College Football Daily Fantasy Helper: Saturday 10/28/23

With daily fantasy football being so popular, it was only a matter of time before it translated to the college level.

FanDuel now offers college football daily fantasy contests in most states, and there's a twist on the NFL ruleset. You select a quarterback, two running backs, three wideouts (which includes tight ends), and a "SuperFLEX" that can be any of those positions.

Finding target data for pass-catchers in college can be difficult, so figuring out which players are on the field and getting work can make all the difference. Naturally, there are also more lopsided outcomes in college, so balance game scripts appropriately! Your running back's monstrous first half could lead to a bagel in the second.

How should we approach this week's main slate?

Note: All stats are from PFF.com. All tables are sortable by any category.

The Slate

We've got a ton of home underdogs on this slate; we'll see if they're barking come Saturday.

In terms of a top game on the slate, we've got four totals exceeding 60.0 points, but all of them come with double-digit spreads. I could see all of them closer than advertised, but some unlucky injury news has the Kansas Jayhawks fighting uphill to keep pace with the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma's market share concerns don't help that one, either.

We've got Coach Prime's Colorado Buffaloes back on the main slate after their last embarrassing loss, but they're getting a high total due to the pace factor from both teams when they battle the UCLA Bruins in this one. UCLA's defense has been among the best in the conference this season; I see plenty of paths to failure there.

Though it's got a lower total (51.5) than other games, I've got a personal affinity for the Tennessee Volunteers' clash with the Kentucky Wildcats. The market shares there are pretty stellar -- as we'll uncover.

There really aren't any "bad" games on this slate. I'll use players from the Ohio State Buckeyes-Wisconsin Badgers clash whose salaries are low with lower expected outputs, but their own personal workloads make sense, too.

Quarterbacks

Top Plays

• Caleb Williams ($12,000)
  • The USC Trojans' season has gone up in smoke, but this prohibitive salary is still well worth it if Caleb isn't totally broken through tough meetings with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Utah Utes defenses. The California Golden Bears are 121st of 133 FBS schools in passing YPA allowed (8.1).
• Haynes King ($10,400)
  • King, a transfer from the Texas A&M Aggies, has quietly been lighting up the lower ranks of the ACC for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, averaging 259.2 passing yards and 59.3 rushing yards per game. Their wideout market shares are a nightmare, so he's a priority in a solidly negative script facing the North Carolina Tar Heels.
• Joe Milton III ($9,000)
  • Milton set his season-high in rush attempts (15) by a good margin last week. It'll give him upside to score, but it also significantly upped his passing efficiency (68.3% completion rate). This mid-range salary is fair in one of my favorite contests.
• Spencer Rattler ($7,800)
  • Texas A&M's vaunted, top-25 pass defenses from years' past aren't playing Saturday. They're just 51st in passing YPA allowed (7.1), so the budget salary on Rattler in a negative script seems like an overreaction to last week's stinker against the Missouri Tigers' superior pass D.

Others to Consider

• Dillon Gabriel ($11,800)
  • As previously linked, Kansas will be turning to a backup QB this weekend, so I'm very worried about a blowout from OU this weekend, but Gabriel should carve up the Jayhawks (7.5 passing YPA allowed) until the game is out of hand.
• Jordan Travis ($11,000)
  • I've largely passed on Travis, who has yet to hit 30 FanDuel points in conference play, due to blowout risk. The spread against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons is 20.5, so that's still present, but he'll be popular for his floor.
• Emory Jones ($9,900)
  • With an Oklahoma State Cowboys back emerging as a Heisman threat, I know I'll need to get to this game. It's not a bad start to Jones' case that he leads the slate in rushing yards per game at quarterback (69.3).
• Jack Plummer ($6,900)
  • You just don't see capable quarterbacks with sub-$7,000 salaries often, but Plummer's vomit-inducing 29-for-52 effort with three turnovers last week against the Pittsburgh Panthers was just an anomaly. He's posted an up-and-down 17.9 FanDuel points per game overall.

Running Backs

Top Plays

• Ollie Gordon III ($10,600)
  • It's been a long time since I've seen a running back shift the efficiency of an offense alone. Gordon's role expanded four weeks ago, and the Pokes went from lifeless to at least 27 points scored in each contest. He's the do-it-all main event getting 26.3 carries and 3.0 targets per game in that time.
• Ray Davis ($10,000)
  • Davis' Wildcats play at a slower pace (28.8 seconds per play) than Gordon's Big 12 club, but he's got the same market share. In the past four weeks, he's gotten 74.6% of UK's carries and 11.0% of their targets. He's the team's favorite to score in a Vols-Cats clash that I adore.
• Braelon Allen ($8,500)
  • Ohio State is a brutal draw, but Allen's $8,500 salary might not even require a score with his current workload. He's gotten 22.7 carries and 2.7 targets per game in the past four weeks and will almost certainly contribute to any scoring by the Badgers.
• Le'Veon Moss ($7,400)
  • If I'm considering Rattler in a potential game stack, Moss' developing workload could work. He's replaced De'Von Achane well enough with 62.2% of the Aggies' carries in the past three weeks.

Others to Consider

• Jonathan Brooks ($10,200)
  • Especially with the Texas Longhorns moving to underclassmen, backup quarterbacks, expect Brooks' hefty role to stick. He leads the slate in targets for an RB in the last three weeks (7.0) by a wide margin.
• Omarian Hampton ($9,500)
  • I never will fully trust Mack Brown running backs, but Hampton's seen 61.8% of UNC's carries in the past three weeks; he's a great target if looking at Haynes King on the other side.
• RJ Harvey ($8,200)
  • Harvey's popularity should stay in check since he didn't score last week, but he turned 23 carries into 103 yards against a stout OU defense last week. The West Virginia Mountaineers-Central Florida Knights affair would be my vote if you told me a game on this slate exceeded 80 total points.
• Mario Anderson ($6,400)
  • Only four backs on this slate have a rush share north of 70.0% in the past three weeks. Gordon III, Davis, and Allen are three of them, and Anderson is the fourth. An ankle issue hindered his efficiency last week, but a better matchup and week to heal could do him wonders.

Wide Receivers

Top Plays

• Marvin Harrison Jr. ($9,800)
  • There may never have been a more obvious mini-stack in CFB DFS than Harrison with Braelon Allen. Harrison has the largest target share on the slate in the past three weeks (44.6%) and will get fed despite the tough matchup -- at lower popularity.
• Jamari Thrash ($8,700)
  • If you like consistent volume, Thrash is your guy in the second tier. He's gotten 14.5 targets per game in the past three weeks, but the 30.7% target share in conference play provides some legitimacy to that beyond last game's 20-target bonanza.
• Travis Hunter ($7,700)
  • Hunter might get scaled back on offense after his exhaustion really impacted the CU defense against the Stanford Cardinal, but "scaled back" is all relative. Mini Prime has been fed 19.5 targets since returning; this salary is far too low just because he hasn't scored.
• Jahmal Banks ($6,200)
  • One of the reasons I've avoided Jordan Travis is a lack of bring-back action on the other side, but Banks quells those concerns this week. He's held a 34.9% target share in conference play with known big-play upside.

Others to Consider

• Devontez Walker ($10,000)
  • Tez is showing why the battle for his NCAA eligibility was so pronounced. He leads UNC in targets over the past three weeks (10.0) with 4 touchdowns, but his 25.5% share shows how spread around the team's target tree is.
  • At salary, Nate McCollum ($5,700) might be the better proposition. He's turned 25 targets into just 5 catches in the same time frame with 0 scores; that'll turn around at some point.
• Troy Franklin ($9,500)
  • Last Saturday was the first CFB main slate where Franklin didn't score, but he's widening his target share over the nearest competitor over the last three weeks (29.5%). Utah is a brutal matchup, though.
• Taj Davis ($7,200)
  • Davis' top-shelf pedigree (as a former wideout for the Washington Huskies) is finally manifesting in production. He's held a 32.5% target share and led the team in routes per game (29.0) over the past three weeks.
  • Jeremiah Hunter ($7,500) is the other top target, tying Davis in routes over the same stretch.
• Kobe Hudson ($6,400)
  • While Javon Baker ($7,500) scored twice last week, I'm going to buy low on Hudson since he's still run the most routes per game over the last three contests (29.0).
  • His yardage share (27.7%) is nearly as good as the senior's (29.3%) despite a fraction of the targets, and he's got the lower salary.
  • I'm buying this passing game as a whole; John Rhys Plumlee ($9,700) ran for -4 yards last week as he continues to fight a knee injury. That should push work to the wideouts in a friendly matchup.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.