College Football Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 9/10/21

Week 2 of college football is here! FanDuel's college football DFS main slate on Friday includes four games.

In case you're unfamiliar with how it works, you can check out the rules and scoring on FanDuel, where you can hit the lobby each week to see the full array of slates and contests being offered.

As for the basics, your roster consists of a quarterback slot, two running back slots, three wide receiver slots (tight ends are included in this group), and one "Super FLEX" slot. In the "Super FLEX", you can insert one player from any position, including quarterbacks.

Here, our goal is to help you field a roster full of fantasy goodness, and in true numberFire fashion, we'll use our in-house projections as well as betting totals and advanced statistics to tackle as many slates as possible in the lead-up to the College Football Playoff. This week, we are only breaking down Friday's main slate, which locks at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Let's break down which star players are in great spots, as well as identify some players with lower salaries who will provide value to get to them.

Quarterbacks

Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina ($11,500) - The sophomore McCall accounted for 33 out of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers' 59 offensive touchdowns last season, and his ceiling is enormous thanks to his dual-threat ability. He was the Chanticleers' second-leading rusher in 2020 with 569 rushing yards. The preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year was nearly perfect in his season opener. McCall completed 16 out of 19 pass attempts for 262 passing yards and 1 touchdown. His matchup Friday is the Kansas Jayhawks' atrocious defense. The Jayhawks ranked 108th nationally in total defense last season, allowing 459.2 yards per game to opposing offenses in 2020. The Jayhawks also surrendered 52 total touchdowns on defense in just nine games.

Hank Bachmeier, Boise State ($9,600) - The Broncos lead the slate with an implied team total of 42.0 on FanDuel Sportsbook. We're going to want to get exposure to Boise State, and the best place to start is at quarterback. Hank Bachmeier threw for 263 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception in a close loss to Central Florida in the Broncos' season opener. Most importantly, Bachmeier looked fully healthy after missing significant time last season due to an injury. He is in a great spot as the Broncos host the lower-level Texas-El Paso Miners. UTEP allowed 2.4 touchdown passes per game last season in the Sun Belt and are now going up against a stronger, nearly-ranked offense in BSU.

Tommy Schuster, North Dakota ($6,800) - Schuster is one of the top quarterbacks not playing for a FBS school. He does possess dual-threat upside as well, and that makes for a solid punt play at quarterback. The sophomore made his first career start in a season-opening win over Idaho State last weekend. The North Dakota signal caller threw for 183 yards and a touchdown. He also added 21 rushing yards on 5 carries. Normally, I'd be weary of playing an FCS quarterback in this spot, but North Dakota is expected to compete on Friday. There is no official line on FanDuel Sportsbook, but some are calling for an upset in this contest.

Logan Bonner, Utah State ($7,400) - Bonner makes for a solid GPP play. He rotated with Andrew Presley in the season opener. However, Bonner was the more effective quarterback, and he was the quarterback on the Utah State Aggies' game-winning drive. If he plays the entire game, he is significantly under-salaried taking on an FCS squad.

Running Backs

Mateo Durant, Duke ($11,000) - Durant will be very popular on Friday night. The senior received a workhorse role in the Duke Blue Devils' season opener. Durant exploded for 255 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 29 carries. He sits in an even better spot as the Blue Devils host FCS opponent, North Carolina A&T. The Aggies surrendered 29 points in their season opening loss to Furman. With his volume assured against a weaker defense, Durant is easily the top overall skill player on this slate.

Reese White, Coastal Carolina ($8,000) - Coastal Carolina is one of the rare teams that starts two running backs. Shermari Jones ($8,800) is also an option as the fellow starter, but White comes with an $800 salary discount. White also out-snapped Jones 28 to 24 in the Chanticleers' season opener. The Coastal Carolina running game is also in an advantageous spot as they host Kansas. The Jayhawks allowed 154 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns to an FCS opponent, South Dakota, in their season opener. Both White and Jones are viable in this spot.

Cyrus Habibi-Likio, Boise State ($6,900) - Habibi-Likio started last week at running back for the injured George Holani ($8,500). Holani's availability is up in the air for Friday night. If Holani returns, it would not be surprising if Boise State eases him back into game action. The Broncos are 25.5-point favorites, so there should be no need to overextend Holani. Regardless of Holani's status, Habibi-Likio makes for a fine play. The former Oregon Duck led all Broncos running backs with 41 snaps in the season opener. Boise State's opponent, Texas El-Paso, struggled defending the run in 2020 by allowing opposing ball carriers to rush for 141.0 yards per game. The Miners also allowed 1.8 rushing touchdowns per game.

Otis Weah, North Dakota ($6,500) - Weah interesting as well. He received preseason All-American accolades at the FCS level, and he lived up to the hype by running all over Idaho State in North Dakota's season opener. Weah ran for 114 yards and 3 touchdowns on 22 carries that afternoon and will look to keep his momentum against Utah State.

Others to consider: Shermari Jones ($8,800), Calvin Taylor Jr. ($7,800), Andrew Van Buren ($7,600; if George Holani is out), Velton Gardner ($6,400)

Wide Receivers

Deven Thompkins, Utah State ($9,000) - Thompkins drew a 33% target share in the Aggies' season opener, and the diminutive speedster used it to rack up 8 receptions, 94 receiving yards, and 1 touchdown on 11 total targets. He also rarely left the field because he logged 77 total snaps as well. With a competitive affair expected against North Dakota, Thompkins should be extremely busy in his second game of the season against an FCS foe.

Stefan Cobbs, Boise State ($7,500) - The recommendation of Cobbs comes from an injury to Khalil Shakir ($10,200). Shakir was reportedly on a snap count in the Broncos' season opener due to an injury. He was limited to 21 snaps, and Boise State ran 64 offensive plays. While he could blow up in limited action, it's highly likely that he'll be limited again on Friday, and his salary is high. The Broncos, as large favorites, should easily handle UTEP, so this could be a good spot to limit Shakir.

The biggest beneficiary is Cobbs, who led all Broncos' pass-catchers with 52 snaps in Week 1. He ran a route on 33 out of 40 pass attempts. The junior appears to be the Broncos' deep threat; he led the team with a 15.0 ADOT (average depth of target), per Pro Football Focus. Cobbs has great upside again if Shakir is eased into action as expected.

Isaiah Likely, Coastal Carolina ($6,600) - Likely was Coastal Carolina's second-leading wide receiver a season ago, and his usage was strong once again during the season opener for a tight end. Grayson McCall took 38 snaps and threw 21 passes in the season opener, and Likely was on the field for 35 of those snaps. He also ran a pass route on 18 of the 21 pass attempts, per Pro Football Focus. Both his snaps and route totals led all Chanticleers pass catchers. Teammate and CCU's leading pass-catcher, Jaivon Heiligh ($9,500), ran a route on 17 out of 21 McCall pass attempts. Heiligh is much higher-salaried and will be more popular than Likely, however, and that creates great value drafting the Coastal Carolina tight end.

Others to consider: Jaivon Heiligh ($9,500), Jacob Cowling ($8,400), Jake Bobo ($8,000), Justin McGriff ($6,700), Justin Garrett ($6,500), Kwame Lassiter II ($6,300), CT Thomas ($6,100), Octavius Evans ($5,900), Adam Zavalny ($5,800), Korey Banks ($5,800)

Matthew Hiatt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Matthew Hiatt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username easternmh. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.