Thanksgiving is synonymous with football for millions of households across the country and with football nowadays comes gambling, Fantasy football and daily Fantasy football. Thanksgiving is one of the most popular football betting days of the year and many will create NFL DFS lineups on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings. Whether you are making NFL DFS picks for the first time or are a seasoned veteran, having a strong NFL DFS strategy is integral to success in any GPP.
The Lions vs. Bears has the highest over/under of the three Thanksgiving games and with a matchup filled with marquee names like Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jared Goff, D.J. Moore and Caleb Williams in the NFL DFS player pool, is this the contest for daily Fantasy football players to target? The matchup has an over/under of 51 points, according to the latest NFL odds from the SportsLine Consensus. Before locking in any NFL DFS lineups Thanksgiving on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, be sure to check out the NFL DFS lineup advice, strategy and player stacks from SportsLine NFL daily Fantasy expert Jimmie Kaylor.
Kaylor is a NFL and DFS expert for SportsLine, who opened the 2022 NFL season by winning DraftKings' NFL Showdown Thursday Kickoff Millionaire contest. He edged out over 355,000 other entrants in the contest and also has multiple five-figure tournament wins on his DFS resume. Kaylor, who cashed big all season in 2022, has covered the NFL and college football for close to a decade as a member of the Pro Football Writers of America, and his background as a former college and NFL player gives him a unique perspective when building his fantasy lineups and locking in his betting picks on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel.
Kaylor hit on epic NFL DFS picks for SportsLine members throughout the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In 2022, he was all over Travis Kelce's four-touchdown performance against the Raiders on Monday Night Football, Kirk Cousins' 460-yard, four-TD performance on Thanksgiving Day, and T.J. Hockenson's 13 catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns in Week 15. In 2023, he hit on Ja'Marr Chase's massive Week 5 performance (15 catches, 192 yards, three TDs), D.J. Moore's eight catches for 230 yards and three touchdowns in Week 14, and De'Von Anchane's breakout performance (233 total yards, four TD's) in Week 3.
This season, some of Kaylor's top picks in Showdown DFS slates include Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed, (4-138-1, 33-1), Bills quarterback Josh Allen (263-4), and Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (509-4). Anyone who followed his picks is way up.
Now, Kaylor has turned his attention to Bears vs. Lions, Giants vs. Cowboys and Dolphins vs. Packers on Thanksgiving in Week 13 and locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see his picks and analysis at SportsLine.
Top NFL DFS picks for Thanksgiving
One of Kaylor's top NFL DFS picks for Thanksgiving is Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs ($7,500 on DraftKings and $8,400 on FanDuel). The 22-year-old is the RB4 in Fantasy football this season after finishing as RB10 last year, including RB8 on a points-per-game basis. He has at least one touchdown in five of his last six games, including scoring twice while rushing for 90 yards and adding three receptions for nine yards against the Colts last week.
Some were surprised when the Lions used the No. 12 overall pick on Gibbs in the 2023 NFL Draft a month after signing David Montgomery as a free agent, but they've developed into a perfect tandem and play into the physical style of head coach Dan Campbell. The Lions run on 51.2% of plays, the third-most in the NFL, and it's led to 150.8 rushing yards per game, which ranks fourth in the league. Montgomery exited Sunday with a shoulder injury and although he said he'll be good to play on Thanksgiving, the Lions may opt to give Gibbs an even larger portion of the offense on Thursday. See who else to target here.
Kaylor is also targeting Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed ($6,700 on DraftKings and $6,900 on FanDuel). Although Reed has been held to fewer than 30 yards in back-to-back contests, he remains one of the receivers with the highest ceilings in the NFL DFS player pool. He has more than 110 yards in three games, including two contests with more than 130 yards and a touchdown. Reed has often been a boom-or-bust receiver this season, but a matchup against the Lions has massive potential for a strong result.
Reed runs the majority of his routes from the slot and the Lions have struggled against the slot this season, including allowing six receptions for 96 yards to Michael Pittman Jr. last week, who had the majority of his production from the slot and in the middle of the field. The 24-year-old Reed had five receptions for 113 yards in his first contest against Detroit this season. Kaylor likes Reed's big-play potential in this matchup against a Lions defense allowing 227.2 passing yards per game, which ranks 25th in the league. See who else Kaylor likes right here.
How to set Thanksgiving NFL DFS lineups, player pool
Kaylor is also targeting another undervalued player who could explode for huge numbers on Thanksgiving Day. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is, and the rest of Kaylor's NFL DFS picks, at SportsLine.
So who is Jimmie Kaylor including in his optimal NFL DFS lineups for Thanksgiving, and which under-the-radar NFL DFS picks offer huge value? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NFL DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from an NFL DFS expert who won a prestigious Millionaire Maker tournament, and find out.
