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This Thursday Night Football matchups preview will be the best one written this season, because the action is tripled and runs all day long. With three games on Thanksgiving Day, and only two weeks to go until the fantasy playoffs (for the most part), Thursday Football has never been so important from a fantasy perspective.
Let's go through the fantasy football matchups, and give you our start 'ems and sit 'ems for the Thanksgiving slate. Below are the three NFL games on deck - good luck RotoBallers, and Happy Thanksgiving!
- Philadelphia Eagles @ Detroit Lions - 12:30 PM ET
- Carolina Panthers @ Dallas Cowboys - 4:30 PM ET
- Chicago Bears @ Green Bay Packers - 8:30 PM ET
Elite Wide Receivers - Must Starts
Dez Bryant, Calvin Johnson, Alshon Jeffery, Randall Cobb
Dez Bryant found the end zone in Tony Romo's first game back from injury, but only caught four of his nine targets. With Josh Norman mentioning that he will probably be shadowing Bryant, it's not the best matchup of the elite wide receivers playing on Thursday.
But after holding onto Bryant through his injury and time missed, there's just no way to sit him in crunch time. Bryant has a touchdown catch in two of his last three games, and has double-digit points in two of the last three games.
Even with limited reps, Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford are obviously familiar with one another. Johnson has nine targets in back-to-back games, and the Eagles defense is allowing the second most points to fantasy wide receivers this season. Johnson is a no-brainer start. Fun fact for your Thanksgiving fantasy roundtable: Johnson has three-straight 100-yard receiving games on Thanksgiving, and six-straight Thanksgiving games with a touchdown.
If Alshon Jeffery is healthy, he plays on your fantasy teams - sometimes it is that simple. As frustrating as he has been to have on the roster, when he's on the field he is effective. With Martellus Bennett ruled out, Jay Cutler has one premier pass-catching option available in a game where points will be scored, assuming Jeffery plays.
One may argue the validity of Randall Cobb being a part of this elite group based on his fantasy season so far. But in his last four games, he's had target numbers of nine, 12, 10 and nine, and is still catching passes from a top-two quarterback. He continues to be Aaron Rodgers' primary target, and that should be enough in many people's eyes. Get him in your lineups.
Second and Third Tier Wide Receivers
Terrance Williams, Davante Adams, Jordan Matthews, James Jones, Golden Tate, Ted Ginn, Devin Funchess
It's a long list of second-option wide receivers that can swing a matchup. Terrance Williams is back to being fantasy-relevant with the return of Romo, after being an afterthought for the majority of the season. Adams is averaging 12 targets over his last three games, and is Rodgers' No. 2 options - he may have the most opportunities out of this grouping. These two players are 1a and 1b in terms of choosing a WR2/WR3.
Jordan Matthews played in all 71 offensive snaps last week, but Mark Sanchez couldn't get him the football in playmaking situations. He will see the field, but the Eagles' quarterback situation is up in the air - a starting quarterback has not been named yet. I would put him in my lineup as a WR3/Flex option, but feeling good about it would come off as greedy.
The last four receivers all have touchdown potential, but are average plays at best. If I had to rank them, it would be Ginn, Jones, Tate and Funchess.
Running Back Matchups & Starts/Sits
Must Starts - Jonathan Stewart, Darren McFadden, DeMarco Murray
These three are the cream of the crop RBs for Thursday. Jonathan Stewart has been that player no one felt great about drafting, but is paying off big dividends in the latter half of the season. Darren McFadden's workloads are fun for now, until something possibly goes wrong. He's performing and will get his 20 touches, we just hope he doesn't get banged up in the process. Like Bryant, it's not a plus matchup against Carolina's strong defense.
Lastly, DeMarco Murray ranks third for me out of these three players - but with all the running back carnage this season, he's an RB1 no matter who is playing quarterback for the Eagles. Last week's effort was disappointing, but if it isn't a blowout he'll see more than the 13 touches he received last week.
Risk-Reward Starts - Matt Forte, Jeremy Langford, Eddie Lacy, James Starks, Ameer Abdullah
There are two timeshares between Matt Forte/Jeremy Langford and Eddie Lacy/James Starks, and Ameer Abdullah teasing managers with the thought that this may be "the week". That is probably too big a risk to take, but the others are worth a start in most formats. The only thing for certain is if Forte's ruled out, which doesn't appear to be the case, Langford would move to the No. 1 spot on this list of hopefuls.
Tight End Matchups & Starts/Sits
Priority Order - Greg Olsen, Richard Rodgers, Jason Witten, Zach Miller (Stream), Brent Celek (Stream)
I wouldn't consider starting any other tight end than the four listed above. With Bennett ruled out, Zach Miller can be an option for managers as a one-week streaming option. Brent Celek is another streaming option with Zach Ertz ruled out, but I'm not recommending that.
Witten has the most bust potential, only seeing three targets with two receptions in Romo's first game back from injury - but the history there is too great to ignore. Greg Olsen won't be coming out of anyone's lineup for the remainder of the season - just in case anyone needed a friendly reminder, I got you.
Like most tight ends, Richard Rodgers is a boom-or-bust option that will get his five-to-six targets a game. In his last four games he's seen target totals of four, nine, five and five, have resulted in three touchdowns.
Quarterback Matchups & Starts Sits
Starts - Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Tony Romo, Matthew Stafford
Sits - Jay Cutler, Sam Bradford / Mark Sanchez
In two quarterback leagues, all six quarterbacks involved in Thursday's games should be playing.
Rodgers ranks No. 1 for me, having thrown eight touchdowns in his last three games compared to one interception. The percentage of completed passes hasn't been as high as we're all accustomed too, but his last three games have passing attempt totals of 48, 61 and 34. I'm not going too far out on a limb when I say that multiple passing touchdowns are on the way.
I for one hope that Newton has a "normal" Newton-esque game, showing his superstar prowess with the nation watching. Newton has recorded at least one passing touchdown in every game this season, with nine coming in his last three games (five last week). Newton seems to be comfortable with his targets, who by now have clear, defined roles - this may be one of the more overlooked parts to his success this season. Newton will get his, and is the Panthers' main goal-line runner when they are close to the end zone.
It's tough to love Romo here. It's a short week against a premier defense (Carolina has given up the third least points to quarterbacks this season). But it's a prime time Romo game, which means something great or something funky is on the way. I'm voting for great, and I'm also calling for Romo to hand the Panthers their first loss of the season.
I cannot speak for the intricacies of the Lions offense since the coaching changes, but it seems to be positive for Matthew Stafford. After seeing what Jameis Winston did to the Eagles defense last week, there aren't many negatives to rolling Stafford out there this Thursday.
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