Daily Fantasy CFB Traffic Light Plays: Week 6
Welcome to the Week 6 edition of my weekly college football plays. Week 5 was not the best week for the plays, mainly thanks to the weather in the Pacific Northwest and a couple mid-game injuries. That weather didn’t seem to bother Brandin Cooks, though. What a stud that guy is. He even managed to pay off a $20,000+ salary on Draft Street in the horrible weather. I can’t imagine where he will be priced going forward. Conference play is in full swing this week, and that gives us a great slate of games to break down.
To make this article different than other daily plays articles, and also different from what Dan will bring to you on Fridays, I decided to do this column in a “traffic light” format. I will dissect the major games of the week by giving you a brief overview of the game and Vegas odds, and then I will put the major players into three categories. They should be self-explanatory, but just to be safe, here they are.
Traffic Light Tiers
| Traffic Light | What It Means | |
|---|---|---|
 | Green Light | All systems go. Target player in your lineups |
 | Yellow Light | Indifferent. Player could go either way |
 | Red Light | Avoid the given player at all costs |
Remember that no daily plays column can factor each site’s pricing into account for each individual player, so it is up to you to decide if a player is over or under-priced on your site. This column just gives you an idea of the “playability” of the player in general. If you have a site-specific question, feel free to shoot me a message on twitter @stlcardinals84 and I will do my best to get back to you.
As a general note, I will try to pick the most competitive games of the week in this column, and I will avoid games with spreads greater than 20 or 25 points as the plays in those games are relatively obvious. Now let’s get to the week six edition of traffic light plays!
Illinois at Nebraska
Vegas Odds – Nebraska -9 ½ / O/U 60
Illinois has been a nice surprise offensively in the early going, as Nathan Scheelhaase looks like a new man this year behind center. He is being asked to do a lot in their offensive scheme as the Illini do not have much of a running game. Donovonn Young and Josh Ferguson split carries and basically cancel each other out in the long run. Ferguson gets the edge in overall value, especially on full PPR sites, because he catches a lot of balls. Ryan Lankford is their best receiving threat, but only had one catch last week. I’m not too high on the Illinois offense this week, as this will be the best defense they’ve played so far. Scheelhaase has probably priced himself out of consideration with his good start. For Nebraska, a lot of people (myself included) expected a big year out of Taylor Martinez. It hasn’t happened so far, and Nebraska has leaned on the running of Ameer Abdullah and Imani Cross. Abdullah is the clear lead back, but Cross has worked himself into flex consideration. I expect a solid game from Martinez this week as well. He’s definitely in play on all sites, especially those where his price has dropped quite a bit. Quincy Enunwa has emerged as their top receiving threat and only fantasy option there.
FRIDAY EDIT – TAYLOR MARTINEZ IS OUT THIS WEEK. AVOID.
| Traffic Light | Player(s) |
|---|---|
| | Ameer Abdullah |
| | Josh Ferguson, Imani Cross, Quincy Enunwa, Nathan Scheelhaase |
| | Illinois WR’s, Donovonn Young, Taylor Martinez (out) |
Georgia at Tennessee
Vegas Odds – Georgia -10 / O/U 64
The SEC has suddenly become the land of shootouts. From Missouri to Texas A&M to Georgia to LSU, all these teams now feature explosive offenses with surprisingly little defense. What that means for us is that the SEC is now more fantasy-friendly than ever. I can’t remember the last time I saw so many SEC game totals in the 60’s. This will be a great week to fire up the Georgia weapons. Aaron Murray is one of the top five quarterbacks in the country yet seemingly always flies under the radar. He’s a great option this week against a Tennessee defense that got destroyed by Marcus Mariota a few weeks back. With Todd Gurley on the doubtful side of questionable for this game, I also love Keith Marshall this week. On the receiving side, Chris Conley and Arthur Lynch are proving to be capable targets for Murray with Mitchell out for the year. I’m giving all these guys the green-to-go this week. As for Tennessee, their passing game is a mess. Just avoid it. They will have to run the ball effectively to have any chance in this game. Rajion Neal is a quality back who gets around 20 carries a week, and Marlin Lane is becoming a solid runner for them as well. Neal does tend to get more carries, so he’s the better fantasy pick.
| Traffic Light | Player(s) |
|---|---|
| | Aaron Murray, Keith Marshall, Chris Conley, Arthur Lynch, Rajion Neal |
| | Marlin Lane |
| | Justin Worley, all Tennessee WR’s |
Washington State at California
Vegas Odds – Washington State -1 ½ / O/U 66
I was shocked when I saw that Washington State is listed as a road favorite in this game. They just got absolutely blasted by Stanford last week, and I guess the line says a lot about what Vegas thinks of California’s defense. To put it politely, they stink. Oregon could have easily rolled up 100 points last week if they wanted to. The problem is that Washington State is difficult to figure out from a fantasy perspective. Connor Halliday would make a great option here, but he got injured last week, and with Mike Leach at the helm, he will NOT give out any information as to who will start this week. If you read something one way or the other, don’t believe it. This has burned me many times before. Just pass here. The Cougars don’t run the ball at all, and their only real option is emerging stud WR Gabe Marks. He should have a great day against a bad California secondary. For Cal, QB Jared Goff got removed from the game last week because he couldn’t grip the ball in the rain. It was a tough break for anyone who took him. He SHOULD start this week, but again, I’m not so sure they don’t make a change if the game starts out slowly. Tread carefully. Cal is another team that tends to abandon the run, but this has the chance to be a breakout game from Brendon Bigelow. I am also very high on their top two wideouts, Bryce Treggs and Chris Harper, in this game. It will be a shootout and the WR’s are the safest plays with the uncertainty both teams have at QB.
| Traffic Light | Player(s) |
|---|---|
| | Gabe Marks, Bryce Treggs, Chris Harper |
| | Jared Goff, Brendon Bigelow |
| | Connor Halliday, Washington State RB’s |
Maryland at Florida State
Vegas Odds – Florida State -15 / O/U 56 ½
Don’t look now, but Maryland has cracked the top 25! The emergence of quarterback C.J. Brown and the playmaking of Stefon Diggs have led this team to a 4-0 start. Now they face their first true test with a road game against the Seminoles. Brown is always a fantasy option due to his ability to run the football as well as throw it, but Florida State has a talented defense and I don’t think this is the best week to pay up for him. If I’m taking anyone on the Terrapins, it has to be Diggs, who had a poor game last time out which helped to decrease his price a little bit. He’s always a threat for a long touchdown and they’ll need some big plays to have a chance in this game. Florida State flies a little under the radar in fantasy circles, but Jameis Winston is an emerging star. If you haven’t seen him play yet, try to catch a little bit of this game. He’s a special talent, and only a freshman. He has been helped by the emergence of equally-super talented Rashad Greene. Both are great options this week. As for their run game, it’s hard to tell who to trust between Wilder and Freeman as they share work and seem to alternate good games. I would avoid the situation, but could see taking one if you can find him at a huge discount.
| Traffic Light | Player(s) |
|---|---|
| | Stefon Diggs, Jameis Winston, Rashad Greene |
| | C.J. Brown, Devonta Freeman, James Wilder |
| | Maryland RB’s |
Ohio State at Northwestern
Vegas Odds – Ohio State -7 / O/U 61
Northwestern is hyping this game as the biggest game in school history. Can you blame them? They are undefeated, ranked 16th, and get a prime-time, national TV home game against Ohio State. The place will be rocking – but can they slow down the Ohio State offense? I recommended Jordan Hall last week and the Buckeyes proceeded to use Carlos Hyde as their lead back. Urban Meyer pledges to get Hall more involved this week. What I think that means is don’t trust either guy – just look elsewhere. I think the Buckeyes’ best fantasy options come with Braxton Miller at QB and Corey Brown and Devin Smith at WR. All are in play against a questionable Northwestern pass defense. For the Wildcats, their QB combo of Kain Colter (the runner) and Trevor Siemien (the passer) is great for the team, but horrible for fantasy. Just steer clear. The good news is that Preseason All American RB Venric Mark is returning this week, and boy can you find him at a discount this week. If he is mid salary on any site, you have to roster him. The guy is explosive. I expect the excellent OSU corners to shut down Northwestern’s wideouts, but I think it could be a decent spot for TE Dan Vitale, who has been quiet the last few weeks.
| Traffic Light | Player(s) |
|---|---|
| | Braxton Miller, Devin Smith, Corey Brown, Venric Mark |
| | Dan Vitale, Carlos Hyde |
| | Northwestern WR’s, Jordan Hall |
Arizona State at Notre Dame
Vegas Odds – Arizona State -5 ½ / O/U 62
Notre Dame has predictably come crashing down after the ballyhoo their season opening win created with regard to the passing game and Tommy Rees. They looked terrible against Oklahoma last week. The good news for them is that they get to face Arizona State’s terrible defense this week. Arizona State is led by an emerging signal caller in Taylor Kelly, and RB Marion Grice is a Reggie Bush-type weapon who has been fantastic in the early going. I would be careful with both these guys this week. The Irish have a decent defense, and Grice is priced as the top back on a couple sites. He’s really good, but I don’t think he’s quite THAT good. I think the best option from the Sun Devils comes from either WR Jaelen Strong or TE Chris Coyle. Both are mid-range price options at their respective positions with good stat lines and obvious upside. Notre Dame’s offense is now in a state of flux. You never know when Brian Kelly might get the guts to pull Tommy Rees, and after his terrible game last week, he may be on a short leash. In addition, their running game is a three-headed monster that is unreliable for fantasy purposes. Again I feel that the receivers offer the most value. Deep threat T.J. Jones, possession receiver DaVaris Daniels, and talented tight end Troy Niklas are all decent options this week.
| Traffic Light | Player(s) |
|---|---|
| | Jaelen Strong, Chris Coyle, T.J. Jones, DaVaris Daniels |
| | Marion Grice, Troy Niklas |
| | Tommy Rees, Notre Dame RB’S |
Other “green light” plays from games I did not break down include:
1) Bryce Petty – Baylor QB
2) Marcus Mariota – Oregon QB
3) Christian Hackenberg (Sleeper) – Penn State QB
4) Storm Johnson – UCF RB
5) Byron Marshall – Oregon RB
6) Dri Archer (Sleeper) – Kent State RB
7) Dorial Green-Beckham – Missouri WR
8) Sammy Watkins – Clemson WR
9) DaVante Parker – Louisville WR
10) Jace Amaro – Texas Tech TE
11) Devin Funchess (Sleeper) – Michigan TE
Good luck this week!