One of my favorite traditions at this time of year is equating the Thanksgiving Day players to the dishes you might see on your holiday table. Which ones are must haves? Which are you passing right on to the next person? Bonus: We get the Friday game for dessert!
Use these for your regular sit/start dilemmas or as a guideline for some fun holiday DFS contest lineups. In the spirit of gratitude, I’m really glad I get to do the piece this year so I know we got it right for you all. Just kidding! It’s actually just as much fun, if not more, to critique others’ comps, so please serve up yours in the comments!
Appetizers (Thursday players)
Cheese Dip (or just good cheese) = Jahmyr Gibbs (DET, RB)
Mine is a goat cheese and bacon delight. I don’t know why, but I need cheese with my Lions game on Thanksgiving like you need Gibbs in your lineups. Double down with some nice, aged cheddar slices if David Montgomery doesn’t suit up with his shoulder injury.
Deviled Eggs = CeeDee Lamb (DAL, WR)
I don’t have time to make them on Thanksgiving morning, but I sure do love when someone volunteers to bring them … as long as they’re a little briny and not too lumpy. I can do with almost any toppings: pickled red onion, bacon, olives, etc. There’s room for more than one delicious appetizer in my belly, and there’s room for Lamb in your lineup. I’m realizing it would have been cooler to do like a lamb meatball with mint jelly or something, but no one serves that on Thanksgiving, do they? Anyway, Cooper Rush had his best game of 2024 in Week 12, and Lamb saw 12 targets. At least Rush knows where to go with the ball, and the Giants aren’t a formidable foe.
Potato Chips = Tua Tagovailoa (MIA, QB)
If your hosts offer you chips from a bag — and only chips from a bag — as the appetizer, I’m sorry. I mean, you’re going to eat them, naturally, because you’re starving and football is on, but secretly you’re wishing for the cheese dip. Tua is coming off a fantastic game vs. New England, but things won’t be so cushy in Green Bay. It will be cold. Very cold. Tyreek Hill’s wrist is probably more of an issue than he’s letting on. Miami and Green Bay are both excellent against the pass, allowing opposing quarterbacks 15 or fewer fantasy points per game. Yet Tua is probably your top season-long QB option given his ceiling. If you play in SuperFlex or 2QB formats, you don’t sweat this decision at all because he’s definitely among your top two QBs. In DFS, he’s a tournament play, especially stacked with Hill, who will have a very low ownership rate.
Pumpkin Spice Hummus = Amon-Ra St. Brown (DET, WR)
Hummus is fine, usually really delicious in fact. But not everything needs pumpkin spice. That’s how I feel about ARSB this week. Chicago has been generally brutal for opposing WR1s — Justin Jefferson (2 receptions for 27 yards), Jayden Reed (2 for 23 and a touchdown), DeMario Douglas (4 for 50), Marvin Harrison Jr. (2 for 34) and Terry McLaurin (5 for 125) in the past five games. You’re going to start ARSB regardless of what I say here, but this note is really to help the Jameson Williams managers (like me) feel good about their chances.
Main Course (Sunday-Monday players)
Turkey = Jalen Hurts (PHI, QB)
Turkey’s going to be on every table and Hurts is going to be in every lineup. Simple math. If you serve something other than turkey, or a vegetarian/vegan turkey substitute, you shouldn’t be allowed to start Hurts in your fantasy league.
Mashed potatoes = Courtland Sutton (DEN, WR)
It’s boring, but most households will do it, and so will you. Sutton is the primary beneficiary of Bo Nix’s continued improvement, ranking fifth among WRs in half-PPR scoring over the past three games. Monday Night Football could go either way with some interesting offensive-defensive battles between the Browns and Broncos, but Nix and Sutton both have a decent fantasy matchup and should help you finish the week strong.
Sweet potato casserole = Hunter Henry (NE, TE)
It’s not for everyone. Some people think it’s too sweet. I used to serve it, not with marshmallows, but with candied pecans on top. Either way, half of the people eat a tiny bit and half say, “No thanks.” Given the TE landscape this season, Henry is TE10 despite scoring only one touchdown. He is still out-targeting Austin Hooper by almost double, though Hooper was the one who scored in Week 12. Follow the volume and the matchup — Indy gives up the seventh-most fantasy points to TEs. Hunter should be more serviceable than other fringe starters Cole Kmet, Kyle Pitts and David Njoku, who all have really ugly matchups.
Lobster risotto = Christian McCaffrey (SF, RB)
The dish’s name alone evokes a dreamy look and a bit of extra saliva. Delicious, satisfying, so much better than potatoes: I’m upping my Thanksgiving game this year. Based on the test run I did a couple of weeks ago, I’ll be winning something this weekend (it’s accolades for my risotto). If McCaffrey doesn’t break the fantasy world this Sunday night against a Buffalo team that gives up the third-most fantasy points to running backs, with QB Brock Purdy likely back in action, I’ll be shocked. I’ll say he gets his first and second touchdowns of the season this week.
Stuffing (dressing) = Joe Mixon (HOU, RB)
Comfort food, right? Hopefully you get yours with sausage and homemade croutons like I do (thanks, mom). That’s Mixon, an oldie but a goodie. Possibly in better shape than usual facing the Jaguars, our second-most generous fantasy defense for RBs and most generous overall. Houston is going to score 40-plus points this weekend. Enjoy the game with a cold turkey and stuffing sandwich.
Green bean casserole = Aaron Rodgers (NYJ, QB)
The cool kids have moved on from this old-fashioned side, but your uncle still dives in with gusto. This is, by the way, the same uncle who believes that Rodgers will stop turning the ungodly amount of talent on the Jets into utter garbage. OK, that was probably too strong because although Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams aren’t exactly exceeding (or meeting) draft day value, Wilson isn’t garbage from a season-long perspective. The two games heading into the bye were rough, though. So, Week 13 at home vs. Seattle is an important game, and a middle-of-the-road matchup, but I’m not letting Rodgers near my starting lineups, just like there will be no green beans in cream of mushroom soup on my table.
Cranberry sauce = Kickers
Any kicker will do. Just like you have to put some red stuff on the table every Thanksgiving, many of us play in leagues that still require a kicker. I’m down to one (Scott Fish Bowl) and the unique scoring actually makes the kicker position more fun. Generally, though, I’d happily ditch both the sauce and the K.
Brussels sprouts = Nico Collins (HOU, WR)
Humble, but so darn good. Need I say more? Sadly, I won’t be serving them this year, since my cousin who brings them isn’t coming, but they’ll be back in rotation soon. Collins embodies the spirit of the Brussels sprout, rarely if ever disappointing. Look for an extra special (balsamic glazed with bacon?) version of Collins vs. the lowly Jags this week.
Dessert (Friday players)
Pumpkin pie = Travis Kelce (KC, TE)
Despite the fact that Noah freaking Gray has scored two touchdowns in each of the Chiefs’ past two games, I’m still feeling a holiday Kelce miracle. Like not serving pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving would be unthinkable, Patrick Mahomes not righting this tight end wrong at home the day after Thanksgiving is improbable. The Raiders probably wouldn’t have it any other way (they give up the third-most fantasy points to TEs).
Apple pie = Brock Bowers (LV, TE)
I’m calling it. Bowers is the new TE classic. Personally, I’d eat 10 of my homemade apple pies, with their delicious crumb topping, before even a slice of any other flavor (except maybe Key lime, now that I think of it). It’s honestly not the best situation for Bowers, despite the Chiefs’ lackluster defense of opposing TEs, given that it will be Aidan O’Connell’s first game since Week 7. Still, the Raiders should be playing from behind and it’s basically the Bowers and Jakobi Meyers show in LV, so Bowers should see 12-plus targets. Yum.
Chocolate chip cookies = DeAndre Hopkins (KC, WR)
They’re good, everyone’s had them, but cookies don’t really scream Thanksgiving, do they? If your lazy adult child is in charge of dessert, you might be getting store-bought cookies on Thanksgiving. (Could they at least buy the frozen dough kind? Aldi’s version is amazing.) Good thing you’ll be too full to care. Hopkins had his debut against the Raiders in Week 8, a forgettable stat line. He’s been up and down since, having his best game against the Bucs, a pass defense just slightly more generous than the Raiders’. Here’s hoping Hopkins’ managers will be pleasantly surprised come Friday.
Pecan pie = Any Raiders RB
Just no. I know this one gets some of you up in arms, but … ugh. After a full day of eating and drinking, the last thing I want is a cloyingly sweet, chewy dessert. Give me crisp and tart to balance out this day. Likewise, I won’t be reaching for any Raiders back on Friday. Kansas City means business when it comes to stopping opposing backs, and the Raiders are down to Ameer Abdullah, who surprised against Denver. I don’t see that happening in Arrowhead.
(Top photo of Travis Kelce: Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
