Welcome to Thursday Bite Football, Week 12 — the Thanksgiving Edition. It’s where you come to hide from your in-laws’ salt-and-pepper-crusted casseroles for all of 10 solitary minutes before returning to the madness of the holiday season. Or perhaps you’re out Black Friday shopping, pushing over grandmothers and little kids alike while bustling through the aisles and reading these delicate words.
Wherever you may be, hopefully, you had the chance to inhale some home cooking and play some good, old-fashioned stump in the backyard with those you love because that’s what it’s really all about — at least in my family. Throwing sharp, metal objects in the air and smashing nails into a log alongside close friends and family while Luke Combs wails in the background and someone’s fat uncle snoozes in the corner.
While I was doing all of that, I was also watching a riveting Thanksgiving slate (or plate) of NFL Football. Here’s what I saw:
Josh Allen – 29.9 pts; 24-for-42, 253 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT; 10 carries, 78 yards, 1 TD. Allen threw one red zone pick and probably should have been intercepted a second time, but he managed to lead all players in fantasy scoring across the Thanksgiving slate due to a trio of scores and 78 yards on the ground. While he didn’t look as sharp as we’re accustomed to, he remains one of the top options at the position for the remainder of the season, if not the best.
Stefon Diggs – 17.7 pts; 8 receptions (15 targets); 77 yards, 1 TD. Week 12 marked Diggs’ third game of the season with 15+ targets and the second in the last three weeks. Although he connected with Allen on just eight of those throws, the volume, coupled with his fourth-quarter TD, propelled him to his seventh top-12 finish in 11 games this year.
Isaiah McKenzie – 19.3 pts; 6 receptions (10 targets), 96 yards, 1 TD; 2 carries, 7 yards. I was one of the unfortunate souls that left iMac on the bench this week. McKenzie actually outproduced Diggs, seeing 10 targets of his own. The big question is whether McKenzie can buoy his Week 12 performance through the remainder of the campaign. He’s now firmly in the WR3 / Flex conversation in all formats. Meanwhile, Gabe Davis caught just four of five targets for 38 yards, busting with 5.8 points.
Jared Goff – 17.6 pts; 23-for-37, 240 yards, 2 TDs. There were points during Thursday’s matinee where the ball was clearly coming out of Goff’s hand better than Allen’s. The seventh-year signal caller looked solid for most of the contest, posting his best fantasy performance since Week 8 and doing so against a formidable opponent. He remains a streamer but is now firmly a top-20 option.
Amon-Ra St. Brown – 23.4 pts; 9 receptions (10 targets), 122 yards, 1 TD; 1 carry, 7 yards. St. Brown produced his second-best fantasy showing of the campaign and his top output since Week 2. His 10 targets marked his fifth double-digit share of the season and his third in the last five weeks. This should be his second top-10 finish in three weeks. Lock him in as a top-10 ROS option at the position with a juicy remaining schedule.
Jamaal Williams – 10.6 pts; 18 carries, 66 yards, 1 TD; 0 targets. Williams carried the ball 18 times, while D’Andre Swift had just five carries for 19 yards. Swift was the clear go-to option in the passing game, as evidenced by eight targets, but he converted that volume into just four grabs for 24 yards and dropped a would-be touchdown inside the five-yard line in the second half. Shockingly, Swift’s nine touches were his most in four games, but it’s clear Williams has passed him as the lead back in the ground game. View Swift as a Flex option that is better suited in full-PPR formats and who carries a lot of week-to-week risk, while Williams remains a borderline RB2 / Flex.
Dalton Schultz – 17.1 pts; 4 receptions (4 targets); 31 yards; 2 TDs. Schultz didn’t see the same volume that many of the other top Thanksgiving performers did, but he was efficient and dangerous in the red zone. He’s a clear ROS TE1, sitting inside the top six at the position.
Dak Prescott – 14.8 pts; 21-for-30, 261 yards; 2 TDs, 2 INT; 2 carries; 4 yards. He looked shaky early but rallied to salvage 14.8 half-PPR points after two early interceptions. His streak of three-straight top-10 finishes at QB is likely to end this week, but he still has the upside to be penciled in as a mid-tier QB1 from here on out.
CeeDee Lamb – 14.7 pts; 6 receptions (11 targets); 106 yards; 2 rushes, 11 yards. Managers were hopeful that Lamb’s 33-point Week 10 would be the start of the elite production that drafted him in the second round for. Week 12 was certainly an improvement to last week’s seven-point dud, and he led the team in practically every receiving category on Thanksgiving — except for tuddies. It’s time for another WR1 finish in the near future, and Lamb remains a ROS WR1.
Daniel Jones – 14.5 pts; 21-for-35; 228 yards; 1 TD; 3 carries; 14 yards. The Dallas front seven posed a difficult challenge, and while Jones didn’t falter by any means, he was held to a modest 14.5 points. With Saquon Barkley (13.2 pts; 11 carries, 39 yards, 1 TD; 4 receptions, 6 targets, 13 yards) being held to 3.5 yards per carry on just 11 attempts, much of the Giant offense was forced to run through Jones. If a game like this one can become any type of floor for Jones, then the trajectory of his career is in good shape. Barkley is locked in as a ROS top-three RB overall.
Justin Jefferson – 24.8 pts; 9 receptions (11 targets); 139 yards; 1 TD. Another week, another elite performance from Jefferson. After putting up a five-point game last week, He finished with 22-plus points for the third time in the last four contests. Thursday marked his seventh game of the year with 11 or more targets. He’s a top-end ROS WR1 with as good of a case as any for the top overall spot at the position.
Dalvin Cook – 7.6 pts; 22 carries, 42 yards; 4 receptions (5 targets); 14 yards. It was a down week for Cook, who averaged under 2.0 yards per carry and salvaged 7.6 half-PPR points thanks to four grabs from Kirk Cousins (21.8 pts; 299 yards; 3 TDs). Cook remains a mid-t0-back end RB1 despite back-to-back weeks in the single digits, although he will not finish as the top-five option many drafted him hoping he would be.
Rhamondre Stevenson – 15.7 pts; 7 carries, 36 yards; 9 receptions (10 targets), 76 yards. That’s nine-straight games with double-digit half-PPR points, during which Stevenson has finished as an RB2 or better each week. Stevenson led all Patriots with nine catches and 10 targets while finishing just behind DeVante Parker (4 receptions, 4 targets, 80 yards) in receiving yards. He didn’t do much on the ground, but he doesn’t need to with the consistent volume he is seeing through the air (five-plus targets in eight of the last nine games). Stevenson is a ROS back-end RB1.
Mac Jones – 23.2 pts; 28-for-39, 382 yards; 2 TDs. Jones’ 23.2 fantasy points on Thanksgiving were his most of the season, as he threw for a career-high 382 yards against Minnesota. His output will likely be game script-dependent moving forward, but I view him as a ROS QB2 with weekly upside.
That’s all for this week, Razzball fam! As always, I’m happy to take this conversation into the comments section or on Twitter, where you can find me @WorldOfHobbs.
