College Football Daily Fantasy Helper: Saturday 8/31/19 After Hours Slate

The first full Saturday of College Football is finally upon us! FanDuel's Saturday night College Football DFS After Hours slate includes ten games.

In case you're unfamiliar with how it works, you can check out the rules and scoring on FanDuel, where you can hit the lobby each week to see the full array of slates and contests being offered.

As for the basics, your roster consists of a quarterback slot, two running back slots, three wide receiver slots (which also includes tight ends) and one super flex slot. In the flex, you can insert one player from any position, including quarterbacks.

Here, our goal is to help you field a roster full of fantasy goodness, and in true numberFire fashion, we'll use our in-house projections as well as betting totals and advanced statistics to tackle as many slates as possible in the lead-up to the College Football Playoff. This week, we are only breaking down Saturday's after hours slate, which locks at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Let's breakdown which players are in great spots as well as identify some players with cheap price tags that will allow you to roster the high dollar players.

Quarterbacks

Sam Ehlinger, Texas ($10,400) – The dual-threat quarterback rushed for 16 touchdowns last season, which ranked ninth in the country. For perspective, he had the same number of rushing touchdowns as Jonathan Taylor and Benny Snell Jr. in 2018. Additionally, Ehlinger accounted for 78.8% of the Texas Longhorns' offensive scores last year. With our models projecting Texas to score around 36 points (or slightly more than five touchdowns), we can project the junior signal caller to account for roughly four touchdowns.

Anthony Gordon, Washington State ($9,800) – The redshirt senior will start at quarterback for the Washington State Cougars. Heralded as a gunslinger by teammates, Gordon will get his chance at operating Mike Leach’s Air-Raid offense. That is usually a fantasy-friendly spot as Washington State quarterbacks have tossed 38, 38, 30, and 38 touchdown passes over the last four seasons. Gordon, a former MLB draft pick in high school, completed 21 of 30 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns in the Cougars’ spring game. With a team total projected slightly north of 46, according to our models, this is a great spot for Gordon.

JT Daniels, USC ($7,600) – The former five-star recruit struggled in 2018 as the Southern California Trojans limped to a 5-7 finish. From a DFS perspective, there are two reasons to be bullish on Daniels in 2019. First, USC returns their top three receivers from last campaign. Second, USC scrapped their pro-style offense for the pass-heavy spread offense known as the Air Raid. Roster Daniels at $7,600 while you can, because he’s a steal at this cost with the expected increase in passing volume coming his way.

Others to consider: Jake Fromm, Joe Burrow, Bryce Perkins, Nate Stanley, Kelly Bryant, Justin Herbert

Running Backs

Keaontay Ingram, Texas ($9,300) – The Longhorns are thin at running back for the season opener. Keaontay Ingram and Jordan Whittington are the lone “healthy” running backs left on the roster. While Ingram is reportedly close to 100%, Whittington has a groin injury that may impact him for the entire season. That should ensure that Ingram will receive the bulk of the carries this week. The sophomore running back had a solid freshman year in 2018 as he ran for 708 yards, tallied 170 yards receiving, and scored five total touchdowns.

Max Borghi, Washington State ($8,800) – Borghi will be the Cougars' starting running back this season. In 2018, the versatile back tallied 53 receptions for 374 yards, rushed for 366 yards, and scored 12 total touchdowns while splitting time in the backfield. Expectations are high for Borghi to have a huge season as he figures to be the primary running back. Look for Borghi to have a big game as New Mexico State surrendered 38 touchdowns to opposing backfields a season ago.

Wayne Taulapapa, Virginia ($4,000) – Make no mistake, this a pricing selection. Taulapapa was tabbed as the Virginia Cavaliers' starting running back for the season opener. According to coach Bronco Mendenhall, Taulapapa is the "most trustworthy and versatile back on the roster." The sophomore running back did not record a carry in 2018 as he saw the field only while playing on special teams. The Pittsburgh Panthers are replacing five starters on a defense that allowed 178.3 rushing yards (80th in the country) last season.

Others to consider: Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Larry Rountree III, Tru Wilson, D’Andre Swift, Mekhi Sargent, Toren Young, JaTarvious Whitlow, Ronnie Rivers, Vavae Malepeai

Wide Receivers

Collin Johnson, Texas ($9,600) – Johnson bypassed the NFL for the opportunity to play one more season in the burnt orange jersey. Johnson caught 68 passes for 985 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior in 2018. He looks ready for a massive 2019 season as he reportedly dominated the Texas cornerbacks in summer practices. He should be the focal point of the Longhorns’ passing game.

Easop Winston, Washington State ($8,400) – Winston caught 52 passes for 654 yards and eight touchdowns last season as a junior. Winston has a connection with the Cougars’ new starting quarterback, Anthony Gordon, as the two were former teammates at San Francisco College (junior college). During Winston’s time with Gordon in junior college, Winston caught 62 passes for 986 yards and 12 touchdowns. Expect a quality season from the senior receiver as he sees a familiar face taking snaps under center.

Demetrius Robertson, Georgia ($5,200) – Robertson is a former five-star athlete who started his career at the California Golden Bears. He caught 50 passes for 767 yards and 7 scores while playing for Bears in 2016. The junior receiver transferred to Georgia Bulldogs prior to the 2018 campaign and missed most of the season with an injury. Robertson will open the 2019 season as Georgia’s starting slot receiver. This is a big opportunity for the speedy wideout as Georgia needs someone in their receiving corps to step up after their top-three pass catchers from 2018 moved on to to the NFL. Robertson is a risky roster this week, but, most importantly, he’s cheap, and that will allow you to spend up on several high-end players.

Others to consider: Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins, Ty Lee, Matt Landers, Tyler Simmons, George Pickens, Justin Jefferson, Maurice Ffrench, Hasise Dubois, Brandon Smith, Albert Okwuegbunam, Juwan Johnson, Devin Duvernay, Davontavean Martin, Michael Pittman Jr., Tyler Vaughns

Matthew Hiatt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Matthew Hiatt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username easternmh. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.