NCAAF

College Football Daily Fantasy Helper: Saturday 10/19/19 Main Slate

Week 8 is upon us, and if you haven't already, it's a great time to get in on college football DFS. This week's main Saturday slate is a monster, boasting 16 games in total.

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. Today, we are looking at Saturday's main slate which locks at 12:00 p.m. EST.

Let's break down 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

Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma ($11,800) - It shouldn't come as a surprise, but we are back on Hurts after a so-so game (for his standards) against Texas. And by so-so, we're talking a cool 235 passing yards, 131 rushing yards, three passing scores and another via the ground. The Oklahoma signal caller has at least eight carries in every game, including double-digit attempts in four. That provides him a high-yet-secure floor as well as a limitless ceiling in any matchup, let alone this one. This week's matchup grants his Sooners an implied total of 48.25 points -- a slate-high mark. The West Virginia defense is 65th in Bill Connelly's SP+ and has surrendered at least 369 total yards in five straight games. They have given up eight rushing touchdowns over the last two. Yikes.

Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State ($9,300) - If you are looking to pay up elsewhere and get your quarterback floor at a cheaper price, you can't do much better than Sanders. He's priced as the QB10 for a Big 12 clash in which Oklahoma State is favored by 4.0 points versus the Baylor Bears. And this game script yells track meet. Per FanDuel Sportsbook, it draws a slate-best 68.5 over/under in Stillwater, with both teams averaging at least 37.8 points per game on the year. Defensively, Baylor's been hit up for 21 points per game in conference play, and they have yet to see anything like this high-powered Cowboys offense. Oh -- and they already have two 300-yard passing games against them this year. Sanders' rushing upside -- 71 yards per game -- is just icing on the cake at this point.

James Blackman, Florida State ($8,100) - Blackman is a great value play with his Florida State Seminoles on the road against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons are ranked 78th in defense and have allowed 253.8 passing yards a game through a half-dozen contests. They've also watched two straight opponents throw for 281 or more yards and at least three touchdowns. That puts Blackman in a bounce-back spot. However, he should come at low ownership after last week's absolute dud (66 passing yards, 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions). As he showed early on this year, he's capable of throwing multiple touchdowns and paying back his price tag in favorable matchups like this one.

Running Backs

Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin ($10,800) - Obviously, unless you go true stars and scrubs, you aren't rostering Taylor with Hurts. You are going to have to make a tough decision about which position you are paying up at, but either way, Taylor is a super play. The Heisman candidate is a supreme talent, which shows in his massive production. Taylor's carried the ball 129 times for 825 yards and 14 touchdowns and has 15 catches for 4 scores to this point. And he is definitely worth paying up for against Illinois, whose defense ranks 83rd in the country. They own the slate's worst run defense in terms of our adjusted yards per attempt (5.57), which has translated to four 100-yard games against and nearly as many (three) games of 295-plus rushing yards. Just last week, Michigan ran for 295 and three touchdowns. Taylor has the ability to hit a 50-burger versus an inferior opponent such as this.

D'Andre Swift, Georgia ($9,200) - The Georgia Bulldogs are out for revenge after last week's loss to South Carolina. They'll get their opportunity to get back on track this Saturday against the Kentucky Wildcats, and you can bet D'Andre Swift will be at the top of the game plan. Despite the loss, Swift had had more than 100 yards and a touchdown in Week 7, and he went well past that against the Wildcats last year, when he rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns on only 16 carries. That Kentucky defense was stronger than this year's unit, one that ranks third-worst on the slate in run defense (4.88 adjusted yards allowed per attempt), per our metrics. Swift is relevant for both cash and tournament consideration.

Kennedy Brooks, Oklahoma ($7,500) - It's been said that Trey Sermon is falling away from the feature-back role in Lincoln Riley's offense. And if last week was any indication, that assumption is the stone cold truth. Sermon didn't get a single carry while Kennedy Brooks stepped in for 10 of his own for over 100 yards. The speedy sophomore is -- believe it or not -- averaging 8.9 yards a carry for the second straight year. This is a spot for him to burst through for a long touchdown and a big fantasy day. At $7,500, he fits in nicely if you're stacking two or three Sooners with their near 50-point implied total Saturday in Norman.

Wide Receivers

Ja'Marr Chase, LSU ($9,900) - We are going back to the well a lot this week, but there's obvious reasons for this one. Fellow receiver Terrace Marshall is still out for LSU's meeting in Starkville against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, which bodes well for Chase's workload, as it did last week. Versus Florida, the impressive sophomore fed off of Joe Burrow's hot streak, converting seven catches into 127 yards and a pair of touchdown grabs. He has seven touchdowns over the last three games, and his three 100-yard games speak to the talent the youngster possesses. The Tigers check in just under 40 implied points, according to the oddsmakers, so look for Chase to keep producing at this high level.

Tylan Wallace, Oklahoma State ($8,900) - When you deploy Spencer Sanders, you're almost required to go with Wallace as his stacking partner. The big-bodied Biletnikoff Award candidate has racked up 39 catches for 703 yards and 7 touchdowns so far in 2019. He's averaging 22 FanDuel points on the nose and is coming off an 11-catch outing against Texas Tech. Last year against this Baylor team, Wallace went off, hauling in 8 catches for 122 yards and a touchdown while adding an additional six yards rushing and a touchdown alongside 24 yards passing. He did it all for a grand total of 29.76 FanDuel points. He could flirt with that if this offensive shootout plays out as planned.

Jake Smith, Texas ($5,600) - Collin Johnson is back on the trainer's table, and while he has not been diagnosed with concussion, he is dealing with the aftermath of a sandwich hit against Oklahoma. He had just returned, but if he's out again, Smith would be one of the primary beneficiaries on the receiving end of Sam Ehlinger's arm. Before Johnson's return last Saturday, Smith brought in 11 catches for 122 yards in the three games prior, three of which went for touchdowns. He would be a candidate to score again because of Texas' high total (41.75) at home against a weak Kansas defense (73rd). If we get news that Johnson is active, you can look to Utah's Jaylen Dixon ($6,100) or Iowa State's La'Michael Pettway ($6,900) for salary relief at the receiver slot.



Brett Oswalt i
s not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Brett Oswalt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username BrettOswalt. 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.