RADIO
Our big slate on Saturday has 12 games that DraftKings picked out for us. We've got some big ones on here. We start off with the biggest, the Red River Shootout at the Texas State Fair. It's a bucket list thing for me. One of these years, I will get to that game. South Carolina heads to Knoxville to face the team that just manhandled Missouri. Arkansas will have to lick their wounds in Oxford. At least Ole Miss gets a home game after their beating. Maryland heads to the 'Shoe. Michigan State heads over to Jersey to close out the noon games.
The afternoon starts with Virginia heading to Louisville. Georgia takes the greatest defensive show on earth down to Auburn. Boise State is back in Utah again, this time in Provo to face BYU. Wake heads up to the Carrier Dome. Wisconsin goes to Champaign for what promises to be a great defensive battle. We finish off the afternoon with first clash of Big Ten (14) teams in the top 5 that doesn't include Ohio State since 1997 when Iowa hosts Penn State. This is going to be fun!
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy college football lineup picks for the early DraftKings slate that locks at noon eastern on 10/9/21. 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.
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DraftKings CFB DFS Quarterbacks
Malik Cunningham, Louisville ($9,700)
Sam Howell and Sam Hartman combined for 577 yards and eight passing touchdowns against the Virginia defense. Cunningham is likely better than both of them, and his rushing ability is among the elite in college football. Cunningham has scored at least 30 DraftKings points in every game so far this season. Win or lose, Cunningham is going to be a huge asset to our DFS lineups. He's the most sure thing on this slate.
KJ Jefferson, Arkansas ($6,900)
This is what playing Georgia gets you. We get Jefferson at a huge discount this week because of back-to-back tough games against A&M and Georgia. Jefferson still performed very well against A&M, putting up 21.48 DraftKings points before departing just before halftime. Ole Miss is allowing 304.8 passing yards per game. They may contain Jefferson some on the ground, but he has the receivers to put up a solid game through the air. Definitely solid enough to pay off this price.
Garrett Schrader, Syracuse ($6,700)
The Mississippi State transfer has finally (and thankfully) taken the job from Tommy DeVito. Even though he didn't start against Liberty and Albany, Shrader still had solid games. He has scored a staggering seven rushing touchdowns over the last three games. He's not putting up huge numbers through the air, but Syracuse is built to run. Malik Cunningham and Louisville ran for 208 yards on Wake last week. There is potential here for Schrader and the Syracuse run game as well.
Also consider: Brennan Armstrong, Virginia ($9,200); Casey Thompson, Texas ($7,400); Hank Bachmeier, Boise State; Jarret Doege, West Virginia ($5,500)
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DraftKings CFB DFS Running Backs
Kenneth Walker III, Michigan State ($8,100)
Walker is one of the few running backs in all of college football that doesn't cede carries to a goal-line back. He is the goal-line back. And the early down back. And the third down back. Walker does it all. Ohio State did a bulk of their damage against Rutgers through the air, but that's not Michigan State's style. They can throw. They just prefer to use Walker to run over opposing defenses. That will be the fate of the Scarlet Knights here.
Sean Tucker, Syracuse ($7,200)
Rutgers is the only team that has held Tucker under 100 rushing yards in a game. Florida State was the only one that kept him out of the end zone. It wasn't all Florida State's fault though. Garrett Schrader playing the whole game and poaching three touchdowns is a bit of a concern. Still, Tucker is a lock for the yardage bonus and Schrader can't steal all of the scores. We should see a little better performance for fantasy purposes from Tucker this week.
Kennedy Brooks, Oklahoma ($5,100)
The Oklahoma backfield is still a bit of a mess, but Brooks got 15 carries Saturday compared to just four for Eric Gray. It's hard to tell just what is going to happen from week to week, but it is an encouraging sign for Brooks that he picked up a solid 91 yards with his workload. The presence of each hurts the other for fantasy purposes, but considering Brooks got far more touches than Gray last week, it appears as though one may finally be more safe than the other.
Jalen Mitchell, Louisville ($4,600)
The only team Virginia allowed less than 100 rushing yards to was William and Mary. The Hoos are getting run on this year. While Malik Cunningham does most of the damage, Mitchell has at least 12 carries in every game. He's getting the chances even though he doesn't always do a lot with them. I do like the opportunities against the Virginia defense for Mitchell's price. The ceiling is fairly high even though he hasn't given us a lot in the way of hope thus far. His 89 rushing yards against Wake last week were Mitchell's most against a FBS opponent this year. He's trending in the right direction.
Also consider: TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State ($7,500); Leddie Brown, West Virginia ($6,500); Kevin Harris, South Carolina ($5,000); Wayne Taulapapa, Virginia ($4,900); Snoop Conner, Mississippi ($4,200)
DraftKings CFB DFS Wide Receivers
Chris Olave, Ohio State ($7,600)
Spencer Petras had quite possibly the best passing day of his career against the Terps last weekend, which is significant because he really doesn't throw the ball much. Ohio State will, especially if Miyan Williams is still out or limited. Kent putting up 308 passing yards on the Terps is expected. They were playing from behind. When a running team like Iowa throws for 283 I take notice.
Jayden Reed, Michigan State ($7,400)
Olave had a nice game against Rutgers last week. While Sparty wont throw like Ohio State did, Reed has some added value. He has returned a punt for a touchdown in each of the last two games. I'm guessing those smart kids from Rutgers wont kick to him, but I didn't think Western Kentucky would either. Reed is the focal point for the Spartans when they throw. The potential from punt returns gives him a little more of a ceiling in GPP formats.
Billy Kemp IV, Virginia ($6,500)
Kemp has 12 more catches than any other Virginia receiver on the season. He's a safety blanket for Brennan Armstrong and has at least six receptions in every game against FBS opponents. That's a lot of free points, which makes Kemp the ideal cash play. Dontayvion Wicks might be more suitable for GPP's since he is the big play guy for Virginia.
Velus Jones, Tennessee ($4,600)
Jones is emerging as the big play guy for the Tennessee offense. Now that Hendon Hooker is firmly entrenched as the starter, it should only help Jones more. He has at least one reception of 35 yards or more in each of the last three games. That sounds like the ideal GPP target to me.
Rakim Jarrett, Maryland ($4,100)
Jarrett becomes the de-facto top receiver with Dontay Demus going down against Iowa. Taulia had a forgettable day against the Hawkeyes, but with eight days to recover and recognize Jarrett as his top guy, I can see both being productive playing from behind against Ohio State's defense.
Also consider: Jahan Dotson, Penn State ($7,300); Brock Bowers, Georgia ($6,700); Jaquarii Roberson, Wake Forest ($6,400); Marvin Mims, Oklahoma ($4,400); Sam LaPorta, Iowa ($4,200)
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