We’ve got a big holiday week here, so please allow me to take a moment and wish everyone here a very Happy Thanksgiving. The PC pundits may try to bring you down with talk of how the Europeans came over and duped the indigenous people and wiped out an entire civilization, but we’re going to keep it light and fluffy and remind you that this is a time to be thankful for friends and family, to stuff your fat face until every trip to the bathroom is an emergency (thank you, Louis CK). And, of course, to lounge your lazy ass around the house and watch some football. This is, without question, my favorite holiday of them all. It’s time to bust out the elastic waistbands and get your gravy on!

And what better way to spend your holiday than getting your grub on while making some money? That’s right, it’s a big, big week this week with three Thursday games, 12 on Sunday and the big barnburner of Baltimore at Cleveland on Monday night. That’s right…no bye week here. We’ve got a full slate of games for the first time since the third week of the regular season. But before we start looking too far ahead, allow me to share my Week 11 tale of woe which you should take as my holiday gift to you – my lesson learned the hard way to make things easier for you in the future.

When someone tells me they are joining a fantasy league for the first time, my very first piece of advice to them is to read the rules. It sounds silly and basic, but you’d be surprised as to how many people don’t do it and end up missing out on a number of opportunities which could help them in their quest for a championship. Whether it’s knowing a games-played position eligibility requirement or something as easy as knowing when your league’s trade deadline is, reading the rules is the easiest way to answer the majority of questions you may have regarding the league and how to play. Maybe it’s laziness or maybe it’s arrogance, but far too many people simply bypass their league rules and eventually, that comes back to bite you in the ass.

Like take a certain student of the DFS world, for example. This guy, after years of doling out advice to the fantasy community, embarked on a quest to learn and dominate the NFL DFS community and started playing on FanDuel without reading the rules to start. OK, fine. It was me. I’ll admit it. Stupid me chose not to read the rules and learned the hard way that, no matter what time an individual player’s game starts, the rosters lock in full at the start of the first game.

During my first 10 weeks of playing, I have never used a player who ran any sort of risk to sit out a game. Even if he was listed as questionable but the reports said he would play, I avoided him. Until this week. I just couldn’t pass up Marshawn Lynch against the hapless 49ers run defense. I couldn’t. I checked the rest of the players and their prices around him and found a number of others who could have been used at the last minute. Hell, I could have left over $1,000 of my budget on the table and used Thomas Rawls if I didn’t like any of the other options. Not that I was too concerned since he went through this in Week 10 and not only played but also managed to be productive as he found his way into the end zone.

Well, as you now know, he wasn’t active and when I went to go make the change and realized I couldn’t, where did I turn? Yup. That’s right. The rules. And there it was, right there in black and white. There was no yelling or screaming and there was no tantrum to be thrown. There was no one to blame here but myself. Sure, I can say that I think FanDuel should change their rules and allow you to make that switch, but until they do, I’m just the total idiot who didn’t read the rules and suffered in my games as a result.

OK, maybe "suffer" is a bad choice of word since I cashed in both my 50/50 and the single-entry tournament I joined (same lineup), but in truth, I didn’t deserve to win. I have no clue how I did and you’ll see why when you look at the lineup, but I’m not going to complain. I’ll just shut my stupid mouth and be grateful.

 Here’s a look at the lineup I used:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Derek Carr, QB – Like many people, I looked at this match-up and saw dollar signs. Detroit may have played division rival Green Bay tough in Week 10, but their defense still stinks and their pass defense was ranked 28th overall. Carr has become a bit of a gunslinger and with guys like Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper running around, this seemed like a high-upside play here. Whoops.

Marshawn Lynch, RB – Double whoops here. Please allow me to call myself an idiot one more time and remind you to ALWAYS READ THE RULES.

Charcandrick West, RB – He’s been a solid play since taking over the starting job from Jamaal Charles and racks up points both on the ground and in the air. Facing the Chargers is like asking an NFL running back to break through a tissue. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury put the kibosh on what could have been a great afternoon.

Julio Jones, WR – He’s like money in the bank whether he finds the end zone or not.

Mike Evans, WR – He drops a lot of balls, but I love what he has been building with quarterback Jameis Winston. Now with Vincent Jackson coming back, Evans was going to see more one-on-one opportunities as the Eagles weren’t going to be able to continue rolling coverage his way. I expected strong target numbers with some rock-solid results.

Devin Funchess, WR – He was given the starting nod over a banged-up Philly Brown and was facing a Redskins secondary that ranked 31st in the league against opposing No. 2’s. I even listed Funchess in the WR Coach article this week, citing what Brandin Cooks did to this secondary just one week before.

Crockett Gillmore, TE – He’s been one of the more underrated tight ends in the game and when the matchup has been favorable, he’s produced. As good as their defense usually is, the Rams ranked near the bottom against the tight end and since Joe Flacco has lost so many receivers, the tight end was going to see plenty of action.

Chandler Catanzaro, K – The Bengals had allowed just 10 points in each of their last three games, so I figured that the Arizona offense, while normally quite potent, may stall little more often inside the 40 this week. That meant more field goal opportunities for a guy who has been a fairly reliable kicker all year. With a double-digit day, he did not disappoint.

Carolina Panthers, DEF – Coming into the game the Panthers had 14 interceptions, 26 sacks, six fumble recoveries and two defensive touchdowns. Facing an over-confident Kirk Cousins coming off his best game of the season was a sure-fire recipe for big points here.

The overall point total of 105.76 was my weakest in a number of weeks yet somehow I escaped with a win. I finished right on the edge in the cash game and somehow, managed to turn my $2 tournament investment into $5. Not a huge win, but considering I played a man short, I’ll take what I can get.

This week I’m sensing something big. I can’t put my finger on it just yet, but I feel like Thanksgiving, my all-time favorite holiday, is going to be a big week. Can I get the big check photo opp? Here’s to hoping…

A very special and safe holiday to you all.