Best Showdown & Classic Plays for Thanksgiving NFL Contests

• The best DraftKings plays for their Thanksgiving NFL showdown contests are to captain Keenan Allen in the early game and Rico Dowdle in the afternoon game, while fading Jaylen Waddle in the nightcap.
• For full-slate classic Thanksgiving DFS contests, some of the best plays are Caleb Williams at quarterback, Theo Johnson, and anyone but Amon-Ra St. Brown at wide receiver or flex.

DETROIT – There are four NFL daily fantasy sports featured slates at DraftKings for Thanksgiving. This DraftKings Thanksgiving preview has been put together to prepare you for the three showdown slates and the all-day contest.

Best DraftKings Plays for Bears vs Lions Showdown Contests

In the first game of the day in states with Daily Fantasy Sports, there are many angles to consider when creating a showdown lineup on DraftKings for the Bears versus Lions matchup.

Five of the six highest-priced players are Lions, which reflects Detroit’s status as the favorite at NFL betting sites.

Highest Priced Players for Bears vs Lions

• Amon-Ra St. Brown: $15,000 captain/$10,000 flex
• Jared Goff: $14,700 captain/$9,800 flex
• Jahmyr Gibbs: $14,400 captain/$9,600 flex
• Caleb Williams: $13,500 captain/$9,000 flex
• David Montgomery: $12,900 captain/$8,600 flex
• Jameson Williams: $12,300 captain/$8,200 flex

Based on the DraftKings fantasy points against ranks against for each defense, the best bet to captain may not be any of those players, but instead one of the Chicago Bears wide receivers.

Points Against by Position for the Lions and Bears

The three highest-scoring Bears wide receivers last week were DJ Moore (29.9), Keenan Allen (23.6), and Rome Odunze (8.9), so logically one of them may be the best value at captain in a DraftKings lineup.

DJ Moore led those wide receivers in points, but he only had seven targets versus the Vikings last week. Allen had 15 and Odunze had 10 and they are both cheaper than Moore.

Based on that combination of targets and price ($10,500), Keenan Allen is likely the best option to captain versus the Detroit Lions.

When crafting a lineup with Allen at captain, other logical players to pair with him include Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and a few Lions who play well enough to encourage Chicago to keep passing.

Best DraftKings Plays for Cowboys vs Giants Showdown Contests

An NFL East clash with a low total at legal sports betting sites that reflects both teams playing backup quarterbacks, the DraftKings showdown pricing for Cowboys vs Giants is heavily slanted towards the skill position players.

Consider that none of the four highest players are quarterbacks, unlike in the Bears-Lions game in which Jared Goff and Caleb Williams are both among the four highest-priced players.

Another interesting twist that is also based on the uncertainty of Tommy Devito’s and Cooper Rush’s injury status is both the Giants’ and Cowboys’ backup quarterbacks are among the eight highest-priced players for the mid-day showdown slate.

What’s so interesting about their prices is that they are both only marginally more expensive than the players that they could potentially replace.

Quarterback DraftKings Pricing for Cowboys vs Giants

• Cooper Rush: $13,500 captain/$9,000
• Trey Lance: $12,000 captain/$8,000
• Tommy DeVito: $12,900/$8,600
• Drew Lock: $12,600/$8,400

Instead of captaining any of the four quarterbacks or any of their receiving targets, a better option may be to focus on Rico Dowdle who is priced at $14,400. A few reasons to play Dowdle as captain include:

• The New York Giants gave up 27.10 points last week to running back Bucky Irving of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
• New York gives up the fifth most DraftKings points to running backs in the entire league.
• The Dallas Cowboys are 3.5-point favorites, which means legal sportsbooks are projecting that they may be in a position to largely run the ball.

Best DraftKings Plays for Dolphins vs Packers Showdown Contests

The best DraftKings strategy for showdown contests for the Dolphins vs Packers game is to fade Jaylen Waddle.

Waddle, who scored 31.4 DraftKings points based on his 8 receptions, 144 yards, and a touchdown last week, is clearly coming off a fantastic performance. But, essentially all of his other games this season prove that his score versus the Patriots was an aberration.

In his nine most recent games before his 31.4 explosion vs the Pats, Waddle’s highest DraftKings fantasy score was 8.6 points.

Expected to be owned in nearly 20% of showdown lineups, the best DraftKings strategy for the night game between the Dolphins and Packers is to fade Jaylen Waddle.

Best Thanksgiving DraftKings Plays In The Classic Contests

Many of the best DraftKings DFS plays on Thursday have already been previewed above, but there are a few other plays that are great options that stand out based on ownership.

Basing the best options on ownership is important in all DFS tournaments, but is especially important in contests that are made up of only a few games. By playing a few lower-owned players or leaving some salary on the table, bettors can attempt to ensure unique lineups that give themselves a chance at the top prize.

For the Thanksgiving NFL DraftKings slate, here are some of the best plays based at least in part on ownership:

• Play Caleb Williams over Jordan Love or Jared Goff: Many DFS sites are expecting Jordan Love and Jared Goff to be nearly 20% owned, but Caleb Williams may be a better play with nearly 15% ownership. Love is playing at Lambeau Field which means he may have to deal with tough cold conditions and Jared Goff is facing the 3rd stingiest defense against quarterback fantasy points. Additionally, Caleb Williams scored more points last week (29.9) than either Jordan Love (14.7) or Jared Goff (10.8).
• Play Theo Johnson at Tight End: A cheaper option at tight end at $2,900, Theo Johnson projects to be owned in less than 10% of lineups on Thanksgiving. Johnson’s six targets last week were the second most out of all pass catchers in Tommy DeVito’s first start and he played 83.8% of snaps. With opportunity, low ownership, and a cheap price that may allow you to play some more star players at other positions, Johnson is a great choice.
• Fade Amon-Ra St. Brown: Projected to be owned in nearly 50% of lineups as the highest-priced player on Thursday, fading Amon-Ra St. Brown is not an easy decision to make, but the right one. The Sun God needs to have a big game to live up to his lofty price of $8,000, but those big games have been infrequent since the Lions’ Week 5 bye. In the seven games since that bye week, ARSB has scored more than 20 points just twice. That is despite scoring a touchdown in six of those seven games! The touchdowns have been propping up his value, but that still hasn’t been enough. Players can gain a lot of leverage on the field by fading Amon-Ra on DraftKings.

News tags: Amon-Ra St. Brown | Caleb Williams | Cooper Rush | Daily Fantasy Sports | DJ Moore | Florida | Illinois | Jared Goff | Jaylen Waddle | Jordan Love | Keenan Allen | Michigan | New York | NFL | Rico Dowdle | Rome Odunze | Texas | Tommy DeVito | Wisconsin