Welcome back to the weekly DFS CFB FanDuel review. This edition is focused on the big Saturday, Week 5, Main slate. We’ll discuss top DFS CFB options by position for your FanDuel DFS CFB slates.
While we’re mostly focused on the DFS CFB FanDuel MAIN slate for this article, we’ll also provide some top pick comments for the Early Only and Afternoon Only slates. The Main slate has several of the top games of the day. If you’re looking to play the less popular, but often more interesting, CFB games of the day, you should play the Early Only and Afternoon Only slates. They can be more fun, and provide better GPP opportunity.
We didn’t have a great Friday Night. Our top plays like Memphis’ White at QB, Travon McMillian at running back, and Shenault at wide receiver panned out well. But we didn’t capitalize on the value we could’ve obtained from Tulane’s surprising stomping of Memphis. For today’s Main slate, we’ll try to find better value picks, around our top talent.
Before we get there, a reminder to never take a DFS CFB optimal lineup as ‘bible’ for your personal lineup each day. Use the suggestions as guidance. Also, make sure you follow final lineup thoughts throughout the day on our twitter account @FantasyCPR or me @MattyMcMatt17 look for late breaking lineup news.
Here’s a look at the schedule for the Saturday Week 5 Main Slate:
Oklahoma State at Kansas 12pm ET
West Virginia at Texas Tech 12pm
University of Louisiana at Lafayette at Alabama 12pm ET
Syracuse at Clemson 12pm ET
Baylor at Oklahoma 3:30pm ET
Pittsburgh at UCF (Central Florida) 3:30pm ET
Tennessee at Georgia 3:30pm ET
South Mississippi at Auburn 4pm ET
Michigan at Northwestern 4:30pm ET
Florida at Mississippi State 6pm ET
Stanford at Notre Dame 7:30pm ET
Ohio State at Penn State 7:30pm ET
BYU at Washington 8:30pm ET
As we mentioned, these are mostly the top games of the day. Many of these teams are ranked, or ranked playing an opponent who poses a risk. For the Early and Afternoon only slates, you have less popular games like Temple at Boston College or Indiana at Rutgers.
If you’re deeply involved in college football (like I am), those games present a more interesting play, and better DFS CFB winning opportunity. So we’ll also provide some tips for those slates at the end of each position section.
DFS CFB FanDuel Week 5: Saturday Main Slate Quarterbacks
Look, Will Grier ($10,600) and Kyler Murray ($10,500) are the most offensively productive quarterbacks with the best match-ups today. If you follow college football, you already know that. They’re both great plays for cash games, but not great plays for GPP.
Everyone will want to own either of these two because they’re likely going to blowout their opponents, in the air, with in the first two to three quarters. A clear sign Vegas is very confident Murray and the Sooners will crush the Baylor Bears, for example, is that you likely can’t even find a money line available for that game.
While our picks aren’t solely focused on GPP lineups, we like to find picks that play well for both Cash and GPP, along with lower ownership improving our ability to win each. For slates like last night’s Friday Night games, that is difficult. For slates like today’s Main slate with 13 games among some of the best teams in college football with the most talent on the board, it’s pretty easy to spread out the ownership.
With that in mind, I love two quarterbacks for today’s Main slate. With so many top quarterback plays on the board, and the Penn State Nittany Lions the underdog hosting the Ohio State Buckeyes, Trace McSorley ($10,000) may drop off the radar for many DFS CFB FanDuel players. I think that’s a mistake.
First, we need to keep in mind Ohio State’s top defensive lineman Nick Bosa is now out of the game with a recent injury. And regardless of whether PSU stays in this game, takes a lead, or even gets blown out, McSorley is going to be on the football field (assuming healthy) and remain a huge part of the offense.
You may think, of course he’s a huge part of the offense, he’s the quarterback. But McSorley is averaging nearly 10 rushing carries per game, over 50 rushing yards per game, and six rushing touchdowns.
In the air, McSorely averages two passing touchdowns a game, has only threw two interceptions, and around 200 passing yards per game. Trace, is likely to hit around his 30 point-per-game DFS CFB FanDuel average again tonight, even agains the Buckeyes. And the ownership stays low.
If you don’t like the risk Trace has against the Buckeyes, although I think it’s low, my next favorite quarterback is Clemson’s starting signal-caller Trevor Lawrence ($9,000). There is HUGE value potential with this pick.
The Clemson Tigers have had Kelly Bryant and Lawrence sharing snaps to start this season. But over the first four games, Lawrence has looked like the better quarterback and has earned the starting job. For more confident, keep in mind that Bryant recently declared he will transfer.
So we know for a fact, pending health, Trevor will be on the field throughout the entire game, while the Clemson Tigers host Syracuse today. Even while sharing time, Lawrence has averaged a fairly consistent 15 points per game.
But against Georgia Tech last week, Trevor slung four passing touchdowns with just 18 attempts. As a result, Lawrence piled up over 23 points. And with full time on the field against a similar defensive talent, it’s likely Trevor can exceed 30 points today. He may be more heavily owned once other DFS CFB FanDuel players catch on, but because of the long list of talent today, this value play could also be overlooked.
Early Only: Lawrence is still my favorite play of this slate. But Eric Dungey ($10,000) is a great GPP play on the road against Clemson and Kellen Mond ($9,900) has a ton of value hosting Arkansas.
Afternoon Only: McKenzie Milton ($10,400) is the top quarterback play for this slate. For better value and a second QB option in your lineup, I love Sam Ehlinger ($9,400) and Jake Fromm ($9,300).
DFS CFB FanDuel Week 5: Saturday Main Slate Running Backs
Averaging right around 20 DFS CFB FanDuel points-per-game with five touchdowns, at least one per game, on the ground and snagging one from the air last week, Travis Etienne ($9,900) is a clear top pick at running back this week.
Etienne’s salary is most expensive because he’s more consistent than say a Squally Canada ($9,200). But, again, I think PSU’s offense will get overlooked hosting Ohio State this week. Penn State’s weakness this year has been their defense, not their offense. It’s likely many haven’t recognized that yet, with Sequon Barkley a big name in the NFL already, many assumed an offensive drop-off.
So far, that hasn’t been the case thanks to McSorley and running back Miles Sanders ($9,800). In fact, in some ways Sanders has left off where Barkley was from last season. Yes, Miles hasn’t demonstrated the same pass-catching ability as Barkley, but we’ve seen some. And Sanders 200 yards on the ground last week in Champaign, IL was noticeable. Sanders also had three touchdowns with 22 carries.
For all of my Main slate lineups, I’m using Sanders as my anchor at running back. You may think, but if Penn State falls behind, considering they’re an underdog, they have to throw the football more. Yes, they do. But the run game is a HUGE part of PSU’s offense, and Sanders would then likely see several targets in the air too.
For our second running back pick in the Main DFS CFB FanDuel slate, I love a guy consistently piling up around 10 FanDuel points-per-game, while also somehow flying under the radar. Elijah Holyfield ($8,100), yes, Evander’s son, may not be the lead back in Georgia.
But Holyfield is getting a consistent dose of around ten carries per game, and his attempts spiked to 14 against Mizzu last week. And over the last three weeks, Elijah has at least 70 rushing yards per game, a touchdown, and one reception for 24 yards last week. Against a Tennessee defense at home this week, Holyfield should be an easy 10+ points for a modest running back salary.
Early Only: AJ Dillon ($9,300) is a tremendous running back pick bouncing back against Temple at home this weekend. Syracuse’s Moe Neal ($8,000) and Bama’s Damien Harris ($7,600) are quite, low-owned, value picks at the position for this slate.
Afternoon Only: For this slate, I love two under-the-radar picks. Cam Akers ($8,400) is all but forgotten this season and has a great match up. And again, I love Holyfield in this slate, generating a 20+ points from this position with these two picks, while giving us plenty of salary back for bigger plays at the other positions.
DFS CFB FanDuel Week 5: Saturday Main Wide Receivers
The wide receiver position in DFS CFB is the riskiest position to fill out. Even some top receivers in football may never see the football this week. You can’t just fill in three top receivers, to seal in points, and then expect to have enough salary left over for decent QB and Running Back picks. You have to find value here, and understand there’s definite risk.
That being said, there are three wide receiver picks I love, with low ownership, who consistently provide points each week. Better, I think at least one of these picks likely sees a spike in receptions on Saturday.
We’re going to start with targets for our top two quarterbacks for this slate. For McSorley, KJ Hamler ($8,900) is the buzz name coming out of Happy Valley. But a lot of the buzz is coming from Hamler’s return game, not his receiving game. Not convinced? KJ is only getting one to three (max) receptions each week. That’s not enough to justify an $8.9K salary. Yes, he has three touchdowns in four games, but there’s not guarantee he’ll get on today.
Instead, we like Juwan Johnson ($8,200). For $700 less salary, we’re getting the Nittany Lions receiver with 12 receptions in the last three games. Last week, Johnson had four receptions, 51 yards, and a touchdown against the Illini. Johnson should see at least another 5+ targets while PSU continues to hang around with OSU today.
From Clemson, we’ve been watching a value play for weeks now. We played, but didn’t write about, Hunter Renfrow ($7,300) (not the baseball player) last week. Renfrow is a senior part of the Tigers passing game. Hunter has been a name called on broadcasts over the last three years, but you haven’t heard his name much this season.
That likely begins to change this week. Renfrow has seen two to four receptions per game, but is also averaging around 40 receiving yards par game. Also, Hunter hauled in one of Lawrence’s four touchdown passes last week. With a settled quarterback situation for Clemson, it’s likely Hunter’s targets spike today, making him a huge value play.
Like PSU’s Johnson, Ryan Davis ($7,500) is an unsung hero in Auburn’s passing game. Davis hauls in at least three receptions per game, and has as much as seven, against Washington to start the season. Today, Ryan should see at least three receptions and hopefully (finally) hauls in a touchdown. Even if he doesn’t we’re paying a cheap price for close to ten points.
Early Only: Kendrick Rogers ($8,900) is a top WR pick for this slate, if you can afford him. If you need to save $200 in salary, go with Marcus Simms ($8,700). Devonta Smith ($8,200) is a solid mid-range value pick, and you know how I feel about Renfrow. Hunter should be owned in all formats for any slate where he’s available.
Afternoon Only: Look, I get it. We picked FSU’s offense against Syracuse and it bombed. So if you’re following along, you might roll your eyes with this value play. But I love the value Nyqwan Murray ($7,600) provides against Louisville today. Murray has three to six receptions per game, over 50 receiving yards in three of the four games, and piled up over 80 yards last week. This group of receiving options is un-remarkable, and Murray stands out. With that said, I also like Riley Ridley ($7,800), Freddie Swain ($8,200), and Dredrick Snelson ($8,600).
DFS CFB FanDuel Week 5: Saturday Main Slate Summary
There’s a lot to consider for the Main slate on Saturday, week five of the DFS CFB FanDuel season. At the quarterback position, we’ve narrowed our focus down to McSorley and Lawrence. If you’re playing the Early Only slate, Dungey and Mond are the top QB picks. For the Afternoon Only slate, we like Milton and Ehlinger.
At running back, we’re sticking with Penn State and grabbing Miles Sanders. Elijah Holyfield has somehow continued to provide dominate numbers while flying under the radar. Grab Elijah while he remains cheap. Dillon and Neal are our favorite picks for the Early Only slate. And Akers is (somehow) a sneaky pick for the Afternoon Only slate.
The Wide Receiver position can be tricky. There are top picks every week, but you have to have at least one or two affordable picks as well, and many of those guys can score zero points just as easily as they can land you above ten points.
For the Main slate, we love Penn State’s Johnson and Clemson’s Renfrow to stack along with our quarterback picks McSorley and Lawrence. Ryan Davis is a rock-solid receiver from Auburn, who gives us a solid shot at over ten points for his pick, while also leaving plenty of salary on the table.
For the Early Only slate, we love Rogers (no relation to me), Simms, and Devonta Smith . For the Afternoon Only slate, I like Snelson, Swain, and Ridley, along with a risky Murray pick who’s likely low-owned thanks to the FSU offensive pessimism persistent within the Seminoles football organization.
With that summary in mind, here’s a look at a sample lineup for the Week 5 DFS CFB FanDuel Saturday Main Slate:
QB Trace McSorley ($10,000)
RB Miles Sanders ($9,800)
RB Elijah Holyfield ($8,100)
WR Juwan Johnson ($8,200)
WR Ryan Davis ($7,500)
WR Hunter Renfrow ($7,300)
Flex Trevor Lawrence ($9,000)
Remaining Salary: $100
Note: This is a recommended lineup after discussing our top options for the slate. You should use this as a guide, and provide your own input when building DFS CFB FanDuel lineups. We are not telling you, or selling you, to use this lineup.
Best of luck in your DFS CFB FanDuel contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all your DFS news and analysis across College Football, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, EPL, PGA, and NASCAR this fall!