Happy Thanksgiving! What an amazing holiday this is. All I’m thinking about is mashed potatoes. I always make the mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving, no matter how many people are attending (I wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving). I do this because I need the mashed potatoes to be perfect on Thanksgiving. The mashed potatoes are the glue that binds the perfect Thanksgiving bite together. You take some turkey (dark meat for me, please), some stuffing, some gravy, add it to your mashed potatoes and you get the ultimate culinary delight. Nothing better than that.
Here are my rules for the perfect Thanksgiving mashed potato. Number one, keep the skin on. It may be because I’m lazy and I don’t like peeling them, but the skin adds a nice texture. Number two, garlic. Is there such a thing as too much? I think not. Number three, salt and pepper. Again, season the potatoes to how you like them. Serve a dish that people can drop on their plate and enjoy without wasting time seasoning themselves. Lastly, consistency. Stodgy or lumpy potatoes show that you didn’t put in the work. They’re called mashed potatoes… mash them! Anyway, here are the buys and sells of the week. Get to trading early because we have three games this Thursday!
Zach’s Buy: Deebo Samuel
He’s on his way back from injured reserve and is coming onto a team that is desperate for a consistent playmaker. Adding Samuel onto a team that has been decimated by injuries could be the spark they need, and we need as fantasy owners. There is no denying what Samuel can do on the football field; he can break a game open with his speed and agility. In his rookie campaign, he totaled almost 1,000 scrimmage yards and six total touchdowns. Now that he is seemingly healthy, he can become a force as your team starts to move towards the fantasy playoffs. His fantasy playoff matchups do not scare you and the other receiving options including Richie James and Brandon Aiyuk do not seem like they’ll be players to worry about down the stretch. Samuel seems to be getting healthy at just the right time for fantasy owners, if you are making a playoff push consider making an offer for Samuel.
Will’s Buy: Michael Thomas
Let me be clear: do NOT value Michael Thomas as a locked-in top-five receiver, and do not pay that price. However, he’s clearly the pass-catcher you want in New Orleans and he can be a low-end WR1 going forward. If Taysom Hill is the guy from here on out, Michael Thomas will be seeing plenty of targets. The Hill rollercoaster was certainly interesting, but Thomas was the only Saint to actually benefit from the change. Alvin Kamara managers are certainly pining for a Drew Brees return. Thomas managers are probably pretty tired of him by now. They may even be out of playoff contention thanks to his rough season. If you’re a playoff squad who can offer some sort of package deal or keeper value, this is a worthwhile move. I’d still rather have Terry McLaurin or A.J. Brown, but Thomas is an incredible talent, and talent usually wins out.
Zach’s Sell: The Bengals
Joe Burrow tore his ACL and MCL on Sunday which was heartbreaking for the NFL community. Burrow has put together a very nice rookie season and seems to have what it takes to stick around in this league. However, with either Ryan Finley or Brandon Allen leading the Bengals this coming week there is not much to be optimistic about. Joe Mixon was placed on IR and perhaps you can get excited about more Gio Bernard dump-offs, but if you are a Tee Higgins owner or Tyler Boyd owner, this could not have come at a worse time. If you are still able to unload either of these players now, go for it. Last season Ryan Finley played in three games and had a 47.1% completion percentage with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He certainly could have taken a step forward from last year to this year, but it is undeniable that this will impact all Bengals’ fantasy options in a negative way.
Will’s Sell: Miles Sanders
Why is Miles Sanders still considered a top-ten back? He’s averaging 13.5 half-PPR points per game. That’s 14th at the running back position. He has three touchdowns on the season and one top-ten week. Oh, and his playoff schedule is awful. The only reason why he’s still considered an RB1 is the insane amount of offseason hype. I for one fell for that hype. This offseason I claimed that Sanders had 2,000-yards-from-scrimmage potential. Based on talent alone, I absolutely believe that is spot on. But Sanders is stuck on a bad Eagles’ team with a quarterback who looks lost at best and scared to death at worst. Philly could still turn it around next season and unleash Sanders and turn him into the overall RB1. That’s how good I think this guy is on talent alone. This season, however, you want to get off the Eagles rollercoaster by any means necessary. There are a ton of low-end RB1s who you could get (plus a sweetener) for Sanders just based on name recognition alone. Go get someone with better consistency.
Zach’s Buy: Adam Thielen
Wait, am I advocating to buy a player who was just put on the COVID list? Yup, sure am! This is specific to teams that have already clinched a playoff berth. Thielen is undeniably one of the best receivers in football. He secured two touchdowns in back to back games in week 10 and week 11. Unless the virus has a profound impact on Thielen and he winds up needing additional time, he should be back before the fantasy playoffs. If you can get Thielen for .75 cents on the dollar, it is a steal. Thielen has built a great rapport with Kirk Cousins and is currently tied for the lead in the NFL in touchdown receptions. If you can capitalize on Thielen likely missing at least one week, get after it!
Will’s Sell: Rams and Bucs RBs
Did anyone else watch Monday Night Football this week? If you did, you probably noticed that the running back situations on both teams are a mess. The Rams are employing a maddening three-headed monster, which means that you have a 33% chance at picking the guy who gets the hot hand. And that’s assuming that any of the RBs in LA get hot, which is no guarantee. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, only has two guys you need to know about. Ronald Jones is RB13 in half-PPR this season, so you still might be able to sell relatively high after his Monday night stinker. If you can do that, don’t wait. Tampa kept rolling the corpse of Leonard Fournette out there against the Rams and jamming him against the line for no reason. On top of that, they split him out as a WR multiple times despite the fact that he kept dropping passes. Five running backs between the two teams. Zero interest in any of them.
Happy Turkey Day everyone! Will (@Dynastywalrus) and Zach (@DFF_Ztrain) would love to hear from you on Twitter to discuss buys, sells, and anything else fantasy!
