DraftKings College Football: Week 2 CFB DFS Main Slate Breakdown

This article is part of our DraftKings College Football series.

College Football DFS: DraftKings College Football Main Slate, Week 2

Boy, did I have some egg on my face after that Colorado-TCU game last weekend. I was wrong in pretty much every way imaginable. But this introduces some interesting wrinkles for this weekend. Everyone saw what Colorado did in Fort Worth last weekend. Everyone saw what Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn can do. Now, what do we do with that information?

In the betting world, Colorado has become a sensation. They fueled this game being the 2nd-most bet sporting event this week, ahead of every NFL game that isn't Chiefs-Lions to kick off the season. Over 90 percent of the money and tickets has been coming in on Colorado and the line has moved from Nebraska -7.5 to Colorado -3.0. That's insane. Will Colorado draw a similar level of interest from the DFS crowd? That will be a key storyline this weekend. If the Buffs are stacked on a high percentage of lineups and it clicks, the Colorado faders will basically be drawing dead. If the stack doesn't work out, though, that's a massive leverage advantage for those who loaded up elsewhere. 

One more thing. What if last weekend's game tells us more about TCU than it does Colorado? 

Whew. From national title finalist to "laughing stock" is a tough turn over a nine-month span. I think we can expect Colorado's offense to hum all year -- it had a great game plan and it executed it to perfection last week -- but it's worth mentioning that the defense might be a major weakness. It gave up almost 7.0 YPP last weekend and 7.1 YPC on the ground. In all, it'll be tough to fade Colorado's offense on this slate, but the runback options on Nebraska will certainly be worth exploring, too. 

Slate Overview

We have far fewer expected blowouts this week according to the spreads compared to last week when finding a competitive matchup was tricky to say the least. As a result, paying attention to totals is extremely important in your game selection this week. Tulane vs. Ole Miss is the outlier with a total of 66.5 while most of the other appealing games on the slate sit between 47.0 and 56.5.

CFB DFS Tools

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• CFB Stats
• CFB Team Trends
• CFB Advanced Team Stats with Plays per Game, Pass %, Run % and more

CFB DFS Picks: Quarterback

Shedeur Sanders ($9,400) Colorado vs. Nebraska

Last week was too much fun to leave Sanders out of this article. He's the top-salaried quarterback on the slate* and with good reason. Colorado turned him loose last week to the tune of 47 pass attempts, and he responded by completing 80 percent of his passes for 510 yards and four touchdowns. It feels weird to say it, but I think this week's matchup is significantly tougher with Nebraska's defense coming to town. I still give Colorado's offense the edge, though Nebraska won't get carved up the way TCU's did. 

The pricing makes it a little tricky to stack Colorado given that Sanders eats up nearly 20% of your cap right off the jump, and then the cheapest starting receiver is $7,000. A Buffs stack can be done, but you'll have to make some serious concessions with the rest of your lineup. Still, it's something worth trying to build because we see the type of offense that Colorado could have this season.

*that we know for sure is playing.

J.J. McCarthy ($9,100) Michigan vs. UNLV

Quarterback is tough to sort out this week. The salaries are elevated across the board and it's hard to find a slam dunk under $9K. McCarthy, at $9,100, has a good enough setup in this game to be worth a look. Michigan is a heavy (-37) favorite against UNLV, who may be a notch or two worse than East Carolina.

Last week against the Pirates, McCarthy tossed three touchdowns and fell just shy of the 300-yard bonus on 30 attempts. It's encouraging that Michigan let him throw that much in an easy win, which should be the case again this week. Blowout risk may lead to a lower roster percentage for McCarthy, who is lined up to have an extremely efficient and explosive outing through the air.  

Sam Hartman ($8,600) Notre Dame at North Carolina State

It's hard not to be impressed by what Hartman has done in his first two games for the Irish. Sure the competition has been...subpar... but his combined 33-for-40 for 445 yards and six touchdowns is exactly what you'd want against those types of opponents.

Because Hartman has been in college football since 2018 (!!), and because he played for a conference foe of NC State's, I figured it'd be prudent to take a gander at his career stats vs the Wolfpack. They aren't overly encouraging. On 131 attempts, Hartman completed 55 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and six picks. 

Maybe I'm too committed to this writeup to scrap Hartman based on that, but maybe that lack of production was fueled by NC State being familiar with and ready for the Wake Forest offense. This time around will be different. Hartman is talented, experienced, and has a team talent advantage now that he was not afforded in Winston-Salem. He'll be the busiest that he's been thus far at Notre Dame and with the level he's playing at, Hartman should be able to return value on $8,600.

GPP Plays: QB

Jordan McCloud ($5,000) James Madison at Virginia

This one isn't for the faint of heart. McCloud is at his third school and hasn't been great anywhere just yet, but he might be finding his footing in Harrisonburg. He was announced as the starter earlier in the week after Alonza Barnett struggled mightily against Bucknell last week. 

McCloud was excellent through the air in relief of Barnett, throwing for two touchdowns on 11 attempts while averaging 13.1 YPA. Bucknell caveat notwithstanding, that's solid production in a small sample. 

It won't be as easy through the air this time around, but Virginia did look exploitable against the pass last week. If McCloud can mix in some rushing production or even vulture a red zone score on the ground, he'll be well on pace to return value on the $5K tag. 

CFB DFS Picks: Running Back

It's a good week to save at running back to pay up at receiver. There are some heavy hitters at RB that you should work into your lineups, of course, like Michigan's Blake Corum ($8,400) and Ole Miss' Quinshon Judkins ($8,100). Those guys hardly need an introduction, let alone an explanation for why they're worth playing this week, though. Let's check in on some of the value running backs that can save us some coin and still offer upside.

Kaelon Black ($4,200) James Madison at Virginia

Virginia got manhandled against the run last weekend, coughing up 287 rushing yards and five rushing scores to the Vols. Now, it won't look quite the same this time around against JMU, but the Dukes are still primed to have success on the ground.

At the front of the line in the JMU backfield is Kaelon Black, a senior who has waited his turn and looked great in the opener against Bucknell with 12 carries for 125 yards. It's important to unpack that context because it was an FCS opponent that James Madison handled without issue. Virginia's defense is not as bad as Bucknell's. Hot take, I know. It's also important to note that Latrele Palmer was second on the team in carries with 10, so this could be an even split in the backfield. Palmer, though, averaged just 4.5 YPC while Black averaged 10.4. Even if you take Black's 57-yard scamper away, he still averaged over 6.0 YPC.

 We have a low implied total here which is a bit concerning when it comes to loading up on this game. Still, JMU is a run-first outfit and Black seems to be its leader in the backfield. I see the efficiency dipping but the volume increasing. If Black can punch in a score while tallying a high carry count, he should sail past the number we're hoping for to return value at $4,200.

Rasheen Ali ($4,800) Marshall at East Carolina

Many moons ago, Ali was routinely one of the top-salaried running backs on any Marshall slate. He was unstoppable with over 1700 yards from scrimmage with 24 total touchdowns in 2021. And now, he checks in under $5K. 

The issue with playing Ali is that his roster percentage should be over 50% in most large-field contests this weekend. I'm saying that Ali is good chalk, and should be viewed as a bingo free- space around which you can build the rest of your lineup. He had 18 carries for 137 yards and a pair of touchdowns against an FCS school last weekend. In 2021, Ali was routinely pushing over 20 carries and nearly 4.0 catches per game. Look for East Carolina to get a full dosage of Ali on Saturday. And I don't think the Pirates are going to like it.

Gabe Ervin ($5,400) Nebraska at Colorado

This is tricky. Nebraska's game last week didn't provide a lot of actionable insights on the Husker backfield rotation. If anything, investing in a Nebraska RB could backfire if Jeff Sims is as active as a runner as he was against Minnesota when he took off 19 times for 91 yards. 

This is a bet that more carries will be funneled to the running backs, and that Ervin stands to benefit from the added volume against a Colorado run defense that could be in big trouble. 

$5,400 is a mid-tier price point, one that some drafters may avoid in lieu of someone with a safer workload projection. With that, Ervin has some legitimate GPP intrigue with an extremely favorable matchup and a potentially low roster percentage. 

CFB DFS Picks: Wide Receiver

Tre Harris ($7,800) Mississippi at Tulane

Harris had the best weekend of any receiver in the fantasy football landscape in Week 1, catching six of nine targets for 133 yards and four touchdowns. It was against Mercer, but still. Harris is a legit talent who lit it up for years at Louisiana Tech and has the ability to make the leap and dominate while moving up a weight class. It helps that fellow transfer wide receiver Zakhari Franklin is looking unlikely to play as of this writing, so the target funnel should start with Harris again this week.

Harris may be the most expensive active receiver on this slate, but it's not often that the top-billed WR on the main slate is ticketed under $8K. With a game total of 67.0 and the second-highest implied team total, it's important to get some exposure to this game at the very least. And in the passing game, Harris is the best way of going about that.

Evan Stewart ($7,100) Texas A&M at Miami

Fellow Aggie wideout Noah Thomas will be popular this weekend after catching all six of his targets in the opener, including three touchdowns. Thomas also represents $1,000 in salary savings over Stewart. Think twice before that's your entire rationale for your A&M exposure, though.

Stewart, for his own part, has the chance to be one of the best receivers in his class. He came to College Station as one of the top-rated receivers in the nation and after a rocky start, Stewart came on strong down the stretch last year as a true freshman and routinely drew double-digit targets. 

The Aggie passing game should look much less clunky this year, and that's not just a nod to last week's performance. The offense got a facelift this offseason and the quarterback play is seeing a massive upgrade under Conner Weigman. 

With this game being a much tougher test than Week 1, expect Texas A&M to lean on its proven stars and Stewart absolutely qualifies as that for the Aggies. Massive target volume should be in play here, and Stewart has the talent to convert those chances into serious production. 

Ali Jennings ($6,700) Virginia Tech vs. Purdue

Jennings impressed in his Virginia Tech debut, pacing the Hokies wideouts with five grabs for 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns against his former school. Now, Virginia Tech was very run-heavy but not very effective with it against ODU as the Hokies averaged a combined 2.5 YPC. Going to the air, the average was 8.6 YPA. So now we have reason to believe that Virginia Tech could have an anemic run game that steers them more toward the pass this week, and the implied competitive nature of the game means that they won't have the luxury of sitting on the run all afternoon Saturday. 

Look for Jennings to be busy on Saturday as the top target in this offense, and it would not be surprising for him to push into the double-digits in terms of targets. Not too many receivers on this slate project for that type of volume, especially under $7K. Jennings is a nice one-off piece of a lineup, but I doubt I'll be running too many lineups that have VT passing stacks.

GPP Plays: WR

Jaden Greathouse ($4,700) Notre Dame at North Carolina State

This is a bit of a gamble because Greathouse has been, well, great when targeted thus far this season but his snap count lags behind some of the other Notre Dame wideouts. He has played 27 percent of the snaps thus far while two Golden Domers have seen 70 percent of the snaps, which doesn't leave a ton of room for playing time in an offense that isn't going four-wide all the time.

Still, I'm drawn to Greathouse's talent above all else. He's caught all five of his targets for 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His snap count went from eight to 23 last week, and though that was against Tennessee State, that seems to indicate the coaching staff wants to get him on the field more. 

I think Notre Dame will surpass the implied total of 29 points and Sam Hartman should cruise past his season-high in attempts, so there will be more opportunities to go around. There's upside here and if it hits, this could be last time we see Greathouse under $5K this season.

Roman Wilson ($5,400) Michigan vs. UNLV

The blowout potential at the Big House is even greater than it was last week as Michigan is a 37-point favorite with an implied total of 46.75. So, it's fair to wonder how long the Michigan starters play Saturday. That said, the bench is only getting emptied after the Wolverines build that comfortable lead.

Michigan's receiver room was a bit of a blind spot for me coming into the year after losing Ronnie Bell and Luke Schoonmaker on top of already being a run-first offense. Wilson has always been intriguing though, and his three-touchdown performance last week was hard to ignore. It's harder to ignore when he's only $5,400 and Michigan had only one other receiver with more than two targets. 

I think a Wilson-J.J. McCarthy stack is something to consider in GPP contests this week, and Wilson has his own appeal even if you want to play him as a one-off.