Early college football DFS picks December 12: King me!

College football DFS running back picks December 12:

Top Tier:

For as good as the Arkansas defense has been, their run defense leaves something to be desired. The Hogs have allowed 189.4 rushing yards per game and 15 touchdowns on the ground in nine games. That’s plenty enough for Najee Harris to put up the numbers that he and his owners are used to.

The Troy defense has been solid, but CJ Marable has done work even against solid defenses. He was the offense against BYU and had a similarly huge game against Texas State. Marable hay have the most upside of any back on this slate.

For the first time in about two months, Javonte Williams is cheaper than Michael Carter. You know the risks with Carolina backs. I do think that one of them has a strong game here and I would lean towards Williams getting the short yardage work. However, Larry Rountree looks like a better option for around the same price. Running anyone in this tier is a risk though.

Middle Tier:

Jake Funk is back on the depth chart against Rutgers. Anyone in a Maryland uniform is in a good spot here with so many tough matchups going on. They all feel cheap too, even though Funk comes at less of a discount than Taulia.

Louisville has allowed 185.2 rushing yards per game and 19 ground touchdowns in ten games. This is a big spot for Christian Beal-Smith. Wake is a much more dangerous team on the ground anyway. CBS could be in for a nice game here.

I said it last week and I’ll say it again here. Travis Dye is the Oregon back you want. Washington has allowed 161.3 rushing yards and two ground touchdowns per game in the four games. There’s nice potential for a guy like Dye on this slate and he’s very reasonably priced.

Wake is allowing 182 rushing yards per game and has allowed 11 ground touchdowns in seven games. Cunningham will chew up some of those stats, but Jalen Mitchell keeps getting more and more carries. The freshman seems to have taken most of the job for himself and has scored in each of the last three games. There’s good potential in this one.

I prefer the slate-breaking upside of James Cook over Zamir White here. Cook is a huge risk, but Missouri’s run defense has been pretty good. Cook’s work out of the backfield makes him even more dangerous.

Bargain Shoppers:

This is a huge spot for Jashaun Corbin. The Duke run defense has been awful all season long. It didn’t suddenly get better. Corbin has as much upside as any value pick in the slate and should come up huge based on the matchup and price point. He’s one of my favorite plays on the entire slate.

About the only bright spot for Washington in the loss to Stanford was some clarity in the backfield situation. Sean McGrew had a season high in carries and yards and also scored twice. The Oregon defense has been gutted on the ground, allowing 184.2 rushing yards per game and 12 rushing touchdowns in just five games. This is a huge spot for McGrew and company.

This is a huge spot for Memphis backs as well, but they have started three separate backs in each of the last three games. Rodrigues Clark still doesn’t seem to be at full strength and Asa Martin only averaged three yards per carry against Tulane. Whoever starts is definitely worth a look though.