College Football Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 11/5/21

Week 10 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

Cameron Rising, Utah ($12,000) - Rising enters Friday night with eight touchdown passes over his last four games. The versatile quarterback is also the Utah Utes' second-leading rusher. Rising has tallied 300 rushing yards and three touchdowns this season. He's worth the investment as he'll be squaring off with Stanford's vulnerable defense. The Cardinal D has allowed a slate-high 26 touchdowns through eight games.

Braxton Burmeister, Virginia Tech ($8,500) - Burmeister's passing game remains a work-in-progress. The junior is completing only 54.3% of his passing attempts this season. However, his DFS appeal is tied to his dual-threat ability. Burmeister has 272 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns through eight games. On a matchup basis, the Virginia Tech Hokies' signal-caller has the best matchup out of the four quarterbacks taking the field on Friday night. The Boston College Eagles are allowing a slate leading 7.07 yards per pass attempt. Additionally, they're giving up 172.9 rushing yards per game, which ranks 91st nationally.

I wanted to note that Stanford and Boston College's quarterback positions are unknown at this time. Boston College won't name a starting quarterback until they take the field on Friday. Stanford's starting quarterback, Tanner McKee ($9,400), is questionable.

Running Backs

Tavion Thomas, Utah ($10,500) - Thomas has turned into a workhorse as the season has progressed. The sophomore is averaging 20.2 carries per game over the last four games. Moreover, he has recorded an eye-opening eight rushing touchdowns during that time. His stellar play should continue on Friday night. Stanford's run defense has been awful this season, allowing 206 rushing yards per game, which ranks 120th nationally.

Malachi Thomas, Virginia Tech ($8,300) - Thomas has emerged as an offensive threat for the Hokies over the last two games. Two weeks ago, the freshman torched the Syracuse Orange for 151 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries. He followed up that performance with 103 rushing yards on 25 carries against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in last week's game. As noted above, the showdown with Boston College is a good spot for the Hokies' ball carriers.

Austin Jones, Stanford ($6,500) - Jones has regained his lead-back role after missing a game due to an injury. The junior has set season highs in carries in back-to-back weeks (11 and 16, respectively). Jones' salary remains low since he has yet to record a rushing touchdown. That is bound to change sometime soon since Jones racked up nine rushing touchdowns a season ago. Additionally, he is an effective pass-catching running back. Jones has 26 receptions, 240 receiving yards, and one touchdown reception this season.

Others to Consider: Raheem Blacksheer ($7,100) and Pat Garwo III ($7,000).

Wide Receivers

Tre Turner, Virginia Tech ($8,300) - Turner has emerged as quarterback Braxton Burmeister's favorite target. The versatile pass-catcher has drawn 47 targets over the last five games. He has cleared 64 receiving yards in six out of eight games this season. Additionally, a ton of his targets are on deeper routes. Turner is posting an average depth of target (aDOT) of 15.4, which leads the Hokies.

Zay Flowers, Boston College ($7,000) - Flowers has excelled this season despite inconsistent quarterback play. He owns a massive 28.2% target share. He leads the Eagles in receptions (35) and receiving yards (511). Like Turner, most of Flowers' targets occur down the field. Flowers has an aDOT of 14.4, leading all relevant Boston College pass catchers in the stat.

Benjamin Yurosek, Stanford ($7,000) - Yurosek looks like the next great tight end at Stanford. The sophomore has been nearly unstoppable over his last three games. Yurosek has piled up 17 receptions, 312 receiving yards, and one touchdown on 22 targets during that stretch.

Brant Kuithe, Utah ($6,500) - The junior provides a stable floor at a low salary. Kuithe has recorded at least three receptions in all eight games this season. He is tied with fellow tight end Dalton Kincaid ($5,700) for the team lead in touchdown receptions (four). Kuithe has an 18.0% target share, which ranks second amongst the Utes.

Others to Consider: Elijah Higgins ($7,500), Tayvion Robinson ($7,100), Brittain Covey ($6,700), Devaughn Vele ($6,500), and Jaelen Gill ($5,900).

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.