This article is part of our DraftKings College Football series.
CFB DFS Picks: DraftKings College Football DFS Picks and Plays for Saturday's Bowl Games
Saturday features one of the best slates of the entire bowl season with seven quality games on tap. The first kick is at noon eastern and the final kick is a little after nine, so we're going to be in for an all-day sweat. We'll keep this intro short in the interest of time and dive right into the slate breakdown.
Slate Overview
The matchup between the Horned Frogs and the Ragin' Cajuns headlines the slate -- and how could it not? -- with an over/under of 59.0, just ahead of the NC State-ECU clash. Considering the spread, it's no surprise TCU paces the slate with an implied total of 34.5. It doesn't hurt that Louisiana ranks 100th in defensive FPI, either.
In terms of units to target, we have some options. Boston College, NC State and Colorado State have the worst pass defenses on the slate in terms of passing yardage allowed per game. Nebraska and ECU allow the most passing touchdowns per game. We've got some good overlap to work with on that front.
Meanwhile, Iowa State, ECU and TCU are the leakiest defenses against the run.
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Quarterback
With it being a seven-game slate, the pricing is fairly extreme if you want one of the star quarterbacks. Cam Ward is up at $10,900 and facing one of the better pass defenses in the nation. Bryson Daily ($10,200) will run you over 20% of your salary cap. Both are good plays in a vacuum of course, but it's going to be difficult for A). them to return value and B). allow you to fill out a lineup without making too many concessions.
With that, I may gravitate a little more towards the mid-tier options for the bulk of my builds.
Dylan Raiola ($5,600) Nebraska vs Boston College
There are two factors driving this play. Salary and matchup. Raiola profiles as one of the few playable bargain bin quarterbacks on this slate who will open up plenty of room for the rest of your build. Beyond that, Boston College is a soft matchup. The Eagles allow 247 passing yards per game on 7.2 YPA. Both teams are stout against the run, which should set up a solid passing script for both Raiola and Grayson James ($6,600).
Raiola has largely underperformed the hype but I still believe in his talent and this is a good setup for him to return value at $5,600.
Josh Hoover ($7,900) TCU vs Louisiana
Going after Hoover means going after the QB at the helm of the top-projected scoring offense on the slate. That's not a bad angle to take, especially when Hoover is QB8 in terms of salary on this slate.
Hoover has struggled of late, averaging just over 11 DK points in his last three, but the layoff should help him recalibrate for the bowl game. Louisiana's defense should be overmatched here and it's worth remembering that Hoover accounted for 27 total touchdowns this season and just under 3,700 passing yards.
Brett Gabbert ($5,800) Miami (OH) vs Colorado State
This game might be mostly ignored by the field on this slate considering the 40.5-point over/under. That's fair. But when a starting quarterback in said game is under $6K, we need to squint and see if there's anything there. I believe there is.
Gabbert struggled in the MAC championship but prior to that, he had recorded a TD:INT of 16:3 over his previous seven games. He also averaged 9.6 YPA in that sample.
He won't have his top two receivers at his disposal but Cade McDonald is still in the fold.
Running Back
- Trent Battle ($3,600) TCU vs Louisiana: With opt outs and transfers hitting TCU fairly hard, it's Battle who appears to be the last man standing in the Horned Frog backfield. He projects as the primary back but Jeremy Payne ($3,000) should get some work as well.
- Damien Martinez ($6,000) Miami (FL) vs Iowa State: Iowa State's run defense metrics suffered some damage from Arizona State's Cam Skattebo, but it was a weakness in their defense long before that game. This puts Martinez in good position as he should get his customary workload in a plus matchup.
- Hollywood Smothers ($4,900) North Carolina State vs East Carolina: Smothers, a freshman, has ascended up the depth chart over the back half of the season and has given the NC State run game some explosiveness. He averages 5.8 YPC and has six touchdowns on 74 carries. He'll get plenty of cracks against a weak ECU run defense that allows just under 170 rushing yards per game.
Others to Consider: Bill Davis, Louisiana ($5,000); Emmett Johnson, Nebraska ($5,400)
Wide Receiver
- Travis Hunter ($9,500) Colorado vs BYU: This is our last chance to get Hunter into our CFB DFS lineups. The Heisman winner has his work cut out for him against a stingy BYU pass defense but he has the talent to overcome a tough matchup. If you don't want to sink $9,500 into one player but still want Colorado exposure, LaJohntay Wester ($7,200) and Will Sheppard ($4,300) are always good options.
- Eric McAlister ($4,200) TCU vs Louisiana: A similar logic applies to McAlister as it did to Battle and Payne in the running back section. TCU's leading pass-catchers, Jack Bech and Savion Williams, will not be active for this one. This leaves McAlister as the likely top target. He's more of a big-play threat with a 21.8 YPC average than a target hog, so we can't fully expect him to get peppered with targets. However, we know his floor is higher than usual in terms of targets today and even 6-8 opportunities should be enough for him to capitalize.
- Cade McDonald ($5,000) Miami (OH) vs Colorado State: McDonald turned in a strong season with 49 catches for 606 yards despite being the third option in the passing game. Today, he will be the primary target for Brett Gabbert with Javon Tracy and Reggie Virgil having left for greener pastures via the transfer portal. McDonald should push for a season-high in targets in this spot and is a nice value play at $5K.
