One of the best weeks of the year is upon us – Thanksgiving week! A week full of copious amounts of food, beer and football! Lucky for you, before stuffing our faces with food and beer, the ‘Studs, Duds, and Sleepers’ staff is stuffing you with our 12th straight week of ironclad, foolproof fantasy football knowledge! Happy Thanksgiving! 

Studs:

Quarterbacks:

Jalen Hurts, Phi: 

Hurts ranks 19th in terms of passing touchdowns (13), but he is fifth in the NFL in terms of rushing touchdowns (8) and 9th in terms of rushing yards (618), and he gets a Giants team this week that gives up more than 120 yards on the ground per game. 

Josh Allen, Buf:  

Allen and the Bills are coming off a rough beating, but they get a Saints defense that gives up a lot through the air, and is coming off a week where they gave up 40 points and nearly 400 yards of offense – including 242 on the ground – to the Eagles. 

Others receiving votes:

Aaron Rodgers, GB: 

He may be playing hurt, but you can’t tell. Fresh off a four touchdown, 385 yard and zero touchdown performance, I look for Rodgers to continue his roll, even if it is against what should be a really good Rams defense. 

 

Running backs:

DeAndre Swift, Det:

There is one player on the Lions worth playing in fantasy, and it is Swift. He looked good this past week against a tough Browns defense and I like his matchup this week, on a really short week, against a Bears team that looks to be on the brink of collapsing.

Christian McCaffrey, Car: 

In his first two games back, CMC has 154 yards rushing, 17 receptions and 126 yards receiving. He is back to his top overall running back status. 

Others receiving votes:

Ezekiel Elliott, Dal:

He is a little dinged up and didn’t do much last week, but on a short week, where the Cowboys are likely to be without their top two receivers, and going against a Raiders defense which can be run on, I expect to see a lot of opportunities for Elliott and Pollard. 

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Pass Catchers:

DK Metcalf, Sea: 

Going out on a limb with this one – gut feeling I guess – because Russell Wilson has looked bad since returning and Metcalf hasn’t gone over 100 yards since Week 3, but the Seahawks season is hanging by a thread and the Football Team’s defense isn’t playing well, so I am banking on Wilson and Metcalf making one last pitch for a playoff run here. 

Deebo Samuel, SF: 

Not surprising to see Deebo here again. He is so versatile. Despite having just one catch for  15 yards last week, he gave owners value by rushing eight times for 79 yards and a touchdown. In 

Others receiving votes:

Darren Waller, LV: 

Waller pulled in seven of his eight targets last week for 116 yards and if the Raiders were smart, they would have targeted him 20 times and he would have had 18 catches for 200+ yards. I think they will do that this weekend. The Raiders will try and revive their season on the back of their best player starting this weekend.

 

Duds:  

Quarterbacks:

Dak Prescott, Dal: 

Since returning from the IL, Dak has been inconsistent and this week will be playing on a short week, without his top two receivers. This game screams for a heavy dosage of Ezekiel Elliott.

Ryan Tannehill, Ten:

Tannehill has struggled this season, especially without Derrick Henry, and that hasn’t been more apparent than it was last week when Tannehill threw four picks at home against the Houston Texans. Tannehill is a last ditch emergency option only at this point. 

Others receiving votes:

Baker Mayfield, Cle: 

Baker is hurt and it looks that way. He is in the bottom half of the league in terms of yards, completion percentage and touchdowns. Through 11 games, he has just 10 touchdown passes…five less than Taylor Heinicke  

 

Running backs:

Myles Gaskins, Mia: 

Yes, he is a “starting” running back, but through 11 games, Gaskins has just two touchdowns – only one running – and is averaging a measly 3.5 yards per carry.

Devonta Freeman, Bal: 

Freeman still got the most carries (and a touchdown) last week, but Latavius Murray saw 10 carries and with Freeman only getting 3.1 yards per carry, expect Murray to start cutting into Freeman’s opportunities, including this week against a tough Cleveland defensive front.

Others receiving votes:

Zack Moss, Buf: 

The Bills now have three running backs splitting the backfield duties and over the last four games, Moss has seen just 21 carries. In two of those games, he has zero catches and in two of those games he had less than 10 yards rushing. Translation? If your are rostering Moss, you shouldn’t be starting him, period.

 

Pass Catchers:

Marquise Brown, Bal:

It sounds like Brown will play this week, but even if he does, he is a Flex play at best. Mark Andrews is still Lamar Jackson’s top target and between him and respectable option like Sammy Watkins and Rashod Bateman, relying on Brown from week-to-week is tough.

A.J. Brown, Ten: 

Another Brown, another Dud. All you need to know about this Brown is that some guy named Nick Westerbrook-Ikhine had more receptions and receiving yards last week than Brown, and another no name dude called Dontrell Hilliard had more targets, more receptions and one less yard than Brown. Brown is a borderline Flex at best.

Others receiving votes:

Michael Pittman, Jr., Ind: 

The Colts only put up 216 yards per game in the air. For example, last week, they scored 41 points, but only had 106 through the air. This is a run first, run second and run third team. As a result, any Colts pass catcher cannot be relied on…including Pittman. Over the last four weeks, Pittman has seen his targets go from 15, 6, 5 and 5. Last week he had just two receptions for 23 yards and on the season, has hit 80 yards receiving just four times. 

 

 

Sleepers:

Trevor Lawrence, Jax: 

I don’t have a lot of reasons for this pick other than the fact that I don’t like Atlanta’s defense (or offense) and could see Lawrence finally putting up a solid game. But – in this is a big but – that is simply a gut feeling. Nothing about Lawrence’s play of late – which has been terrible – would suggest a breakout game.

Joe Flacco, NYJ: 

I couldn’t have been more wrong on Flacco than I was last week. His return – 24-39 for 291 yards and two touchdowns (no interceptions) – was impressive. Can he keep it going this week? Not sure, but he has a talented corps of receivers and a friendly matchup with a bad Texans defense. 

Tyrod Taylor, Hou:

Another guy I was wrong on last week, Taylor should be able to make plays this week with his arm and his legs against a bad Jets team. In three of his four starts, he has had zero interceptions and accounted for multiple touchdowns. 

 

Running backs:

Tevin Coleman, NYJ: 

Coleman has been a big disappointment for those who drafted him, but with Michael Carter out, he should have an opportunity to see the bulk of the touches the next few weeks. If you need a running back for a spot start – and many do – Coleman is worth a shot.

Melvin Gordon, III, Den: 

Few realize this, but Gordon – not Javonte Williams – leads the Broncos in rushing yards, rushing attempts and touchdowns. In fact, he has five rushing touchdowns to Williams’ one. With a matchup against the Chargers this week, Gordon and Williams both have value.

Rex Burkhead, Hou: 

Burkhead lead the Texans last week with 18 carries, five more than David Johnson. Unfortunately, he didn’t do much with those touches – 40 yards, zero touchdowns. That being said, with Phillip Lindsay being released, it should mean at least as many – if not more – opportunities for Burkhead, and any running back getting 18+ carries has value. 

 

Pass Catchers:

Tyler Boyd, Cin:

Boyd has been underutilized this year, but he lead the Bengals in targets (8), receptions (6) and yards (49) last week, and given the fact he said the Steelers quit the last time these two teams played, you can bet he and the Bengals will want him to be a big part of this weekend’s game plan.

Dalton Schultz, Dal:

Last week, Schutz lead the Cowboys in receptions (6), yards (53 and was second in targets (8), and that was with CeeDee Lamb starting. With Lamb and Amari Cooper likely out this week, that should mean a lot of opportunities again for Schultz against a suspect Raiders defense, playing on the road on a super short week. 

Elijah Moore, NYJ :

Moore has exploded since Zach Wilson went out, and even with Wilson set to return, Moore is a WR2 or Flex option this week. He has seen six or more targets five weeks in a row, and during that stretch, has 25 catches, four touchdowns and 336 yards.