Week 12 Thursday DFS Lineup: Josh Allen, Dalton Schultz, Khalil Shakir and More

Week 12 of the NFL regular season opens with an AFC clash between the Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills. Let's switch things up this week and put together a DFS lineup on DraftKings before diving into some of the fantasy football start/sit decisions for players involved tonight.

Check back in a bit for those start/sit stories!

Check out player prop bets, prop bet rankings and public betting splits on FantasySP all season! 

Captain - Khalil Shakir ($12,000)

There are not many great matchups to take advantage of tonight, so this lineup is going to be hard to put together. I'm taking a gamble on Shakir as the captain - he will score 1.5 times as many fantasy points, but his salary is also multiplied by 1.5.

It's a risk after he didn't practice all week for personal reasons (the birth of his child). He also caught just one pass last week.

Shakir is averaging 11 fantasy points per game this season, but has been under 13 points in three straight games now. In a tough matchup, I'm gambling on him hitting for a couple big plays, or scoring a touchdown.

Flex - Josh Allen ($12,400)

Allen is the best fantasy asset in this contest, but he will have the toughest fantasy test a quarterback could have in week 12.

He's averaging 26.5 fantasy points per game, and scored a whopping 47.7 points last week, and that was while throwing two interceptions. Allen is a major dual-threat option, and that's why I trust him to deliver despite the tough test.

He's pricey, meaning I'm going to have to sacrifice elsewhere, but I need some guaranteed points with this lineup, and he'll get plenty for me.

Flex - Nico Collins ($11,200)

Collins is the best fantasy asset for the Texans in my eyes, so I wanted him in my lineup too. He's pricey too, so I can average just $4,800 with my final three selections.

Collins is averaging 16.1 fantasy points per game, and has scored 24.2 and 25.6 over the past two. Those were games started by Davis Mills, who is starting again on Thursday.

Collins has a closer to average matchup against the Bills, so let's hope he can take advantage of it and put up a healthy amount of fantasy points.

Flex - Nick Chubb ($3,200)

Chubb has lost his lead backfield role in Houston, and he's barely played over the past couple weeks, but I need to save some salary, so he gets a reluctant add to this lineup.

Chubb is averaging 7.1 fantasy points per game so far, but has only scored 1.7, 6.2 and 3.4 over the past three contests.

This matchup is very favorable, so I'm hoping he busts a couple long runs, or finds the end zone. Ideally, this is a higher-scoring game, and Chubb factors in enough to give me a surprisingly good fantasy score.

Flex - Dalton Schultz ($6,400)

I saved up enough money to take a gamble on a slightly higher-priced player. Unfortunately, it's another player with a terrible matchup.

Schultz is averaging 10.6 fantasy points per game, but he has the toughest matchup a fantasy tight end could have. He's scored 11.1, 18.3 and 13.7 fantasy points over the past three weeks, so I'm hoping he stays heavily involved and overcomes the matchup.

I didn't anticipate taking this many Texans, but that's what this lineup allows for.

Flex - Jayden Higgins ($4,600)

Another Texan to top this lineup off. Higgins gets the nod over the Bills DST, Texans DST, Joshua Palmer, Dawson Knox, Xavier Hutchinson and others.

Higgins is averaging 6.7 fantasy points per game, and had 9.5 and 15.2 the past two weeks. In the so-so matchup, hopefully he can deliver again.

At this point, I'm pretty covered if the Texans are moving the ball offensively.

Final Thoughts

I figured this DFS lineup was going to be hard to put together because of all the tougher matchups, and I didn't love how it looked in the early going.

By saving on Chubb and Higgins, I was able to get four quality fantasy assets into this lineup, and it ended up being a pretty solid lineup in my eyes.

Allen will be the key to things. I wanted to take him as the captain, but just couldn't make it work. Now I have to hope he doesn't go off.

Ideally, Allen will be running for scores, or throwing touchdowns to Shakir. That's not a crazy ask, especially with Dalton Kincaid out, and Keon Coleman likely to be held out again.

I really wanted to take Woody Marks, but settled for Chubb instead. I expect Collins to perform well tonight, and I'm hoping Schultz, Higgins and Chubb can provide enough points to put this DFS lineup in the upper echelon of the contest.

Best of luck coming up with a DFS lineup tonight, and good luck with your fantasy football lineups in week 12!