DB's Daily Fantasy College Football Picks: Week 9
This week brings us one of the biggest Daily Fantasy college football tournaments of the year on Draftstreet. The Big Score is a $50,000 guaranteed tournament with one person taking down a cool ten grand. Props to DS for putting this together and hopefully we can see some more of these on their site and others moving forward. They did a terrific job putting the salaries together so you are going to have to dig for some sleepers if you want to roster any of the top names.
Good luck and remember you can find more analysis and selections on College Football After Dark or tune into GrindersLive Saturday morning at 10:30 with STLCardinals & Emac.
Quarterbacks
Garrett Gilbert (SMU) – The former Longhorn gun slinger gets a prime matchup with Temple this week who is ranked 113th against the pass. He has a ton of great options available in that offense and I think he has a monster game this week. The price on him is pricey, but do know he had a 64 point fantasy day a couple weeks ago vs. Rutgers so he has the ability to go bananas.
Jameis Winston (Florida State) – There better not be any doubters left on Winston after the game he played last week at Clemson. The kid is beyond legit and with the Heisman talk starting to ramp up, I doubt we see him slowing down at all. He has 12 TD’s over the past 3 games and the only fear I have is FSU looking ahead with a monumental game against Miami coming up next week. NC State’s defense is not a slouch ranked 20th vs. the pass, but Tajh Boyd still scored over 30 fantasy points that day so I think Winston will be fine.
Patton Robinette (Vanderbilt) – Before you roll this kid out, be sure starter Austyn Carta-Samuels is ruled out. I’m about 90% sure that is going to be the case and that opens up the door for Robinette to have a big day against a terrible defense. A&M is ranked 106 vs. the run and 116th vs. the pass. The total in this game is 70 & the likelihood Robinette reaches value is pretty high considering his low price tag is on a bunch of sites this week.
Other Options: Tajh Boyd (Clemson), Tommy Rees (Notre Dame), P.J. Walker (Temple)
Running Backs
Bishop Sankey (Washington) – Sankey never got going last week against Arizona State, but I can’t really see a scenario he doesn’t have a monster game this week. Cal boasts a terrible defense and with QB Keith Price a little banged up you have to think the Huskies will lean heavily on their workhorse running back. The price is going to be very high, but guessing he is a lock for 30 fantasy points on Draftstreet this week.
T.J. Yeldon (Alabama) – Most people outside of the South don’t realize how big a rivalry this is between the Tide and Vols. It has certainly been one sided the past decade and this week we will likely see the same result. Alabama is starting to resemble the dominant team we expected to see when the year started and Yeldon should anchor the running game again this week. Tennessee has allowed 216, 212, 239 & 221 rushing yards over the past four games, so look for him to have a big day even though Kenyon Drake has entered the RB rotation for the tide.
Cam McDaniel (Notre Dame) – This should be a cupcake game for the Irish and McDaniel appears to be the horse Brian Kelly is going to ride at the running back spot. He still hasn’t eclipsed 100 yards rushing in a game this year, but the Air Force D has allowed over 200 yards on the ground in each of their past six games. Price is definitely right on him most places, so if you are looking to save salary on a RB spot he might be worth a look.
Other Options: Duke Johnson (Miami), Andre Williams (Boston College), Ka’Deem Carey (Arizona)
Wide Receivers
Jeremy Johnson (SMU) – If you want consistency look no further than Johnson. He has reached double digit receptions in four of six games this year and gone over the century mark with yards in fives of six. Temple is going to have a tough to time containing him and hopefully he can actually find the endzone this week as only 4 of his 64 receptions have been for six points.
TJ Jones (Notre Dame) – I usually don’t consider rostering RB & WR’s from the same team, but Jones should have himself a big day as well this weekend. He is clearly Tommy Rees’ favorite target and has a TD reception in four straight games. His price is fair on a couple of sites and the Irish don’t have too many mouths to feed in that offense so I feel good about him reaching value.
Jaydon Mickens (Washington) – Cal’s defense is ranked 124th against the pass, so looking to the Washington Huskies for a value play at the position is not a bad idea. Both Smith & Williams are in the 9k range, yet Mickens is only 5K on Drafstreet yet having more receptions than his counterparts. I’ll take those saving and roll them into another position and if he can manage to find pay dirt he will almost certainly reach value.
Jordan Matthews/Jonathan Krause (Vanderbilt), Tyler Boyd (Pitt), Sammy Watkins (Clemson)
Tight Ends
Gerald Christian (Louisville) – The top dogs at the position are priced out of range for me, so I’m digging for some value this week. Christian looks like a solid bet to reach value this week. Bridgewater seems destined for a big game and hopefully he can get Christian a bit more involved like he did earlier in the year.
Clive Walford (Miami) – He is not a volume guy at all, but has a catch in every game this year (2 of which found the endzone). Miami is projected to score a ton of points vs. Wake Forest so based on that information I think there is upside in him.
Other Options: E.J. Bibbs (Iowa State), Dan Vitale (Northwestern)