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FanDuel College Football Picks For Early October 31

By Mike Marteny

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Sep 13, 2014; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners sooner schooner during the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

There are 15 games in the early Saturday tournaments this week. There aren’t as many options as in previous weeks, but this is not short on star power. Where do you spend your money to place you in the big tournaments? Let’s take a look!

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My Thursday lineup and one of my Saturday lineups placed last week. I still won more than I lost!

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If you want to play FanDuel on Thursday night, we have those picks for you as well! What about Friday? We have you covered there as well!

To finish in the money, you need to choose the best high priced players, and the best cheap options to let you afford some high priced players. I will give you some of each option at each position and let you choose from there.

Here are my FanDuel college football picks for early October 31:

Next: Who Will Put Up Big Numbers At QB?

Oct 24, 2015; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) celebrates after a touchdown pass against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the third quarter at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Quarterback:

Best Bets:

Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma ($9,100): Kansas’s defense is equal opportunity bad. They are allowing 318.7 passing yards per game and 315 rushing yards per game. Only Indiana has allowed more total yards. Only three teams have allowed more passing yards. Only Eastern Michigan has allowed more rushing yards. You want to stack Oklahoma players once again.

Cody Kessler, USC ($8,000): Cal is 102nd in the nation in pass defense. Look for Kessler to throw the ball around plenty in this one. He had a nice day against a good Utah defense. He should be a lot more than nice Saturday afternoon.

Honorable Mention:

Chad Kelly, Mississippi ($8,000): Auburn’s run defense has improved over the last few weeks. The bad news? Their pass defense has not. They still can’t stop both factions. The Tigers are allowing 230.7 passing yards and 200 rushing yards per game. Ole Miss isn’t a strong running team, so Kelly will try to throw on them. We have also seen him take off and rack up some rushing yards on occasion. At any rate, Kelly should have a solid game against this defense.

Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State ($7,000): Texas Tech has given up an average of 280 passing yards per game. Statistically, the Red Raider defense is just a notch above Kansas, whom Rudolph racked up 305 yards against. Expect another solid day from Rudolph, even though the Cowboys will run the ball almost at will.

Dark Horse:

David Blough/Austin Appleby, Purdue ($6,100 or $6,500): Nebraska is still 126th in the country in pass defense. Expect the Boilermakers to try and throw the ball around quite a bit. There has been no word on if Appleby is starting, but he will be available. He has the better arm, but since Purdue has nothing to play for, they may elect to let Blough work through his issues. At any rate, either one of these two could be a good fantasy play depending on who starts.

My pick: Mayfield

Next: Who Are The Best RB's?

Oct 17, 2015; Evanston, IL, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes running back Akrum Wadley (25) runs for a touch down during the first half against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

Running Back:

Best Bets:

Samaje Perine, Oklahoma ($7,200): I’m sure all of you remember what Perine did to Kansas last year. He set an NCAA record for rushing yards in a game with 427, and he didn’t even play for the final 13 minutes of the game. While he likely won’t have another record setting day because the Sooners have a QB that can throw and another back in Joe Mixon who will see carries, there is still a strong possibility that Perine can come close to last week’s output of 201 yards and four touchdowns.

Akrum Wadley, Iowa ($6,800): Wadley took over when Jordan Canzeri went down against Northwestern and tallied 204 yards and four touchdowns against a pretty good defense. Maryland is not pretty good. They are closer to pretty bad. The Terrapins have allowed 175.6 rushing yards per game. Expect Wadley to carry a heavy load against Maryland as well. Another 200 yard game is not out of the question.

Honorable Mention:

Anthony Wales, Western Kentucky ($7,500): With DeAndre Ferby still ailing, look for Wales to see a healthy workload against Old Dominion’s 100th ranked run defense. Ferby will still get some carries, but Wales has more explosiveness right now, and is the more reliable option.

Terrell Newby, Nebraska ($6,100): It is looking more and more likely that Tommie Armstrong will not be able to play against Purdue. With Ryker Fife under center, Nebraska would likely lean heavily on the run game. Purdue has allowed 199.3 rushing yards per game, so Newby and company should see plenty of carries in this one. While Imani Cross and Devine Ozigbo will likely see some carries as well, Newby will carry the bulk of the load.

Dark Horses:

Chris Carson/Rennie Childs, Oklahoma State ($5,100 and $4,700): This is truly a timeshare program that gets more muddled when you add in the presence of Raymond Taylor as well. Carson and Childs each had four carries against Kansas. Taylor had five. Good luck deciphering

My picks: Perine and Wadley

Next: Should You Spend At WR?

October 24, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (9) catches a pass to score a touchdown against the Utah Utes during the second half at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Wide Receiver:

Best Bets:

Taywan Taylor, Western Kentucky ($8,700): Old Dominion’s pass defense isn’t bad, but Taylor still managed to eclipse 100 yards and score a touchdown against the vaunted LSU defense. If he can still produce against LSU, there likely isn’t a team out there that can stop him. If you can afford him, Taylor will produce for you every game.

JuJu Smith, USC ($8,000): Smith is still Cody Kessler’s favorite target, and with good reason. He has caught at least five passes in every game except for the opener against Arkansas State. He has also been above 80 yards in every game, and Washington was the only team to keep him out of the end zone. If he is in the field for USC, he is a strong play for you as well.

Honorable Mention:

Thomas Duarte, UCLA ($7,100): Make no mistake about it: Duarte has surpassed Jordan Payton as UCLA’s go to guy. He has racked up 66 FanDuel points in his last three games, and is a strong bet to put up numbers close to that against Colorado. The Ralphies are a little under average in pass defense. Most of the damage done against them is on the ground, but if Paul Perkins can’t go, which seems to be the case, expect a healthy dose of Duarte to make up for it.

Alex Erickson, Wisconsin ($6,600): Erickson has caught 26 passes over the last three games for the Badgers. While their running game is mostly in neutral, Joel Stave has found Erickson to be a great target to move the chains. He has only scored one touchdown in that span, but as long as he keeps seeing this many targets, he is a strong play because he will get you points no matter what.

Dark Horses:

David Glidden, Oklahoma State ($5,600): Mason Rudolph has to have someone to throw the ball to. In what promises to be a high scoring game against Texas Tech, expect Glidden to see a healthy workload once again. He has caught at least five passes in three straight games, but has been kept out of the end zone. That makes him a bit of a risk, but the price is right.

DeAngelo Yancey, Purdue ($4,700): Yancey is a risk because of the inconsistent QB play of David Blough. That said, Nebraska’s pass defense is awful, especially at trying to keep receivers in front of them. Yancey will get behind the coverage. Can one of their QB’s find him back there?

My picks: Duarte, Glidden, and Yancey

Next: Who Is The Best Bargain In FanDuel?

Nov 8, 2014; Raleigh, NC, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defensive back Corey Griffin (14) reaches for North Carolina State Wolfpack fullback Jaylen Samuels (28) at Carter Finley Stadium. Georgia Tech won 56-23. Mandatory Credit: Liz Condo-USA TODAY Sports

Tight End:

Best Bet:

Jaylen Samuels, North Carolina State ($4,500): Samuels is fantasy gold on FanDuel. He sees more targets than a conventional tight end does, and he also carries the ball with regularity out of the backfield. The Wolfpack use him all over the place. Due to this, he is averaging 17.3 FanDuel points per game this season. The best part? You get him for the lowest price of a conventional RB or WR.

Honorable Mention:

Jordan Leggett, Clemson ($4,000): Leggett has scored six touchdowns in the last five games. He is not heavily targeted, but he is when it matters: in the red zone. He is a slightly more reliable version of…..

Dark Horse:

Mark Andrews, Oklahoma ($3,200): Andrews is the definition of touchdown dependent. He has caught just six passes in his last four games combined. Five of those are  touchdowns.

My pick: Samuels

Stay tuned for the rest of the college FanDuel picks and the rest of the picks against the spread!

Next: ESPN College Pick Em Picks Week 9

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