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Early DraftKings college football picks October 5: Stop! Hamler time!

By Mike Marteny

BLOOMINGTON, IN - OCTOBER 20: Penn State (WR) KJ Hamler (1) running back a kick during a college football game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and Indiana Hoosiers on October 20, 2018 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, IN. (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN - OCTOBER 20: Penn State (WR) KJ Hamler (1) running back a kick during a college football game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and Indiana Hoosiers on October 20, 2018 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, IN. (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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DraftKings college football
TULSA, OK – SEPTEMBER 14: Oklahoma State Cowboys RB Chuba Hubbard (30) looks back towards the defense on a long TD run during a college football game between the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and the Oklahoma State Cowboys on September 14, 2019, at H.A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa, OK. (Photo by David Stacy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Early DraftKings college football running back picks October 5

Top Tier:

If you aren’t playing Chuba Hubbard, you’re doing it wrong. It doesn’t even matter who Oklahoma State is playing at this point.

The Louisville run defense is solid, but AJ Dillon cares nothing about that. Dillon is sixth in the country in rushing yards and had three straight games of 150 or more. You could probably fade Hubbard for Dillon this week, but it might be better to try and fit them both.

It appears as though Texas is about ready to give Keaontay Ingram a full workload again. He had a season high 21 carries against Oklahoma State. West Virginia’s defense has left a lot to be desired so far. I expect Texas to be mostly vanilla and balanced. They don’t want to leave anything on tape for Oklahoma, so it should mean a solid game for Ingram.

Middle Tier:

The LSU running back situation is not fluid, but Clyde Edwards-Helaire has scored in every game and turned in his first 100 yard game of the season against Vanderbilt. Clyde still only got 14 carries, but if he’s going to keep scoring, he needs to be on our radar.

Minnesota’s run defense has been a strength, but with Illinois not being able to throw, Reggie Corbin is going to have a pretty full workload anyway. He went for triple digits against both Eastern Michigan and Nebraska, two solid run defenses as well. Corbin is a decent play if the Illini can keep it close.

It was Darrius Smith, not Gary Brightwell, that got most of the work filling in for J.J. Taylor last week. The word out of Tucson is that Taylor is looking promising to play this weekend. If he’s out, Smith is a strong play. If Taylor plays, I like the upside against Colorado.

Bargain Shoppers:

It’s hard to trust any Oklahoma running back, but Trey Sermon found the end zone twice against Texas Tech, and the price is right on him. All of the Oklahoma backs should get work against a Kansas defense that is allowing 211.4 rushing yards per game. Just keep in mind that Hurts is going to rack up quite a few yards and Rhamondre Stevenson in garbage time may outscore Sermon.

I have a mild interest in Journey Brown, but the Penn State backfield is clearly in flux right now. At least two other backs will get carries, so I don’t know that Brown does enough to make him worth the price.

For the second straight game, SaRoderick Thompson led Texas Tech in yards and carries. He also caught four passes out of the backfield. Thompson is going to be in a few of my lineups for value once again. The freshman led the entire team in touches last week against Oklahoma.