From marching bands to upsets, there is nothing quite like starting a Saturday with College Gameday and 12 games on TV at once. Friday of Week 12 provides an interesting, five-game slate
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 points, and we'll use numberFire's in-house projections, betting totals, and advanced statistics to tackle main slates all the way to the College Football Playoff. Because of limited information, college football can feel like a throwback to before advanced statistics become more widely available in the NFL, but there is still value in finding the volume to target on a given slate.
Let's break down which star players are in great spots and identify some players with lower salaries who will provide value to get to them.
Quarterbacks
Clayton Tune ($10,200): The quarterback in the game of the day isn't a bad start. Houston and Memphis battle in a high-power shootout with a 59.5-point total. Tune is averaging a decent 33.0 pass attempts over his last three games, and in that span, he's added 19.3 rushing yards per game to threaten a rushing score. The Cougars' market shares at receiver are pretty spread out, so the signal-caller consolidates the offense into one salary.
Jake Lange ($5,300): The 0-9 Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles are gross, but Lange could make some sense as a punt at quarterback or a superflex option. Lange is averaging 30.0 pass attempts over his past three games, and his efficiency isn't bad (6.02 yards per attempt), but the biggest thing that hurts his fantasy scoring is that college sacks count as negative rushing yards for the quarterback, so he's averaged just 4.0 rushing yards per game in that same span. But the Louisiana Tech pass defense is 102nd in the country, so he should find success in a negative game script.
Others to Consider: Austin Kendall ($9,700), Seth Henigan ($9,500)
Running Backs
Marcus Williams Jr. ($9,600): In what should be a positive script against a truly terrible team, Williams is the focal point for Louisiana Tech. His 20.0 carries per game over his last three contests are good for a 55.1% rushing share in that period, and he's added 6 touchdowns (including 4 last week) in that time. You'll never believe this, but the Golden Eagles are 81st in the country against the rush (168.7 yards per game), so Williams should have room to operate.
Charles Williams ($8,000): A staple of the Friday helper this season has been the Nevada-Las Vegas bellcow. He hasn't disappointed lately, either, with 25.3 rushing attempts per game in the past three contests despite some negative game scripts. That's a 77.9% rush share, and this game will be in the Las Vegas NFL dome, so the environment is solid. A 10.5-point spread is far from the worst UNLV has seen this season, so fire up Williams with confidence.
Toa Taua ($7,600): This salary was pretty surprising for the Nevada ball carrier. He's got a 55.2% share of Nevada's carries (11.0 per game) in a game with a tight 0.5-point spread. Nevada usually prefers to lean on Carson Strong ($10,000) at quarterback, but their up-tempo passing game could be a path to failure against an Air Force defense that is a top-15 team against both the run and the pass. Don't be shocked if Taua's strong workload gets even better on Friday.
Others to Consider: Alton McCaskill ($9,500), Deon McIntosh ($6,400), Frank Gore Jr. ($6,000)
Wide Receivers
Calvin Austin III ($10,000): The NFL Draft hopeful from Memphis is a perfect bring-back for Tune and the Houston passing game. Austin has dominated with a 30.3% target share for Memphis this season, and he has 33.8% of Memphis' receiving yards in the last three games. His eight targets last game matched a season-low in volume, so his floor is rock solid for a five-game slate with plenty of bad offenses and questionable workloads.
Stanley Berryhill III ($6,500): While Washington State is a 15.5-point favorite, that will put Berryhill and the Arizona pass catchers in a negative script for this game with a 52.5-point total. Spots can be a lot worse in daily fantasy. Berryhill has a commanding share of the Wildcats' passing attack (28.8% this year), and he's seen eight-plus targets in five of Arizona's last seven games. For $6,500, the floor is solid in a salary range where most DFS gamers take fliers on better passing attacks.
Jason Brownlee ($5,500): Stacking an 0-9 football team -- what could go wrong? Brownlee is the pairing partner for budget quarterback Jake Lange. Brownlee saw nine targets last week, and he's seen 45.3% of Lange's targets over the past three weeks. There's not a lot of talent on the Golden Eagles, so concentrating it in capable hands makes plenty of sense. Brownlee is 6'3" and a big-play target; he's averaging 13.3 yards per reception this season.
Others to Consider: Nathaniel Dell ($8,500), Smoke Harris ($8,400), Calvin Jackson Jr. ($7,900), Kyle Williams ($5,800)