Happy Turkey Day and welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of my Start/Sit HUB! Mike Hubbard Jr here, ready to help you succeed in fantasy football. Since there are annual Thanksgiving NFL games, I thought I’d give my thoughts on each game, make a few bold predictions, and give you my usual Start/Sit suggestions.
When I think about Thanksgiving, the 3 things that come to mind are family, food, and football. But let’s focus on why you’re here which is to talk fantasy football. This year we get 3 NFL games to look forward to.
We start off with the Chicago Bears going to face the Detroit Lions. The Bears are starting Andy Dalton in this game who will try to keep Darnell Mooney and Marquise Goodwin moving in a good direction. David Montgomery is healthy, and the Bears should be in line for a win. The Lions may not have won this season but that doesn’t mean they are an easy game to look past. We currently don’t have a decision on who will suit up at QB for the Lions this week but they D’Andre Swift and TJ Hockenson who can keep them stay competitive. The Lions have remained winless and the Bears are a 3-win team that has lost their last 5 games. I expect a battle on both sides that should start in the trenches. 2 great RBs on display in a game neither team will want to lose. My bold prediction is a Bears win by a score of 23-20. David Montgomery and D’Andre Swift will need to play well to get their team in a position to win. I think the difference maker will be at the QB position.
The next game is the Las Vegas Raiders going to play the Dallas Cowboys. The Raiders have lost their last 3 games by a total of 53 points. The Raiders need to play smart to win this game. A balanced rush/pass attack is the way to start the game. Put up points, use the clock, and make defensive plays. The Cowboys are coming into this game having lost 2 of their last 3 games. The Cowboys know they have the talent to play great football, and the NFC East is theirs for the taking. “America’s team” should take this game very seriously and look to build on their success this season. No Amari Cooper and possibly no CeeDee Lamb means that the next guys up have an opportunity to show some depth at pass catching. Dak and Zeke will be heavily leaned on and for good reason. The Cowboys are favored by over a TD. I expect Zeke to rush effectively and Dalton Schultz to produce when targeted. My bold prediction is a 31-20 win for Dallas. Too much Zeke feasting on the ground and through the air and not enough mistakes by the Cowboys for the Raiders to capitalize off of. Derek Carr has only thrown 2+ INTs in 1 game this season and this might be his 2nd.
The final game of the day goes to the Buffalo Bills traveling to New Orleans to take on the Saints. What is happening with the Bills? After starting the season 4-1, they have gone 2-3 since week 6. The Bills let the Colts run up and down the field with ease on their way to a 41-15 shellacking. The Bills got embarrassed and won’t want to repeat that. Their first priority should be shutting down Alvin Kamara (if he plays). Both Kamara and Mark Ingram are questionable for this game. The Bills have a great offense, and it all starts with the play of Josh Allen. If he can limit turnovers and move the ball consistently, Buffalo has a great chance. The Saints are going to need Kamara to play and to play well. I’m sure Kamara saw what Jonathan Taylor did to the Bills this past weekend and is ready to follow that up if he can play. My bold prediction is a 26-20 win for Buffalo. A big day for Stefon Diggs and a good day for Dawson Knox. Even with Kamara, I think the Bills can play defense well enough to keep the Saints in check.
Good luck this week and continue to check out my weekly articles. For all things fantasy football, follow me on Twitter (@FantasyHubbard) and Instagram (@fantasyhubbard). You can tweet me or message me on either social media with any questions you might have regarding the fantasy football season.
Bears @ Lions 12:30 PM ET
Start – David Montgomery – David Montgomery returned from injury in week 9 after missing 4 consecutive games. In the 2 games since his return, he has a combined 27 carries for 121 rushing yards. He also has caught all 3 of his targets for 26 receiving yards. It appears to be clear that when Montgomery is healthy, he is the clear RB1 in Chicago leaving minimal work for other RBs. He has looked good and gets the Lions defense. Detroit has been very kind to opposing RBs this season and this week should be no different. Back in week 4 Montgomery torched Detroit for 106 rushing yards on 23 carries and scored 2 TDs. The Bears will hope for a repeat performance to hinder the idea of letting the Lions get their 1st win.
Sit – Jamaal Williams – Jamaal Williams played in week 11 against the Browns. That was his first action playing in the last 4 weeks. He had just 11 rushing yards on his 7 carries. D’Andre Swift is currently in beast mode and the Lions won’t want to fix anything that isn’t broken. Williams is a clear RB2 and has yet to achieve 70 yards rushing in a game this season. Jamaal also hasn’t seen more than 3 targets since week 1. He did post season highs in rushing attempts and rushing yards in week 4 when the 2 teams previously played this season. Those highs were 14 carries for 66 rushing yards. I expect Swift to be more dominant than he was in their last encounter leaving Williams with a small window of opportunity. Williams would have to score a TD or 2 to gain his fantasy appeal back while Swift is healthy.
Raiders @ Cowboys 4:30 PM ET
Start – Dalton Schultz – Dalton Schultz led the Cowboys in receiving yards in week 11 when he had 53 receiving yards on 6 receptions. Amari Cooper was not playing due to COVID and CeeDee Lamb left the game early with a head injury. This week Schultz takes on the Raiders in Dallas. We already know Amari Cooper will be out due to COVID once again, but the status of Lamb will most likely be questionable until game time. Schultz has been a reliable target this season and Dak should use that strength to his advantage. Dak will need to air it out at times and without Cooper and Lamb his main targets will most likely be Schultz, Michael Gallup, and Cedrick Wilson. Although they all haven’t played the same number of games this season, Schultz has had by far the most targets, receptions, and receiving yards of the 3. I expect to see a lot of Dak to Schultz connections in a game the Cowboys do not want to lose.
Sit – Josh Jacobs – Josh Jacobs finished week 11 with 37 rushing yards on 9 attempts and caught 5 of his 7 targets for 24 receiving yards. Jacobs hasn’t scored since week 7 and has only 1 game with double-digit carries in his last 4 games. Jacobs also loses some playing time to Kenyan Drake. They take away from each other’s fantasy potential but can work well for the Raiders if they are effective. I ‘m going to expect Dallas to try to score early and often. The Raiders might be forced to throw more than they ideally imagined. The Dallas defense has been a pleasant surprise against opposing RBs this season.
Bills @ Saints 8:20 PM ET
Start – Dawson Knox – Dawson Knox returned to the Bills in week 10 and had 1 catch for 17 yards in a blowout win. He then caught 6 of his 10 targets in week 11 for 80 receiving yards in a blowout loss. The Bills offense has been inconsistent since they had their week 7 BYE. Knox and Josh Allen have good chemistry and have already found the end zone 5 times this season which all took place from weeks 2-5. Knox is healthy again and is a key piece in the success that the Bills have had and can display. I’m hopeful Allen finds Knox a lot in this game and makes a return to the endzone to further and reassure his fantasy owners, his teams, and his own confidence.
Sit – Trevor Siemian – Trevor Siemian has played in 4 consecutive games since the season ending injury to Jameis Winston. Many people (including me) thought that Taysom Hill would become the starter and rack up fantasy points. Trevor took over instead and has played good and bad at times. He had some of his best statistics in week 11 against the Eagles where he threw for 214 passing yards and 3 TDs while contributing a 4th TD on the ground. Siemian isn’t your typical scrambling QB so I wouldn’t expect more rushing TDs anytime soon. Trevor also threw his first 2 INTS in this game. Trevor has only completed between 55% and 61% of his passes this season. This week will be a difficult test for him playing against a Bills defense that is usually very good. If Siemian were to struggle immensely in this game, I could see the Saints utilizing Taysom Hill a lot more behind center in attempts to stay in the playoff hunt.