What’s better than chomping down on your Thanksgiving turkey dish and watching football? Well, making money while chomping down on your Thanksgiving turkey dish and watching football. We only have six teams to choose from, so excuse us for being a little chalk-heavy here.
QB
- Drew Brees ($6,700)
- With the ineffectiveness/questions of the other QBs on this slate, Brees is a must play. He’s an MVP candidate, and his Saints are arguably the hottest offense in the NFL. Playing at home he’s been unstoppable, and now he gets an added luxury of facing the Falcons who have one of the NFL’s worst defenses. Brees scored 43.54 points in the last matchup. Lock him in.
RB
- Alvin Kamara ($8,300)
- Similar to Brees’ success against the Falcons prior, Kamara also had a day with 37 points. Granted Mark Ingram wasn’t playing but still RB have been extremely successful against Atlanta this season. Just look at what Zeke Elliott did last week. Kamara will rack up the touches and get some work towards the goal line while scoring at least a touchdown and likely more. I can’t get enough Saints this Thanksgiving.
- Tarik Cohen ($5,300)
- Cohen has shown he’s the more talented back in the Bears stable. While Howard has been handling most of the carries when leading and goal line work, Cohen becomes more valuable in tougher situations, which is what the Bears are likely to face in Detroit. His receiving skills and home run threat give you so much upside.
- Theo Riddick ($4,500)
- With the injury to Kerryon Johnson, the door has flung open for Riddick to make his mark. Sure LeGarrette Blount will take a good amount of touches and some early down work, but he’s not breaking off huge plays or factoring into the receiving game. That’s where Riddick excels. Especially against a tough Bears defense, Stafford might have trouble moving the ball downfield with his depleted receivers.
WR
- Michael Thomas ($8,900)
- The more Saints in my lineup the better. With Tre’Quan Smith missing practice and having serious doubts about playing, Thomas could be thrust into an even bigger role against a bad defense. Brees and company keep rolling.
- Kenny Golladay ($6,400)
- The trade of Golden Tate has opened up plenty of opportunities and targets for Golladay in Detroit’s offense. Double digit targets and a touchdown in back to back games has him rolling and showed just why Tate was expendable. It’s a tough matchup on paper, but few receivers will see as much action as Golladay will.
- Mohammed Sanu ($4,500)
- Julio has been on fire scoring touchdowns and is a solid bet for a great day. I’d a tiny bit concerned about Lattimore’s coverage on him, which is why I’m considering leaning Sanu. Sanu thrives in projected high scoring games, and should benefit from less attention drawn away by Jones and Ridley.
- Taylor Gabriel ($3,400)
- While Miller has had more success at the position for the last few games, Gabriel possesses the speed and upside to make him a worthy cheap tournament play. Likely to be drawn up against Teez Tabor, that’s a very favorable matchup Gabriel can look to exploit.
- Keith Kirkwood ($3,200)
- Want a deep sleeper? Look no further than Kirkwood. Smith’s absence would be huge for Kirkwood’s value who could be lined up against Brian Poole. Brees is spectacular at spreading the ball around to many different targets. Don’t be shocked if this guy somehow comes away with a score.
TE
- Austin Hooper ($4,200)
- The one tight end I’m comfortable playing. He’s the lone guy consistently seeing a high number of targets in his teams offense with 8 and 11 in back to back games. Hooper draws a plus matchup with Vonn Bell in coverage and has a higher ceiling in this contest than his prior 7 point performance last time against the Saints.
Defense
- Chicago Bears ($2,900)
- We know how good the Bears defense is, and Stafford has been getting sacked at a higher pace as of late. They’ve scored double digit points in three straight games.
- Detroit Lions ($2,400)
- This will likely be my pick if Trubisky is ruled out for Thursdays game. Detroit playing at home in the Thursday game basically gives them super powers and I’d punt on a defense this cheap facing a backup.