Free This Week Only! CFB DFS DraftKings Main Slate Breakdown: Week 0
Using his experience as a former scout and staff member at Central Florida under Josh Heupel, Jordan Vanek takes an in-depth look at the upcoming CFB DFS main slate on DraftKings for Week 0. Winner of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association’s 2025 College Sports Writer of the Year award, Jordan’s deep dive into the best stacks, running backs, and wide receivers is a must-read before you start building your lineups.
I’m entering year three of providing college football content to the RotoGrinders subscribers, and last year’s content brought me the FSWA College Sports Writer of the Year award. It’s been a pleasure to provide analysis that you won’t see in many places and look at the game through a different lens. So thank you to those who decide to read, ask questions, and support my work.
With the constant changes in NIL, the transfer portal, recruiting, coaching moves, and ever-changing rosters, I’ve gone even deeper this offseason than in years past. Last season’s data simply doesn’t matter as much for many of these teams, and I can’t wait to start working with fresh data. For now, we’re leaning heavily on the coverage of practices, game film, and forward-looking projections. Normally, my work dives deep into analytics, but for Week 0, this will be a more speculative piece based on the information I’ve gathered throughout the offseason and what I’ve seen firsthand. To give you an idea of what to expect from this article as we get more information and data on each team, here is a link to last year’s conference championship article. As you can see, we’ll be diving into coaching philosophies, coverage rates, and other key factors that impact each slate.
For those who are new here, our CFB DFS projections (Editor’s Note: initial projections for Week 0 have not been uploaded yet as of Monday morning) will be updated throughout Saturday’s slate with any news that comes out. Our projections team will also be posting real-time updates in the RotoGrinders Discord, letting you know what news came in and how it impacted the projections.
CFB DFS DraftKings Picks: Top Stacks, RBs, & WRs for Week 0
To start, the teams this data will matter most for are NC State, San Jose State, Virginia, Jacksonville State, Eastern Michigan, New Mexico State, Florida State, Hawaii, and UNLV. For USC, Memphis, Sacramento State, and Stanford, this chart is essentially meaningless.
The biggest takeaway from a game-analysis perspective is Virginia’s heavy use of man coverage. That will be an intriguing aspect of this matchup because NC State has one wide receiver who has been extremely productive against man coverage. We’ll get to him later in this piece.
Jacksonville State blitzed at one of the highest rates in the country last season, and I expect them to bring plenty of pressure against a first-year starter for North Dakota State. Both teams should live in single-high coverage because of their high blitz rates.
UNLV is another defense that likes to blitz and trusts its cornerbacks in one-on-one coverage. Memphis has a quarterback who rushed for 10 touchdowns last season, so UNLV will need to find a way to contain him when bringing pressure.
Game Stacks
Caden Creel ($8,000, QB, Jacksonville State)
Deondre Johnson ($5,200, WR, Jacksonville State)
DJ Scott ($6,900, RB, North Dakota State) or WR Mekhi Collins ($4,200, WR, North Dakota State)
Creel is likely to be the highest-owned quarterback on this slate, and for good reason. He ran for over 1,000 yards last season despite not playing until Week 5. Jacksonville State has a new offensive coordinator, Taylor Housewright, and normally that would be a concern. However, Housewright’s last stop was at Montana State from 2021 to 2023, where starting quarterback Tommy Mellott rushed for 28 touchdowns. Oh, and his backup quarterback added another 33. That’s 61 rushing touchdowns from his quarterbacks over a 3-season span.
You don’t have to stack a running quarterback, but Johnson is an easy pairing for me here. North Dakota State will likely be forced to put extra bodies in the box to account for Creel’s rushing ability, which should create one-on-one opportunities on the outside for the 6’8” Johnson, who accounted for over 45% of Creel’s air yards last season. North Dakota State isn’t projected to start a cornerback taller than 6’0”, giving Johnson a significant size advantage and plenty of potential jump-ball opportunities along the sidelines.
Scott is getting a chance to be RB1 for this North Dakota State team, and the run scheme they put together is a beauty to watch. The two main rushers (Cole Payton and Barika Kpeenu) are gone, and they had 33 rushing TDs last season. And if you want a somewhat cheaper player at the WR position, Collins is a solid option. He’s got a big frame, had the most yards with the new QB Nathan Hayes last season, and is a captain for the team.
Marcus Stokes ($6,200, QB, Memphis)
Tychaun Chapman ($4,100, WR, Memphis)
Jai’Den Thomas ($7,800, RB, UNLV)
Stokes was originally going to be a Florida Gator, but some issues revoked that opportunity and ultimately led him to West Florida to start his collegiate career. Now, he has a chance to develop into the four-star prospect he once was under a coach, Charles Huff, who has ties to Nick Saban.
Memphis also has an offensive coordinator, Kevin Decker, who has shown he can design an offense in multiple ways. At Fordham, his offenses averaged 44 points per game and threw for 86 touchdowns over a 2-season span. He then went to Old Dominion and orchestrated one of the best rushing offenses in the country, including one that gave Indiana problems in Week 1 last season.
I expect Memphis to lean on the run, and Stokes gives them the ability to use QB power near the goal line. I also think RPOs will be a major part of the offense, particularly when attacking the slot against UNLV. UNLV allowed the 14th-most receiving yards to slot wide receivers last season, and Chapman is expected to start in that role for Memphis. He has high-level speed that allows him to run away from defenders, and he averaged over 6 yards after the catch last season at Southern Miss under Huff.
The bring-back here is simple: Thomas is the safest bet on the UNLV offense. He finished last season with 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns on 187 touches. We still aren’t sure who the quarterback will be or which wide receiver will emerge as the primary playmaker. Taz Reddicks ($3,300, WR) is a name to watch, but he’s not someone I’m interested in using as a bring-back option in this matchup.
Mini Stacks
Audric Harris ($4,400, WR, Hawaii)
Micah Ford ($6,300, RB, Stanford)
Harris transfers over from Washington and reunites with his high school quarterback, Micah Alejado ($6,500). I don’t expect Pofele Ashlock to play, which could make Harris the No. 1 option in this pass-heavy offense. The role Ashlock leaves behind is an excellent one for Harris to step into. Ashlock led the team in targets with Alejado at quarterback last season, and it’s a role that can rack up fantasy points quickly.
Stanford has a new staff that includes three former offensive-line coaches, while its head coach, Tavita Pritchard, is a former Stanford quarterback who was brought in by GM Andrew Luck. I love what Stanford did this offseason because there was a clear emphasis on becoming Stanford again. Their moves have placed a significant focus on the running game, which is when this program has historically been at its best.
Ford should be the lead back in this offense, and I think he’s in for a great season. He averaged more yards after contact per attempt than Mark Fletcher last year. The problem was that he was getting hit just 0.6 yards downfield on average. I expect this staff to create more room for him to work, and if they do, we should see some big rushing performances from Ford this season.
Jerry McClure ($5,000, WR, San Jose State)
Waymond Jordan ($8,000, RB, USC) or King Miller ($7,700, RB, USC)
San Jose State offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann has consistently produced wide receivers at his last few stops. At Texas State, with T.J. Finley at quarterback, he produced three wide receivers who had over 700 receiving yards. Over the last two seasons at San Jose State, Nick Nash and Danny Scudero put up huge numbers in his offense.
Most of the offseason buzz has surrounded McClure, so I’m listing him here as the preferred option. However, I want to pay close attention to where Trace Hernandez ($3,000, WR) lands on the depth chart. Hernandez played with starting quarterback Luke Weaver ($5,200) in JUCO before transferring to San Jose State, so there’s already some familiarity between the two.
USC can truly beat San Jose State any way it wants offensively, and I don’t have a strong lean toward either running back because I think both are great options. It’s ultimately going to come down to who gets more touches, and I could easily see both backs going for over 100 yards on 15 or fewer touches.
Top Running Back Plays
Below are some of the best RB plays whom I have not yet discussed.
Ousmane Kromah ($7,300, Florida State)
Both Quintrevion Wisner ($6,500) and Samuel Singleton ($5,100) have been banged up throughout camp, while Kromah is a player Florida State paid up to retain on the roster. The biggest reason I love Kromah here, though, is the addition of new running-backs coach Kam Martin.
Martin was at UCF with new offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr., where they consistently fed RJ Harvey the football. In fact, Martin has never gone a season as a running-backs coach without producing a 1,000-yard rusher. I expect Kromah to be that 1,000-yard rusher for Florida State this season, and I think it starts with a huge game in Week 0.
Jayden Scott ($6,100, NC State)
Scott takes over the backfield for NC State this season with the departure of Hollywood Smothers. Scott is an electric talent and averaged over 3 yards after contact last season. The only knock for the NC State run game is that Will Wilson ($6,100, QB) stole 10 rushing TDs away from this group.
Top Wide Receiver Plays
Below are some of the best WR plays whom I have not yet discussed.
Duce Robinson ($7,000, Florida State)
Robinson is in arguably the best WR role in the country and could have 150 yards before halftime. I prefer Kromah over Robinson, but you can play both of them in the same lineup. Micahi Danzy ($5,400, WR) is another name to note for FSU who could turn any play into a 70-yard touchdown with his track-level speed.
Nick Devereaux ($4,900, Eastern Michigan)
Devereaux was a leader at WR last season with Noah Kim ($7,400, QB) and is in a great matchup at home against Sacramento State. Devereaux is a safe-floor WR on this slate and one of the few data points we can actually look at from last season.
Jojo Trader ($3,200, NC State)
Trader reunites with his high school quarterback, CJ Bailey ($6,600), and this is a great matchup for their connection. Virginia is not afraid to play man coverage, and Trader has averaged over 3 yards per route run against man coverage throughout his college career.
Bailey has spoken about Trader’s growth and maturity, along with how much more comfortable he looks in his new environment. The talent has always been there for Trader; it was about learning to do the little things right. At Miami, injuries and playing behind older receivers who were more consistent in those areas made it difficult for him to carve out a role. At NC State, he’s been able to put those pieces together, and now it’s time to see if he can put on a show in Week 0.
Final Thoughts
The 2026 season is here, and Week 0 is always one of my favorite slates of the year. Early in the season, it’s all about finding the news, figuring out who is in the best position to produce, and adapting as more information becomes available. DraftKings opening the season with a 7-game slate is awesome, and I am excited for the chaos.
My biggest stance on the slate is that I will not be playing Tanook Hines ($6,500, WR, USC). I know his prop is currently sitting in the 82-yard range, but his first practice of 2026 was on August 19th, and I don’t believe he’ll play enough to justify going there. I think USC will rely on the new additions at WR.
If any significant news comes out this week that drastically affects my thoughts on the slate, I will add an update at the top of the article, and as always, feel free to ask me questions in our Discord. I will be in there all season, and be sure to hang out there on Saturday mornings for all of the news you’ll need heading into the slate.
For more CFB DFS content and access to all of our data and tools, head to the CFB Content Schedule. To sweat your lineups and bets with us, go to our RotoGrinders Discord and find the CFB channel!
Image Credit: Imagn