What We're Thankful For This Fantasy Football Season

I’m thankful for…

🎉 Three good games. Last year, we were subjected to a Drew Lock vs. Cooper Rush matchup. This year, we have three games with high totals (all over 48.5), intriguing playoff implications (do or die for the Chiefs again), and all kinds of fantasy goodness (four top-10 QBs, three top-10 RBs, five top-10 WRs and three top-10 TEs).

🐕️ The Bengals defense. They give up the biggest boost to opposing RBs (+7.9) and TEs (8.4), as well as the second biggest boost to opposing QBs. The Ravens will be on the field during dinner time, but Derrick Henry, Mark Andrews and Lamar Jackson will be eating just as good as you tonight.

🧀 Christian Watson. With Jayden Reed out and Matthew Golden looking doubtful for today, thank goodness Watson is fully back. Not only is his Utilization on the rise, but he gets to face a Lions defense that just got shredded by Wan’Dale Robinson in Week 12. For more on the other Packers WRs (and their man vs. zone splits), check out Ian’s piece.

🛒 Black Friday sales. If you’ve been on the fence about getting a FantasyLife+ subscription, now is the time. We have a 40% Black Friday sale rolling with promo code BF40. Get access to all of our tools, rankings/projections, and our 2026 draft guide with an annual subscription.

🥧 Pie. Both pecan and apple (pumpkin is a scam), but also cooterdoodle’s “Have Your Pie & Eat It 2” parlay, which features three different players scoring 2 TDs each. I’m tailing.

🤑 DFS. There’s nothing better than ripping a bunch of drafts and setting lineups, over-indulging at the dinner table, and then explaining to your mother-in-law whether a TD was “good for you or not.” I shared all of my favorite plays on Underdog here.

You. Thanks for reading, subscribing, smashing the like button, and everything else you guys do to support us.

Happy Thanksgiving.

JAHMYR GIBBS IS GOING TO EAT ON THANKSGIVING

Stream Chiefs vs. Cowboys Live on Paramount+

Happy Thanksgiving! Today's NFL on CBS matchup is certainly one to be thankful for. Catch Patrick Mahomes and Dak Prescott facing off at 4:30 p.m. ET on Paramount+.

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Editors’ Picks

Week 13 kicks off today with our annual three-game Thanksgiving slate. It’s time to stuff your face, saddle up on your favorite recliner and dive into football. Start by making sure you catch up on some of the latest and greatest content that you may have missed on FantasyLife.com.

Bold Predictions For Week 13

Is RJ Harvey’s true breakout coming during the holiday weekend? Which Chargers WR is set to be a week-winner in Week 13? Danny Cross outlines his three bold predictions for this weekend’s fantasy football slate.

Thanksgiving Day Rankings

Are you playing the three-game NFL DFS slate today? Or just trying to compare where your Thanksgiving players slot in on their own? Ian Hartitz breaks down his rankings specifically for today’s slate.

Thanksgiving Day Parlays

Nothing screams Thanksgiving like five longshot parlays that your family can watch you sweat while they clean the dishes. Cooterdoodle breaks down five parlays for today’s three-game slate.

Week 13 Rankings: Derrick Henry Is Ready To Feast On Thanksgiving

Since the return of Lamar Jackson in Week 9, the Ravens have returned to their smashmouth ways on offense. Over that span, they have a -7% DBOE and have featured heavy personnel.

Baltimore has used 21 personnel (2RB, 1 TE), getting their fullback, Patrick Ricard (aka, Pancake Pat), involved on 21% of plays—the second-most, behind the 49ers (46%) over that period. Baltimore has used 22 personnel (2 RBs, 2 TEs), a league-leading 18%. The Ravens are opting to play bully ball down the stretch.

Henry has averaged 16.9 fantasy points over that stretch, including back-to-back top-eight performances over the last two games.

Now King Henry gets to face the best RB fantasy matchup in the land—the Bengals. Cincinnati has green-lighted a 7.9-point per game fantasy boost to opposing RB rooms.

The Ravens carry the fourth-highest spread (7.0) and the best team total (29.25) on the slate. Historically, that has been a friendly combination for high-volume backs like Henry.

Projection Model:

Xfinity Best (ceiling): 23.8
Median: 15.7
Floor: 11.7

Henry is a mid-range RB1 in a SMASH spot against the Bengals in Week 13 tonight.

Dwain breaks down all of his Week 13 Rankings below. ⬇️

DWAIN’S FULL BREAKDOWN OF HIS WEEK 13 RANKINGS

Your Week 13 Start/Sit Guide

Let’s get these last couple of wins, people!

Much love from Coach Gene and Big John to all of you and yours this Thanksgiving. Have a safe holiday, and thanks for reading all season.

RELATED: Pair these start/sit recommendations with our fantasy football start/sit tool, presented by Xfinity!

START: Pat Bryant, DEN, WR

LAGHEZZA: So many rosters and schemes are solidified this deep into the season, finding true diamonds in the fantasy rough borders on impossible. Then, if you actually manage to uncover someone checking boxes for a potential breakout, it still takes courage to roll him out there in a high-leverage spot.

(In case you couldn’t tell, I’m talking to myself here. One team in particular needs a win in which Chimere Dike’s been dragging its carcass to the finish line—but the Titans face the Rams before a bye and may not score another point for three full weeks.)

Denver’s eight-game win streak is doing the work of too much cologne for this offense over the last month. How does bottom-five in EPA/play (-0.16) and dead last in first downs/drive (1.1) sound? Yikes! This is the AFC’s No. 2 seed if the season ended today, we’re talking about. A change is gonna come.

Can I perhaps interest you in a post-bye rookie bump? Enter Pat Bryant, Denver’s third-round pick out of Illinois, recently emerging as the Broncos’ new big slot man.

Yes, Bryant is still being omitted from 3-WR sets, but I’m not worried for flex consideration. Sean Payton runs 11-personnel at a +63% clip, and Bryant runs the second-most 3-WR routes on the team—translating into over two yards per route run since the takeover. Keep that pace up, and a boom game’s coming.

Oh yeah, Bryant’s facing a decimated Washington secondary Sunday, currently dead last this month in EPA/dropback (-0.55) and receiving yards allowed per game to the slot in 2025 (101.1). Denver’s roller coaster season is heading up the ramp.

SIT: All Of The Commanders WRs

CLEMONS: The Commanders are entering Week 13 off a bye, where players were able to get healthier and refocus for the remainder of the season. Unfortunately for them, they catch the Denver Broncos doing the same thing. They are only allowing 185 yards per game and there's a good chance that the boogeyman is returning to the field. This Denver secondary has been smothering receivers without Pat Surtain, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. With him, it could get spooky for teams, and it probably will for the Commanders receiving corps.

It does not matter how well Deebo Samuel played in Week 11 or that Terry McLaurin has a chance to return on Sunday night. DO NOT WAIT FOR THEM! The Broncos defense is suffocating. They get to the quarterback better than everybody except Myles Garrett—they force them to speed up their internal clock, which causes poor throws or scrambles—either way, the result is bad for fantasy managers. Just let that crew chill this week.

MORE WEEK 13 STARTS AND SITS

Around the Watercooler

The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds. And Happy Thanksgiving!

👀 The biggest risers and fallers in the Week 13 rankings. Let’s ride.

🚨 Get a head start on Black Friday by saving 40% on FantasyLife+. Promo code BF40.

🔥 All of the best DFS plays and player props for today’s slate in one place.

💪 Lamar Jackson is going over 20 fantasy points tonight vs. the Bengals.

💜 Get ready to learn a new name … the Vikings starting QB.

😆 Cam Skattebo might be a better streamer than football player. Lmao.

🤯 Vance Joseph should probably stick to defense. Wild comp!

🤝 Why is Joe Burrow playing today? He explains.

🍗 Ian’s Thanksgiving food rankings are spicy.

🥇 Who’s the WR1 in Dallas? No. 2 isn’t too far behind, anyway.