College Football Weekly Plays: Week 3
Hester’s Weekly Fantasy College Football Picks: Week 3
Week 3 is upon us in college football and it is time to separate the men from the boys (sorry if there are any women that play daily CFB). If you have been reading all the rotogrinders info we have been giving you, chances are you have turned a nice profit the first two weeks. For the most part all the salaries have worked themselves out and building teams is going to start getting harder. While this can get frustrating it is a good thing, if you are reading and listening to the info here you are way ahead of most of your opponents. We are going to start seeing some diversity in lineups and this is where your research can really make a difference. With all that, here is a good base of players that should have a productive week 3.
Quarterback
Taylor Kelly (Arizona St) Kelly is one of the best dual threat QB’s in the country and with the Sun Devils offense he is almost immune to bad games. They are going to be playing a high scoring game this week that has a 67 O/U and only a 15 point spread. That means that Arizona St should get 5 or 6 TD’s. I see Kelly being a part of at least 3 of them with the upside of getting 5. 250 passing yards 75 rushing yards and 3 or 4 TD’s is probably what you should be expecting when playing Kelly. The minor downside to playing him is you are probably going to have to fade DJ Foster who is a great play at RB.
Kenny Hill (Texas A&M) Hill has gone from not even being the frontrunner to have the starting QB job at A&M to being one of the most talked about players in a matter of a month. The Aggies game this week has hit the magic O/U number of 70. Anytime you see a number that high you have to get of piece of that action and I almost feel Hill is the way you have to go. Last week almost looked like a disappointment with only 280 yards and 4 TD’s. The only reason the yardage was that low is they played a 73-7 blowout. Expect that number to return to 400+ yards with at least 4 TD’s with the upside of 500 and 5.
Nate Sudfeld (Indiana) Sudfeld is the perfect tournament play this week, he is going to be a low % play and has some great upside. The salary is so low for a guy with this potential he is going to find his way into both my cash game and GPP rosters. Heading into week 1 people were all over this guy and then one bad game and he is a forgotten man. The thing that I really like from that first game is he got 10 carries. If he continues to get double digit carries play this guy until his salary catches up to his performance. Indiana also plays a game with a 68 O/U and Bowling Green will keep it close so Sudfeld will be needed a full 4 quarters, expect a great all around game and him to more than pay off his cheap salary.
Other Options: Davis Webb (Texas Tech), Anthony Boone (Duke), Drew Hare (Northern Illinois)
Running Back
Jay Ajayi (Boise St) Ajayi is a true workhorse back that can do everything. I have a hard time not throwing him in all my cash game lineups just due to the workload he will receive. He is averaging 35 touches a game and that might not even be the most impressive stat. The first game Boise was playing from behind and he caught 12 balls when they were playing catch up. Last week they were ahead so he grinded out 33 carries to put the game away. He has made the best of those touches as well, he has over 450 yards and 4 TD’s in the first two games. Play him with confidence and expect monster numbers.
DJ Foster (Arizona St) Foster is not only a great runner but he is probably the best receiving RB in the country. He is such an explosive player last year when the Sun Devils had Marion Grice at RB they found a way to get him 63 catches just because they knew they had to find a way to get the ball in his hands. This year he should get not only get all the receptions again but 20+ carries a game to go along with those catches. He already has 450 yards and 4 TD’s through 2 games. I will say the same thing about him as I did Ajayi play him with confidence and expect monster numbers.
Thomas Rawls (Central Michigan) Rawls is close to a must play on Fanduel this week, all the great plays are really expensive this week and here is a guy that should put up great numbers and for a decent price. Rawls has proven he is a workhorse back with 56 carries through two weeks but he has also caught 5 balls so he can contribute in the passing game as well. This game is not going to be the highest scoring game of the week but I can see Rawls grinding his way to 150 total yards and a TD or two.
Other Options: Tevin Coleman (Indiana), Kelvin Taylor (Florida), Royce Freeman (Oregon)
Wide Receiver
Bradley Marquez (Texas Tech) When you score 3 touchdowns in a game and you leave you owners a little disappointed is when you realize you are a true stud. I know that is how I felt about Marquez last week, the three TD’s were nice but 3 catches and 30 yards was a little surprising. I figure you can take the first two weeks and average them out and that is what you will probably get with Marquez. That means 7 catches for 100 yards and 2 TD’s. If you can get 25+ points out of a WR I will take that to the bank every time. It also helps that he plays for a team that will throw as much as any team in the nation.
Nelson Spruce (Colorado) Spruce has taken over as the #1 receiver in the Colorado offense and that is one of the better jobs to have in college football. Last year Paul Richardson put up 80 catches for 1350 yards and 10 TD’s in this role and Spruce is on his way to duplicating those numbers. Colorado will have to rack up the points to hang with Arizona St and while I don’t think they will accomplish that feat I think they will stay close enough to keep the game at an uptempo pace. I am expecting around 8 catches for 100+ yards and a TD or two.
Sterling Shepard (Oklahoma) Shepard was one of my favorite players to target heading into this year. I played him everywhere week 1 and he played decent but nothing that stood out. I just liked the idea of Oklahoma running a pass first offense again and thought Shepard would benefit the most from this offense. Last week I had very few Shepard lineups and it cost me in some GPP’s. The 8 catches for 177 yards and a TD were impressive but the fact he caught the TD in the 4th quarter of a 45-7 blowout is what impressed me the most. That play showed me that Oklahoma has no problem passing the ball in any situation and that is a great thing to target when selecting players. Expect another big game from Shepard in what should be a little more competitive game this week.
Other Options: Da’Ron Brown (Northern Illinois), Jamison Crowder (Duke), Kevin White (West Virginia)
Tight End
Ben Koyack (Notre Dame) Koyack has yet to put up a game that will get people interested in playing him. I disagree with that logic and want to have him my lineup when he has that game. That game is going to happen and probably pretty soon. The tight end in the Notre Dame offense is such an important cog that they will find ways to get the ball in his hands. If you are playing on Draftkings it is hard to fade him at that salary because most people will want to spend at other positions. Keep playing him until the salary comes up and wait for that big game to happen.
Tyler Kroft (Rutgers) Kroft was the leading receiver on the Rutgers squad last year and just hasn’t gotten things going yet this year. Kroft has a whopping 1 catch through 2 games but you can use that to your advantage in GPP’s as most people won’t even consider him. I think Rutgers will have trouble getting anything deep against Penn St and this will be the week Kroft ends of getting 4 or 5 catches. This is another Draftkings play and it is hard to find any value plays worthwhile on Fanduel. I recommend trying to find that punt play at TE that with just get you something and just beat people with the rest of your roster.
Other Options: Eric Frohnapfel (Marshall), Jesse James (Penn St.)