DraftKings College Football: Week 5 Picks

Welcome to our Week 5 breakdown for a DraftKings main slate that's absolutely loaded with great games and great players from top to bottom. Below I'll give a small primer on the slate itself before delving into the weekly cheat sheet and my position-by-position breakdown. As always, you can direct any questions you may have to the comment section and I'll respond as soon as possible.

Texas Tech vs. West Virginia

With an implied total of 73.0, the Texas Tech-West Virginia matchup is a full four points higher than any other game on Saturday and getting the right pieces of it will be crucial for your Draftkings lineups. The way the wide receivers and running backs are priced in other games does create a path for a Will Grier-Alan Bowman lineup, but getting that pairing while also getting other pieces of either offense is a bit trickier. T.J. Vasher (knee) being doubtful should open up additional targets for Antoine Wesley, but I'd also like to point out that Zach Austin is $3,400 and led the team in targets with 10 last week. As for West Virginia, $8,800 for a player with David Sills' target share (31 percent) and touchdown upside makes him a fine play this weekend if you can clear room for him.

Teams to Target

Clemson's star-studded roster in a soft matchup makes several Tigers must-play options this weekend. Beyond that, the Oklahoma-Baylor game has appealing options on both sides and the Baylor side of that has several players with serious value price tags. Looking elsewhere (beyond the TTU-WVU Game), Georgia's primary options are all affordably priced and Central Florida should have no issue putting up points on Pittsburgh.

Cheat Sheet

Tools
Lineup Optimizer
Weekly Rankings by position
Targets
Team Trends
Odds
Defense vs. Position.

Quarterback

Trevor Lawrence, Clemson ($8,500) vs. Syracuse

The Lawrence era is finally here at Clemson and we won't be seeing him below $9,000 any other time this season. In parts of four games, Lawrence has more than lived up to his immense recruiting hype, completing 65 percent of his passes with a 10.0 YPA to go with an astronomical 15.0 percent touchdown rate. This week he gets a home start against Syracuse defense that has performed reasonably well this season but hasn't faced an offense in Clemson's stratosphere. Look for Lawrence to put together a surgically efficient performance Saturday and put his uber-talented receivers in position to make big plays deep down the field.

Kellen Mond, Texas A&M ($9,200) vs. Arkansas

With so many other good quarterbacks and high implied totals on the slate, it feels like Texas A&M might be overlooked a bit this week. Mond, even as a standalone play, is worth some consideration. There are only four other quarterbacks with a higher fantasy PPG on DraftKings (28.5) and the matchup is favorable as well. Arkansas has been a disaster this season, and while its defense isn't entirely to blame, it's still not a unit that matches up well against the Aggies at Kyle Field. Mond has rushing touchdowns in three of four games and has run for at least 67 yards in two straight games,. In terms of passing, Jhamon Ausbon and Jace Sternberger are the type of big-bodied targets that up Mond's chances at throwing red zone touchdowns. Mond should be a in a spot where he's under 15 percent owned and manages to outperform his price tag in a big way.

Superflex Special: Charlie Brewer, Baylor ($5,900) at Oklahoma

Brewer is in a tough spot on the road against an athletic Oklahoma defense. However, the Sooners might be a tad sluggish after last week's knockdown, dragout game against Army's option offense. Furthermore, even if Brewer isn't lighting it up the way he did against UTSA, the odds of him going at least 3.5x value on the sub-$6K pricetag are strong. Brewer has accounted for at least two touchdowns against every FBS opponent he's faced

Running Back

Upper Tier Options

Travis Etienne ($7,400) vs. Syracuse and Trey Sermon ($7,200) vs Baylor

I don't need to go into extensive detail as to why these guys are great plays this week. Etienne is an elite talent who will finally be unleashed as an RB1 now that Kelly Bryant isn't taking up carries. Sermon is finally rounding into a workhorse for Oklahoma and is coming off a 100-yard outing against a tough Army defense. For a further breakdown on these two, click here. From a lineup construction standpoint, it'll be tough to fit a full Clemson stack featuring Lawrence, Etienne, and Higgins, but it's possible. A Kyler Murray, Sermon, and Marquise Brown will also be tough to swing but could pay off with the right value selections.

Mid Tier

Darrin Hall, Pittsburgh ($4,600) at Central Florida

To be clear, Central Florida should run away with this game, but the Knights' defense gives me some pause and makes me think Pitt could hang some points on the board. Hall has concerning usage patterns (season-high of seven carries) that will keep him low owned and make him a somewhat risky play, but there are things going in his favor. Hall has scored in back-to-back weeks and the Pitt coaching staff has publicly stated that it wants to get him more involved in the offense. There's also the fact that Central Florida's run defense has been putrid. The Knights are giving up 239.0 yards per game on the ground and Pitt is committed to the run game, having run the ball on 59.5 percent of their offensive snaps.In a week where loading up at quarterback is vital, finding a sub-$5K running back is extremely important and even though Hall isn't a high-percentage play, he's a candidate to do a lot with his touches against a soft UCF defense.

Tournament Longshot: James Cook, Georgia ($3,300) vs. Tennessee

Cook is a five-star talent (you might be familiar with his older brother, Dalvin) that is third on the team in carries with 22. He averages just 4.7 YPC but has seen some extended run when Georgia has built big leads, most notably his 11-carry outing against South Carolina. Now, D'Andre Swift is reportedly back to full health and Elijah Holyfield isn't going anywhere, but it stands to reason that if Georgia builds the comfortable lead implied by the 30-plus point spread, the Bulldogs would turn to their reserve running backs to run out the clock. I must emphasize that Cook is a risky play only worth a roster spot in large field tournaments, but at $3,300 with his level of talent and the implied game script, there are worse bargain bin options out there.

Wide Receiver

Tee Higgins, Clemson ($5,700) vs Syracuse

Higgins is a big play waiting to happen, averaging 22.1 yards per reception and 11.0 yards per target. Those numbers would be even better had Trevor Lawrence been the quarterback this whole time considering Kelly Bryant's downfield inefficiency (H/t CFB Film Room for the great stat). Clemson's passing game is primed to break out with the change under center, and that means Higgins' stock is trending upwards. Amari Rodgers is also a fine play and he leads the team in target share and Justyn Ross ($4,100) could be worth a tournament consideration as well.

Jalen Hurd, Baylor ($5,600) at Oklahoma

Hurd's target volume dipped down to a season-low five last week in a win over Kansas, but he was averaging 10.0 targets per game in his previous three contests. Even with the toned-down workload, Hurd still managed four grabs for 60 yards and added four carries for 19 yards. Hurd's past track record as a running back at Tennessee suggests he could continue to see some more backfield work in a big conference matchup like this one. At the very least, getting Hurd for $2,000 less than you would've had him for last week is a steal considering his usage in Baylor's up-tempo offense.

Marquise Brown, Oklahoma ($7,700) vs. Baylor

Again, getting exposure to this Baylor-Oklahoma matchup with the second-highest implied total (68.0) on the slate is important. Brown isn't cheap at $7,700 -- but $7,700 is cheap for Brown, if that makes sense. He owns a 31 percent target share in the Sooners offense -- a full 10 percent more than CeeDee Lamb. Brown also owns an absurd 13.7 YPT mark and his 19.7 points per game mark in standard scoring ranks ninth among FBS receivers. I'll be making room for Brown in most, if not all, of my lineups this week.

Riley Ridley, Georgia ($5,500) vs. Tennessee

Mecole Hardman has ascended into true WR1 form for the Bulldogs this season and owns a team-high 24 percent target share. Ridley, however, is second on the team in target share at 17 percent and is coming off a game in which he was targeted on nearly one-third of Georgia's pass attempts. He's sneakily putting up great numbers on a per-target basis as well, having caught 13 of 15 targets for 169 yards (11.27 YPT) and three touchdowns. A showdown against Tennessee this weekend is a dream scenario, and at just $5,500 you're getting an extremely affordable option with a significant role in an explosive offense.