Battle of the Thanksgiving teams!
Detroit Lions
Quarterback
Jared Goff (Sit, Low-QB2)
Before the BYE week, Jared Goff had his worst game of the season, putting up 5.86 as the Lions got shut out against New England. The biggest reason for this was NE’s defense pressuring him early and often, leading him to have 229 passing yards, an interception, and a lost fumble. I don’t see this week being any easier against a Dallas defense that allows an average of 14 points to signal-callers.
Goff’s first few weeks of standout performances have been a pleasant surprise, and I can see him having more stretches of QB1 numbers later in the season, but I consider him a low-end QB2 this week.
Running Backs
D’Andre Swift (Start, High-RB2) Jamaal Williams (Low-FLEX), Craig Reynolds (Sit)
The pride of the Lions’ backfield, D’Andre Swift hasn’t played since Week 3. According to Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell, the plan was always for Swift to come back after the BYE. Well, here we are, after the BYE week and facing a Dallas defense that averages 13 points per game (ppg) to opposing ball carriers. Not an ideal return, but a player as talented as Swift should be played even in tough matchups. Unless you have a plethora of depth at running back, don’t overthink the matchup. Start your studs. Monitor Swift’s health but he’s expected to start this week. If Swift starts for the Lions, he starts for me as a high-end RB2.
The trickiest player to gauge out of this backfield is Jamaal Williams. With Swift sidelined, Williams was the featured back in Weeks 4 & 5 and he put up two polar opposite results of 23.9 and 5.6. Even as a backup role, in Week 1 in a shootout against the Eagles, Williams found the end zone twice for a 16-point day. In Week 2, again as the backup, he failed to find the end zone, but his yardage nearly doubled as he put up 7 points. Most low-end FLEX handcuffs don’t get this much written about them, but Williams’ story deserves it. He’s a lower low-end FLEX this week.
Craig Reynolds was one of the few bright spots of the Lions’ Week 5 shutout, putting up 12.2 points. With Swift back in the lineup, Reynolds reverts back to the third option where I don’t see any fantasy relevance. He could be worth rostering for a week or two as we monitor Swift’s health, but as the third option, Reynolds belongs on the waivers in most leagues.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Amon-Ra St. Brown (Start, Low-WR1), Josh Reynolds (Start, Low-WR2), Kalif Raymond (WR3 if Chark is Out), D.J. Chark (WR3 if healthy), T.J. Hockenson (High-TE2)
The clouds are gone… the Sun-God is back to save your team! Amon-Ra St. Brown, like nearly everyone else on the Lions, had a down Week 5 and was only able to put up 5.8 points. With injury questions around Chark, I expect the full volume for St. Brown. The Cowboys allow a middle-of-the-pack 20.33 ppg to WRs they face. I expect St. Brown to get a majority of the volume and continue to shine.
With D.J. Chark missing time due to injury, Josh Reynolds has emerged as a reliable fantasy option. Tied for second-most targets, Reynolds has both the volume and the production you can trust. The only reservation I have is that Dallas is so good up front that Goff won’t have time to throw and make good decisions. I expect that will hurt Reynolds’ production slightly, but I’m still firing him up in most leagues and expecting solid WR2 production.
Speaking of D.J. Chark, he didn’t practice on Wednesday, and I expect him to miss this week. If he does play, I have him as a WR3, nothing too viable in most leagues. Kalif Raymond gets a bump if Chark is out, but he’s still only startable in deeper leagues.
I mentioned polar opposites in production when discussing Jammal Williams, but there’s no better example of that than Week 4 T.J. Hockenson vs Week 5 T.J. Hockenson. 39.9 points compared to 1.6 shows what can happen when the team’s WR1 and RB1 are out and someone is asked to step up. If we throw those two outliers out, Hockenson is averaging 8 ppg this year. I expect his production to be closer to his average this week and have him ranked as a higher-end TE2.
The long-awaited return, Dak Prescott looks to make his second start of the season this week. What better way to get back into the swing of things than against a Detroit defense allowing 24.6 ppg to opposing QBs? Besides that, there isn’t much tape to go off of for Dak, who was projected to be a top-ten fantasy quarterback at the start of the year.
If Dak is in the Cowboys’ lineup this week, he’s in my lineup as a must-start.