There are just three games left in the college football season, meaning this is the final non-showdown! We have ourselves a defensive matchup and one that could finish in the 70s. Let’s take a look at who to target from each game…
Quarterbacks
High Priced
Will Howard ($8,700) is coming off a huge game against Oregon and has back to back games of 27 fantasy points. The matchup with Texas can be considered tough, but after playing nobody in the regular season, they’ve given up 336 and 296 passing yards to Clemson and Arizona State. This is easily the toughest set of receivers that Texas has faced, so Howard is 100% in play here.
After Howard, I believe there’s a big step down in terms of quarterbacks to roster. Riley Leonard ($8,000) is intriguing because he’s going to run and has shown to be great at times at finding the end zone, but I hate this matchup. He’s likely going to be leaned on more with Jeremiyah Love banged up. It’s hard to love a guy in a tough matchup who just threw for 90 yards in a similar spot.
Middle of the Pack
Quinn Ewers ($7,500) is more in play for me than Leonard due to some savings as well as his upside. We saw against Arizona State that he can get it done through the air. Sure, double overtime helped, but his usage wasn’t something they can’t replicate. It also helps that Ohio State is likely going to push Texas to need to score 28+ points to win this game.
Sure, why not Drew Allar ($7,000). The guy has done it on the ground in the past (six rushing touchdowns on the season) vans has some interesting weapons in the passing game to get there through the air. Like Leonard though, it’s hard to love a guy who threw for 171 and 127 yards in his previous two games.
Bare Minimum
N/A
Running Backs
High Priced
N/A
Middle of the Pack
What interesting pricing from the DraftKings team! The highest priced running back on the slate (Jeremiyah Love) is likely going to be very banged up against Penn State. This means that you’re really debating four different guys as the top back to roster.
Nicholas Singleton ($6,200) has the upside to have a huge game, but for some reason, Penn State hates giving him a large chunk of usage. He has the athleticism and versatility to be matchup proof.
He was unimpressive against Arizona State, but Quintrevion Wisner ($5,900) showed why he’s a very safe play right now. He ran for just 2.5 YPC but caught 4 passes for 40 yards. He didn’t even find the end zone and still managed 12.5 fantasy points. You’ll need more than that this weekend, but I like the matchup relative to everyone else’s matchups and there should be plenty of points scored in this one.
In that same game is the combination of TreVeyon Henderson ($5,800) and Quinshon Judkins ($5,600). These two were great against Oregon, but can you really bank on Ohio State to dominate like that against Texas? I like Henderson more because like with Singleton, he has the big play ability that can happen in any matchup with any sort of usage. Judkins is likely to get more volume but just hasn’t popped for an impressive game lately.
Don’t look now, but is Kaytron Allen ($5,300) good again? The guy struggled all season to look impressive but has gone for 8.9, 6.4, and 7.9 YPC in his past three games. Penn State loves giving him the rock as he’s certainly seen more usage than Singleton recently, but he does lack the big play ability.
Bare Minimum
Jadarian Price ($4,400) has really looked pretty good in my eyes and now he’s likely to get 12+ carries with Love being banged up. He’s not really used in the passing game which is a huge bummer considering the matchup will be tough on run success. At this price though, I think you have to consider him a very strong play. With Love’s health in question, I really like Aneyas Williams ($3,000) thanks to his usage in the pass game. He has nine targets in his past two games and they’ve shown to use him randomly early in games. He could slot into a bigger role if Love’s injury is more serious than what we think.
Wide Receivers
High Priced
Jeremiah Smith ($7,400) is playing unreal football right now. The guy has broken 100+ yards in back to back games with him going for 187 yards against Oregon just last week. Even with the success the Texas pass defense has had this season, Smith is matchup proof.
Tyler Warren ($7,000) has seen plenty of action this season and when needed, is a lock for 6+ receptions. The SMU game got out of hand early, so he only had four receptions. Against Boise State where they were pushed to play a full game, he caught two touchdowns on six receptions. I suspect he’ll be needed a ton against a great Notre Dame defense.
Middle of the Pack
Silas Bolden, I mean Matthew Golden ($6,000) has stepped up huge in the past month with Isaiah Bond banged up. He had 14 targets against Georgia and just last game against Arizona State he saw 10 passes thrown his way. He’s become Quinn Ewers boppy. The game script is good for Texas pass game and if their offensive line continues to be banged up, I see them having more success through the air than on the ground.
Emeka Egbuka ($5,600) continues to be a high floor play for me relative to what Jeremiah Smith brings. He might hold additional value this weekend due to how good Smith has been and the hype he is receiving. The only way I’m playing Egbuka over Smith is strictly for ownership reasons.
Bare Minimum
Gunnar Helm ($4,300) at this price is certainly in play this weekend. The guy didn’t have a reception until late in the game against Arizona State yet still finished with a stat line of 3/56/1. It’s hard not to like him with him being a top two target in this offense.
Everyone is oogling over Smith and Egbuka, but considering the size of the slate, Carnell Tate ($3,900) needs to be considered. He has had stretches where he’s been targeted more than anyone else on this team. Sure, he hasn’t seen much action in the playoffs. You know he’s going to be forgotten by Texas’ defense come Friday though.
All of the following players deserve a dart throw:
Harrison Wallace III ($4,000) is the number one receiver for Penn State, but they just don’t throw it a ton to guys not named Warren. He’s a nice pivot from Warren.
Mitchell Evans ($3,200) shows up in the Notre Dame passing game when games are tight. With Love banged up, do they throw more? With that, Jordan Faison ($4,100) is very much in play as the top ND wideout. He saw ten targets against Indiana and had over half the team’s receiving yards against UGA.
Deandre Moore Jr. ($3,800) wasn’t targeted heavily last week, but he still managed to score. Isaiah Bond’s snap counts continue to be low and with that Moore has a shot at the random ten target game.
