Welcome back, ID people. We're back early because of the holiday weekend. Is there any holiday better than Thanksgiving? It has always been my favorite holiday even before I found out Santa Claus wasn't real (and I'm not even from Philly). Football fanatics will literally have an entire day of football since many will have their Turkey Bowls followed by back-to-back-to-back NFL games with five of the six very much in contention for the playoffs. Personally, I'm playing at 7:30 in the morning because I refuse to miss a minute of the Packers-Lions game. It's the best slate of games we've ever had on Thanksgiving and it obviously helps that the Lions are actually good this year. As for IDP, the day games should see a lot of passing, so you'll see a lot of defensive backs from those two games in the rankings. The night game should be a good ol' fashion slug fest. Don't eat too much and I'll spare you of the lame amino acid joke involving tryptophan. We're also going to be previewing the games by breaking down all the important players on offense. From Aaron Rodgers and Calvin Johnson all the way down to Brian Hartline and Delanie Walker.
The rankings are after the jump:
Linebackers| Rank | Linebacker | Team |
| 1 | Patrick Willis | SF |
| 2 | James Laurinaitis | STL |
| 3 | D'Qwell Jackson | CLE |
| 4 | Derrick Johnson | KC |
| 5 | Paul Posluszny | JAC |
| 6 | London Fletcher | WAS |
| 7 | Pat Angerer | IND |
| 8 | NaVorro Bowman | SF |
| 9 | Desmond Bishop | GB |
| 10 | Brian Urlacher | CHI |
| 11 | James Anderson | CAR |
| 12 | Nick Barnett | BUF |
| 13 | D.J. Williams | DEN |
| 14 | Chad Greenway | MIN |
| 15 | Von Miller | DEN |
| 16 | David Hawthorne | SEA |
| 17 | David Harris | NYJ |
| 18 | Karlos Dansby | MIA |
| 19 | Lance Briggs | CHI |
| 20 | Brian Cushing | HOU |
| 21 | Sean Weatherspoon | ATL |
| 22 | Sean Lee | DAL |
| 23 | Daryl Washington | ARI |
| 24 | Stephen Tulloch | DET |
| 25 | Rolando McClain | OAK |
| 26 | Jerod Mayo | NE |
| 27 | Lawrence Timmons | PIT |
| 28 | Perry Riley | WAS |
| 29 | Daryl Smith | JAC |
| 30 | DeMarcus Ware | DAL |
| 31 | Jameel McClain | BAL |
| 32 | Jamar Chaney | PHI |
| 33 | Colin McCarty | TEN |
| 34 | Donald Butler | SD |
| 35 | E.J. Henderson | MIN |
| 36 | Kavell Conner | IND |
| 37 | Jovan Belcher | KC |
| 38 | Wesley Woodyard | DEN |
| 39 | Clay Matthews | GB |
| 40 | Kevin Burnett | MIA |
| 41 | Rey Maualuga | CIN |
| 42 | Calvin Pace | NYJ |
| 43 | Mason Foster | TB |
| 44 | Kelvin Sheppard | BUF |
| 45 | Quincy Black | TB |
| 46 | Aaron Curry | OAK |
| 47 | Takeo Spikes | SD |
| 48 | A.J. Hawk | GB |
| 49 | DeAndre Levy | DET |
| 50 | Tamba Hali | KC |
Defensive Backs
| Rank | Defensive Back | Team |
| 1 | Yeremiah Bell | MIA |
| 2 | George Wilson | BUF |
| 3 | Antoine Bethea | IND |
| 4 | Roman Harper | NO |
| 5 | Tyvon Branch | OAK |
| 6 | LaRon Landry | WAS |
| 7 | Kam Chancellor | SEA |
| 8 | Troy Polamalu | PIT |
| 9 | Morgan Burnett | GB |
| 10 | Sean Jones | TB |
| 11 | Earl Thomas | SEA |
| 12 | Jordan Babineaux | TEN |
| 13 | Patrick Chung | NE |
| 14 | Sean Jones | TB |
| 15 | Charlie Peprah | GB |
| 16 | Donte Whitner | BUF |
| 17 | Darian Stewart | STL |
| 18 | Bernard Pollard | BAL |
| 19 | Jason McCourty | TEN |
| 20 | Jarius Byrd | BUF |
| 21 | Antrel Rolle | NYG |
| 22 | Charles Woodson | GB |
| 23 | Kurt Coleman | PHI |
| 24 | Charles Godfrey | CAR |
| 25 | Usama Young | CLE |
| 26 | Dashon Goldson | SF |
| 27 | Louis Delmas | DET |
| 28 | Quintin Mikell | STL |
| 29 | Charles Tillman | CHI |
| 30 | Kenny Phillips | NYG |
| 31 | Adrian Wilson | ARI |
| 32 | Ryan Clark | PIT |
| 33 | Kyle Arrington | NE |
| 34 | Eric Smith | NYJ |
| 35 | Dawan Landry | JAC |
| 36 | Reggie Nelson | CIN |
| 37 | Tramon Williams | GB |
| 38 | Chris Houston | DET |
| 39 | DeAngelo Hall | WAS |
| 40 | Eric Weddle | SD |
| 41 | Gerald Sensabaugh | DAL |
| 42 | Tyvell Johnson | MIN |
| 43 | Devin McCourty | NE |
| 44 | Tim Jennings | CHI |
| 45 | Darrelle Revis | NYJ |
Defensive Linemen
| Rank | Defensive Lineman | Team |
| 1 | Terrell Suggs | BAL |
| 2 | Jared Allen | MIN |
| 3 | Calais Campbell | ARI |
| 4 | Chris Clemons | SEA |
| 5 | Chris Long | STL |
| 6 | Will Smith | NO |
| 7 | Julius Peppers | CHI |
| 8 | Andre Carter | NE |
| 9 | Charles Johnson | CAR |
| 10 | Darnell Dockett | ARI |
| 11 | James Hall | STL |
| 12 | Elvis Dumervil | DEN |
| 13 | Jason Pierre-Paul | NYG |
| 14 | Greg Hardy | CAR |
| 15 | Trent Cole | PHI |
| 16 | Osi Umenyiora | NYG |
| 17 | John Abraham | ATL |
| 18 | Ndamukong Suh | DET |
| 19 | Mathius Kiwanuka | NYG |
| 20 | Haloti Ngata | BAL |
| 21 | Robert Mathis | IND |
| 22 | Jabaal Sheard | CLE |
| 23 | Jason Babin | PHI |
| 24 | Jeremy Mincey | JAC |
| 25 | Cliff Avril | DET |
| 26 | Geno Atkins | CIN |
| 27 | Mark Anderson | NE |
| 28 | B.J. Raji | GB |
| 29 | Sione Pouha | NYJ |
| 30 | Justin Tuck | NYG |
Thanks for reading! I know this week is a little bit shorter, but I'm at your disposal on Twitter @MikeSGallagher for any of your questions.