This article is part of our FanDuel College Football series.
College Football DFS Picks: FanDuel Main Slate Picks and Lineup Strategy for Week 8
It's wild but the 2022 college football regular season is already half over. There's a little sadness that comes over you but also an extra motivation that there's only a few more weeks to get on the grind. The week 8 FanDuel main slate should be a good one, with a lot of variance such as six games having totals in the 60s, Ohio State playing in a 50 O/U game with Iowa, while UCLA and Oregon are implied to drop 32+ points each in their meeting in Eugene.
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FanDuel CFB DFS Picks: Quarterback
Bo Nix has beaten projections in every one of the Ducks five straight wins but surprisingly he drops from 32 to 28 this week even against UCLA in a game with a 71 point total - while his salary goes up slightly. John Rhys Plumlee ($11.5k) is one of four $11k+ QBs this weekend after 7 total TDs for UCF last weekend. The big one to watch here is Spencer Sanders ($11.2k) who is said to be battling a sore shoulder as Oklahoma State hosts Texas this weekend.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson ($11,000) UCLA at Oregon
Hendon Hooker got his Heisman resume moment last week with 385 yards passing and 5TDs to lead the Vols' 52-49 win over Alabama. Hooker has become the Heisman favorite with 1,817 yards passing, 15 TDs, 1 INT, and another 3 TDs on the ground. UCLA's Dorian Thompson-Robinson has 1,510/15/2/4 so when is it time he gets thrown into the Heisman mix? The answer is with a big game when #9 UCLA visits #10 Oregon on Saturday and the Ducks will give up some passing yards allowing 275.3 ypg.
Will Rogers ($9,000) Mississippi State at Alabama
Do we hop on Will Rogers here with his lowest price so far this season? Rogers just ran into a pretty stout Kentucky defense that allows less than 180 ypg passing, and he struggled with just 10 fp (203 yards passing, 1/1). Mississippi State plays Alabama this week, and the Tide defense was anything but stout giving up 567 total yards to Tennessee last week. Best case scenario, Alabama's secondary continues to struggle and Rogers shreds them for 285 and 5 TDs like Hendon Hooker did last week. Other alternative, the Bulldogs get down big and Rogers throws 55 times like he did in last year's 49-9 loss to the Tide - but this time without 3 INTs.
Quinn Ewers ($8,700) Texas at Oklahoma State
Texas QB Quinn Ewers seems priced at least $1.5k lower than what he should be considering his matchup with the Oklahoma State defense. Sure Ewers was just 17/26 for 172 yards last week, but he did throw 3 TDs and was up against a very good Iowa State defense. OSU has one of the worst defenses in the nation - especially against the pass where their 331.4 ypg allowed to FBS opponents is the third most.
FanDuel CFB DFS Picks: Running Back
Bijan Robinson just continues to do what he does with a fifth straight 100+ yard game last week against a good Iowa State defense. He didn't find the end zone and finished with a season low 19fp, but that should change at $10,500 against the porous Oklahoma State defense. Zach Charbonnet ($10.2k) is coming off 198 yards against Utah and then a bye, while Mohamed Ibrahim ($9.8k) may get even more of a workload this week with QB Tanner Morgan in concussion protocols.
Jahmyr Gibbs ($9,700) Alabama vs Mississippi State
It's crazy that Alabama threw for 455 yards last week in their win over Tennessee and Jahmyr Gibbs was still able to crack the perfect lineup at the RB position in the FanDuel main slate. Three rushing TDs to go along with 103 rush yards and another 48 receiving yards definitely help. Alabama vs. Tennessee was a ping pong match, something that the Mississippi State game could very well turn into as well if the Bulldogs' Air Raid offense can get to this struggling Crimson Tide secondary.
Deuce Vaughn ($8,600) Kansas State vs TCU
Kansas State got beat up in their 10-9 win over a physical Iowa State team on October 8th, which is why the bye last week for the #17 Wildcats came at pretty much the perfect time. Deuce Vaughn had a season low 10 carries and 23 yards vs. the Cyclones (115+ yards in 4 of 5 prior), but K-State coach Chris Klieman says everybody is healthy and ready to go after being idle. KSU gets a good matchup against a TCU team in a letdown spot after their 2OT win over previously unbeaten Oklahoma State last week, and who are also allowing 400 total ypg.
Josh Williams ($5,800) LSU vs Ole Miss
Ole Miss can run the football as their 271.4 ypg are third most in the nation. Therefore LSU needs to try to get their own ground game going here to give their defense a rest against the #7 team in the country. That plan worked last week with Josh Williams carrying the ball 14 times for 106 yards, but QB Jayden Daniels stole all the TDs with three on the ground. Auburn was able to carry the ball 48 times for 301 yards last week against the Rebels, so LSU's potential for a big day on the ground is there.
FanDuel CFB DFS Picks: Wide Receiver
Ohio State WRs go 1-2 in pricing at WR for the FanDuel main slate with Emeka Egbuka at $9,500 and Marvin Harrison, Jr. at $9,400. That's somewhat interesting in an O/U 50 point game against Iowa, but 40 of those are implied to be the Buckeyes'. SMU's Rashee Rice remains towards the top with a $9,300 salary despite having just 3 catches for 74 yards last week vs. Navy.
Quentin Johnston ($9,000) TCU vs Kansas State
Quentin Johnston is playing himself into being a 1st round pick and he's obviously QB Max Duggan's safety blanket with 30 targets and over 380 yards receiving the last two games. K-State has a decent defense, but the 6'4 speed burner Johnston is just a matchup breaker that head coach Sonny Dykes is getting more and more involved each week.
Ryan O'Keefe ($8,100) Central Florida at East Carolina
What you like about Ryan O'Keefe is that he's had a couple breakout games with 117 and 111 yards receiving the last two weeks to go along with 2 TD catches in each game. What you don't like is that he's gotten just 13 total targets over that span. That being said, the matchup favors another big game as East Carolina gave up 407 yards passing to Memphis last week and their 336.7 pass ypg allowed the last three games is sixth worst in the nation.
Ja'Tavion Sanders ($5,700) Texas at Oklahoma State
Texas TE Ja'Tavion Sanders has multiple TD catches in two of the last three games, and it feels like the Longhorns are going to put up a lot of points on Saturday against a very bad Oklahoma State defense. That's a solid price point and a TE made the perfect lineup last week in Utah's Dalton Kincaid. OSU's defense is that bad.
College Football DFS GPP Plays
QB - Aidan O'Connell ($8,200) Purdue at Wisconsin
Aidan O'Connell catches his lowest price of the season thus far even after 391 yards and 4 TDs last week against Nebraska. The reason for the drop is there's a big difference between the Nebraska defense and Wisconsin's...usually. The down year continues for the Badgers with a 34-28 loss at Michigan State last week where MSU QB Payton Thorne hit 21/28 passes and Jayden Reed caught 9 balls for 117 yards.
RB- Dillon Johnson ($6,100) Mississippi State at Alabama
Dillon Johnson is projected at less than 5% ownership on Saturday even against an Alabama defense that gave up 182 yards rushing against Tennessee last weekend. Maybe Mississippi State and the Vols aren't on the same level, but Johnson can compile some stats with 418 yards and 3 TDs rushing to go along with over 4 catches per game this season. He had a season high 28fp two weeks ago with 100 yards rushing and 49 yards receiving with 2 TDs against Arkansas.
WR -- Moose Muhammad III ($6,000) Texas A&M at South Carolina
We might be seeing the breakout of Moose Muhammad III in this Texas A&M offense, as he had 10 targets with 6 catches for 119 yards and a TD in week 5 against Mississippi State and followed that up by catching all 6 of his targets for 64 yards and another score in week 6 against Alabama. The Aggies have had a bye week to get him more involved in the offense, and ownership is going to be low (projected 3%) against a top 20 South Carolina defense.