This article is part of our FanDuel College Football series.
CFB FanDuel DFS Breakdown for Saturday Main Slate
We reach the halfway point of the college football regular season this week. Hard to believe, isn't it? Another strong contingent of games awaits for Saturday's main slate, including a few mammoth clashes among top-25 opponents. From a fantasy perspective, the top billings go to LSU-Ole Miss with a 62.5-point total and Wake Forest-Clemson with a 61.5-point total, the only two to cross the 60-point barrier. North Carolina-Georgia Tech (59.5) and Pitt-Cal (58.5) aren't far off either.
Clemson also leads the way as the top projected points scorer (41.0) and is the only team projected for 37 or more points on Saturday's slate. Tennessee is next in line at 36 expected points and Alabama is breathing down the Vols' necks at 35.5, with Ole Miss (33.0), Georgia Tech (32.0), Texas (31.5), Pittsburgh (31.0) and Louisville (30.5) rounding out the projected 30-point scorers.
Following similar tunes, the biggest potential blowouts are mostly featured above. Clemson is a 20.5-point favorite, while Alabama tops the charts as a 21.5-point expected winner over South Carolina. Tennessee versus Florida and Texas in the Red River Rivalry over Oklahoma are next in line at -14.5 and Kentucky (-12.5) rounds out the double-digit favorites.
College Football DFS Weather (winds 10+ MPH, precip. chance 50-plus percent and hot/cold temps noted)
Texas at Oklahoma - Temps expected to be in the low-to-mid 90s
Notable College Football Injuries/Absences for Week 7
QB
Brock Vandagriff, Kentucky - Termed probable on the injury reports, so he should be a go
Grayson McCall, NC State - Left after a nasty-looking concussion last week that required a trip to the hospital. Consider him highly doubtful for this week
RB
Henry Parrish, Ole Miss - Listed as probable on the injury report after missing last week
Nicholas Singleton, Penn State - Was reportedly ill last week, which caused him to miss the game, so he SHOULD be back. I would still check the game day injury report for this one to be safe. Afternoon start
Jaydn Ott, California - Considered probable to play after logging only seven carries last week versus Miami
Caden Durham, LSU - Listed as probable after injuring his foot against South Alabama and has practiced
Maurice Turner, Louisville - Status unclear after missing the past handful of games
Treyaun Webb, Florida - Ruled out this week
Chip Trayanum, Kentucky - Remains out after suffering a setback in his recovery
Hollywood Smothers, NC State - Returned to practice earlier this week
LJ Martin, BYU - Back after missing a handful of games
WR
Tre Harris, Ole Miss - Listed questionable for this week
Trell Harris, Virginia - Termed day-to-day leading up to Week 7
Deion Burks, Oklahoma - Not expected to play Saturday
Nic Anderson Oklahoma - Out for Saturday
Andrel Anthony, Oklahoma - Out for Saturday
Jalil Farooq, Oklahoma - Out for Saturday
Dont'e Thornton, Tennessee - Listed as questionable
CJ Daniels, LSU - Listed as questionable
Bru McCoy, Tennessee - Probable despite injury last week
Squirrel White, Tennessee - Probable despite injury last week
Carnell Tate, Ohio State - On track to return this week
Kobe Prentice, Alabama - Listed questionable for Saturday following head injury last week
Jared Brown, South Carolina - Won't play due to lower-body injury
Donavon Greene, Wake Forest - Not on depth chart for Saturday
Gary Bryant, Oregon - Has reportedly returned to practice
Chris Hilton, LSU - Termed questionable on the injury report
Kendrick Law, Alabama - Questionable on injury report
Tyler Brown, Clemson - Nearing a return to a full practice workload, status TBD
Vandrevius Jacobs, South Carolina - Expected to be available
TE
None
College Football DFS Tools
- FanDuel Lineup Optimizer
- Matchups Page (Vegas odds, opponent averages, etc.)
- Advanced Lineups Page
- Stats
- Team Trends
- Targets
- Defense vs. Position
- Team Rankings
Week 7 CFB DFS Plays on FanDuel
Quarterback
Cade Klubnik, ($11,800) Clemson at Wake Forest
After some struggles in the past couple of seasons and in the opener against Georgia, Klubnik has seemingly come into his own over the last handful of weeks. He didn't post his best effort last Saturday against FSU but still finished with 23.6 FanDuel points. Next on the schedule is a Wake Forest defense that has allowed each of its four FBS quarterback opponents to post above-average fantasy totals of at least 11 percent, with three of four posting 21 percent or more above average. Over his last four games, Klubnik has averaged 35.1 FD points per game, so even hitting his average over that span would count as a win at this salary, and that certainly seems plausible with the expected point total of 41 for the Tigers.
Haynes King, ($9,500) Georgia Tech at North Carolina
King's has performed relatively consistently this year, posting no fewer than 11.2 FD points (opener versus Florida State) and 17.7 or more FD points since then. His best effort of the year came against Syracuse when he managed to find pay dirt twice as a runner. Thankfully, there's another opposing defense on the docket this week that may oblige him on a big ground game. In two of the last three games, the opposing quarterbacks have run a combined 23 times for 175 yards and three touchdowns between James Madison's Alonza Barrett and Pitt's Eli Holstein. Sandwiched between them was pocket passer Maalik Murphy who has nine carries for a loss of 54 yards rushing on the season. King definitely fits in with the former two quarterbacks, placing him in a spot where he could put up big numbers for a Yellow Jackets squad projected to tally 32 points Saturday.
Tyler Shough ($9,300) Louisville at Virginia
I was hoping for big things from Shouch last week against SMU, and unfortunately, he went the other way and delivered his worst fantasy effort of the season. On the plus side, his salary is $100 less this week, and he still threw for over 300 yards against the Mustangs. That passing total is certainly repeatable against a UVA defense that has allowed 1,222 passing yards through four games, an average of 305.5 passing yards per contest. Shough has crossed the 300-yard barrier twice so far this year and certainly has the means to do so again this week. There aren't a ton of off-the-charts matchups on the table this Saturday, so this may be my third option under center behind the two above.
Running Back
LeQuint Allen, ($9,800) Syracuse at NC State
Allen put all of the pieces together in a Friday night barn burner versus UNLV, finishing with four total touchdowns and 129 total yards on 28 touches. Repeat performance? Unlikely, but he does face a Wolfpack defense that has been uncharacteristically poor against the run of late, allowing three of its last four opponents' running backs to go over their average fantasy production on the year. For Allen, that average sits at 21.8 FD points per game, and the Orange are slightly favored in a close matchup, which should keep him involved throughout. He's a dual-threat weapon out of the backfield with a guaranteed weekly volume and a decent matchup. That checks enough boxes for me.
Phil Mafah, ($8,500) Clemson at Wake Forest
Mafah seems too good of a deal at this salary to pass up. It may be difficult to put both Mafah and Klubnik into lineups, as the two rarely connect in the passing game, so this may be an either/or scenario of Mafah or Klubnik and the passing attack. Despite a somewhat eased workload early in the season, Mafah showed he's still the workhorse last week when called upon, rushing 25 times for 154 yards against Florida State. He has found pay dirt just twice through five games this year, but it's a good bet he's due to find it again after tallying 13 touchdowns over 13 games last season. The Demon Deacons also have allowed two of four FBS opponents to net scores over average and two of three power-conference opponents, so the odds are somewhat in favor of Mafah having a day to at least bring back value on this salary.
Jaydn Ott, ($7,500) California at Pittsburgh
Ott saw a season-low seven carries and just 10 touches overall against Miami, but it surprisingly wasn't due to the game script moving away from the run. Instead, it was a combination of a pick-six, and numerous explosive offensive plays leading to quick drives with fewer plays. Cal ran just 50 total offensive plays after running no fewer than 67 in a game prior to that. So, Ott technically received a touch on 20 percent of the offensive snaps and turned in one of his better games of the campaign, tallying two touchdowns. Pitt may not allow the same number of explosive plays this week, but the Panthers operate a pass-heavy offense, and Ott should get his fair share of touches again this week on more offensive snaps. This salary seems like a value for Ott's expected workload as a runner and a receiver.
LJ Martin, ($4,200) BYU vs. Arizona (h/t to John McKechnie for pointing him out before I started on my article)
Rounding out my running back lineup room is what could easily prove to be the value play of the week. While the matchup with Arizona isn't off the chart, Martin is the back the Cougars intended as their starter to open the year, and nothing he did through the first game-plus of action has likely changed that. He handled 13 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass in a blowout opener versus Southern Illinois before leaving after just four carries versus SMU in Week 2. He's back and reportedly had a good week in practice last week. Even if he doesn't handle all of BYU's carries, he's seemingly the best bet of the bunch to reach double digits in the carry column, and that's not the kind of volume you can typically find in this range.
Another to consider: Caden Durham ($5,800) LSU vs. Ole Miss
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Ja'Corey Brooks ($9,700) Louisville at Virginia
While many doubted Brooks would piece it all together after a disappointing season with Alabama in 2023, the senior has proved his naysayers wrong thus far, compiling 25 catches for 489 yards and six touchdowns through five games. The salary is a bit steeper than I'd hoped, but the matchup is too juicy to let it pass by. As discussed in the Shough section above, Virginia is yielding north of 300 passing yards per game, and the Wahoos have also surrendered 17 pass plays of 25-plus yards this season, ranking among the worst in college football. Brooks is the big-play guy for the Cardinals, averaging 14.0 yards per target so far this season.
Jayden Higgins ($8,700) or Jaylin Noel ($7,500) Iowa State at West Virginia
To diverge a bit from the beaten path, let's check into the Iowa State-West Virginia clash. Higgins is the better play here if you can fit him into your lineup. He's scored in every contest so far and squares off against a West Virginia defense that has surrendered seven passing touchdowns to wideouts through the first five games. Higgins sports a target share of 39.2 percent over the last three games and has 12 targets in each of the last two, so he's clearly the preferred option in the offense. However, Noel isn't too far behind, posting a 25.7 percent target share over the same time frame and 16 combined targets between the last two contests. Higgins hasn't crossed the goal line since Week 2 against Iowa, but he's posted 20-plus FD points in the two games he's scored this year, so he certainly has the potential to provide value if he can find pay dirt in this one.
Emeka Egbuka ($8,600) Ohio State at Oregon
After Jeremiah Smith stole headlines early in the season as the next star wideout for the Buckeyes, Egbuka has reminded us over the last three games why he is also considered one of the best in the NCAA ranks. During the three-game span, Egbuka has racked up 21 catches for 284 yards and five touchdowns on 25 targets. He's also posted seven or more targets in all but one game so far, while Smith hasn't notched more than six targets since the season opener. Even with the disparity in recent production, Egbuka is still $400 cheaper than Smith. Ohio State is going to score points in this game, and the Ducks have been stingy in the run this year, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Egbuka find some openings again Saturday.
Antonio Williams ($7,700) or Bryant Wesco ($6,100) Clemson at Wake Forest
Similar to Higgins and Noel above, though on a lesser scale, Williams is the safer of these two options, having scored four touchdowns through five games and posting 9.9 or more FD points in four of five games. He's the safer option, with the upside of 19.5 and 17.4 as his best games to date. In cash games, he's likely the option I'd pair if utilizing Cade Klubnik under center. If I'm playing in GPPs, Wesco's volatility is a bit more appealing to me. While his lows are very low, totaling 4.4 or fewer FD points in three of five games this year. Wesco's highs are as high, if not higher, than Williams'; he's posted 20.5 and 17.4 FD points in two games this year. That said, Wesco relies on the big play for his output, posting 100-plus yards twice on five total catches in his two big games, and Wake Forest has allowed only nine plays of 25-plus yards through five games.
To summarize: Cash Game - Williams; GPP - Wesco lean
Eric Singleton ($6,800) Georgia Tech at North Carolina
Returning to the big plays discussed in the Clemson section above, this is where we want to target the Tar Heels defense. Through Week 6, the Tar Heels have allowed the most pass plays of 25-plus yards (21) of any team in the country. That's an average of three to four plays of 25-plus yards per game, and if I'm looking to take advantage of that, Singleton is the man to do so. He's leading the team among regular starters with an average depth of target of 12.1 yards, and his 14.1 yards per reception also tops the team. So, if there's somewhere I want to take a shot to pair with Haynes King, I'll take it with Singleton.