KC's 12 Picks for Christmas
Fantasy ‘Bowl’-ing with KC
Hey gang. I hope you all are enjoying your holiday season. For those not overly-passionate about sports, this season is about family, friends and food. But for us DFS-enthusiasts this time is also about one other uber-important thing.
FOOTBALL
Specifically, football of the College Variety. Beginning Dec. 27th we will see exactly 27 quality NCAA matchups, culminating with the Discover BCS National Championship game on Jan. 7th. This is a lot of action and a lot of material to go over for a DFS-er. So I thought I’d save you just a little bit of time by offering up my ’12 Picks for Christmas.’ This is obviously a blatant knockoff of holiday hit song ’12 Days of Christmas,’ but hey what good are RotoGrinders Articles if they don’t have exciting themes?
So what follows is actually 10 individual CFB players selections and (2) bonus categories at the end. ‘Pick 11’ actually consists of 11 Defenses I like this bowl season. And ‘Pick 12’ consists of 12 Kickers that can actually kick. I thought these might be helpful resources as you are constructing your Bowl Game Lineups.
I wish you all the success in the world with your DFS and personal lives this holiday season.
- Disclaimer – - These picks take into account both point potential and price. It would be easy for me to tell you to take Johnny ‘Heisman’ Manziel & Marqise Lee, but I don’t think it would be helpful. Hopefully these picks will help you fit in some of the studs by saving you some cap room, but I think you can choose your big guns yourself.
PICK #1
(QB) – - Seth Doege [TTECH]
We begin our picks with one of our most risky of the bowl season. Not because he has a bad matchup or a bad offense though. In fact both are the opposite in the Meineke Car Care Bowl vs. Minnesota. No, this pick is risky because former Texas Tech coach Tommy Tubberville bolted out the door a few short weeks ago. This leaves Texas Tech as one of many bowl teams without a head coach. But all that being said, I still love this matchup vs. Minn. I think Doege comes in angry, not only because his coach took off, but also because his pride is hurting after back-to-back losses to end the season. Look for Doege to hook up early and often with stud WRs Eric Ward and Darrin Moore in this one, destroying the Gopher secondary in the process.
PICK #2
(QB) – - Geno Smith [WVU]
Talk about a roller coaster ride of a season. I don’t think anyone has experienced higher-highs or lower-lows than Geno during the 2012 campaign. He now comes into the New Era Pinstripe Bowl vs. the Syracuse Orange, which appears on the surface to have all the makings of a shootout of epic proportions. Here are three reasons I like Geno in this one: 1. The O/U of 67 is in the top 5 highest scorers of all bowl games. 2. Geno is looking to distinguish himself as the class of the QBs for the NFL Draft in April. 3. The Mountaineers got destroyed by Syracuse 49-23 last season before departing for the Big 12. So hes got plenty of motivation in the forms of revenge for a past beatdown & playing for his future? I’m all in here.
PICK #3
(QB) – - EJ Manuel [FL ST]
So EJ leads his Seminoles into the Discover Orange Bowl vs Northern Illinois… Quick, raise your hand if you know something about the Huskies. Anything you know is probably more than me, but what I have ‘discovered’ is that they are ranked #166 vs. the pass. They also play in the MAC conference and their biggest win of the season prior to beating Kent State in the MAC title game was against Kansas… Yikes. This has the makings of one of two things. Either the Huskies summon their inner Utah Ute / Boise St. Bronco mid-major magic, or they get run out of the building by a powerful Seminole team. I’m banking on the latter, and I think Manuel easily pays of his pricetag in this one.
PICK #4
(RB) – - Cody Getz [AF]
Probably the most obscure name in this article is one Cody Getz. Let me tell you a little bit about him. He is a stout 5-foot-7, weighing in at a husky 175 points. Intimidating right? Well what if I also told you he ran for 1,200+ yards and 9 TDs despite missing 2 early season games with injury? What if I went even further by telling you that he has amassed three 200+ yard-rushing games this season and faces the 199th ranked rush defense in the Rice Owls in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl? This is also his senior season at the Air Force Academy and I think he ends it with a massive fantasy game.
PICK #5
(RB) – - Shadrach Thornton [NC ST]
I think that this NC State v. Vanderbilt matchup might be one of the ‘under-the-radar’ games of this bowl season. Vandy comes in red-hot winning their last 6 games while averaging over 38 points a game (so maybe look to their offense as well…). On the other side is NC State who averages just over 28 points per game themselves. And the feature back of that offense you ask? Look no further than Shadrach Thornton. Thornton finished the year with 3 consecutive 100-yd rushing efforts. But what if it turns into a shootout you ask? I respond by saying that Thornton has caught at least one pass in every game this season for the Wolfpack and has a total of 25 receptions out of the backfield in 2012. Regardless of how this game plays out I think Thornton gets his points and pays his modest price off in a big way.
PICK #6
(RB) – - Joseph Randle [OK ST]
Oklahoma plays in the Heart of Dallas Bowl versus the Boilermakers of Purdue. This game features the biggest spread of the bowl season at 17 ½ points. Outside of a few clunkers this season, Randle has been an absolute stud, scoring more than 20 fpts seven times. He belongs in the elite class of RBs, but isn’t priced like one. I think Randle is a shoe-in for 100+ yds and 2 scores, culminating the Cowboys season in style.
PICK #7
(WR) – - Conner Vernon [DUKE]
The Blue Devils take on the Cincinnati Bearcats the Belk Bowl. And in what appears on the surface to be a fairly un-sexy matchup, it actually sports a respectable O/U of 56. And the Dukies are significant underdogs (roughly 10). I like that they will be chasing and I think Vernon racks up the stats in the chase. This guy has an astounding 273 catches during his career at Duke, including 3 consecutive 70-catch campaigns. He’s coming off an 11-catch, 109 yd, 2 TD performance in the season finale vs. MIA-FL. That game played out just like I feel this bowl game will, and if he puts up stats like that I’ll be more than content.
PICK #8
(WR) – - Marcus Davis [VT]
So Marcus Davis is the playmaker for this Hokies offense. He averages an impressive 19 yds per catch this season. The Hokies face a stout Rutgers run DEF (#25 nationally) in this year’s Russell Athletic Bowl. This leads me to believe that the Scarlet Knights force Logan Thomas to use his arms rather than his legs, therefore resulting in an excellent day for Davis. I think that Rutgers stacks the box all day and Thomas finds Davis for at least one long bomb, which in itself will payoff his modest tag.
PICK #9
(WR) – - Justin Brown [OKLA]
We know the Sooners are gonna score right? The only concern is that they have so many damn options to choose from. Saunders and Stills have been hot lately, but even with those guys going off, Brown’s production has still been solid. He has at least 4 catches in each of the last 8 weeks. Three times in that span he has put up over 100 yds. And once he had 15 catches. I like the potential here and in a Cotton Bowl Game that features Landry Jones trying to prove he’s every bit as good as surprise Heisman winner Johnny Manziel, I think Justin Brown sees plenty of balls thrown his way.
PICK #10
(TE) – - Zach Ertz [STAN]
Tight End is such an ugly position in CFB, but Ertz has been a fairly consistent bright spot in 2012. The Cardinal come into a Rose Bowl Matchup with the Wisconsin Badgers who had underwhelmed almost the entire year before breaking out against Nebraska in the Big 10 Championship. Ertz has twice as many catches as any other Cardinal receiver. He’s coming off back-to-back games in which the Bruins of UCLA did a fairly good job shutting him down (8 catches, 90 yds, 0 TDs). His price is perfect and I think he is prime for a solid game against the Badgers. If you have the salary space, I think he is the best chance you’ve got at 100 yds and a TD from the TE spot.
11 Defenses that will Do Well:
1. Virginia Tech Hokies (v. Rutgers)
2. Texas Tech Red Raiders (v. Minnesota)
3. Oregon St. Beavers (v. Texas)
4. Michigan St. Spartans (v. TCU)
5. Oklahoma St. Cowboys (v. Pur)
6. Florida St. Seminoles (v. NIU)
7. Ole Miss Rebels (v. Pitt)
8. Michigan Wolverines (v. SC)
9. Mississippi St. Bulldogs (v. NW)
10. USC Trojans (v. GT)
11. Tulsa Golden Hurricanes (v. IA St.)
12 Kickers that can Kick:
1. Virginia Tech Hokies [Cody Journell]
2. Oregon St. Beavers (Trevor Romaine]
3. Michigan St. Spartans [Dan Conroy]
4. NC State Wolfpack [Niklas Sade]
5. LSU Tigers [Drew Alleman]
6. Oklahoma St. Cowboys [Quinn Sharp]
7. Nebraska Cornhuskers [Brett Maher]
8. Michigan Wolverines [Brendan Gibbons]
9. Oklahoma Sooners [Michael Hunnicutt]
10. Pitt Panthers [Kevin Harper]
11. Florida Gators [Caleb Sturgis]
12. Florida St. Seminoles [Dustin Hopkins]
I hope all this information proves helpful to you as you make your lineups and settle in for the excitement that is bowl season.
Good luck in all of your games and I will see you all in 2013.
- KC