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Another year of Thanksgiving games has come and gone, and I want to go on a quick rant that is only tangentially related to fantasy football, and isn't at all related to the actual premise of this column: the Dish Network and CBS dispute. I was invited to a friend's family Thanksgiving and went with the promise of food and football on a television much larger than the one I usually watch football on. But when I got there, I couldn't find the Chargers/Cowboys game. After some flipping around, I realized that CBS and Dish Network hadn't reached an agreement on renewing their contract and CBS was off of Dish.
When these things happen in ways that involve cable channels versus cable providers, I'm pretty ambivalent, because it's just two corporations wanting more money and there are reasons to think they are both wrong. But I get really frustrated when over-the-air channels like CBS become part of these issues. Dish is being asked to pay more than they already do for a channel that is free to people with an antenna. I'm actually with Dish Network on this one--why should they be asked to pay more money for something that is ostensibly free for millions of viewers?
I was able to find a...well, let's just say another method of watching the game, but I'm thinking of the millions of people who weren't able to watch it, who decided that satellite television was a thing they needed in their lives and then they ended up unable to watch something that someone still stuck back in the old days of antennas could watch. In the grand scheme of things, it isn't that important, but for the people who genuinely needed football as a respite from a holiday spent alone or a holiday spent biting their tongues during political discussions, the whole thing stunk.
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Also, there were three games today. That means there are less games on Sunday, which means I have more restrictions than normal going into this decision making.
Recap of Last Week
Honestly? My Thanksgiving plans ran about four hours later than I expected they would, so I'm going to take a one week break from recapping last week, because 1) you probably care more about the actual bust picks and 2) isn't this part of the column just an exercise in narcissism at this point? Do you really need to know all the details about how Eli Manning performed last week? Nah!
Alright. Let's look at 10 dudes who will disappoint you this week now!
Top 10 Busts - NFL Week 12
Jared Goff (Quarterback, Los Angeles Rams)
The Saints have a strong defense and Goff will be missing his top receiver, Robert Woods. Woods has been a big part of L.A.'s recent offensive success, which makes his absence a tough one to overcome.
Josh McCown (Quarterback, New York Jets)
One thing I like to do in this column is play the numbers game and give you some picks that are heavily based on the points allowed by the defenses that a player is up against. I had to dig a little deeper this week, because those metrics gave me three names (Tom Savage, Brett Hundley, and whoever Arizona is starting this week (jk, it's Blaine Gabbert again, because the Cardinals are having a really sad season). The Panthers are giving up under 14 points-per-game to fantasy quarterbacks and McCown has been a trendy choice lately for quarterback streamers, so I'm sticking him here.
Joe Mixon (Running Back, Cincinnati Bengals)
Yes, the Browns run defense is starting to crack, but Joe Mixon has already had stat lines like 11 carries for 18 yards and 20 carries for 49 yards at times this season. He hasn't been a super efficient runner, and I think the Browns defense can hold him in check well enough.
Kenyan Drake (Running Back, Miami Dolphins)
Simply put: Drake won't get enough touches to maintain relevance this week because Damien Williams will be in on passing downs, and there are going to be a lot of those in one of these classic "really good offense against really bad offense WHAT COULD GO WRONG games."
Alex Collins (Running Back, Baltimore Ravens)
Would you believe me if I told you that the Texans were allowing the second-least points to fantasy running backs? I know that's a rhetorical question, but I would have struggled to answer it if I didn't know already know that the answer is yes, yes they are playing well against the run. Factor in Danny Woodhead and Alex Collins is best left on your bench.
Amari Cooper (Wide Receiver, Oakland Raiders)
Cooper takes on Denver, and he only has one game (that bizarre Thursday night when he had 210 yards and two touchdowns) with more than five catches. The talent is still there, but he's a huge risk this week.
Jordy Nelson (Wide Receiver, Green Bay Packers)
STOP. STARTING. JORDY. NELSON.
Larry Fitzgerald (Wide Receiver, Arizona Cardinals)
The best fantasy defense against receivers? The Jacksonville Jaguars. The volume might end up being there to such a degree than Fitzgerald transcends that, but I'd be afraid to stake my season on him, even with his impressive string of games since Arizona's bye week.
Cameron Brate (Tight End, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Well, I think it's over. After Cameron Brate went on a run of good games early in the season, he's had exactly one catch per game over the last three weeks. Atlanta did get exploited by Jimmy Graham last week, but taking that game out of the picture leaves you with a team that is relatively strong against tight ends. The glory days of Brate might be over--things won't be any easier against the Packers next week.
Jimmy Graham (Tight End, Seattle Seahawks)
Okay, let's try this again. I was wrong last week, but the 49ers are allowing just an average of about six fantasy points to opposing tight ends, while they rank in the bottom-third against wide receivers. Look for Russell Wilson to connect with Doug Baldwin and the other wide receivers more than he does with Graham.
