Thanksgiving week gives us a small slate on Thursday that we can play, but along with a game on Friday, we lose numerous teams from Sunday’s main slate, including the Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, and Miami Dolphins. By the way, if you need some Thanksgiving NFL DFS plays, we got you covered here at Fantasy Alarm! It feels like this week boasts another Sunday with only a couple of games with sizable game totals, but there are some offenses I really like as top NFL DFS Stacks. By taking a look at projected game and team totals, as well as our NFL DFS Week 12 player projections, we’ll get a good look at how we can best optimize the wide receiver position in our NFL DFS lineups. From superstar receivers to top NFL DFS stacks, the NFL DFS WR Coach will have multiple plays at various pricing tiers to help construct your lineups. Without further ado, let’s dive into this week’s DFS WR Coach, highlighting the top plays, values, and fades at the wide receiver position to help build your NFL DFS lineups for Sunday’s main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel.

 

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NFL DFS WR Top Tier Picks

Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Colts’ numbers look better in recent weeks against wide receivers, but listen, the team’s last four games have been against Cleveland, New Orleans, Carolina, and New England. Even in some of those games, some receivers popped off! This game feels like it’s going to surge past its low-to-mid 40s total, and it will be by way of the passing attack. Evans has found the end zone in four of his last five games, averaging 8.2 targets and 78.8 yards per game during this stretch. Goodluck to these Indy corners trying to cover Evans, and in the Tampa Bay passing attack, it’s Evans who will routinely have the best matchup on the field.

Stefon Diggs, Buffalo Bills

Diggs didn’t put forth a big game against the Jets, but this is a get right spot for the star receiver. The Eagles have allowed the most fantasy points per game to receivers this season, as well as over the last four weeks, and one would figure that the Bills look to Diggs early and often in this one. This should be a higher scoring game, all things considered, as both offenses should be able to exploit the issues with the opposition’s defense. Diggs may only have 13 targets over the last two weeks, but there’s a reasonable chance he sees 13 targets in this game alone, as Buffalo figures to have more success throwing it on Philly than running it. Diggs is going for 90+ and a touchdown in this one, book it.

Michael Pittman, Indianapolis Colts

I’m throwing Pittman’s price out the window and including him here in the top tier picks section, because that’s the type of production I’m expecting from him this week. Over the last five games, he’s averaging 10.4 targets per game, and he now draws a Tampa Bay secondary that has allowed the most receiving yards to wide receivers over the last four weeks, as well as the fourth-most fantasy points per game during that stretch! Perimeter receivers have decimated Tampa Bay of late, and Pittman should see a good bit of Carlton Davis, which is great for our DFS lineups. I love Pittman’s price point, floor, and ceiling this week in DFS.

NFL DFS WR Mid-Tier Picks

Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams

Cooper Kupp is banged up, and we all saw what Nacua was able to do when Kupp was not playing. Through the first four weeks of the season, Nacua averaged 9.8 receptions and 125.3 yards per game! The Arizona Cardinals have been playing better of late on the defensive side of the ball, but C.J. Stroud just threw for 300+ yards against them, with 149 going to Tank Dell and 295 to wide receivers overall. Nacua was quiet against Arizona earlier this season, but Kupp exploded for 148 yards and a touchdown. Matthew Stafford has been solid against Arizona during his tenure as a Ram, and if Kupp is out or limited in any way, Nacua should be fed with targets.

UPDATE (11/25): Kupp is going to play, but how healthy is he actually? If paying up for a Rams receiver, I still lean Nacua in this matchup, but this is GPP only now, and I can't trust Nacua in cash with Kupp on the field, and the recent play by the LA offense.

Diontae Johnson, Pittsburgh Pirates

No more Matt Canada, so do we see an unleashed Kenny Pickett? Do we see Kenny Pickett lead an aerial assault, culminating in a career day for him and his receivers? Well, I’m not quite sure about that, but I do believe in a good day for Diontae Johnson. He’s averaging 8.2 targets per game since returning from injury, and he draws a tasty matchup against a Cincy defense that has allowed the ninth-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers over the last four weeks. They are solid in slot coverage, but on the perimeter, the same can’t be said, and Johnson is borderline allergic to the slot. We still have to trust Kenny Pickett, so there’s some concern there, but hope for the best with Pittsburgh’s WR1.

Christian Kirk, Jacksonville Jaguars

Tavierre Thomas is a PFF darling, in that he always seems to be graded out really well, regardless of whatever occurs on the field. Kirk went for 54 yards and a touchdown earlier this season against the Texans, and over the last couple of weeks, slot receivers have had a good amount of success (or at least volume) against Houston. The Texans have allowed the fifth-most receiving yards to wideouts over the last four weeks, and we saw Rondale Moore score on a long touchdown last week, Tyler Boyd and Ja'Marr Chase combined for 175 yards and one touchdown out of the slot in Week 10, and back in Week 8, they allowed eight receptions to slot receivers against Carolina. The outside receivers will have their hands full with Steven Nelson and Derek Stingley, both of whom have been playing well of late. This is one of just two games with an O/U above 47 points, so we want some action on both sides of this game.

Tank Dell, Houston Texans

How can you not look at Dell right now? He’s winning at all levels of the field, and he has three straight games with double-digit targets. It’s a solid matchup for him, and he cooked Jacksonville for 145 yards and a touchdown earlier this season. The biggest issue with Dell is that his price tag is through the roof now, given his recent production and the rapport with C.J. Stroud being on full display. This has one of the higher game totals on the slate, and Dell is a logical part of any Houston stack. However, as you’ll read in a bit, there’s another solid Houston receiver that you can play with a ton of savings from Dell (and even Nico Collins).

NFL DFS WR Value Picks

Josh Downs, Indianapolis Colts

A healthy Josh Downs will be a problem for the Bucs. His production has dipped in his past two games, and he was hardly playing. Assuming the bye week allowed him to get fully healthy, he should get back to his usual 70+ percent snap share, and in his last four games where he played that amount, he was averaging 69.3 yards per game. Christian Izien has allowed a 136.8 passer rating when targeted in slot coverage over the last four weeks, per Pro Football Focus, and they’ve allowed the fourth-most fantasy points per game to receivers over the last four weeks.

Jonathan Mingo, Carolina Panthers

I think you could look at Adam Thielen this week, too, but I’m riding with Jonathan Mingo. The production has been hit or miss in recent weeks for Mingo, but he’s averaging 5.5 targets per game over the last four weeks. More importantly, he’s played in at least 95 percent of the snaps in each of those four games. You cannot run the ball against Tennessee, so the Carolina offense should be on the back of rookie Bryce Young. So, with Tennessee being generous to receivers this season (6th-most fantasy points per game), especially those on the perimeter, I’m going to hope we get the marriage of and production for Mingo in this AFC South vs. NFC South showdown.

Rashid Shaheed, New Orleans Saints

There’s a lot of moving pieces here, so keep a close eye during the week. Michael Thomas was placed on IR, so that’s one piece of news we needed to know. Now, We need confirmation on the status of Derek Carr. The Falcons have been more generous to slot receivers in recent weeks, and Shaheed figures to pace the Saints in slot snaps. Jameis Winston is far more willing to chuck the ball downfield than Carr, so if Carr has to miss this game, Shaheed’s chances of a long touchdown are increased if you ask me. In the team’s last game, Shaheed saw a season-high nine targets, and New Orleans could get creative with Shaheed to try to attack this Atlanta defense. GPP play only.

UPDATE (11/25): Carr is healthy and is going to start, and while I would have preferred Winston and his willingness to chuck the ball around with reckless abandon, you can still use Shaheed this week. He has a far better matchup than teammate Chris Olave, and slot receivers have been better against Atlanta of late.

Noah Brown, Houston Texans

UPDATE (11/25): Noah Brown is OUT for this weekend's AFC South showdown against the Jaguars. Robert Woods should see a similar workload to last week, giving him a slight bump for DFS purposes, but Tank Dell and Nico Collins remain the top dogs for Houston in the passing attack.

NFL DFS WR Fades

Amari Cooper, Cleveland Browns

Cooper saw eight targets from Dorian Thompson-Robinson last week, resulting in four catches for 34 yards. Last week was a great matchup for Cooper, whereas this week, it’s going to be much tougher against Patrick Surtain and the Denver defense. Yes, the Broncos had 70 dropped on them earlier this season, but defensively, they have been as tough as anyone in recent weeks. They have allowed the fewest fantasy points per game to receivers over the last four weeks, and they are the only team to not have allowed a touchdown to a wide receiver in the past four weeks! Fade Cooper again this week.