Fantasy Sports

Perfect Thanksgiving Night Football FanDuel DFS Lineup: Ja'Marr Chase Has Mega Upside

Thursday Night Football on Thanksgiving gives us an AFC North battle between the Bengals and Ravens. Ja'Marr Chase is one of a few players to potentially go-off.
Thomas Carelli|
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) flexes after making a first down catch in the red zone in the second quarter of the NFL football game between Chicago Bears and Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Nov. 2, 2025.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) flexes after making a first down catch in the red zone in the second quarter of the NFL football game between Chicago Bears and Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Nov. 2, 2025. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Cincinnati BengalsBaltimore Ravens

There are few better days of football than Thanksgiving. Wake up, eat, football, eat, football, eat, football, sleep. It is so much fun. If you happen to be escaping that food coma by primetime, we do have a great Thursday Night Football game to offer up as dessert. Thanksgiving is a fun time to place some bets and play some DFS lineups purely out of entertainment. Today, I will help you formulate the perfect DFS showdown lineup.

Best MVP/Captain Picks

Chase Brown is a player that will likely have around 70% of Red Zone Touches in the Run Game. He also adds moderate upside in the receiving game with about 11% of Total Team Receiving Yards. This paces Brown for 3+ Receptions and 25+ Yards.

Ja'Marr Chase has upside that must be played. In the MVP slot, it may be dicey given ownership that could surge highly. However, we may benefit from salaries being spread around Jackson and Burrow. Chase has great upside of 100+ Yards, earning that bonus.

Henry may have risk of load-management, but he still has a chance well-over 50% of scoring a Touchdown, as well as that 100+ Yard bonus being in sight.

The Bengals are abysmal versus the Tight End. If you are playing for much higher upside in a Tournament, go for Andrews or Likely. Both players have a moderate chance of finding the endzone and marking above 60 Receiving Yards.

Best MVP/Captain Picks

  • Ja'Marr Chase $18,600
  • Derrick Henry $18,000
  • Chase Brown $17,400
  • Mark Andrews $14,400
  • Isaiah Likely $8,400

Quarterback: Joe Burrow vs Lamar Jackson

Burrow is on an extremely pass-heavy offense. The Bengals are #1 in pass-rate at 67%. They may even pass over 70% should they fall behind, as expected. Even if Burrow is not at 100%, an 80% version of himself should easily exceed 1x salary.

Jackson is playing injured, I do not care what he says about it. It is glaringly obvious that he is not as mobile as usual. That being said, this matchup benefits him in a big way.

The Bengals are 30th or worse in every single key defensive metric. The Ravens only average 199 Passing Yards per Game on the year, but this game should favor a 250+ yard upside. Jackson, though not 100%, should still be able to find up 20-30 yards on the ground. He had (7) Attempts in Week 12.

Both Joe Burrow ($12,600) and Lamar Jackson ($13,200) are very viable.

Running Back: Chase Brown vs Derrick Henry

The Bengals have managed to figure out their run-game quite a bit. For much of the year, they were not exceeding 60 Rushing Yards per Game. They are now up to 85. Brown is also averaging (103) Rushing Yards per Game over his last two games. He also ran for (108) Yards back in Week 8.

The Ravens are a mid-pack run stop. Brown may actually have the highest scoring potential of any player in this game.

Cincinnati is allowing (25.5) Fantasy Points per Game, (3.2) worse than any other unit. The Ravens happen to be the 6th best Rushing Attack in the NFL (138 Yards per Game). Henry will command about 60% of Team Rushes and 60% of Red Zone Rushing Attempts.

Derrick Henry ($12,000) favors higher upside in this game, although both players are very viable. Brown ($11,600) will be cheaper in ownership.

Best Wide Receiver Picks

Cincinnati Bengals

No player may have a higher upside on the entire season than Chase does in this game. He has about 33% of Team Targets and today, with no Higgins, he may have well over 40% of a Target Share. Chase is matchup proof.

Andre Iosivas is definitely a lower-end WR3 in the NFL. Today, he plays as the WR2. We expect his Target Share to go closer to 15% in this game. However, he will lack to be a prime Touchdown target, under a 15% Red Zone Target Share.

Baltimore Ravens

Zay Flowers has quietly had one of the higher Target Share's in the NFL (33%). This matchups works greatly to his advantage, although he will have a lesser chance of finding the endzone.

Rashod Bateman is a pick of Touchdown upside. He has 95% of all receiving yards, but a 17% Red Zone Target Share. The Ravens may look more to the Tight Ends in that area.

DeAndre Hopkins has honestly been disappointing this year. It may not be all his fault, but his Target Share is very well below 15%. I would not use him today.

Best Wide Receiver Picks

  • Ja'Marr Chase $12,400
  • Zay Flowers $10,400
  • Rashod Bateman $6,000

Best Tight Ends Picks

Neither team goes exclusively to one Tight End. The Bengals will split up between Mike Gesicki and Noah Fant. This is not great for upside given the fact that Tight Ends lack volume as it is. I expect both Bengals Tight Ends to be hopeful to exceed any more than two receptions. Over 50% of Red Zone Plays will likely point the ball towards Brown or Chase.

The Bengals are maintained to be among the worst Tight End defenses we have ever seen. Hunter Henry went for 7-115 last week. Andrews and Likely both may go off this week. Both players should see similar Target Shares and Red Zone opportunity. Given the Ravens lacking Red Zone loving for their Wide Receivers, I would love to play either of these Tight Ends, if not both.

Best Tight Ends Picks

  • Mark Andrews $9,600
  • Isaiah Likely $5,600

Best Sleeper Picks

Mike Gesicki $2,800

I would play Gesicki purely due to his salary. He will outsnap Fant yet, he is much cheaper. Yes, he will block more, but Gesicki should compete on Fant for the most team Tight End Targets/Yards. With no Higgins, we could see an uptick in workload.

Keaton Mitchell $3,000

Mitchell is averaging (4.8) Touches per Game over his last four games. That is enough to sell me on Mitchell, against an awful defense as it is. Baltimore has also shown to load-manage Henry a bit this year, and this is a short-week.

Defense/Special Teams

Both of these defensive units are not very good. This game very well may become a shootout. The current over/under is 52.5 . This is an awful spot to use a defense.

Kicker: Evan McPherson vs Tyler Loop

McPherson is 17/20 on the season with all of his missed beyond 50 yards He is ultra-reliable. I would be a tad bit concerned that the Bengals fall behind, thus prompting them to go-for-it on 4th downs late in the game. The Bengals are also an efficient 3rd down team.

Loop has just two misses on the year, standing Top-7 in Field Goal Accuracy. He is also attempting (2.2) Field Goals per Game, and this matchup tends to favor the offensive output of the Ravens.

Start Tyler Loop, if any kicker.

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Thomas Carelli
THOMAS CARELLI

Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.

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