Strategies
The in’s, outs and everything fantasy you need to know for your Thanksgiving day football lineup. The tradition continues to grow around a full day of football, turkey, spending time with the family and now a chance to win some money playing fantasy football. This tradition has grown in recent times to include a three game schedule that gets underway at 12:30pm ET.
The Chicago Bears travel to take on the Detroit Lions in the first game followed by the Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas taking the Cowboys on at 4:30pm. The final game of the three gets underway at 8:30pm as the Seattle Seahawks travel to take on the San Francisco 49ers. All three of these games feature division opponents fighting for playoff spots.
Looking at it from a fantasy football aspect these games feature two quarterbacks with 22 touchdown passes, the NFL leading rusher, a versatile running back that dominates fantasy points in the run and pass game as well as three of the top defenses in regards to points per game allowed.
Here are the top plays around the NFL for Thanksgiving:
Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys quarterback has been on an terrific run over his last two games including seven total touchdown passes. This Thanksgiving he gets a shot at an Eagles defense that has allowed over 3,200 yards passing and 24 touchdowns.
Terrance Williams, Dallas Cowboys: Williams offers teams a value play at only $5,100 as well as a big play threat. The only concern at this point is his health concerns as he was limited in practice on Tuesday. This does not mean to stay away from Dez Bryant as we love his play as well against an Eagles defense that has allowed a league high 17 touchdown receptions to opposing receivers.
Eric Ebron, Detroit Lions: We expect Jim Caldwell and company to go back to the drawing board on the offensive side of the ball. The team has failed to score more than 24 points in all but one game this season something that is a concern including only 15 points over the last two games. Look for Stafford to open up the passing game making Ebron a threat against a Bears team that has allowed 10 touchdowns to tight ends.
Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions: The pick will cost you the second most in regards to amount but Johnson has led his team in yards in five of the seven Thanksgiving he has played on. He has also reeled in a touchdown in all but one and has caught one in five straight on Turkey day.
LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles: Chip Kelly understands how important this game is for the Eagles in the NFC East. Look for the team to rely heavily on McCoy much like last week when he rushed for 130 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown. McCoy has yet to hit the 20 point mark this season on FanDuel but did post 19.6 last week.
Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks: The stats point to not playing either quarterback in this game but we like our chances plus this will also give you a slight advantage as we expect a heavy play of both Romo and Mark Sanchez as well as people using the two quarterbacks in the early game.
Other top fantasy plays: Zach Ertz, Tony Moeaki and Reggie Bush (monitor the NFL injury report).