Early College football DFS picks December 5: Win with Kyren

College football DFS running back picks December 5:

Top Tier:

The Syracuse run defense has given up 201.7 yards per game and 21 rushing touchdowns in ten games. Now you see why Kyren Williams is so expensive. He went nuts on North Carolina last week and is in a similarly good spot. My issue with Williams is that this game will likely get out of hand and the Irish are staring down a playoff berth. They need everyone healthy, so I expect the starters to get limited work after this game is out of reach. That limits the ceiling of everyone on the team.

I’m a big fan of Breece Hall, but this is a terrible matchup for him. West Virginia has shut down every back they’ve played this year. This seems like a place to go with Master Teague. Sparty is a little weaker against the run. I like Zander Horvath too, but Nebraska’s run defense isn’t really the issue either. That said, Illinois’ backs went crazy on them so Horvath is a nice GPP option.

Middle Tier:

Isaiah Spiller is in a great spot here. Auburn has allowed 162.4 rushing yards per game and 12 rushing touchdowns in eight games. It’s not so much the spot as the price. Spiller feels underpriced here. Ainias Smith will still vulture some carries, but his true value is on receptions out of the backfield. I like both A&M backs in this one.

Illinois is allowing 194.6 rushing yards per game and has given up nine rushing touchdowns in five games. Iowa rotates backs, but Tyler Goodson still gets more than half the carries. His price is reasonable enough to run in GPP formats based on the good matchup.

I really don’t know what to do with Tennessee. This is a good matchup, especially for Eric Gray, but if the Vols fall behind, they could be forced to abandon the run. Gray is a good enough receiver out of the backfield to give him a good floor but with the sizeable ceilings of those around him, Gray seems like an unnecessary risk.

Stanford has another do it all back on their hands in the form of Austin Jones. Teams have found success running on the Huskies. I expect Stanford to try the same. Utah gouged them for 215 yards on the ground.

This is a huge spot or Zamir White, and later in the game, James Cook. Both are going to get plenty of work on Vandy. I actually like Cook more because he is much cheaper and he might be more explosive than White. He’s risky though.

Bargain Shoppers:

I’ll make this simple: whichever Oklahoma State running back starts, use him. If you don’t want to deal with the headache, this is an acceptable fade as well. The TCU run defense has been solid. The Oklahoma State backs are just so cheap.

Stanford has been torn apart on the ground so far. They have allowed 229 rushing yards per game and eight ground touchdowns in only three games. Washington’s running back situation is a bit of a mess, but Kamari Pleasant was the lead back against Utah. I’d start there because he’s really cheap. Sean McGrew is a strong play for the price as well.

Ricky Person surprisingly had more carries than Zonovan Knight last week, but Knight still poached the touchdown. Whatever the case, both are nicely priced against a struggling Georgia Tech defense. I’ll have some of both and may run them together a few times just in case.