been dealing with injuries), Gallup might be Dallas' best option through the air. He's only the seventh-highest priced possibility as captain, which feels like value for a player who had nine catches for 148 yards two weeks ago.
FLEX: RB Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys ($11,200)
Whether you think he's really that good or not, the Cowboys just continue to give Zeke the ball on the ground, through the air, and in the red zone. There's not a lot of desirable plays in the intermediate pricing, so there's no harm in just using such a high-volume piece of this game.
FLEX: QB Dak Prescott, Cowboys ($10,800)
Using both Dak and Zeke hopefully gets us involvement in every Dallas touchdown in a game that the home team is favored to win. And stacking Prescott with Gallup gives potential for a huge day if we hit right on our captain pick.
FLEX: QB Josh Allen, Bills ($10,600)
Allen has cut down on turnovers immensely, still has the high floor thanks to his rushing, and also loves to sling it all around the field. The one luxury we couldn't have in this lineup was Devin Singletary, so we'll be on Allen and a couple of his secondary passing options keeping this one close (or at least piling up numbers in garbage time).
MORE WEEK 13 DFS: Stacks | Values | Lineup Builder
FLEX: TE Dawson Knox, Bills ($4,400)
The Cowboys are a bottom-10 defense at defending tight ends, and Knox finally has made this starter's job his own again. It might mean something like five targets, one or two athletic plays down the field and a chance to grab a touchdown. That'll play at this price.
FLEX: WR Isaiah McKenzie, Bills ($1,000)
Cowboys' third WR Randall Cobb is priced at $7,600, yet McKenzie, who has made himself into Buffalo's third wideout, is priced at $1K. He's still used in the gadget situations that could set him up for big plays, but he's also up to about three-quarters of snaps in recent weeks and six targets in Week 12, so there's an easy route to return both small and huge value here.
WEEK 13 PPR RANKINGS: Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end
DraftKings Showdown Advice: Saints vs. Falcons
Captain (1.5x price, 1.5x points): WR Michael Thomas, Saints ($17,400)
The last time Thomas wasn't targeted double-digit times was Week 4. He's the best player in this game and the most likely to score the most points. Even a bad game by his standards will put him near the top of the leaderboard. It's a lot to play him as captain and basically requires us to bail on any belief in Atlanta, but it's probably worth it.
FLEX: QB Drew Brees, Saints ($10,800)
There's noo reason to play Thomas as captain and not couple him with Brees. Atlanta's secondary is one of the worst in football, too, so this doesn't seem like it can go wrong.
FLEX: RB Alvin Kamara, Saints ($10,200)
Kamara should thrive alongside our other Saints as another weapon in the passing game who can also be explosive on the ground. The Falcons don't really have anything to play for, so we're all-in on New Orleans here.
FLEX: WR Russell Gage, Falcons ($4,600)
Gage saw 10 targets a week ago and should continue to see strong possession work with Austin Hooper (knee) banged up. Thanks to DK's PPR scoring, Gage has a very solid floor in a game Atlanta will probably trail in.
FLEX: K Younghoe Koo, Falcons ($3,800)
New Orleans has a sneaky good defense that should keep Atlanta out of the end zone at times, and Koo has been locked in since his signing and will get to kick from the comforts of indoors, too.
FLEX: WR Tre'Quan Smith, Saints ($3,000)
Smith has played more than Ted Ginn Jr. in two straight weeks and benefited with a touchdown catch in Week 12, so we'll bet on that usage continuing and being a part of a big offensive day for the Saints.