Thursday FanDuel Picks: NFL DFS lineup advice for Thanksgiving daily fantasy football contests

Jacob Camenker

Thursday FanDuel Picks: NFL DFS lineup advice for Thanksgiving daily fantasy football contests image

Week 12 brings three Thursday games, and the Thanksgiving Day NFL DFS slate is a blessing for daily fantasy football owners. Between Lions-Bears, Cowboys-Redskins, and Saints-Falcons, there are plenty of different lineup combinations you could use to try to get in the money on Turkey day. For our FanDuel GPP lineup picks, we're targeting the matchup that we perceive to be the best offensive contest of the bunch (bold strategy, huh?) while filling in with other lower-budget value sleepers around them.

Of course, the game that we like is Saints-Falcons. The Saints have been on fire as of late, and the Falcons have one of the leakiest defenses in the NFL in all aspects. We wanted to get heavy exposure to the Saints while also capitalizing on an Atlanta passing game that should have to throw the ball a lot to keep pace in this divisional clash. We're pretty confident that our lineup should be a strong one in tournaments.

Week 12 Rankings:
Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End | D/ST | Kicker

Thursday FanDuel Picks: NFL DFS tournament lineup for Thanksgiving

QB Drew Brees, Saints vs. Falcons ($9,000). I couldn't justify picking any non-Brees QB on the slate. Brees has at least four TDs and 265 passing yards in each of the past three games. The Falcons defense gives up the second-most FanDuel points to QBs at 23.5. Last time these two teams met, Brees threw for nearly 400 yards and had five total TDs. He is a high-floor guy that also has a high ceiling. That's rare, and with only five four quarterbacks worthy of starter consideration on this slate (sorry, Colt McCoy Update: And Chase Daniel), Brees is easily the pick. If you have to spend down, though, go with Mitchell Trubisky or Matt Ryan.

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RB Ezekiel Elliot, Cowboys vs. Redskins ($8,700). In each of the past two weeks, Elliott has put up at least 187 scrimmage yards and has gotten into the end zone. Granted, he was going against the Eagles and the Falcons, two teams struggling on defense, but the point is that Elliott is on a hot streak. He will get a chance to take on a Redskins defense that mostly stuffed him in Week 7 when he put forth the worst outing of his season. He will be looking for revenge and may find it against a Redskins team that has regressed against the run in the past three weeks, allowing an average of 165.3 scrimmage yards to the RB position over that time span. 

RB Mark Ingram, Saints vs. Falcons ($7,400). As long as the Saints offense is clicking, Ingram should have a chance to do damage. In each of the past two weeks, Ingram has put up over 100 yards on the ground. He also has scored three TDs (two on the ground, one through the air). The Falcons have allowed the most FanDuel points to RBs this season (31.5 per game). We like the value on Ingram as opposed to his teammate Kamara, who is $1,500 more expensive. Considering that the duo could put up similar numbers, it's hard not to like Ingram as the superior value option this week.

​WEEK 12 DFS CASH LINEUPS: YahooFanDuelDraftKings

WR Michael Thomas, Saints vs. Falcons ($8,800). My lineup to this point is a little bit Saints-heavy, but I'm okay with that. After all, they have scored a combined 99 points in the past two games, so they can clearly put up big numbers. Thomas will stack with Brees and give me the elite QB-WR stack on the slate. Thomas has cooled off a bit since his torrid start, but he has been targeted 27 times and has 24 catches, 373 yards, and four scores in his past three games. Last time he played Atlanta, he had 10 catches for 129 yards. He should continue to be a consistent threat who should give this GPP lineup a big boost.

WR Mohamed Sanu, Falcons @ Saints ($5,300). This is where I'm starting to differentiate my lineup a bit more. After spending up at QB, RB, and WR1, I have to settle for some lower-level values for my other receiver slots. The Falcons figure to be throwing a lot in this contest, as they are likely to trail the Saints, so all three Falcons receivers could be viable fantasy options this week. Sanu is the cheapest and caught a TD the last time these two teams played, so we'll give him a shot in Week 12.

WEEK 12 DFS GPP LINEUPS: Yahoo | FanDuel | DraftKings

WR Cole Beasley, Cowboys vs. Redskins ($5,300). Beasley led the Cowboys in catches when they played Washington earlier in the season. With Amari Cooper now in the fold, Beasley could find more open space and should continue to see targets from Dak Prescott. Like Sanu, he's a good buy-low player that could have a huge day if he keeps getting targets.

TE Jordan Reed, Redskins @ Cowboys ($6,000). Reed had his best game of the season last week, catching seven passes for 71 yards and a score. Though Colt McCoy is perceived as a downgrade at QB, he still has arm talent and looked Reed's way on his first TD catch since Week 1 last week against the Texans. That makes Reed a quality buy-low option as the second-highest priced TE on the slate, as he could have a big game as the top target in the Washington offense.

MORE WEEK 12 DFS: Values | StacksLineup Builder

FLEX Theo Riddick, Lions vs. Cowboys ($4,800). It seems that Kerryon Johnson (knee) is going to be out on Thanksgiving, so that will give LeGarrette Blount and Riddick a chance to carry the load. Given the projected game-script here, I expect the Lions to be playing from behind, and Riddick will probably get more work as a receiver. He has upside in a Lions offense that is really searching for a third receiving option since trading Golden Tate, so Riddick should have the opportunity to produce.

DEF Chicago Bears @ Lions ($4,700).  t baffles me that the Bears are only the second-highest priced defense on the slate. Sure, the Cowboys are going to be taking on the Redskins with backup QB Colt McCoy at the helm, but the Bears are the best defense in the NFL. They gave the Lions fits in their game a couple weeks ago, and while Detroit should be motivated to perform well in front of their home crowd on Thanksgiving, the Bears will still notch sacks and generate turnovers. They have the highest ceiling of any defense, so they're worth spending slightly up for.

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.