DraftKings college football picks January 2: Warren peace

Cincinnati Bearcats running back Michael Warren II (3) runs for a touchdown during a game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the East Carolina Pirates on November 2, 2019 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville NC(Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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Eric Gray #3 of the Tennessee Volunteers runs with the ball against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the second quarter at Neyland Stadium on November 30, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images) /

DraftKings college football running back picks January 2:

Top Tier:

Boston College allowed 180.8 rushing yards per game this year, including being trampled by Pooka Williams. That’s not a good sign if you’re an Eagles fan. Michael Warren is going to stand out as one of the better backs to take on the Eagles this year. Warren has at least 18 DraftKings points in every game since week 8. Saddle him up and ride him to a big score here.

Middle Tier:

Warren is the clear-cut number one back, especially considering that Stevie Scott will likely be limited even if he does play. That leaves David Bailey, who despite nine touchdowns backing up Dillon, averaged less that four yards per carry in half the games this year. That’s with double-digit carries in all but one game. I really think Bailey is going to have issues running on this Cincinnati front. He may get 100 yards, but it might take him 30 carries.

Bargain Shoppers:

Running back is awful behind Warren. Eric Gray is an intriguing play since he ran wild on Vanderbilt after Ty Chandler lost his starting job with several poor games in conference play. Gray finished off the season with 246 yards and three touchdowns on the Commodores. He’s not going to run that wild on Indiana, but 100 yards with a touchdown is likely. That’s a great return for the price.

If Scott ends up missing this game, it could be a nice game for freshman Sampson James. James was little-used for much of the year, but he ran for 118 yards on Purdue with Scott out. Regardless of the status of Scott, James is going to see a healthy amount of snaps at a super cheap price. I wish he were on a different slate where we actually needed the value.