CFB DFS Playbook & Example Lineups: Week 2 (Saturday Night)
Published: Sep 11, 2021
THE SLATE (Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook)
7pm ET- Western Carolina @ Oklahoma (-49.5) - 65.5 O/U (DK ONLY)
7pm ET- Texas (-7) @ Arkansas – 56.5 O/U
7pm ET- North Carolina St (-1) @ Mississippi St – 51.5 O/U
7pm ET- Eastern Kentucky @ Louisville (-30)—62.5 O/U (DK ONLY)
7pm ET- Appalachian State @ Miami (-9)- 54 O/U
7pm ET- Eastern Michigan @ Wisconsin (-26)- 52 O/U
7pm ET- Liberty (-4) @ Troy—61 O/U (FD ONLY)
7pm ET- Memphis (-5.5) @ Arkansas State – 64.5 O/U (FD ONLY)
7pm ET- North Texas @ SMU (-22)- 75 O/U (FD ONLY)
7:30pm- Missouri @ Kentucky (-5)—56.5 O/U
8pm ET- Washington @ Michigan (-7)—48.5 O/U
8pm ET- Jacksonville St @ Florida State NO ODDS (FD ONLY)
Highest Implied Team Totals
Oklahoma – 56 points (Western Carolina) DK Only
SMU- 48 points (North Texas) FD Only
Louisville- Louisville (Eastern Kentucky) DK Only
Wisconsin- 39 points (Eastern Michigan)
Memphis- 35 points (Arkansas State) FD Only
Liberty- 33.25 points (Troy) FD Only
Miami- 31.75 points (Appalachian State)
Texas- 31.75 points (Arkansas)
Kentucky- 30.75 (Missouri)
Note: Florida State does not have implied total yet
Quarterbacks
Spencer Rattler (Oklahoma) Opp- WCU ($9.9K DK)
Had an up and down performance in the season-opener against Tulane. Put up solid stats going 30-for-39 for 304 yards and two total touchdowns but threw two picks and almost had four. He was inaccurate many times and was floating some of his passes. Look for a bounce back game against an FCS program in Western Carolina but he is unlikely to play the entire game due to blowout factor and at $9.9K Rattler is reserved for GPPs only.
Malik Cunningham (Louisville) Opp- EKU ($7.8K DK)
Top point/$ play at quarterback on the slate. Cunningham struggled in the first half of Monday night’s game against Ole Miss but some adjustments at halftime helped the team and the quarterback get into a rhythm in the second half. They scored all 24 points in that second half and scored on every drive as Cunnigham was able to sit in the pocket and get throws off in the face of pressure. The dual threat quarterback ended up with 32.4 DK points on 22-of-37 passing with a touchdown and interception but more importantly ran the ball 18 times for 87 yards and two scores. Louisville will be hosting FCS Eastern Kentucky that is coming off a big 31-28 win over Western Carolina.
Will Levis (Kentucky) Opp- MIZZ ($6.3K DK) ($9.5K FD)
Kentucky unveiled a new offense and a new offensive coordinator (Liam Coen) in last Saturday’s 45-10 rout of Louisiana-Monroe. Levis completed 18-of-26 passes for 367 yards and four touchdowns which graded out as the third best QB in a Power 5 league per PFF. The former Big 10 backup never really had a chance to get out of the pocket and show what he can do with his legs like he did in limited action at Penn State, but the dual threat is there. With targets like Josh Ali and Wan’Dale Robinson who became the first pair of Kentucky targets to go over 100 receiving yards in the same game Levis has some major weapons to work with in a 30.50 team implied total game.
Will Rogers (Mississippi St) Opp – NCST ($6.4K DK) ($9.5K FD)
Orchestrated the biggest comeback in MSU history last week after being down by 20 points early in the fourth quarter against LA Tech. Rogers settled in and got the job done with 11 straight completions at the end of the game to finish at 39-of-47 (83%) for 370 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Ended up with an 83.6 overall grade making him the third-highest rated quarterback in the SEC tied with Bo Nix and behind only Will Levis and Matt Corral. This is an air-raid offense with a heavy emphasis on high percentage short passes with the goal of getting yards after the catch and expect the same this week against 1-0 North Carolina State. Yes, it’s a step up in competition and may have a bit of an effect on Rogers’ stat line but at $6.4K he makes for a solid QB2 on DraftKings and Cash/GPP QB on FanDuel
Others to Consider:
D’Eriq King- Miami ($7.9K) ($10.2K FD)
Hudson Card- Texas ($7.2K DK) ($9.7K FD)
Will Levis – Kentucky ($6.3K) ($9.5K FD)
KJ Jefferson- Arkansas ($5.9K) ($9.9K FD)
Fanduel Only
Seth Henigan (Memphis) Opp- ARKST ($8.0K)
The true freshman threw for 265 yards and a touchdown in last week’s 42-17 win over Nicholls State. With Grant Gunnell now out with surgery the job belongs to Henigan, and he finds himself in a solid spot at only $8K with a 35-point team implied total against an Arkansas State team that gave up 296 yards in the air last week.
RUNNING BACKS
Bijan Robinson (Texas) Opp- @ARK ($7.7K DK) ($11.2K FD)
The Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after a 176-yard performance last weekend against #23 Louisiana. He scored two touchdowns in the 38-18 win, one was an 18-yard reception and the other was a seven-yard run. The top overall play at running back on the slate is featured in Longhorn’s head coach Steve Sarkisian’s system in so many ways as he caught four passes for 63 yards and his receiving touchdown was after he came out of the backfield and lined up in the slot. A really fast and “downhill” runner, Robinson will once again be the focal point of the Texas offense this week as they face longtime rival Arkansas on the road as 7-point favorites.
Tyler Badie (Missouri) Opp @ UK ($4.9K DK) ($9.7K FD)
Here is the DraftKings misprice of the slate. Yes, Kentucky’s defense is strong but this $4.9K DK price on Badie is just ridiculous. Finally, out of Larry Rountree’s shadow Badie touched the ball a career high 29 times against Central Michigan. It was a career day all around as he rushed for 203 yards to go along with 40 receiving yards and two total touchdowns. Most impressive of all was a huge 8.1 yards per carry average as he showed his excellent field vision, speed, and an uncanny knack to make defenders miss in space. As a 5.5 road dog Mizzou will need 25 touches or even more from Badie if they expect to upset Kentucky.
Camerun Peoples/Nate Noel (Appalachian State) Opp- @MIA ($7.0K/$5.0K DK) ($7.7K/$67.2K FD)
Noel ran 15 times for 126 yards and Peoples had 14 carries for 100 yards and two touchdowns in the Mountaineers victory over East Carolina last Saturday. Behind these two studs, Appalachian State ranks 33rd nationally averaging 226 rushing yards per game and 17th nationally at 6.28 yards per carry. Noel is averaging 8.4 YPC and Peoples is at 7.14 making up a dynamic combination and putting both in play for DFS purposes as they face the Miami Hurricanes. This is a run heavy team that has proven that there will be enough for both runners to eat. Peoples is a classic Power Five back that showed his worth when he rushed for 317 yards and five touchdowns in last year’s bowl win over North Texas State while Noel is a speedy sophomore that showed last week that both are capable of 100 yards in the same contest. For DFS purposes both should be considered cash or GPP plays but that $5K tag on Noel is pretty solid.
Chris Rodriguez (Kentucky) Opp- MIZZ ($7.8K DK) ($9.5K FD)
Rodriguez had a big day last Saturday rushing for 125 yards on 19 carries in the Wildcats 45-10 win over Louisiana-Monroe and I would expect for him to get even more burn tonight. The Missouri defense struggled with the run against Central Michigan allowing 174 yards on 39 carries but that is a flawed number due to nine sacks on the CMU quarterback so it’s more like 225 yards on 30 carries. Look for Kentucky to establish the run and play with a lead with Rodriguez carrying the rock 25 times.
Jo’quavious Marks (Mississippi State) Opp- NCST ($6.4K DK) ($9.4K FD)
Ran the ball well in 2020 when used- 312 yards on just 70 attempts plus had 60 receptions for 268 yards. When you first look at his numbers from last week nothing jumps of the page- 71 rushing yards on 12 carries but look again and you see 12 targets with nine receptions and three total touchdowns. Mike Leach running backs don’t usually put-up flashy numbers on the ground, but this season may be a bit different and a back like Marks that can line up alongside Rogers is elite when it comes to picking up yards after the catch. Solid play on both DK and FD
Others to consider:
Eric Gray- Oklahoma ($7.2K DK)
Chez Mellusi- Wisconsin ($6.3K) ($9.0K FD)
Trelon Smith- Arkansas ($6.9K) ($8.5K FD)
Richard Newton – Washington ($5.2K) ($6.7K FD)
Isaac Guerendo- Wisconsin ($3.2K) ($5.8K FD)
Wide Receiver
Marvin Mims (Oklahoma) Opp WCU ($8.3K DK)
Racked up at least 100 yards in one half of a game for first time in career and ended up with 117 on five catches in the Sooners tough 40-35 victory over Tulane. Highest priced receiver on the DK slate but you know what you are getting as Mims is still the Alpha and they are looking at an implied total of 56 points. You can mini stack Rattler/Mims and end up with a massive score, but GPP play only here.
Treylon Burks (Arkansas) Opp UT ($6.6K DK) ($7.5K FD)
Burks only practiced for a day and a half before the Rice game, and it showed. Dropped some passes early and was evident that he wasn’t 100% finishing with five catches on nine targets for only 42 yards. Now with a full week of practice under his belt we should see the physically dominating Burks that is one of the top returning receivers in the nation and coming off an 820-yard, seven touchdown season in2020.
Jordan Whittington (Texas) Opp @ ARK ($5.3K DK) ($8.5K FD)
One of the top point/$ plays at the position on DK Whittington seems to have flourished under new coach Steve Sarkisian. In his first game under Sark, Whittington dominated and was a beast at moving the chains ending up catching all seven of his targets (which led the team) for 113 yards receiving and a touchdown. The Longhorns will be facing an Arkansas defense that gave up the sixth-most passing yards per game in the SEC last season (259.6)
Makai Polk (Mississippi State) Opp NCST ($3.8K DK) ($6.5K FD)
If you are using Will Rogers at quarterback, Pope makes for a nice value stack on both sites. $3.8K DK for a guy that led the Air Raid offense wide receivers in targets (10), catches (11) and yards (100)? Can do much worse than that in cash and GPP contests.
FanDuel Only
Calvin Austin III (Memphis) Opp @ARKST ($9.5K FD)
Javon Ivory may have hit the century mark last week with 106 yards receiving but Austin is still the Alpha on this Memphis team. Austin will have among the highest target volumes in the nation as shown last week when he led the team with 10 targets and caught six passes and a touchdown.
Others to consider:
Wan’Dale Robinson – Kentucky ($5.7K DK) ($8.7K FD)
Danny Davis- Wisconsin ($6.0K DK) ($8.3K FD)
Braden Smith- Louisville ($5.4K DK)
Keke Chism- Missouri ($5.3K DK) ($6.2K FD)
Jordan Haselwood- Oklahoma ($4.8K DK)
De’Vion Warren- Arkansas ($3.9K DK) ($5.5K FD)
Taj Davis – Washington ($3.0K DK) ($6.3K FD)
DraftKings Example Cash Lineup
QB- Will Rogers (MSST)
ALT- Will Levis (UK)
RB- Bijan Robinson (UT)
RB- Jo’quavious Marks (MSST)
ALT- Chris Rodriguez (UK)
WR- Jordan Haselwood (OU)
ALT- Makai Pope (MSST)
WR- Jordan Whittington (UT)
WR- Treylon Burks (ARK)
ALT- Wan’Dale Robinson (UK)
FLEX- Tyler Badie (MIZZ)
SUPER- Malik Cunningham (UL)
FanDuel Example Lineup
QB- Will Rogers (MSST)
RB- Nate Noel (APPST)
ALT- Camrun Peoples (APPST)
RB- Bijan Robinson (TEX)
WR- De’Vion Warren (ARK)
ALT- Keke Chism (MIZZ)
ARK- Treylon Burks (ARK)
WR- Calvin Austin III (MEM)
S-FLEX- D’Eriq King (MIA)
ALT- Seth Hanigan (MEM)