The 2025 NFL season continued to surprise on Thanksgiving, when all three underdogs ultimately ended up prevailing, including the Green Bay Packers, who beat the Detroit Lions in the early afternoon game to knock the Lions further back in the playoff picture. To add injury to insult for Detroit, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, a two-time All-Pro First Teamer, left the game in the first quarter with an ankle sprain and did not return. While the Lions haven’t yet ruled him out for Thursday’s clash against the Dallas Cowboys, he hasn’t yet practiced this week, so it looks unlikely that he’d play.
Jameson Williams should benefit the most from his absence, but Williams is always a fantasy asset regardless. It could also lead to increased opportunity for Isaac TeSlaa, a third-round rookie who turned heads early in the season with his jaw-dropping one-handed catches. TeSlaa has played sparingly this season, but three of his six catches have gone for touchdowns, making him fantasy-viable in those games. He played nearly every snap on Thanksgiving and caught both of his targets for 35 yards and a score. With Kalif Raymond doubtful with an ankle injury, TeSlaa should play most snaps again on Thursday if St. Brown sits.
Despite the tiny sample size, TeSlaa’s numbers look good. Jared Goff has actually posted a higher passer rating on passes to TeSlaa than to any other receiver, and by Pro Football Focus’ standards, he’s posted similar grades to Raymond. He was also one of the better deep threats during a productive college career for Hillsdale College and Arkansas. Stylistically, he’s somewhat duplicative with Williams, given that they have the two deepest average targets on the team, but Goff is one of the better intermediate passers in football, so that shouldn’t be an issue. All three of TeSlaa’s touchdown catches have come on throws between 10 and 19 yards downfield. Given a full week of practice with Goff, TeSlaa should be able to garner more than two targets, and his ball skills will always make him a threat in the end zone, especially with Goff’s top two red zone targets sidelined.
Dallas’ defense should make it easy for TeSlaa to have his breakout game. Although the Cowboys are hot, having won three straight games to climb back to the fringes of playoff contention, they’ve done it mostly through the strength of their offense. This season, Dallas has allowed the most fantasy points per game to wide receivers, allowing the fourth-most yards and the most touchdowns to the position while posting the league’s fifth-worst PFF coverage grades and ranking third-to-last in expected points added on passing plays. The Cowboys will likely get No. 2 cornerback Trevon Diggs back on Thursday after he missed nearly two months with a concussion, but the former All-Pro First Teamer has conceded a 148.7 passer rating in coverage this season. Plus, with Terrion Arnold done for the season, Detroit’s defense might struggle to stop Dallas’ offense, which could lead to a shootout and force Goff to throw.
