Week 3 College Football Preview
Hello everyone. Welcome back to the third week of the 2015 college football season. We have seen some great games and also had some injuries to a lot of key players in the country. We get 15 games in the early slate for DraftKings and will focus our attention there. There’s a lot to be excited about in daily fantasy college football, so let’s jump right into the good stuff. Sign up for DraftKings here!
Memphis 2-0 @ Bowling Green 1-1 2:00PM CT
Line: Memphis -3
O/U: 79
Wow. Vegas is predicting this to be a back-and-forth shootout expecting 79 points between the Tigers and Falcons. And why not? Bowling Green has averaged 462 yards a game in the air, vs. SEC opponent Tennessee and Big Ten opponent Maryland. Meanwhile, Memphis averages 585 yards a game while beating an FCS team, but also manhandling a Big XII team in the Kansas Jayhawks.
Bowling Green QB Matt Johnson (8700 DK), is averaging 52 passing attempts a game for 457 yards and 4 TDs a game. I wouldn’t expect that production to change in the Falcons home opener. 8700 is a lot to pay, but he should put up similar numbers as his 45-point performance last week.
Bowling Green WR Roger Lewis (7300 DK), is Johnson’s go-to receiver. Last week, Lewis had 15 receptions for 200 yards and a pair of TDs, scoring a whopping 50 fantasy points.
Bowling Green WR Robbie Rhodes (3900 DK), has GPP boom-or-bust written all over him. While he only has 2 catches, both last week, they went for 64 and 44 yards and a TD. He is a very talented WR who was dismissed from the Baylor program a few years ago, but he has a lot of upside for that price in this expected high-scoring affair.
Memphis QB Paxton Lynch (8900 DK), doesn’t quite have the same appeal with the number of attempts as his opponent Johnson, but he makes up for it with efficiency (81.1% completions) and the ability to find the end zone as a rusher (13 rushing TDs in 2014). Bowling Green had a tough time with a similar QB in Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs in week one.
Memphis’ WR Mose Frazier (6300 DK), looks to be a focal point in the Tiger offense. He has 10 receptions for 166 yards and 2 TDs in basically a game and half, but last week he also received 3 carries for 64 yards and a TD.
Western Kentucky 2-0 @ Indiana 2-0 3:00PM CT
Line: Indiana -2
O/U: 69
This will be an exciting DFS game for the fact that both teams allow a lot of yards on defense while posting impressive offensive numbers. Western Kentucky showed that it could win in a shootout last week even after losing star RB Leon Allen early in the third quarter to a season-ending leg injury. Indiana has beaten a couple of inferior opponents in closer than anticipated games due to their lack of defense.
Western Kentucky QB Brandon Doughty (9900 DK) (8900 FD) will have to throw it more with Allen out for the season, who accounted for 16 TDs a year ago. Doughty has only found the end zone twice this season through the air, but look for that number to increase by a lot after this one is over. The most difficult thing to figure out is which receiver will he find this week?
Western Kentucky WR Taywan Taylor (6300 DK) (6100 FD), seems to be a bigger play guy than WR Antwane Grant (4700 DK) (5200 FD), evidenced by their yards per catch both this year and last year. Jared Dangerfield (5800 DK) (7000 FD) is still listed as questionable as they slowly bring him back, but he is getting more and more reps. WR/TE Tyler Higbee (4900 DK) (3700 FD) looks to a very consistent target and one of the better TE plays for Fan Duel.
Western Kentucky RB D’Andre Ferby (5300 DK) (6000 FD) will try to replace Leon Allen for the time being. He could step up and have a big game, especially in the passing game where the Hilltoppers like to get their RBs involved. He’s a bigger back listed at 240 lbs, so hopefully he can handle a majority of the carries as well and provide a cheaper option at RB this week.
Indiana RB Jordan Howard (9100 DK) (8300 FD) is a pricey pick at RB, but he looks to be replacing Tevin Coleman as the lead back quite well early in 2015. Indiana will need to increase his workload this week and he could be poised for a huge week, as Western Kentucky has had a tough time stopping the run.
Indiana WR Ricky Jones (5600 DK) (6300 FD) and Simmie Cobbs (4400 DK) (5200 FD) could be worth taking a flyer on should Indiana get behind. Jones has been the guy with more consistency this year, but Cobbs has that red zone threat/possession frame at 6-4 215.
Illinois 2-0 @ North Carolina 1-1 11AM CT
Line: North Carolina -9.5
O/U: 64.5
This is an intriguing game to me, as Illinois interim head coach Bill Cubit is all about offense. We have yet to see the Illini face anyone decent this year, but it looks like Oklahoma State transfer Wes Lunt has a good grasp of the offense and he is very efficient through the air. That will be needed in a game against the Tar Heels after they rebounded from a turnover-filled opener vs. South Carolina.
Illinois QB Wes Lunt (8100 DK) (6900 FD) is an intriguing GPP play, as I do not think many people know much about him. That coupled with a slow-running game thus far in 2015 could provide a bump in his numbers this week in what should be a high scoring affair.
Illinois WR Geronimo Allison (6300 DK) (5800 FD) is emerging as Lunt’s go-to receiver after an 8-catch performance last week for 124 yards.
North Carolina RB Elijah Hood (5400 DK) (7000 FD), is a reasonably priced RB who is likely to get a bulk of the carries should the Tar Heels get out in front early. There’s a threat that QB Marquise Williams takes some from him in a closer game, but that doesn’t appear to be the case early in 2015.
Other Players Worth Considering
Tulsa QB Dane Evans (7400 DK) (6700 FD) will be expected to throw a lot in this one where Tulsa should be playing from behind. He has a great pair of WRs in Keevan Lucas (7600 DK) (6800 FD) and Keyarris Garrett (5900 DK) (6600 FD). Lucas is one of the best fantasy WRs of the year thus far, averaging 32.5 FPPG.
Oklahoma RB Samaje Perine (9300 DK) (8300 FD), is a very expensive RB for only averaging 14.8 FPPG this year, but Tulsa allows 262 yards a game on the ground and who can forget Perine’s 427 yards, 5 TD rushing performance from only a year ago? This looks to be the making of a similar storm and he could be overlooked because of his 2015 performance and expensive price tag.
Georgia State WR Penny Hart (3700 DK) (4500 FD), had 11 receptions for 150 yards and 2 TDs last week. Oregon has had a tough time defending the pass this year and therefore throws it a lot. That could create an opportunity for a cheap play like Hart to have big upside potential. Just remember Oregon allowed 15 receptions for 246 yards and 3 TDs against FCS Eastern Washington’s Cooper Kupp in week one.
Notre Dame QB DeShone Kizer (6500 DK) (6500 FD) takes over for Malik Zaire, who is out for the year. Kizer replaced Zaire last week and brought Notre Dame back from behind and knows to look for star WR Will Fuller. He’s relatively cheap and may be worth a gamble in a GPP lineup.
Georgia Tech RB Patrick Skov (4900 DK) (5200 FD), is a cheap play at RB that has decent touchdown potential. Not the best matchup for Skov against the Irish’s defense, but if Kizer struggles, look for the Yellow Jackets to wear down the Irish with their option attack.
Nebraska RB Terrell Newby (6600 DK) (7700 FD), received a heavy workload last week in the tune of 28 carries for 198 yards and 2 TDs plus another TD receiving. It looks like he has won the job and will be the Cornhuskers feature back. Miami has been suspect against the run early this year; I like that combo.
Virginia Tech WR Isaiah Ford (4700 DK) (6300 FD), has 3 TD receptions this year. Purdue does not have the greatest pass defense.
There are a lot of value plays out there in this slate. Plugging in the right ones with the correct big names could lead to a nice pay day come Saturday. I hope everyone is as excited as I am to try and create that perfect lineup in week 3. Sign up for DraftKings hereand sign up for FanDuel here.