College football DFS picks November 4: Grin and Jaret

College football DFS quarterback picks November 4:

Top Tier:

Dustin Crum is expensive, but he’s worth it. He threw 20 touchdowns to just two interceptions last season despite playing behind a pretty bad line. Oh, did I mention that he also led the Flashes in rushing by more than 100 yards over any running back? Crum is the safe option with solid upside to go with it.

Drew Plitt doesn’t have the running ability of Crum and he makes a few more mistakes, but he can pile up the yards. Miami’s pass defense wasn’t great last year. The Ball State passing game is priced up as a result. I like the floor of Crum more, but don’t sleep on the upside of Plitt.

This Toledo quarterback situation is not a good one. All three returning quarterbacks took snaps last year and none were very efficient behind Mitch Guadagni. Eli Peters has the most experience, starting ten games in his career, but he has thrown just six touchdowns in 17 career appearances. Carter Bradley is even worse, throwing just one touchdown pass in 100 attempts last year. Dequan Finn probably has the most upside. The fact that Toledo hasn’t named a starter yet means this is a mess you want to avoid, no matter how good this matchup looks. Peters is the one if you want to throw a blind dart in a large GPP.

Middle Tier:

Jon Wassink is gone, so Kaleb Eleby, who started the last five games of 2018 for the Broncos, should take over under center. Eleby didn’t play last year, but he was decent in those last few games of 2018. That’s good enough against a bad Akron defense.

Brett Gabbert has the pedigree, but that hasn’t meant much in his time with the Redhawks. He has a good arm, but not great. The lack of a big play receiver and workhorse back has hurt, but the Redhawks’ offense looks a little better this year. My issue here is that the Ball State defense was pretty good last year. Gabbert is solid, but maybe less so against this defense.

The NIU defense is one of the best in the conference, but Kyle Vantrease is a little better than your average quarterback. I like him at this price, especially with all of the returning talent on Buffalo’s offense.

Preston Hutchinson was pretty good last year in relief of Mike Glass. There’s still some unknown with him, but Hutchison is worth a dart here. He’s not a mobile guy like Glass was. He’s going to stand back there and throw and this is a solid matchup for him to do so.

Bargain Shoppers:

Akron’s offense was a comedy of errors for much of last season, but Kato Nelson did a pretty good job for a team that didn’t have one player run for more than 200 yards the entire season. The leading rusher was a wide receiver. That’s how bad it was. The running game should be better this year, so Nelson is a decent dart. Don’t expect miracles against this Western Michigan defense though.

Boston College transfer Matt McDonald is easily better than any quarterback the Falcons had last year and might be the best one they’ve had since Omar Jacobs. Using him against Toledo at this price is going to be a popular pick for your second quarterback if you’re running two.

Frank Solich strongly hinted that Kurtis Rourke, who was expected to take over the starting quarterback job from his brother Nathan, will split time under center with UNLV transfer Armani Rogers. This is a decent matchup for both of them if you want to throw a GPP dart. Rogers has more experience, but Rourke probably has a better grasp of the offense.

Cal transfer Ross Bowers is the NIU quarterback by default after Marcus Childers left the program. Bowers has a good arm but struggled in this offense last year. Still, for this price in a game in which NIU will likely fall behind, he’s a solid dart throw.