College Football Daily Fantasy Picks and Helper: Saturday 11/25/23

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. All college football odds are via FanDuel Sportsbook.

The Slate

The final week of the 2023 college football regular season has it all. Rivalries will be settled; some will be shootouts, others will be dogfights for points. This is arguably the best slate of the entire season, so buckle up.

In the "shootout" category is this year's Apple Cup, which features the dynamic Washington State Cougars and Washington Huskies on offense. The projected total there is a whopping 67.5 points, and I'm betting the Cougs to cover 16.5 -- for whatever that is worth.

A Heisman Trophy could be won on Saturday, too. The favorite quarterbacks the Louisiana State Tigers, and FanDuel is expecting plenty of points (66.5) between LSU and the Texas A&M Aggies in Baton Rouge.

Your final viable spread above 60.0 points is a battle of new Big 12 rivals: the Houston Cougars and Central Florida Knights. We've seen both on the main slate plenty.

There isn't a true cross-off game on the slate, but there are certain contests where points should be at a premium. Of course, that includes "The Game" between Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines and its 46.5-point total, but I'd argue a potential blowout in the "Iron Bowl" between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers is the worst game on the board. OSU-UM still has some elite market shares.

Quarterbacks

Top Plays

• Jayden Daniels ($13,000)
  • The Heisman frontrunner has a chance to cinch it up with another elite day against Texas A&M. He's averaging 101.3 rush yards per game on top of elite passing efficiency. If the Aggies were better than 69th against the pass (7.3 YPA), I'd consider a fade, but no thanks.
• Cameron Ward ($10,700)
  • At salary, Ward is my favorite QB above $10,000. Projected to trail in the game with the slate's highest total, he's already been busy (39.9 attempts per game) with plus efficiency.
  • In a similar spot against the Oregon Ducks' superior defense in Eugene, he posted 25.2 FanDuel points.
• John Rhys Plumlee ($10,200)
  • If you're stacking Houston-UCF, I couldn't imagine leaving the dual threat behind. Eclipsing 70 rushing yards in consecutive games, his knee is back to what appears to be full health, too.
• Brennan Armstrong ($8,300)
  • The North Carolina Tar Heels-North Carolina State Wolfpack game could go a bit under the radar, but Armstrong could explode in a shootout. He's posted 82.1 rush yards per game despite poor passing efficiency (6.2 YPA).

Others to Consider

• Jalen Milroe ($11,200)
  • I'd imagine Alabama's QB will draw popularity given his 12 rushing scores this season, but he'll need plenty of TD equity early; I can't envision Auburn lighting up the Tide D.
• Emory Jones ($9,400)
  • Both times I've gone to Jones on the main slate, he's terribly disappointed, but the Kansas Jayhawks' pass defense has been a free square. They're 86th in passing YPA allowed (7.6) in FBS.
  • He averages 57.4 rush yards per game on the ground, as well.
• Jaylen Henderson ($8,400)
  • One of Daniels' appeals is, if Henderson gets the start, things could get fun. He's crushed it at 11.8 passing YPA for Texas A&M since Max Johnson ($8,400) got hurt.
  • LSU is 101st in passing YPA allowed (8.0), so both could work if Johnson plays through his injury. I prefer it'd be the runner, Henderson.

Running Backs

Top Plays

• Ollie Gordon II ($11,500)
  • Two decades ago, OG2 might have won the Heisman himself for catapulting the Oklahoma State Cowboys from unviable to bowl contention, but expect fantasy CFB's brightest star to run all over a Brigham Young Cougars defense allowing 5.0 YPA on the ground (116th in FBS).
• Ray Davis ($9,500)
  • Mark Fletcher Jr. posted 126 yards and 2 scores against the otherwise-stellar Louisville Cardinals rush D, so I'm more open to Davis' elite role at a four-digit salary. He's handled 67.1% of the Kentucky Wildcats' rushes and 10.6% of their targets in the past five weeks.
• Blake Corum ($8,800)
  • UM has taken the opposite approach of last year with their RBs. Corum's role started uninspiring, but he handled 28 of 39 carries last week and should encroach 30 in "The Game". FanDuel's salary-makers took concerns of his matchup away with a friendly salary.
• Aidan Robbins ($5,700)
  • I don't love stacking RBs -- and especially one that's a 16.5-point underdog. However, Robbins' role is too good for this salary. The junior handled 22 of 23 RB carries last week, continuing a trend he's had (60.7% rush share in the past five weeks) since LJ Martin's injury.

Others to Consider

• Omarian Hampton ($11,000)
  • Hampton's role -- surprisingly -- isn't the concern as a Mack Brown RB in this spot. He's handled 72.1% of UNC's carries in the past five weeks. The concern is a date with NCST's 34th-ranked rush defense (by YPA). Still, Drake Maye ($11,000) struggled badly with the Wolfpack a year ago; I prefer Hampton on the favorable side of Brennan Armstrong given this game's projected script.
• RJ Harvey ($10,200)
  • After handling 20 of 26 RB carries a week ago, I'm a bit less concerned about Harvey's 52.4% rush share in the last five weeks. That's not ideal for the salary, but UCF has played an odd schedule with several blowouts.
• Devin Neal ($9,900)
  • Emory Jones, Neal, and a wideout to come will be a core game stack for me. Neal's 57.3% rush share comes with a slate-best 12.1% target share for a running back; I don't see KU's Jason Bean and a wide target tree as a viable build path on this large slate.
• Dillon Johnson ($9,200)
  • Washington could revert back to their gameplan a few weeks ago in L.A. and pound Dillon Johnson as a heavy favorite. He's averaged 18.2 rush attempts per game in the past five weeks, and Wazzu's rush D (4.3 rushing YPA allowed) isn't special.

Wide Receivers

Top Plays

• Malik Nabers ($10,800)
  • The A1, premium Daniels-Nabers stack hasn't disappointed in weeks, and Texas A&M's mediocre secondary likely isn't stopping the trend. Brian Thomas Jr. ($9,700) has faded to a 17.7% target share in the past five weeks; Nabers is the clear cut (and only) pass-catcher to stack with J.D.
• Lincoln Victor ($8,300)
  • I was stunned by this salary, which lofted Victor to the status of my overall favorite play on the slate. Victor's 13.4 targets per game and 31.0% target share in the past five weeks are five-digit-salary good when he's projected to trail all game. The kid can ball, too.
• Samuel Brown ($7,300)
  • Brown's 25.7% target share in the past five weeks isn't perfect, but the next-highest on the team is 17.1%, so he's still the odds-on favorite to explode by a wide margin. At a friendly salary, I'll use him to run back most of my lineups featuring Plumlee, Harvey, or both.
• Xzavier Henderson ($7,100)
  • Here's the final piece of our KU-CIN stack. Henderson's 33.8% target share in the past five weeks only trails Nabers on this slate. The Jayhawks' defensive shortcomings should help increase the efficiency and expected fantasy points of the 8.4 targets per contest he's seen in that time, too.

Others to Consider

• Marvin Harrison Jr. ($9,500)
  • Michigan is one of the best rush defenses in the entire country, so I forecast the Buckeyes will be moving via the air -- if at all. Harrison's 35.2% yardage share this season should win him the Biletnikoff, but Emeka Egbuka ($5,800) is still running as many routes as Marv Jr. for a punt-level salary.
    • Buyer beware; there's a chance the Ohio State offense collapses on itself as they did against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
• Kevin Concepcion ($8,600)
  • NC State plays ugly -- by design -- but Concepcion should be busy if this game has spice to it. He's held a 30.0% target share in the past five weeks, and it's no fluke when he's accounted for 31.8% of their passing yards all season.
• Jacob Cowing ($8,100)
  • Though we might be looking at only pass-catchers in the "Duel in the Desert", I believe Cowing is a better tournament play than Tetairoa McMillan ($9,000) this week. Cowing's 27.2% target share overall isn't that far behind McMillan's (27.8%) on a week where value options are sparse.
  • On the other side, the Arizona State Sun Devils' top target is clear. Elijhah Badger ($7,500) has a 26.0% share the past five weeks; no other ASU target is above 17.5%.
• Jamari Thrash ($7,900)
  • As an obvious mini-stack partner to Davis, Thrash's target share (18.8%) wasn't as bad last week as the box score (1.2 FanDuel points) made it seem. He's still drawn 31.0% of Louisville's targets in the past five weeks including the stinker; I'm guessing a bounce-back game is on the way.

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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.