NCAAF

College Football Daily Fantasy Helper: Saturday 10/26/19 Main Slate

Week 9 of the season has arrived, 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, with another 16 games at our disposal.

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

Joe Burrow, LSU ($10,400) - Most of the slate's top quarterbacks in both price and notoriety face tougher matchups than usual. And Tua Tagovailoa is out after undergoing surgery. Under the circumstances, Burrow is the best option as he and the LSU Tigers host the Auburn Tigers down in Baton Rouge. His price places him third on the slate and just above Justin Fields, but he is second in average FanDuel points per game (33.4). Burrow is fresh off back-to-back 28-FanDuel-point games, which remarkably represent his lowest outputs of the season. The senior has maxed out at 43 with three games of at least five touchdowns and two-plus in every single game this season, and an implied total of 34.75 is enough to warrant exposure to this offense. Just know that there is some risk against an Auburn defense ranked sixth in Bill Connelly's SP+.

Jett Duffey, Texas Tech ($8,800) - Duffey has stepped up on the heels of an injury to starter Alan Bowman. The Red Raiders are just 1-3 in his starts, but the dual-threat signal-caller has completed 68.6% of his passes for 1,149 yards and six touchdowns. He has also rushed for 53 yards and a touchdown after tallying 369 yards and four touchdowns via the ground game a year ago. Just a week ago, he totaled 253 yards and a touchdown against a tough Iowa State team, all the while throwing the ball a season-high 52 times. Duffey's coach clearly trusts him, and that's good to know ahead of a game against Kansas. The Jayhawks are 90th in defense, allow 248.7 passing yards per game and are expected to give up 34.5 points to the visiting Red Raiders.

Mac Jones, Alabama ($7,900) - As I alluded to above, the Alabama Crimson Tide will be without their star quarterback for a period of time, starting this week against Arkansas. That could certainly change aspects to the 'Bama offense, but one thing will remain: the weapons. Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle, and company are a super-talented receiver corps, and one that any quarterback should be able to use to his advantage. The implied total says as much, with the Tide implied at 43.75 -- second on the slate -- on their home turf. Mac Jones has little experience, and he's not Jalen Hurts, but he should prove up to the task on Saturday night. The Razorbacks defense is 115th in SP+ and has surrendered 2.1 passing touchdowns per game through seven weeks.

Running Backs

Najee Harris, Alabama ($9,500) - Jones is a great value option, but it would be a shock to see 'Bama throw the ball more often than they run it. Nick Saban will, in all likelihood, ride his backs -- a rotation that includes Harris at the very top. The experienced junior back leads the way with 95 attempts for 556 yards and three touchdowns this year. And as a bonus, he has 16 catches for four more scores. But wait -- it gets juicier. Arkansas is second-worst on the slate, allowing 4.73 adjusted rushing yards per attempt.

Breece Hall, Iowa State ($9,000) - In case $9,500 is too rich for your blood, Hall comes with the same upside but at $500 discount. Taking on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Ames, his Iowa State Cyclones are 10.5-point favorites and --courtesy of a 63.5 over/under -- check in with a 37-point implied total. But the opponent is just as important as the betting lines here. The Cowboys allowed 224 rushing yards a week ago, having allowed 200 or more for the second time in four weeks, while they have been hit up for one rushing score in all but one game this season. Hall has five touchdowns in his last two games alone, and that's on top of 315 rushing yards at a 7.0 average per tote. He's the best point-per-dollar play at the position.

Kennedy Brooks, Oklahoma ($8,200) - As expected, Trey Sermon took a backseat in Oklahoma's win over West Virginia last week as Brooks took over in the number-one spot, taking 12 touches for 98 all-purpose yards and a nine-yard rushing score. The sophomore back is averaging 8.5 yards per attempt this season, and while he is subject to Hurts' involvement in the red zone it might not matter in this spot. Kansas State takes pride in their defense, and they rank 37th on that side of the ball, but the Wildcats have allowed decent production on the ground. Opponents average 195.2 rushing yards per game, as well as a slate-worst 5.15 adjusted yards per attempt. But if you're still not sold on Brooks, you can roll with Tech's SaRodrick Thompson if you have the extra $400 laying around.

Wide Receivers

Justin Jefferson, LSU ($9,400) - With Terrace Marshall, Jr. back to health, we again have three key options to stack with Burrow. Ja'Marr Chase has dominated of late and has accounted for nine receiving scores to date, but Jefferson has nine of his own, and he is tops on the team in receptions. In fact, the junior wideout's 48 catches are 13 more than any other receiver and give him 102 over the last 20 games. Again, there is risk, but if you're betting on Burrow to go off it won't be without his top receiver turning in a big game of his own.

Deshaunte Jones, Iowa State ($7,700) - Touchdowns can be volatile in football, and that volatility is heightened as you go from the NFL to college football just given the inconsistency of quarterbacks, the playing time for receivers and what style of offense a team runs. However, it gets to a point where it's really hard to believe a player hasn't scored more. One of those players due for some regression is Deshaunte Jones, who leads the Cyclones with 44 catches for 495 yards but for just one touchdown. And while it's true that he is more of a short-route guy, Jones has just one of Brock Purdy's 14 touchdown passes (16 as a team), and his lone score was back on September 21st. He's due, and a weak OK-State defense could help him breakthrough this week.

Jalen Reagor, TCU ($7,200) - Reagor found himself on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List entering the new season, but he hasn't had the stats of a receiver of that caliber. Following last year's 1,061-yard, 9-touchdown campaign, the junior has a mere 23 catches for 271 yards and three scores to date. He's nowhere near last year's pace, but he's come on a bit of late. Versus two tougher defenses -- Iowa State and Kansas State -- he has racked up 12 catches, 154 yards and two touchdowns in the last two games. His Week 9 opponent, the Texas Longhorns, struggle much more against the pass, having allowed 310 passing yards and 2.1 passing touchdowns per game. At this price, you could do a lot worse than Reagor.


Brett Oswalt is 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.