DraftKings College Football: Friday Main Slate Picks and Lineup Strategy for Week 13

DraftKings College Football: Friday Main Slate Picks and Lineup Strategy for Week 13

This article is part of our DraftKings College Football series.

DraftKings CFB DFS: Friday Main Slate DFS Picks and Lineup Strategy for Week 13

There's no such thing as gluttony when it comes to two huge DFS slates this weekend not just on the usual Saturday extravaganza, but with a full 11-game card for Black Friday as well. A lot of times these rivalry matchups can be defensive struggles (especially as the weather starts to turn a bit) and indeed only Arizona State @ Arizona (65.5) and UCLA @ Cal (60.5) have betting totals in the 60s. 

New Mexico @ Colorado State (35) and Nebraska @ Iowa (38.5) don't even have a total in the 40s so we may have to do some deep diving to get our numbers here. 

College Football DFS Tools

DraftKings CFB DFS Picks: Quarterback

UCLA's Dorian Thompson-Robinson ($9,400) draws the biggest price tag of the Friday QB card and he did his part last week against USC throwing for 4 TDs, running for 2, and still getting 47fp despite a 3 INT game. Drake Maye ($9,000) is coming off by far a season low 8fp last week and on a somewhat weak QB docket it's seems like Thompson-Robinson is the easy pay-up play here. 

Some lower price options include: 

Tucker Gleason ($7,100) Toledo at Western Michigan

Toledo has already punched their ticket to the MAC Championship Game where they'll face Ohio, but that still gives backup QB Tucker Gleason some value. Gleason has filled in for Dequan Finn for two games, throwing for 3TDs against both Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green while adding another 2 rushing TDs. WMU has the 2nd best pass defense in the MAC, but they also have nothing to play for being eliminated from bowl eligibility at 4-7. 

Brady Cook ($6,300) Missouri vs Arkansas

Missouri (5-6) is just a +3.5 underdog on Friday in their quest to get bowl eligible with a win. Arkansas is a tough test, but Mizzu hung 45 points on New Mexico State last week behind 251 passing yards and 3 TDs from Brady Cook to go along with 71 yards rushing. That's two straight 29+ fp games for Cook who also had 2 TDs passing along with 106 rush yards in a big loss to Tennessee so he's worth a look against a Razorbacks team giving up 267 pass yards per game. 

As stated, it's a kind of ugly QB slate on Friday. 

DraftKings CFB DFS Picks: Running Back

Bijan Robinson is back in a big way. After having one of the worst games of his collegiate career with 12 carries and just 29 yards in the loss to TCU, Robinson rolled through Kansas to the tune of 243 yards and 4 TDs last week, justifying a $9.1k price tag with a season high 51 fp. Zach Charbonnet ($8.4k) is also up there in pricing and his 16 fp last week was just due to UCLA passing all over USC and not needing to run. 

Xazavian Valladay ($7,500) Arizona State at Arizona

Xazavian Valladay is on a nice consistent run of 24+ fp in five of the last six and he's been a go-to guy all year with six perfect lineups in 11 weeks. Valladay has a TD in 7 straight games and he gets one of the worst rush defenses in the FBS on Saturday with Arizona allowing 206.6 ypg on the ground which is the 12th most in the nation. 

Michael Wiley ($6,300) Arizona vs Arizona State

You can play both RB1s in the Arizona State at Arizona game because Valladay has a solid matchup but so does Michael Wiley. Wiley hit a 32 fp ceiling two weeks ago with 97 rush yards, 46 receiving yards, and 2 TDs, and the ASU defense is giving up 253.7 ypg on the ground over their last three. UCLA carried the ball 42 times for 402 yards vs the Sun Devils in week 10. 

Calvin Tyler, Jr. ($6,000) Utah State at Boise State

Some RBs are frustrating to play because they get 100+ yards each week but only on 12-15 carries, making you rely on breaking big runs. Calvin Tyler, Jr. is the opposite of that, as he's a workhorse with 55 carries the last two weeks which has resulted in 5 TDs and back-to-back perfect lineup appearances for Utah State. Boise State is a big -16.5 favorite on Friday, but they were -14.5 last week against Wyoming and the Cowboys ran the ball for 278 yards while completing just three passes in a close 20-17 win for the Broncos. 

DraftKings CFB DFS Picks: Wide Receiver

People are probably going back to the well on UNC WR Josh Downs ($8,100) this Friday despite him having only 3 catches for 31 yards last week. Downs had an astounding 56 targets in the four games prior and NC State is allowing 293.3 ypg through the air their last three games so it looks like a nice bounce back for the Tar Heels. Other WRs to target include: 

Monaray Baldwin ($6,500) Baylor at Texas

Monaray Baldwin missed a couple of games with a hamstring injury, but in the two tilts since his return, he's been targeted 22 times and is averaging 98 yards receiving. Baldwin does have 5 TDs in 7 games played this season, and Texas is pretty consistent in allowing right around 240 yards passing to opponents week in and week out. 

Jeremiah Hunter ($5,500) Cal vs UCLA 

You can put up some points on UCLA; in fact, they've allowed 32+ in six of the last seven which includes giving up 377 pass yards/game over their last three. Cal's Jeremiah Hunter is a big 6'2, 205 pound receiver who has grabbed 5+ balls in four straight games while averaging 91 yards receiving over that span. He's only got a 25fp ceiling in the last four thanks to just 1 TD catch, but the Bruins secondary is wide open. 

Michael Ezeike ($4,700) UCLA at Cal

Sure, three of last week's four catches going for TDs for Michael Ezeike was probably a one-timer but you can pay to see a repeat this week against a Cal team that allows 292.3 ypg passing on the season - 7th most in the nation. Ezeike's TDs against USC came from 30, 6, and 3 yards out so the 6'5, 252 pound TE is a comfortable red zone threat for Bruins QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson

College Football DFS GPP Plays

QB - Michael Pratt ($7,300) Tulane at Cincinnati

Ownership should be low on Michael Pratt considering #19 Tulane (9-2) is still pretty underrated overall and the Green Wave don't have a great passing matchup against a Cincinnati defense allowing just 196.4 ypg through the air. Pratt has been a TD machine recently though with 8 through the air and 4 on the ground the last three games. 

RB - Elijah Green($6,100) North Carolina vs NC State

It would be assumed that Elijah Green ownership is going to be down on Friday considering his opponent NC State has allowed 17 yards rushing to Wake Forest and 1 yard on the ground to Boston Colllege over the course of their last three games. Green has been tearing it up though with 8 TDs in his last five games which earns him a look. 

WR - Brian Cobbs ($6,300) Utah State at Boise State

Sticking with a theme here, the Boise State defense is giving up absolutely nothing in the passing game, in fact 145.4 allowed is the best in the country. The Aggies are a +16.5 underdog on Friday which means they could get down and need to pass, and if they do Brian Cobbs caught all 10 of his targets last week for 122 yards. Cobbs has hit 30+ fp a couple times this season vs. BYU (10 catches, 96 yards, 2 TDs) and Air Force (8/136/1) so he has upside. 

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carl Taylor
Carl is a former RotoWire contributor. He is a sports betting and DFS expert who has been published in Forbes and the Denver Post among many other publications. He's still chasing down his first Milly Maker but feels that time is coming sooner rather than later.
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