RADIO
We now have college football every day until January 2, and not just one game per day like last week. Most wonderful time of the year, indeed! We have a heavy day today with five games (hopefully), but COVID is claiming some bowl games as their own, so who knows? Auburn and Houston kick off at noon. For some reason DraftKings chopped that off of the main slate, so we only have four games.
We start off with another bowl in the Metroplex with Air Force and Louisville meeting in Dallas. Mike Leach tries to get his revenge on Texas Tech in Memphis. UCLA takes on North Carolina State in the Holiday Bowl at Petco Park, of all places. We finish the night with West Virginia taking on Minnesota in Phoenix. This is going to be a really fun one!
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy college football lineup picks for DraftKings on 12/28/21 locking at 3:15 pm eastern. I’ll be providing multiple player suggestions for players at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver, aiming to highlight one option apiece at the high, middle, and lower end of the salary scale. Good luck, RotoBallers. But first, we start with the betting picks!
CFB Betting Picks 12/28:
(20)Houston vs. Auburn(-2.5) at Birmingham, AL
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 2
Yeah, the game is in Auburn's home state, but I'm not sure I trust this without Bo Nix. Houston is a good team. They rattled off 11 straight wins this year bookended by losses in the first and last game. I'm still taking Houston here. I just trust them a little bit more.
Louisville(-1.5) vs. Air Force at Dallas, TX
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 2
Malik Cunningham is a special player, but I'm pretty certain that the Louisville defense can't handle the Air Force option. I'll take the Falcons outright.
Mississippi State(-9.5) vs. Texas Tech at Memphis, TN
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 5
We all know that revenge is a dish best served cold. Mike Leach still insists that the Red Raiders owe him upwards of a million dollars. His removal as head coach of the Red Raiders was far from amicable and there is still bad blood.....at least on his side. Leach is going to take out his frustrations on his former team big time in this one. Texas Tech losing Erik Ezukanma doesn't help matters either. I think this one gets out of hand.
UCLA vs. (18)North Carolina State(-1.5) at San Diego, CA
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 1
I think the Wolfpack are the better team, but this is basically a road game. Still, Devin Leary is a difference-maker. So is Dorian Thompson-Robinson, but I think I trust the Wolfpack defense just a little bit more. This is a tough one though. I'm still on the fence. Give me NC State, but I probably wont bet this.
West Virginia vs. Minnesota(-5.5) at Phoenix, AZ
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 2
Minnesota is getting a lot of credit for Beating Wisconsin. I suppose I get that. Ky Thomas has helped revitalize the offense and Tanner Morgan isn't making the crippling mistakes that dragged the offense down over the first two months. Still, West Virginia's defense is a strong unit. The loss of Leddie Brown hurts, but Tony Mathis is an excellent fill-in. I'm still taking West Virginia and the points.
DraftKings CFB DFS Quarterbacks
Will Rogers, Mississippi State ($8,800)
If you think that Mike Leach is going to call off the (Bull)dogs in this one, I have some oceanfront property in Wyoming to sell you. This is personal for the Pirate, so the Mississippi State players have a higher ceiling than usual. Rogers only threw less than 40 passes twice all season and was never under 34 attempts. We know that volume is king in DFS. Rogers trailed only Bailey Zappe in pass attempts this year and only had two less completions than Zappe in 56 less attempts. How's that for volume? We can safely say that Rogers will pass Zappe in completions in this game. I wouldn't be that shocked if he also caught him in attempts.
Devin Leary, North Carolina State ($7,800)
Leary made a ton of progress from last season. He threw 35 touchdowns, which was tied with Will Rogers for ninth in the country, and only threw five picks. The Wolfpack have some good receivers on this team as well. The UCLA defense has given up a liberal 260.2 passing yards per game, but they picked off 12 passes in 12 games while only allowing 15 passing touchdowns. Still, Leary has proven that he can rack up yards and I would guess that he's one of the few that can get multiple touchdowns on this defense without giving the ball away.
Donovan Smith, Texas Tech ($5,400)
Henry Colombi has transferred out and Tyler Shough's collarbone is still not good enough to give it a go. That means another start for Smith. He showed flashes of being a solid quarterback in starts against Iowa State and Baylor. He through five touchdowns to only one interception in those games and threw for 584 yards combined. Still, he has lost three fumbles in the last four games. Ball security is still a bit of an issue, but there is good upside for the price.
Also consider: Malik Cunningham, Louisville ($8,600); Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA ($8,500); Jarret Doege, West Virginia ($5,700)
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DraftKings CFB DFS Running Backs
Zach Charbonnet, UCLA ($7,400)
NC State has a solid run defense and UCLA has a two-back system with a running quarterback. That cuts into the ceiling for Charbonnet, but he has back-to-back 100 yard games under his belt and six touchdowns over the last four games. The fact that Charbonnet is still the preferred back for the Bruins inside the 10-yard line gives him the safest floor of any back on the slate.
Jo'quavious Marks, Mississippi State ($6,200)
Marks leads the nation in receptions from the running back position with 76. The next closest, Missouri's Tyler Badie, is 22 receptions behind. That's a lot of free points for Marks, giving him the best floor on the slate at any position. Memphis is the only team that held Marks under 10 DraftKings points. He's as much of a sure thing as you're going to get.
Dillon Johnson, Mississippi State ($5,300)
Johnson doesn't get as many carries as Marks, but he hauled in 62 receptions of his own this season. Again, that's a lot of free points, an average of just over five per game not counting anything for yards. The Mississippi State offense is likely going to take it at Texas Tech until the final whistle blows. Both backs could be a big part of that.
Emmanuel Michel, Air Force ($4,000)
It's always difficult to get a handle on Air Force's pecking order in the backfield. This is especially true when the status of Haaziq Daniels is still up in the air. Michel has 26 of his 69 carries on the season over the last two games alone. Maybe the blowout win over UNLV had something to do with that. Maybe not. Still, his 14 carries in an overtime win over Nevada shows that Michel is now a larger part of this offense. He's a lot cheaper than Roberts in a good situation. I like Michel as a salary punt in GPP formats.
Also consider: Brad Roberts, Air Force ($7,500); Ky Thomas, Minnesota ($6,600); Jalen Mitchell, Louisville ($4,700); Tony Mathis, West Virginia ($3,500)
DraftKings CFB DFS Wide Receivers
Makai Polk, Mississippi State ($7,900)
Polk was tied for third in the country in receptions, so all of the targets that those running backs swallow up didn't hurt his production much. The Bulldogs don't take a lot of deep shots so the ceiling on Polk is lower than most receivers, but it's still the highest on this slate. Polk hasn't been under 20 DraftKings points since his return from injury in Week 10. Expect him somewhere in the 20's again.
Emeka Emezie, North Carolina State ($6,300)
The emergence of Thayer Thomas and opposing defenses willingness to filter things away from Emezie have hurt his stats this year, but he still impacts the game in a big way. His ceiling is the best of the North Carolina State receivers, but if UCLA succeeds in locking down Emezie, he can ruin your lineup. I like Emezie still in GPP's, but Thayer Thomas is a much better play in cash games.
Chris Autman-Bell, Minnesota ($4,600)
The Gophers don't throw the ball a whole lot, but Autman-Bell has been the go-to guy down the stretch. He hauled in four touchdown passes in the last three games and has 57 DraftKings points in those three games. It's no coincidence that Minnesota went 2-1 in that stretch with a huge upset of Wisconsin and a near-upset of Iowa. Expect Autman-Bell to be heavily involved against West Virginia as well.
Myles Price, Texas Tech ($4,100)
Erik Ezukanma is out for the bowl game. That leaves Price and Arkansas State transfer Kaylon Geiger as the starters for Tech. Price had a monster game against Iowa State, but left the Oklahoma State game early in the first quarter with an ankle injury. He looks good to go for this one. Considering what he did to a solid Iowa State defense, also with Donovan Smith under center, I really like the upside on Price as a value play.
Also consider: Kyle Phillips, UCLA (6,800); Winston Wright, West Virginia ($5,500); Jaden Walley, Mississippi State ($4,900); Marshon Ford, Louisville ($4,500)
