Week 12 kicks off on Thursday night with the Cleveland Browns hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers at Huntington Bank Field.
Ahead of this Thursday Night Football showdown, who are the best players to plug in your DFS lineup? Using DraftKings’ prices, let’s build a lineup that could win big on Thursday!
- CAPTAIN: Jameis Winston, $14,440
- FLEX: George Pickens, $11,000
- FLEX: David Njoku, $7,600
- FLEX: Elijah Moore, $6,400
- FLEX: Jaylen Warren, $6,200
- FLEX: Jerome Ford, $4,400
DFS Strategy: Jameis Winston as Captain
The Browns are embracing the Jameis Winston experience. He has thrown 133 pass attempts in his three starts, and this play-calling has resulted in a pair of top-10 finishes.
The Steelers are a brutal matchup, but Winston doesn’t need to be perfect in this game to return value. As anyone who has streamed Winston in fantasy leagues will tell you, there are typically ups and downs. The hope is that he can throw for enough yards and scores to outweigh the potential turnovers in this contest.
The Browns have struggled to run the ball this season — and their rushing attack hasn’t been any better since Nick Chubb returned — so Winston is going to attempt a ton of passes in this game.
If you want to make George Pickens your captain, I totally get it. But since he costs $2,100 more than Winston, it’s certainly tougher to fill out your lineup.
Rolling With Red-Hot George Pickens
Speaking of Pickens, he feels like a no-brainer entering Thursday’s game. Since Pittsburgh decided to start Russell Wilson over Justin Fields, Pickens’ fantasy value has skyrocketed.
He has cleared 16 PPR points in three of four games with Wilson, pacing for a 94-1,552-8.5 stat line across a full season. Last week, we saw a 37-yard bomb from Wilson near the end of the third quarter, a pass play with a tiny window to drop the ball in that is proof of high-level confidence in his top playmaker.
Pickens ranks fourth in the league in total air yards up to this point. As long as his role remains the same, there’s no reason to second-guess him.
Russ goes deep to Pickens 🎯
📺: #BALvsPIT on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/4Ils6tmA8i— NFL (@NFL)
The Browns are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points per game to WRs (23.2), as they are giving up the fifth-most touchdowns per game (1.2) and eighth-most yards per game (156.4) to the position. Also, Cleveland ranks bottom-five in defending the perimeter in terms of passer rating, average depth of throw, touchdown rate, yards per completion, and interception percentage.
We’ve seen star-level production from Pickens over the past month, and I think there’s a decent chance this is his best game of the season.
Selecting the Right Browns Pass Catchers
It’s very difficult to determine which Browns wide receiver(s) to insert in your lineup, as Elijah Moore, Jerry Jeudy, and Cedric Tillman have all had their moments in Winston’s three starts. The condensed nature of this higher-volume passing offense is truly remarkable.
Active receiver streaks, games with 8+ targets:
- Justin Jefferson (eight straight)
- CeeDee Lamb (seven)
- Malik Nabers (seven)
- Courtland Sutton (four)
- Ja’Marr Chase (four)
- Cedric Tillman (four)
- Jerry Jeudy (four)
- Elijah Moore (three)
That’s right — three of the eight players are Browns receivers! Moore is coming off a strong performance against the New Orleans Saints (six receptions, 66 yards, and a touchdown), and he’s the cheapest of the trio on DraftKings, so he’s our selection.
As for David Njoku, he has at least five catches (and seven targets) in five straight games. Last week against the Saints, Njoku was hyper-efficient (nine catches on nine targets), and it was by design. Eight of those looks came less than five yards downfield.
With his athleticism and scoring ability, Njoku still has a high ceiling. However, given how he’s being used, he also has a high floor. The Steelers have recorded their top two blitz-rate games of the season over the past two weeks. If that level of aggression is here to stay, we could be looking at a handful of quick hitters (be it screens, slants, etc.) to Njoku.
Bargain Bin Shopping: Jerome Ford
Chubb has struggled mightily in his first four games since returning, averaging 3.1 yards per carry. He doesn’t have a single touch that has gained more than 15 yards, and he has caught just two passes. Meanwhile, Jerome Ford has emerged as the team’s pass-catching back; last week against the Saints, he had four receptions (on four targets).
The Steelers allow just 14.8 fantasy points per game to RBs, which is tied for eighth-fewest in the NFL. However, the main way that running backs have produced against Pittsburgh has been through the air. Against RBs specifically, the Steelers are allowing the eighth-most receiving yards per game (38) and 12th-most receptions per game (4.7) this season.
If Cleveland is trailing in this game (as expected), it’s very possible that Ford will be on the field as the pass-catching back, which could allow him to outperform his $4,400 price tag.