College Football Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 10/22/21

Week 9 of college football is here! FanDuel's college football main slate on Friday includes two games.

In case you're unfamiliar with how it works, you can check out the rules and scoring. You can check the lobby link above 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 (tight ends are included in this group), and one "Super FLEX" slot. In the "Super 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 game 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 Friday's main slate, which locks at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Let's break down which star players are in great spots, as well as identify some players with lower salaries who will provide value to get to them.

Quarterbacks

Carson Strong, Nevada ($12,000) - The big-armed quarterback is averaging an impressive 43.9 pass attempts per game this season. Strong ranks fourth nationally in pass yards per game (352.29). Additionally, the Nevada Wolf Pack signal-caller has tallied 20 touchdown passes through seven games. Up next is a date with the UNLV porous pass defense. The Rebels are allowing 287.1 passing yards per game (123rd nationally). Moreover, UNLV has been torched for 17 touchdown passes in seven games.

Davis Brin, Tulsa ($9,000) - Brin has struggled with inconsistency this season. The Tulsa Golden Hurricane quarterback has recorded 10 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions through seven games. On the plus side, he is averaging 273.6 passing yards per game. The matchup with the Navy Midshipmen should be advantageous for the Golden Hurricane's passing game; Navy is allowing an ugly 8.54 yards per pass attempt.

Tai Lavatai, Navy ($7,000) - Lavatai may be a quarterback, but he is utilized like a running back in Navy's triple-option offense. The Navy signal-caller has made five starts this season, and he has at least 16 rushing attempts in all five starts. Additionally, he has accounted for six total touchdowns. He is a great salary-saving option at quarterback.

Running Backs

Shamari Brooks, Tulsa ($9,200) - Shamari Brooks has seen a massive increase in utilization over the last two games. The senior has received 49 carries over the last two games. Additionally, Brooks has eclipsed 125 rushing yards in three out of the last four games. He has recorded all four of his rushing touchdowns during that same span. He's a good bet to find the end zone on Friday night. Tulsa's opponent, Navy, has surrendered 18 rushing touchdowns through seven games (slate high total by six).

Charles Williams, UNLV ($9,000) - Another week, another reason to roster Charles Williams. Williams is operating as a workhorse running back for the Rebels. He has found paydirt seven times through seven games. The senior is averaging an impressive 102.7 rushing yards per game (20th nationally). He should find ample running room against Nevada's vulnerable run defense; the Wolfpack defense is allowing 143.3 rushing yards per game (54th nationally) including 4.2 yards per carry. Furthermore, Nevada has allowed 11 rushing touchdowns through seven games.

Isaac Ruoss, Navy ($7,000) - The Navy offense utilizes several different ball carriers. However, Ruoss' workload has been consistent this season. The Navy fullback is averaging 16.4 carries per game over the last five games. As noted above, this is a decent matchup for the Navy running game. Ruoss is one way to get contrarian on Friday's two-game slate. He will be far less popular than Brooks, Williams, and Toa Taua.

Others to Consider:
Toa Taua ($9,500), Deneric Prince ($8,400), James Harris ($6,200)

Wide Receivers

Romeo Doubs, Nevada ($10,000), Nevada - Doubs has drawn an eye-opening 30 targets over the Wolfpack's last two games. He has recorded 45-plus receiving yards in each of the six games that he's played in this season. Doubs has run a massive 113 pass routes over the last two games. He'll be very popular.

Cole Turner, Nevada ($8,500), Nevada - Turner is a mismatch nightmare for opposing defenses. The big tight end has been unstoppable as of late, racking up 20 receptions, 280 receiving yards, and two touchdowns on 29 targets over the last two games. Additionally, the senior has found the end zone five times over the last four games. Like Doubs, he'll be very popular on Friday night.

Melquan Stovall ($6,800), Nevada - Yes, my first three wide receiver recommendations are members of the Nevada Wolfpack. Nevada's offense is extremely pass-heavy. They have five pass catchers that have run at least 72 pass routes over the last two games. That is seven more than Tulsa wide receiver Josh Johnson ($8,300). Johnson would actually lead the slate for routes run over the last two games if we omit the Nevada pass catchers. As for Stovall, he enters Friday night with 70-plus receiving yards in three games. He is also likely to carry the lowest roster percentage of any Nevada pass catcher. Consequently, he makes for an interesting tournament play.

Keylon Stokes ($5,500), Tulsa - Stokes could fly under the DFS radar if he returns to the field on Friday night. He has only played in four games this season, but he has drawn 22 total targets inside of them. The senior was the Golden Hurricane's leading receiver in 2020.

Others to Consider:
Josh Johnson ($8,300), Sam Crawford Jr. ($7,700), Justin Lockhart ($7,400), JuanCarlos Santana ($6,500), Kyle Williams ($6,400), Steve Jenkins, Tory Horton ($6,100)

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.