Black Friday Frenzy? Friday Night Football? I mean, I guess that last one has a nice ring to it. There’s some alliteration there. However, this is not something that I would get accustomed to. Whatever the case, it’s a joy to have football on for four days this Thanksgiving week. Tonight on Amazon Prime Video, the Miami Dolphins will square up against the New York Jets. With fantasy glory and a hefty $300,000 on the line, it’s now more crucial than ever to assemble a winning DraftKings lineup that can dominate the competition. This article offers insights on the NFL DFS picks that should take the coveted captain slot, which core player should anchor your player pool, a value gem that can boost your salary cap flexibility, a sleeper pick with breakout potential, and one player to steer clear of – the dreaded bust. Get ready for a one-of-a-kind Black Friday showdown!
NFL DFS Black Friday Showdown Picks
*Disclaimer: These picks have been constructed with the mindset of building a single lineup. When building large field/multi-entry tournaments, if the player sees the field you’ll want to have a piece of him somewhere, my “busts” included.*
Captain
Tyreek Hill
DraftKings Captain Salary- $18,600
Any time, and I mean any time Tyreek Hill steps onto a football field he’s more than liable to lead the slate in DraftKings points. Tua Tagovailoa seemingly only has eyes for Hill as he’s now reached a team-high 108 times. That’s 41 times more than any other Dolphin pass catcher (Jaylen Waddle has 67). I’d imagine that this has to be one of the highest discrepancies in the National Football League. Tyreek Hill has scored less than 25 DK points in only 3 of 11 games this season, making him one of the most consistent big-play options in all of fantasy football. Usually very tough against the pass, lately the Jets DST has been pretty generous through the air. Last week against the Buffalo Bills, the Jets allowed a 100+ yard receiver in Khalil Shakir, while also surrendering a whopping three receiving scores. Tua and Hill have been on an absolute rampage since the inaugural coin flip, look for that trend to continue today on Black Friday.
Core Play
Raheem Mostert
Draft Kings Salary- $10,200
Touches. That’s the name of the game, and Raheem Mostert sure gets a lot of them. 23 last week to be exact. This happened with De’Von Achane exiting the game early with a knee injury. Achane is questionable for Black Friday with the same injury. I believe that this injury is significant enough for Achane’s reps to be limited. Secondly, I believe that this game gets out of hand long before the need to use Achane arises. I’m projecting Mostert’s usage to be similar to that of last week, if not higher. When he gets his usual workload, in a plus matchup, Mostert does not disappoint. Mostert is averaging a very productive 5 yards per carry. His last time out against the Raiders, Mostert rushed the ball 22 times for 86 yards. Mostert is on a two-game touchdown-scoring drought. A streak that he’d love to snap against a beatable Jets run defense today.
Value
Breece Hall
Draft Kings Salary- $7,600
Head coach Robert Saleh has stated that Zach Wilson is no longer the starting quarterback for the New York Jets. With that news comes the anticipation that the team will likely lean on the running game moving forward. For whatever reason, there is still hope lingering in the Jets locker room. The team wants to do all it can to still be in a position to make some noise in the unlikely event that Aaron Rodgers is ready to play by the end of the season. With an experienced quarterback under center, the Jets’ best chance at that is named Breece Hall. The second-year runner has done all he can to keep the Jets relevant these last few weeks. While he hasn’t exactly gotten it done on the ground, he’s been efficient through the air. Playing against a defense that has recorded 7 sacks in 3 games, there’s no doubt that Hall will be called on early and often as the preferred check-down for Tim Boyle.
Sleeper
Jeff Wilson Jr.
DraftKings Salary- $1,800
Okay, the next couple of sections here are going to get a little repetitive. But that’s just due to the simple fact that 3 of my 4 highlighted players are Dolphin running backs. I touched on it a little earlier, but De’Von Achane is questionable with a knee injury today. That injury is apparently significant enough for the Dolphins to feel the need to elevate Darryton Evans (not available on today’s DK slate) to the active roster ahead of today’s Black Friday football matchup. Jeff Wilson was a healthy inactive last week. Coach McDaniel stated earlier that his inactive status was due to Salvon Ahmed’s (IR) ability to play on special teams. Jeff Wilson has barely been dusted off this season, only being awarded 7 carries, which he’s taken for 29 scoreless yards. Wilson will likely be called upon in a change-of-pace kind of role. But it’s a role that allowed Ahmed to score a touchdown and 12.1 DraftKings points last week.
Black Friday Bust
De’Von Achane
DraftKings Salary- $9,000
Okay, let’s talk some more about De’Von Achane. I’m actually shaking a little bit in my boots labeling Achane as my Black Friday bust. But I’m sticking to my gut with this one. It doesn’t make sense that the Dolphins would throw Achane back into a heavy workload just days after reaggravating a knee injury that landed him on IR. After being forced to miss four weeks, and being forced out of last week’s game, it stands to reason that the Dolphins will exercise caution in how they deploy Achane tonight, if at all. If active, Achane’s $9,000 salary may seem like a bargain, but considering my projected workload, it’s actually a trap. While Achane does possess the ability to make a very big splash on very little volume, I don’t believe he’ll have the opportunity to do so today. Those 9K DK bucks are best off being allocated elsewhere. Happy Thanksgiving and good luck!
More Week 12 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End