This article is part of our FanDuel College Football series.
CASH GAME TARGETS
QUARTERBACK
Skyler Howard vs. Texas Tech ($7,700)
Howard hasn't been good as a passer lately and might be considered by some to be too risky for cash game lineups, but I think it's more likely that there's an uncommon value to be exploited with Howard in those games. While his skill set as a passer is lacking, this game is a great spot for him to accumulate volume stats - both teams are high tempo and neither has been good on defense, especially Tech. In addition to good passing upside in a game where West Virginia is projected to score between roughly 42 and 45 points, Howard is a dual-threat quarterback who is a candidate to accumulate good rushing stats against a Texas Tech defense allowing 270.67 yards and more than three touchdowns per game on the ground.
Honorable mention:Trevone Boykin - TCU at Oklahoma State ($10,800), Greg Ward - Houston vs. Cincinnati ($9,500), Gunner Kiel - Cincinnati at Houston ($8,500), Chad Kelly - Mississippi vs. Arkansas ($7,700)
RUNNING BACK
Christian McCaffrey - Stanford at Colorado ($9,300)
McCaffrey "only" totaled 133 yards from scrimmage and failed to score against Washington State on Saturday. The main reason for that was an anomalous 112-yard, two-touchdown rushing performance by Kevin Hogan, who otherwise failed to run for more than 37 yards in a game in 2015. McCaffrey averaged 33.1 fantasy points game in the four prior contests, so he's likely due for a stat surge against a Colorado defense allowing 244.6 yards (5.8 YPC) and more than two rushing touchdowns per game against Pac-12 teams.
Wendell Smallwood - West Virginia vs. Texas Tech ($6,700)
Too cheap. Smallwood is at home at gets a crack at a Texas Tech defense that is allowing downright embarrassing production to opposing running games. Smallwood loses some carries to Rushel Shell but is still the clearly better player and the one with the bigger workload.
Honorable mention:Corey Clement - Wisconsin at Maryland ($7,900), Kenneth Farrow - Houston vs. Cincinnati ($7,700), DeAndre Washington - Texas Tech at West Virginia ($7,500), Sony Michel - Georgia vs. Kentucky ($7,000), Aaron Green - TCU at Oklahoma State ($6,400)
WIDE RECEIVER
Demarcus Ayers - Houston vs. Cincinnati ($7,200)
Ayers is targeted so constantly in the Houston offense that his usage almost resembles that of a running back - he's caught seven passes per game, giving him ownership of more than 1/3 of the completed passes in the offense - and this matchup should be especially favorable. Both teams run uptempo offenses that produce around 80 snaps per game, and both teams should be able to score points on the other, making a shootout seem more likely than not. If Houston scores between 40 and 42 points, as projected, then Ayers' usage trends imply an extremely safe pick with good upside as well.
Tim White - Arizona State at Washington State ($6,300)
White has been heavily targeted in the Arizona State offense, quietly emerging as its No. 1 wideout despite the attention given to D.J. Foster and Devin Lucien. White has 23 catches over his last four games and takes on a max-tempo Washington State squad allowing a completion percentage of 65.5 despite facing a number of dysfunctional passing games to this point.
Honorable mention:Josh Doctson - TCU at Oklahoma State ($9,300), Gabe Marks - Washington State vs. Arizona State ($7,800), Alex Erickson - Wisconsin at Maryland ($6,800), Shelton Gibson - West Virginia vs. Texas Tech ($6,700), Dom Williams - Washington State vs. Arizona State ($6,500), Shaq Washington - Cincinnati at Houston ($6,400), River Cracraft - Washington State vs. Arizona State ($5,700), David Glidden - Oklahoma State vs. TCU ($5,300)
TIGHT END
Troy Fumagalli - Wisconsin at Maryland ($3,100)
Fumagalli is cash-game gold until further notice. Especially with Rob Wheelwright injured, reducing the Wisconsin passing game almost exclusively to Fumagalli and Alex Erickson. In his last four games, the affordable Fumagalli has 18 catches for 212 yards and a touchdown.
Honorable mention:Kody Kohl - Arizona State at Washington State ($3,400), Jake Butt - Michigan vs. Rutgers ($2,900)
TOURNAMENT TARGETS
QUARTERBACK
C.J. Beathard - Iowa vs. Indiana ($5,700)
Heavy emphasis on tournament only for Beathard. There is an imaginable way for him to come through in a tournament setting, however. Not many will pick him since he's been garbage for about a month now, but there were three contributing factors to those outcomes that won't necessarily be in play against Indiana this week. Those three factors were: (1) a hip injury, (2) tough defenses, and (3) harmless opponents against which Iowa did not need to throw. Indiana's defense is one of the worst in the country, so the matchup is obviously strong - the only questions are the hip and whether Indiana can make the game remotely close. If the hip is getting better, Beathard will likely get loose as a runner, and if Nate Sudfeld can gain traction against Iowa's accomplished but highly untested pass defense, the potential 20 or more fantasy points for Beathard is easy to envision. It's just that the number of "ifs" involved dictates only modest exposure at most, and none at all in cash games.
Honorable mention:Trevone Boykin - TCU at Oklahoma State ($10,800), Greg Ward - Houston vs. Cincinnati ($9,500), Gunner Kiel - Cincinnati at Houston ($8,500), Skyler Howard - West Virginia vs. Texas Tech ($7,700), Chad Kelly - Mississippi vs. Arkansas ($7,700)
RUNNING BACK
Aaron Green - TCU at Oklahoma State ($6,400)
Green has been very inconsistent in the last month, scoring less than 10 fantasy points in three of his last four games while running for 121 yards and two touchdowns in the other game. His production at TCU over the last two years strongly implies that he's simply overdue for a big game, and his price is low enough that he's probably worth the game in cash games, too. It's tournaments where he makes the best fit, however, because his weak recent numbers should scare off plenty of people despite the fact that this is a player with 20 total touchdowns in his last 17 games, playing in a game where his team is projected to score roughly 37 to 40 points.
Honorable mention:Christian McCaffrey - Stanford at Colorado ($9,300), Corey Clement - Wisconsin at Maryland ($7,900), Kenneth Farrow - Houston vs. Cincinnati ($7,700), DeAndre Washington - Texas Tech at West Virginia ($7,500), Demario Richard - Arizona State at Washington State ($7,100), Sony Michel - Georgia vs. Kentucky ($7,000), Wendell Smallwood - West Virginia vs. Texas Tech ($6,700), Kalen Ballage - Arizona State at Washington State ($5,300)
WIDE RECEIVER
Chris Moore - Cincinnati at Houston ($6,000)
Aside from Shaq Washington, the distribution of targets in the Cincinnati passing game is mostly unpredictable, but past and recent data both imply that Moore is the second-best bet on the offense to maintain a reliable role. Despite missing one game, Moore ranks second on the Bearcats with 454 receiving yards, and he has 22 touchdowns on his 100 career receptions. That means there's reason to expect a touchdown every five or so catches, and what better week to project five or more catches than one where Cincinnati ought to throw the ball around 50 times?
Honorable mention:Josh Doctson - TCU at Oklahoma State ($9,300), Gabe Marks - Washington State vs. Arizona State ($7,800), Demarcus Ayers - Houston vs. Cincinnati ($7,100), Alex Erickson - Wisconsin at Maryland ($6,800), Shelton Gibson - West Virginia vs. Texas Tech ($6,700), Dom Williams - Washington State vs. Arizona State ($6,500), Shaq Washington - Cincinnati at Houston ($6,400), Tim White - Arizona State at Washington State ($6,300), River Cracraft - Washington State vs. Arizona State ($5,700), David Glidden - Oklahoma State vs. TCU ($5,300), Chance Allen - Houston vs. Cincinnati ($4,800)
