FanDuel College Football Full Lineups September 1

Saturday’s College Football games feature some great matchups, including Washington at Auburn and Alabama vs. Louisville. Here is a sample lineup that you can use to win big this weekend!

College football is back, and it will be an exciting first week! We will see a few top-25 teams in action on Friday, including Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Stanford. However, Saturday’s slate of games also have some intriguing and exciting matchups, so let’s take a look at some players that you should consider for your daily fantasy lineup.

*Starting salary: $60,000

Quarterback: Justin Herbert, Oregon Ducks ($10,000)

Opponent: vs. Bowling Green State 

Oregon hasn’t had much quarterback success after Marcus Mariota left for the NFL. That all changed when Justin Herbert became the starter. One of the top QB prospects for the 2019 NFL Draft and a Heisman candidate, Herbert might be more valuable to the Ducks than any other player is to his team. After starting the season 4-1 last year, Herbert went down with a broken collarbone, and Oregon went into a tailspin. They went 1-4 without him, and all of those games came against conference opponents. With the exception of their 41-20 win vs Utah, the Oregon offense didn’t score more than 14 points without Herbert. In the games he did play, the lowest number of points they scored was 28, which came in a 38-28 lose to Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl. In 2017, he completed 67.5% of his passes, threw 15 TDs and only 5 picks in eight games.

Oregon opens the season at home vs. Bowling Green. They’re coming off a 2-10 season, and should be an easy matchup for Herbert and the Oregon offense. With Royce Freeman leaving for the NFL, Herbert should be the main feature for the Ducks this season, and barring injury, should be one of the top QBs in the country.

Running Back #1: Damien Harris, Alabama Crimson Tide ($10,200)

Opponent: vs. Louisville

Alabama has featured some great running backs during this sensational run, including Mark Ingram, Eddie Lacy, and Derrick Henry. This year, the featured back will be senior Damien Harris. We all know Nick Saban’s philosophy: run the football, play great defense, win titles. That formula has brought him six national championships, five of them being at Alabama. Harris rushed for 1,000 yards last season and averaged 7.4 yards per carry. The year before that, he rushed for 1,040 yards and averaged 7.2 yards per carry. The offensive scheme may change a bit this year if Tua Tagovailoa gets the starting QB job over Jalen Hurts, as Tua is a better passer than Hurts. However, I expect Harris to be used a lot this season, regardless of who the quarterback is.

Alabama opens their season against the Louisville Cardinals at a neutral site at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. Even after losing star QB Lamar Jackson to the NFL, Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino will certainly feature a high-powered offense, but the defense remains questionable at best. They were not a great defensive team last year, and have hired a new defensive coordinator in Brian VanGorder, which means it will probably take some time for the defense to click, so Harris shouldn’t have too much trouble against them.

Running Back #2: Joshua Kelley, UCLA Bruins ($8,100)

Opponent: vs. Cincinnati 

UCLA underwent some significant changes during the offseason. They fired Jim Mora and hired Chip Kelly, and they lost star QB Josh Rosen to the NFL. Michigan transfer Wilton Speight will get the starting nod to open the season, and there are a lot of questions about how this UCLA offense will function. With Chip Kelly at the helm, expect a lot of the hurry-up and spread offenses. This might mean that Joshua Kelley, in addition to getting carries, will also get opportunities to catch passes out of the backfield. The running game for UCLA was pretty terrible last year, as they ranked 103rd in yards per carry and 116th in yards per game. With Rosen gone, and with Chip Kelly as the head coach, the UCLA offense should be more balanced, and the running game overall should be much improved.

The Cincinnati Bearcats barely cracked the top 100 in terms of team defense last season, so a seasoned college coach such as Chip Kelly should be able to take advantage of them. It’s possible that UCLA will use more than one QB during the game, so look for Joshua to be featured a fair amount.

Wide Receiver #1: Dillon Mitchell, Oregon Ducks ($8,800)

Opponent: vs. Bowling Green State

Justin Herbert should have a strong performance against Bowling Green. Therefore, it only makes sense to pair Herbert with his top target from last year, Dillon Mitchell. Through 12 games, Mitchell had 42 catches, 517 yards, and 4 TDs. While those stats might seem rather plain, remember that he played in four games without Herbert. In those four games, Mitchell had only two catches for ten yards and no TDs. The passing attack will be strong this season, as long as Herbert stays healthy. That will mean plenty of opportunities for Mitchell to put up numbers.

One thing to note is that Mitchell did suffer an injury during practice earlier in the week. However, head coach Mario Cristobal said that he should be ready to go for Saturday’s game. It seems highly unlikely that he wouldn’t play, but keep an eye on the injury reports regardless.

Wide Receiver #2: DeAndre Thompkins, Penn State Nittany Lions ($7,600)

Opponent: vs. Appalachian State

Last year, Saquon Barkely and Trace McSorley formed an impressive tandem. This season, the focus will likely shift entirely to McSorley with Barkely leaving for the NFL. Senior DeAndre Thompkins should be a big part of the Penn State offense, with WR Daesean Hamilton and TE Mike Gesicki both gone. He’s not the most physically intimidating WR, but Thompkins is extremely fast, and will burn secondaries in a blink. He ran a 4.34 40, and while he’ll have to share some targets with Juwan Johnson, he is a receiver with big play ability, and will use his speed and experience to his advantage.

This matchup should be an easy one for Thompkins. While Appalachian State is coming off a 9-4 record, the talent level is just not the same in comparison to Penn State.

Wide Receiver #3: Amon-Ra St. Brown, USC Trojans ($7,000)

Opponent: vs. UNLV

This pick is probably the most unreliable, as I had to comprise somewhere with the budget. However, the upside is exciting. Amon-Ra St. Brown, while only a freshman, looks to be a promising talent for the Trojans. He will most likely be used in the slot, and has a great chance to be one of the starters if he can impress against UNLV. With Sam Darnold gone, USC will turn to five-star recruit JT Daniels for quarterback duties. If both freshmen can develop a rapport early, it will be fun to watch for the next few years.

UNLV should be easy to navigate for USC, but you never know with a true freshman starting at quarterback. It is still not completely clear how St. Brown will be used by head coach Clay Helton, but even if he doesn’t start every snap, he should get some special teams opportunities as a punt/kick returner.

Super FLEX: Henry Ruggs III, Alabama Crimson Tide ($8,300)

Opponent: vs. Louisville 

One of the cool things about daily fantasy college football is the Super FLEX position. You can add any position player, including quarterbacks. I decided to go with a receiver here.

While Alabama has always been known to focus a lot on the running game, they might be a little more balanced this season. It seems as though Tua Tagovailoa will win the starting QB job over Jalen Hurts, and with the arm talent that Tua has, it seems unlikely that Nick Saban won’t take advantage of it. This is great news for Henry Ruggs. Last year, Calvin Ridley got a lot of shine. However, it was Ruggs who led the Crimson Tide in TD catches last year with six. Last year, he wasn’t a full-time starter, being that he was a true freshman. This season, he should move into a starting role, and he has already developed somewhat of a connection with Tagovailoa. Four of his six touchdowns last year came courtesy of Tagovailoa, so that relationship should only get better in 2018.

As I mentioned with Damien Harris, defense isn’t Louisville’s strong suit, and they lost their top corner, Jaire Alexander, to the NFL. This game will be a good chance for Ruggs to build upon his promising freshman campaign.

*Remaining salary: $0

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