DraftKings CFB picks August 31: Will Bryce Love carry the load?

Our first week College Football extravaganza keeps rolling with a six game slate on Wednesday. The battle for Colorado is in this one, and we only have one FCS team on the slate. That will make this slate a little more interesting as far as how we attack this.

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Top Tier:

Ty Gangi ($10,400): For those of you that are just casual fans or just pay attention to the major conferences, you are missing out on some good football players. At least you have me to let you know that! Gangi is one of the better pure passers that Nevada has ever had. He’s not Kaepernick, but it’s not a good comparison anyway. Gangi isn’t much of a runner. That’s not to say he can’t run. I think we are going to see him take apart a Portland State team that really struggled in pass defense last year. I would trust Gangi over Lewerke here until I see a big jump from Lewerke.

Steven Montez ($9,500): I’m pretty high on Montez after seeing what Colt McDonald did to the Rams in the opener. Montez may not have the weapons that Hawaii does offensively, but Montez is a better quarterback. Look at the numbers that he put up last year playing for a team that just wasn’t very good. The scoring is going to be as high as the elevation in Denver. Montez is going to be right in the middle of all of that.

Daniel Jones ($9,100): Army’s pass defense wasn’t great last year, which is a little concerning since they played a lot of running teams. Jones put up good numbers for a Duke team that played pretty well down the stretch. Jones finished 2017 with three straight games of more than 30 DraftKings points. I wouldn’t bet against him doing it again.

Middle Tier:

K.J. Carta-Samuels ($8,500): Carta-Samuels had a huge game against Hawaii playing from behind for most of the game. That could happen again. I really don’t think that Colorado’s defense is much better than Hawaii’s. Judging by last year anyway. I see Carta-Samuels having to throw a lot trying to keep up with the Ralphies here, so he should be in for another big game.

K.J. Costello ($7,300): San Diego State still has a pretty good defense. Costello is not the focal point of this offense. Bryce Love is. However, calling him a game manager is a little unfair. Costello makes few mistakes. Even if he doesn’t have the best arm, he is good at finding open receivers and not taking a huge risk to get the ball in there. So, yeah, maybe a game manager, but he has a high floor because he just doesn’t make mistakes. Costello wont put up some of the huge numbers that others may in week 1, but he is a solid cash game play.

Bargain Shoppers:

Kelvin Hopkins Jr. ($6,600): Hopkins is taking over for Ahmad Bradshaw, who led Army to heights they hadn’t reached in 20 years. There is optimism that Hopkins can keep it up. He had a good summer, and has been in the system learning from one of the best for the past couple of years. To me, the price on Hopkins is very reasonable. He is going to see a respectable amount of carries, and while he doesn’t seem to be quite as evasive as Bradshaw, there is good potential here for Hopkins.

Drew Eckels ($5,200): Eckels has been given the keys to this high powered offense. While I don’t really like the matchup here, the Hilltoppers are going to have to throw – a lot – to even have a prayer of staying close to the Badgers. This could be a strong opener for Eckels from a fantasy standpoint. We really don’t care if the throws four interceptions if he throws for 400+.

Davis Alexander ($5,000): Nevada’s defense is nothing special, so I don’t see anything wrong with taking a flier on a guy like Alexander. Especially when you consider that Portland State isn’t afraid to run their quarterback. Alexander logged over 350 yards passing and 14 or more carries in each of the last two games. There is quite a bit of potential here.

Top Tier:

Jonathan Taylor ($10,200): There is no doubt about it. Taylor is a stud, and a Heisman favorite. Western Kentucky’s run defense is pretty lousy, but how much is Wisconsin really going to run Taylor? They have a legitimate shot at winning the Big Ten(14) this year, but a lot of that hinges on the health of number 23. I tend to think that Wisconsin will limit Taylor to 15-18 carries here unless the game stays close. That say, Taylor racked up 20+ DraftKings points twice last year with that few carries. There is decent potential, but don’t expect a monster game. I think Wisconsin will limit him in some capacity.

Bryce Love ($9,700): San Diego State was in the top 40 nationally in run defense last year, and Bryce Love still racked up 34.7 DraftKings points on them. I think this game stays pretty close, so I can see Love playing most of the game. For that reason, I would use him over Taylor. There should be more guaranteed touches for Love here in a game that could come down to the wire like it did last year.

Middle Tier:

L.J. Scott ($8,300): Utah State’s run defense wasn’t horrible last year and Scott closed the year strong and should begin that way as well. He will get most of the carries to himself this year, and Michigan State seems willing to feed him. Scott is a solid middle tier option in a game where the Spartans are just going to try to kill the clock in the second half.

Juwan Washington ($7,900): There are a couple of things that most people don’t realize. One, Washington ran for 759 yards last year as the backup to Rashaad Penny. Now he gets the job to himself! Second, Stanford’s run defense was among the worst in FBS. That’s very out of character for the Cardinal, but it’s a spot that Washington and the Aztecs will exploit again. I like Washington quite a bit at this price, and am even comfortable moving out of the top tier to get him here.

Kelton Moore ($7,100): Moore ran for 855 yards last season. Look for more of the same this year. Gangi will poach a few touchdown or two, but Moore should have plenty of opportunities against Portland State. Jaxson Kincaide will get some carries, but it appears Moore will get a much larger share, at least in the first week.

Bargain Shoppers:

Brittain Brown ($6,900): Brown had nearly an even split in the backfield with Shaun Wilson last year. With Wilson gone, Brown didn’t seem to have any contenders this spring, so the job clearly looks to be his. Army has a decent run defense. The numbers don’t quite say so since they faced so many running teams last year. However, Brown as the feature back at this price is pretty tempting.

Darnell Woolfolk ($5,000): A starting RB at Army for this price? Sign me up! Woolfolk ran well last year despite not being the feature back. You know that Army is going to have three or four RB over 500 yards. Considering Woolfolk ran for 812 last year, he should be the favorite to go well over 1000 this year. It starts in game 1.

Kell Walker ($3,900): Walker ran for 629 yards last season, so he wasn’t far behind Woolfolk. You never know who is going to get the bulk in week 1, but there are plenty of carries to go around in Army’s backfield. Especially with Bradshaw gone. I’m not saying the that QB wont run, but it’s quite possible that the backs will carry the load until the QB is more acclimated. There is value here at this price.

Top Tier:

Brendan O’Leary-Orange ($8,400): I will trust Felton Davis more once I know Michigan State will have to throw the ball. So then it comes down to Mannix and O’Leary-Orange. Neither are a bad pick, but O’Leary-Orange has the potential to break it loose where Mannix more of a possession type. O’Leary-Orange has one of the best games for a WR all last season when he went for 216 yards and three TD’s against San Diego State. That’s the kind of upside he has. Mannix doesn’t have that.

Preston Williams ($7,200): Williams was huge in the opener, hauling in nine catches for 188 yards and finding the end zone twice. Carta-Samuels is going to be throwing a lot in the game as well. Was it a product of Hawaii’s defense? Partially, but not all. And hey, Colorado took their share of lumps last year. I already said I’m taking the over on this game. Williams is going to be a part of that.

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Middle Tier:

J.J. Arcega-Whiteside ($6,700): Arcega-Whiteside caught three touchdowns in the bowl game against TCU, so there is understandably lots of optimism coming into this season. This is a reasonable price for a number one receiver. Yes, this is a run first offense, but Stanford proved late in the season last year that they can throw effectively if they need to. They may need to in what promises to be a dogfight with San Diego State.

Olabisi Johnson ($6,400): It’s not often that a receiver goes for 157 yards and two touchdowns and is overshadowed, but that is exactly what happened with Johnson on Saturday. He had a big game in my lineup, but it was Williams who had the huge one. Still, I think that Johnson is the better play here. Neither is a bad one. I could definitely see both going over the century mark again.

Bargain Shoppers:

Jay MacIntyre ($5,700): Part of the problem for the Ralphies last year was the lack of help for QB Steven Montez at receiver. The youngsters are growing up now. I don’t trust that Winfree’s hamstring is 100%, so I think MacIntyre will likely end up with more targets in this game for $1,700 less. We don’t know if he will do anything with said targets, but Mac is likely going to be the de facto number one in this game. That is going to count for something in what should be a high scoring affair.

Kendric Pryor ($5,200): This is a bit of a risk since I don’t see Wisconsin throwing the ball a ton tonight, but Pryor has been the receiver that has stepped up in the fall practices with Cephus and Danny Davis out. Technically, Pryor is still second on the depth chart, but his performances in practice belie that. I think there is really good upside here if Wisconsin decides to open it up a little. This WKU defense has more holes than a Swiss cheese donut.

Lucky Jackson ($5,100): Jackson is the leading returning receiver this year. This Hilltopper offense was gutted by graduations, so we really don’t know what it’s going to look like. The only thing I know for sure is that they are still going to throw. A lot. That makes Jackson worth a flier for the price tag here.

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