Thanksgiving DFS (Week 12): Building the ultimate lineup

It's time to belly-up this Thanksgiving with some good food and Thanksgiving DFS. Fantasy football will undoubtedly be one of the most widely discussed topics at your Thanksgiving party, and you don't need to have drafted all of these players back in August in order to have rooting interest. You can put together the ultimate Thanksgiving DFS lineup and possibly earn even more bragging rights as you eat a slice of victory pie.

As is always the case, play responsibly, but there are some outstanding games on Thanksgiving Thursday as we kick off Week 12 of the 2023 NFL season already. Where has the time gone?

With a budget of $60,000, we're putting together the ultimate Thanksgiving DFS lineup. Prices for each player may vary depending on where you play, but they may take up a similar percentage of your budget no matter what you're utilizing. Let's make our picks and lock it in.

Thanksgiving DFS lineup for Week 12 matchups (Thursday only)

Quarterback: Dak Prescott, Cowboys ($8,500/$60,000)

Dak Prescott is a consistent Thanksgiving stud, in my experience, and well worth the budget here. I just don't know that you can take any of the other quarterbacks on Thanksgiving with as much confidence as you can with Dak. The Cowboys have put the ball in his hands this season, and have a pretty sizeable discrepancy this season when it comes to passing touchdowns vs. rushing touchdowns as a team (19 vs. 9).

Prescott is not only a threat to throw for 3 or 4 TDs every Thanksgiving, but maybe add in a rushing touchdown as well. Not only that, but Prescott has been outstanding in his career vs. the Commanders (19 TDs vs. 4 INTs). I think this is as safe as it gets.

Running Backs: Brian Robinson Jr, Commanders; Jahmyr Gibbs, Lions ($15,300/$60,000)

There are a lot of fun running back plays on Thanksgiving but I'm rolling with the duo of Detroit Lions rookie Jahmyr Gibbs and Commanders starter Brian Robinson Jr.

Gibbs has been turning it up as of late with at least one touchdown in each of his last four games, and four or more receptions in four of his last five games. Although the Lions also have to feed David Montgomery, I think Gibbs is a candidate to go off for over 100 yards from scrimmage, at least one touchdown, and likely at least four receptions.

Brian Robinson Jr. is somewhat of a budget play at just $6,700 but he's got 13 receptions over the last couple of games and with Antonio Gibson's availability in question, he could see another high volume of targets especially if the Commanders are playing from behind.

Wide Receivers: CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys; DK Metcalf, Seahawks; Deebo Samuel, 49ers ($22,900/$60,000)

I think you've got to spend the lion's share of your budget on the top receivers on Thanksgiving, and I think we're going to see the stars out there shining.

We spent more on CeeDee Lamb ($9,200) than any other player in this Thanksgiving DFS lineup, and for good reason. He is, by far, his team's leader in target share, receptions, yards, etc. You have to stack him with Dak Prescott. Lamb could have a huge day on Thursday.

Beyond that, DK Metcalf has been playing really well as of late and even with Geno Smith having some health concerns, I think you can bank on Metcalf ($7,000) getting his, even against a tough 49ers defense.

Deebo Samuel comes in at a shockingly reasonable $6,700, but that's largely because he's in somewhat of a dry spell. I would bank on Samuel getting back on track this week.

Tight end: Tucker Kraft, Packers ($4,600/$60,000)

When you spend a significant portion of your budget elsewhere, the tight end position is the one that is going to get sacrificed a little bit. But with that being said, I think Packers rookie Tucker Kraft could be in line for a big game against the Detroit Lions.

That's not necessarily because the Lions struggle vs. tight ends, but the Packers could look to really involve Kraft with fellow rookie Luke Musgrave out due to injury.

FLEX: Dontayvion Wicks, WR, Packers ($5,000/$60,000)

I like another budget-friendly Packers rookie dart throw here in the FLEX spot. The budget is all but blown at this point, but you can still get a decent flex option with Dontayvion Wicks, whose snap count has been ramping up along with his overall usage in Matt LaFleur's offense. He's coming off of a game in which he had 91 receiving yards and the Packers undoubtedly will want to see what he can do again in this divisional matchup.

Fantasy football Thanksgiving DFS lineup

QB: Dak Prescott, Cowboys ($8,500)
RB: Jahmyr Gibbs, Lions ($8,200)
RB: Brian Robinson Jr., Commanders ($6,700)
WR: CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys ($9,200)
WR: DK Metcalf, Seahawks ($7,000)
WR: Deebo Samuel, 49ers ($6,700)
TE: Tucker Kraft, Packers ($4,600)
FLEX: Dontayvion Wicks, WR, Packers ($5,000)
D/ST: Lions ($4,000)