College Football DFS: Thursday/Friday Slates, Week 6

We've got four game on tap before the weekend, and both DraftKings and FanDuel have them set up as a Thursday slate and a Friday slate.  We will tackle both of them in this article.  Let's first take a look at the matchups via the spreads and Over/Under totals

Thursday

Georgia Southern(-10.5) @ South Alabama O/U: 45.5

Temple (-11.5) @ East Carolina  O/U: 49

Friday

UCF (-4) @ Cincinnati       O/U: 60

New Mexico @ San Jose State (-6.5)         O/U: 64.5

As you can see, there's a sharp contrast between Thursday and Friday when it comes to potential output, but the two days are independent slates on FanDuel and DraftKings, so there isn't a particular game you can fade.  In situations like this I am going to pick one Thursday QB and one Friday QB for each game, and do the same with every other position. I'll also send up some flex candidates across both slates. Unless there's someone who really stands out at an alternate position, I'll often just use the opposing quarterback in the Super Flex position.

QUARTERBACK

Thursday

Anthony Russo, TEMP (DK $7,800, FD $10,200) @ ECU

Russo stunk it up against a tough Georgia Tech defense last week, but if we eliminate that stat line, you can see that Russo has played extremely well. Eastern Carolina isn't terrible against the pass (currently 79th in Passing Defense), but it's the perfect scenario for Russo to get Temple back into a pass-first groove.

Shai Werts, Georgia Southern (DK $6,200, FD $9,200) @ South Alabama

You won't see a lot of passing from Werts, but that's not why we are picking him.  Georgia Southern employs the triple-option, and Werts calls all the shots, often for himself.  He's missed considerable time with a shoulder injury but he is expected to start against a South Alabama team that ranks 181st against the run.

Friday

Josh Love, San Jose State (DK $6,900, FD $8,700) vs.New Mexico

It's hard to go against the Spartans here, as Tevaka Tuioti and the Lobos aren't playing well at all.  The big obstacle for Love is the presence of Nick Nash, who will take snaps from Love in specific game situations.  If this game gets out of hand, we might see more from Nash than usual, but with the Lobos a horrific 288th against the pass, I don't see a way around rostering Love on this slate. If you wanted to really save money at the position, you could throw Nash into a GPP but that's a huge high-variance play.

Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati (DK $7,000, FD $9,400) vs. Central Florida

I'm going with the underdog here as I think Dillon Gabriel's ownership will be prohibitively high, and it's a perfect way to get a leg up on this slate.  Looking at these two defenses, Cincy's pass defense fares better against a pretty similar level of foes. I can see how Gabriel would be the safer bet, but Ridder adds a rushing element that Gabriel lacks and is trending up after a slow start.

RUNNING BACKS

Thursday 

Re'Mahn Davis, Temple (DK $6,800, FD $9,600) @ East Carolina

The Owls will likely pound ECU into submission with Davis, who is by far the safest running back play on the slate.  He's run for 346 yards over four games and compiled three touchdowns in that span. Unlike the Friday slate, I'm aiming to spend up at running back.

Logan Wright, Georgia Southern (DK $5,400, FD $7,000) at South Alabama

I favor Wright for much the same reason I lean to Davis above. He's a skilled runner who will likely be playing with the lead for most of the game. He doesn't have monster stats like Davis, but you're playing $1,200-$2,600 less for a guy in a great game script.

Friday

Ahmari Davis, New Mexico (DK $5,400, FD $8,600) @ San Jose State

As I said, I'm not high on the Lobos on Friday, but this guy powers the offense for this team. I'm with the highly favored Spartans in this contest, but they rank a pretty poor 234th against the rush this far, so Davis should be able to make some noise in New Mexico's run-heavy attack.

DeJon Packer, San Jose State (DK $5,100, FD $7,600) vs. New Mexico

Packer is the only reliable option for the Spartans, and comes at a favorable discount on both sites.  With elite options at wideout, I'll need to reach down a bit somewhere, and this is a decent spot. His stats aren't spectacular but he does have a nose for the end zone, with three touchdowns scored over four games this season.

WIDE RECEIVER

Thursday

Jadan Blue, Temple (DK $7,200, FD $9,000) @ East Carolina

There are a lot of mouths to feed tor Temple, but Blue is about as safe of an option as you'll find on the Thursday slate. I also favor some other targets for Temple (see FLEX), but Blue has the most targets of the group and has two touchdowns.

Blake Proehl, East Carolina (DK $5,800, FD $7,800) vs. Temple

It's a steep drop down from Blue, but if you think Temple will begin to put this game away early, you have to assume the Pirates will try to get things going in the air. I didn't go with Holton Ahlers in my endorsements but he's got the goods to get to Proehl, who is easily his favorite target.

Friday

Gabriel Davis, UCF (DK $7,700, FD $9,900)  @ Cincinnati

No skimping here - we're going to go with both top dogs at wideout, starting with Davis. He's scored six touchdowns this season and his RYPG average settles right around the century mark. Tre Nixon is his primary competition for targets and I don't necessarily mind him either, but he is more of a WR3 option on the slate.

Tre Walker, San Jose State (DK $6,700, FD $9,200) vs. New Mexico

This is the guy I'm excited about on this slate.  In two games he's compiled 18 receptions and already has an impressive highlight reel of impressive plays.  Incredibly enough, he's yet to make it into the end zone this season - I think that changes this week.

FLEX OPTIONS/SLEEPERS

Thursday

At the top of the list, the bevy of available Temple wideouts should be on your radar, like Isaiah Wright, Branden Mack and Travon Williams. Although I'm not really high on their pass game, South Alabama's Kawaan Baker is worth a look in GPP formats. An alternative to Re'Mahn Davis is backup Jager Gardner, who got 18 carries  last week and comes at a much cheaper price.

Friday

As I mentioned above, a true GPP flier could be Nick Nash for SJSU, especially if the Spartans put this game away early.  The trio of UCF backs are also worth looking at, with Killins as the top choice. I also think SJSU's Bailey who was named as a starter in camp, could find himself with a bigger stat line on Friday.