DraftKings College Football: Week 13 Friday Slate

DraftKings College Football: Week 13 Friday Slate

This article is part of our DraftKings College Football series.

Welcome to our breakdown for Friday's DraftKings main slate, where we have an excellent mix of games to pair with our Thanksgiving leftovers. It's an eight-gamer -- UAB-Southern Mississippi will not be played -- with seven teams expected to score north of 30 points.

We're treated to a mix of Power Five and Group of Five/Independent games that create several avenues to making a strong and unique lineup. Getting the right exposure to Liberty and Central Florida will be key, but with so many high-salaried options from those teams, finding value down the board will be equally important. 

Below you will find our suite of DFS Tools along with matchup info and a position-by-position breakdown. 

DFS Tools

Matchup Info

Position-by-Position Breakdown

Quarterback

Liberty's Malik Willis is arguably the most important player on this slate. He checks in at $10,300, making him the highest salaried player on the board, but he just might be worth it. A matchup against the worst team in college football -- Massachusetts -- is on tap, and Willis is primed to feast. Outside of his tough outing against North Carolina State, Willis is averaging 36.7 DK Points per game. He has an excellent blend of passing ability and mobility, having thrown for 15 touchdowns and just one pick in those non-NC State games while also adding 700 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. 

Willis and the Flames have the highest implied total -- 46.5 points -- on the slate and the star signal-caller will be a big reason why Liberty challenges for nearly 50 points. If you make a Willis lineup, finding the bargains at other spots will be paramount. 

Dillon Gabriel, UCF ($9,300) vs. South Florida

Central Florida is right behind Liberty in terms of implied total (46.0) and that number may be low considering the opponent. South Florida is undergoing some major growing pains under first-year head coach Jeff Scott. The Bulls' average point differential is -22, the sixth-worst in the nation. 

Gabriel, meanwhile, continues to play at an extremely high level. He's averaging over 30 DK points per game and has thrown multiple touchdowns in all but one game this season. Gabriel even put a scare into Cincinnati's defense last week, tossing three scores against the Bearcats. This is a rivalry game and Central Florida is unlikely to take its foot off the gas Friday, so this sets up to be one of Gabriel's top performances of the season. If you're pivoting away from Willis, Gabriel is the way to go.

Ian Book, Notre Dame ($7,300) at North Carolina

Book being outside the Top 10 in terms of quarterback salary is a surprise. North Carolina has talent on defense but hasn't played like it this year, ranking 69th in scoring defense (30.8 PPG). Meanwhile, Notre Dame checks in with the third-highest implied total on the board Friday at 36.5 points.

Regarding Book, he has been a consistent producer all season, showing an ability to produce through the air or on the ground. He has thrown multiple touchdowns in three games and has also added six rushing scores. He has also been mistake-free for the most part with just two turnovers all season. Book should be able to specifically have success through the air as the Tar Heels allow 261 passing yards per game, but he'll also be good for some rushing production. 

Levi Williams, Wyoming ($6,900) vs. UNLV

Williams draws one of the most favorable matchups on the board against a struggling UNLV squad that's allowing over 36 points per game. 

Williams hasn't had eye-popping production just yet, averaging 18.1 DK points in three appearances. Luckily, the matchup should help smooth over some inefficiencies in Williams' game and allow him to post strong production. He has shown he can get it done through the air and on the ground with a 300-yard passing performance against Colorado State and a two-rushing-touchdown game against Nevada in the opener. 

Running Back

Joshua Mack, Liberty ($6,200) vs. Massachusetts

Malik Willis has nearly as many carries as Mack so there's some legitimate vulture concern here when it comes to Mack's touchdown upside. However, the theory behind the Mack play is simply that he's still the team's leading rusher in terms of carries and the matchup couldn't be better. He'll get double-digit attempts against a Minutemen defense that has played a disjointed schedule and also given up 238.3 rushing yards per game. 

Willis is still the alpha of this Liberty offense, but on a day where the Flames should put up over 40 points, there's still plenty to go around for the likes of Mack or even Peytton Pickett ($3,800) to get in on the action. 

Tyler Goodson, Iowa vs. Nebraska

Nebraska cannot stop the run. The Huskers cough up 233 rushing yards per game. That bodes poorly for them going into Friday's game against Iowa and it bodes well for Goodson. 

The sophomore tailback averages 90.6 yards on 16.6 carries per game and has scored in four straight games. Goodson has a command of the Iowa backfield as well, holding a 46 percent rushing share while no other Hawkeye rusher has more than a 27 percent share. Look for Goodson to get plenty of work against a vulnerable Nebraska defense. 

Kobe Lewis, Central Michigan ($7,400) at Eastern Michigan

We'll get into the pass-catcher in this game in the next section, but we'll focus on Lewis here. Lewis gets a steady diet of carries, averaging 20 rushes per game through three outings. He's averaging a pedestrian 4.85 YPC but that gets smoothed over when you consider this matchup. Eastern Michigan allows 235 rushing yards per game, the second-most on the slate behind only Massachusetts. If you can't pony up the $8,900 for Breece Hall, Lewis is a nice pivot that offers a high floor and a favorable matchup. 

Other Suggestion: Xazavian Valladay, Wyoming ($7,900) vs. UNLV

Wide Receiver

Dallas Dixon, Central Michigan ($4,400) at Eastern Michigan

Central Michigan doesn't have the high volume passing attack that it did a year ago, but the usage tree is fairly predictable and Dixon is highly involved. He has a 20 percent target share for the Chips and has caught 10 of 15 targets for 180 yards and a score. His teammate, Khalil Pimpleton, might be a safer play in cash games given his slightly higher target floor but Dixon has more explosiveness at a lighter salary. 

In terms of the matchup, Eastern Michigan allows 8.8 YPA to opposing passers, the third-highest mark on the slate. There's plenty of value on both sides of this MAC matchup and Dixon is a great way of getting exposure to that. 

Tanner Knue, Eastern Michigan ($5,200) vs. Central Michigan

On the other side of the EMU-CMU matchup we have Knue, who averages 7.0 targets per game and 9.1 YPT. His 21 percent target share ranks second on the team and he leads all Eastern Michigan receivers in per-target efficiency. Central Michigan has the worst pass defense on the slate (10.3 YPA allowed, 2.7 passing touchdowns per game). At $5,200, Knue is well worth a look in the mid-tier of the receiver pool.

Ben Skowronek, Notre Dame at North Carolina

Notre Dame spreads the ball around to its deep corps of pass-catchers, but Skowronek still has a solid target floor at 4.2 per game and that number would be higher if he did not leave the opener with an injury. Skowronek is also a red zone threat with three of his five touchdowns coming in that area. He's also explosive, averaging 9.6 YPT. If you're going the Ian Book route, Skowronek is a strong pairing option. 

Jaylon Robinson, Central Florida ($6,100) at South Florida

Robinson is a screeching value on this slate. He has a 23 percent market share, averaging 9.8 targets per game at 10.9 YPT. He is coming off a rough outing against Cincinnati with just five catches for 32 yards and a score on 13 targets, and that helps keep his salary in check for this week. This is also a plus matchup -- South Florida allows 37.6 points per game, which is the second-most on this slate. Robinson is a strong play as a one-off or as part of a UCF passing game stack. 

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. John McKechnie plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: Fanduel: mckech3; DraftKings: mckech3.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John McKechnie
John is the 2016 and 2021 FSWA College Writer of the Year winner. He is a Maryland native and graduate of the University of Georgia. He's been writing for RotoWire since 2014.
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