The wait is over. The 2022 college football season is finally here, and I am back to break down the Week 0 CFB DFS five-game night slate on Saturday. Make sure to check out my top plays below as you are building your college football daily fantasy lineups. Saturday's Week 0 night slate kicks off at 7pm ET and you can build CFB DFS lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel. This playbook focuses on 7pm night slate but make sure to also check out the Main slate breakdown. You can access all of our College Football DFS coverage with a Fantasy Alarm All-Pro subscription. Fantasy Alarm All-Pro Subscription. If you have any questions about CFB daily fantasy lineup strategy for Week 0 or beyond, ask away in the Fantasy Alarm Discord chat all the way until lineup lock. Without further ado, let's get into the CFB DFS top plays for Week 0 college football!

 

 


THE SLATE (Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook)

  • 7pm ET UNC Charlotte @ Florida Atlantic (-7.0) 59.0 O/U
  • 8:15pm ET Florida A&M @ North Carolina (-37.5) 56.5 O/U
  • 9pm ET North Texas (-1.5) @ UTEP 54.5 O/U
  • 10pm ET Nevada (-8.5) @ New Mexico State 48.0 O/U
  • 10:30pm ET Vanderbilt (-9.0) @ Hawaii 54.5 O/U

 

Top Team Implied Scores

  • Florida A&M 47.00
  • North Carolina 47.00
  • Florida Atlantic 33.00
  • Vanderbilt 31.75
  • Nevada 28.25
  • North Texas 28.00


 

Quarterbacks

Drake Maye (UNC) vs. FAMU ($7.4K DK/$11.0K FD)

Sophomore Drake Maye will succeed one of UNC’s all-time greats in Sam Howell as signal caller. Maye was a five-star prospect and Gatorade Player of the Year in North Carolina, who originally committed to Alabama before flipping to his stay in his home state with the Tar Heels. Maye is a much better price play on DK and should see a majority of the reps as Mack Brown looks to give his QB game experience even though we are looking at a blowout here against Florida Atlantic.  

 

N’Kosi Perry (FAU) vs. CHAR ($7.1K DK/$8.9K FD)

Again, we have a better price pay on DK but both quarterbacks in this matchup are in play. N’Kosi Perry a former Miami Hurricanes starting quarterback is entering his sixth collegiate season and put up career numbers completing 60.7 % of his passes for 20 TDs and seven interceptions last season, his first year with the Owls. He spent his first four college seasons at Miami, where he threw 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 24 games. Both Perry and Reynolds (Charlotte) are dual threat with Perry the value on DK and Reynolds a steal on FD. 

 

Mike Wright (VAND) @HAW ($6.5K DK/$8.5K FD)

This is more of a matchup play but Mike Wright finds himself in a nice spot against a Hawaii defense that is missing nearly all of their players from last season. The junior is now the teams captain and unquestioned starter and is a bit of a dual threat as he produced a 71.4 rushing grade last season with 21 explosive runs. He will need to become more consistent this year after a sophomore season that saw him complete 53.1 % of his passes for 1,042 yards and eight touchdowns with six interceptions while rushing for 373 yards and a score. Wright’s a home run threat and the offense has now been tailored to his strengths like getting into the secondary on designed runs and more play action passing. GPP only but Wright is a sneaky play on the slate. 


 

Other QBs to Consider:

  • Chris Reynolds- CHAR ($8.0K DK/$8.6K FD)
  • Gavin Hardison – UTEP ($6.4K DK/$6.8K FD)

 

Running Backs

Ray Davis (VAND) @HAW ($6.2K DK/$8.2K FD)

Re’Mahn Davis was a freshman sensation at Temple in 2019 when he ran for 936 yards and eight touchdowns (4.6 YPV). He made the jump to Power Five last year and looked awesome for the first three games running for 211 yards before a torn ligament in his toe sidelined him for the rest of the season. Davis should find plenty of room against a Hawaii rush defense that allowed 156.3 yards per game last year and is missing 75% of its personnel. 

 

Larry McCammon III (FAU) vs. CHAR ($3.4K DK/$5.2K FD)

Junior Larry McCammon was officially named the starting running back over Johnny Ford and at this price on both sites, he is firmly in play- even if he sees five to seven touches. He has dealt with injuries and poor play over his three seasons with his best year coming in 2019 when he ran for 324 yards and seven touchdowns. A strong camp led McCammon to the starting role and with rain in the forecast this contest could turn into a ground game upgrading the RBs even more.

 

Dedrick Parson (HAW) vs. VAND ($6.7K DK/$7.8K FD)

Hawaii has been known to pump out stud running backs with Calvin Turner Jr. being the latest. Now you may be adding Dedrick Parson to that list. The MEAC rookie of the year in 2018 and first-team all MEAC in 2019 at Howard transferred to Hawaii last year and thrived in a complimentary role to Turner Jr and Dae Dae Hunter rushing for 618 yards, 279 receiving and nine scores. Look for Parson, a powerful downhill runner with quick feet to be sneaky good against Vanderbilt, who while solid up the middle, allowed 193.1 yards per game on the ground last year — the second-worst total in all the SEC.

 

D.J. Jones (UNC) vs. FAMU ($6.4K DK/$10.0K FD)

D.J. Jones arrived at UNC as freshman with an injury and then suffered yet another one in 2021. Jones entered the 2022 preseason in top physical shape and was the talk of camp as he stood out from the rest of the backs in a talented running back room. On Monday, Mack Brown named Jones the team's starting RB and he looks to continue the tradition of a strong running attack that has been in place since OC Phil Longo arrived with Brown back in 2019. Under Longo, the Tar Heels have cranked out four 1,000-yard rushers (Michael Carter twice, Javonte Williams, Ty Chandler) and Jones looks to be the next and it starts against an overmatched and undermanned Florida A&M tonight.


Other RBs to consider:

  • Toa Taua- NEV ($7.6K DK/$8.8K FD)
  • Johnny Ford- FAU ($7.3K DK/$8.3K FD)
  • Deion Hankins- UTEP ($4.9K DK/$5.8K FD)
  • Shadrick Byrd- CHAR ($5.8K DK/$6.2JK FD)
  • Jamoni Jones- NMST ($3.0K DK/$4.7K FD)  *could nuke slate but listed as -OR- desig

 

Wide Receivers

Josh Downs (UNC) vs. FAMU ($8.5K DK/$10.5K) 

Downs was Sam Howell’s only reliable receiver in 2021 and saw a target on 30.2% of his routes, which led to 97 more passes than anyone else on the team. This is an explosive athlete who excels in single coverage or against the zone. Downs is expensive tomorrow, but he did well in blowout wins last season and the young quarterback Maye should be looking his way often. Even if Downs plays only a half that may be all the 101-catch/1,335-yard receiver needs to make value against a bad FAMU defense.

 

Tyrin Smith (UTEP) vs. UNT ($6.1K DK/$6.9K FD)

I am all in on Tyrin Smith tonight as last season’s UTEP target hound Jacob Cowing moved on to Arizona. Smith appears ready to become Gavin Hardison’s No. 1 receiver on a thin group of Miner wideouts as his explosive speed helped him rack in almost 600 yards and four touchdowns. Thirteen of Smith's 33 receptions came over the last two games and the bowl game last year, so Hardison was already starting to commit to look his way as the season concluded. 

 

Zion Bowens (HAW) vs. VAND ($5.8K DK/$7.7K FD)

Zion Bowens is one of the fastest receivers on the slate and has been tabbed as the WR1 since spring camp. Bowens will be without question the favorite receiver of the Hawaii quarterback (whoever it may be). He flashed incredible athleticism the last two years and was the most consistent receiver in camp. An example of the flashes he showed over the last couple of seasons was the 2021 home finale against Colorado State where he had 6 catches for 172 yards including a 93-yard touchdown. Vanderbilt was the 114th ranked pass defense in the country last season allowing 264.2 yard per game in the air making Bowens a safe play tonight. 
 

Xavier Smith (FAMU) vs. UNC ($3.8K DK/$5.8K FD)

Xavier Smith is a preseason All-SWAC receiver, FCS All-American and on the watch list for the Walter Payton Award, given to the top offensive player in the FCS.  Whether it be incumbent quarterback Rasean McKay (2,497 yards, 22 touchdowns) or Vanderbilt transfer Jeremy Moussa, the Rattlers’ starter will target Smith, who in three seasons has caught 193 passes for 2,599 yards and 18 TDs. FAMU will be playing from behind the entire game as huge underdogs so Smith will get plenty of chances to rack up fantasy points.
 

Other WRs to consider:

  • Victor Tucker- CHAR ($7.2K DK/$7.2K FD)
  • Grant DuBose- CHAR ($6.8K DK/$8.7K FD)
  • B.J. Casteel – NEV ($4.9K DK/$6.7K FD)
  • Will Sheppard- VAND ($6.4K DK/$7.3K FD)
  • Jonah Panoke- HAW ($4.2K DK/$6.0K FD)
  • Elijah Spencer- CHAR ($3.7K DK/$5.8K FD)  *real sneaky value
     

CFB DFS Late Slate CORE PLAYS

DraftKings Cash:

  • Drake Maye- UNC ($7.4K)
  • Larry McCammon III- FAU ($3.4K)
  • Tyrin Smith – UTEP ($6.1K)

 

DraftKings GPP:

  • Chris Reynolds – CHAR ($8.0K)
  • Elijah Spencer – CHAR ($3.7K DK)
  • Grant Dubose – CHAR ($6.8K DK)

 

FanDuel Cash:

  • N’Kosi Perry- FAU ($8.9K FD)
  • Tyrin Smith- UTEP ($6.9K FD)
  • Larry McCammon III- FAU ($5.2K FD)
     

FanDuel GPP:

  • Chris Reynolds- CHAR ($8.6K FD)
  • Ray Davis- VAND ($8.2K FD)
  • Victor Tucker- CHAR ($7.2K FD)

 

 


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