By Robert Sanchez
Lose all of your bets during the afternoon slate? Well, now you can try your hand in DFS. Below, I break down some of my favorite players who I think will have great games in the nightcap of this Week 5 college football slate.
As always, these picks are based off a $50,000 budget. Enjoy!
Quarterbacks
Devin Leary, NC State ($7,100) — Arguably the best game of the night comes out of South Carolina where No. 10 NC State takes on No. 5 Clemson in an ACC showdown in “Death Valley”. The Tigers are seven-point home favorites in this one but I think it’s going to be a close game from the first kickoff with Leary a big part of it. The junior has gotten off to a fabulous start in his second year as the starting quarterback for the Wolfpack, throwing for 890 yards, nine touchdowns and just two interceptions as he looks to expand upon his wonderful season last year. A big game out of him against Clemson would surely cement his status as a player to watch this season as NC State has legitimate hopes for the ACC title this year. The Tigers will give him every opportunity because their pass defense has been well below average this season, ranking 185th in the country. Just look at what happened to them when they played Wake Forest last weekend. Yes, they wound up winning the game in overtime, but Demon Deacons’ quarterback Sam Hartman threw for 337 yards and six (6!) touchdowns. I’m sure Clemson will come into this game looking to clean things up from last week, but I believe the Wolfpack have enough on offense to be competitive. At the very least, since NC State is seven-point underdogs, Leary will probably be forced to throw the ball a lot if he ever finds his team down in this one.
Connor Bazelak, Indiana ($5,900) — A little more bang for your buck, Bazelak will also be going up against a porous pass defense when the Hoosiers travel to Lincoln, Nebraska to face the Cornhuskers. Expect points in this one as the total is set at 62, which bodes well for Bazelak and the Hoosiers who have put up at least 23 points in all four of their games this season. The junior, admittedly, didn’t play well last week in Indiana’s first loss of the season against Cincinnati, but that’s because the Bearcats boast one of the best pass defenses in the country. Nebraska is not Cincinnati and I expect Indiana to put up much more of a fight this time around. So far this season, Bazelak has loved throwing the ball and already has 202 pass attempts. He’s thrown for 1,171 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions with two of those picks coming against Cincinnati. While Bazelak isn’t the most efficient with his passes, sporting just a 53.5 completion percentage, he does air it out almost all game which is why I think this is the perfect matchup for him. I’m not ready to trust running back Shaun Shivers just yet as he hasn’t shown that he’s able to put it all together, so even against Nebraska’s bad run defense, I still think it’s Bazelak who Indiana will look to in this one.
Running backs
Israel Abanikanda, Pittsburgh ($7,500) — The junior from Brooklyn has been running like a man possessed this season since taking over for injured Rodney Hammond Jr. in Week 2, rushing for 464 yards on 75 carries since then. Aside from Week 1 where he took a back seat to Hammond Jr., Abanikanda has gone over 130 yards in every game so far and last week against Rhode Island, he had a career-day with 177 yards and four touchdowns. Clearly the lead back with Hammond still out, Abanikanda gets another opportunity to show the country what he’s all about with a date against Georgia Tech on national television. It’s a perfect storm as the Panthers are huge 21.5-point favorites against the Yellow Jackets and they’re 255th ranked run defense. With Kenny Pickett now in the NFL, USC transfer Kedon Slovis has taken the reigns for Pittsburgh and has played fine, throwing for 692 yards and two touchdowns, but it’s obvious that the Panthers have been relying on Abanikanda for the bulk of their offensive production this season. I have no worries that Pittsburgh will lay the hammer down on Georgia Tech at home, under the lights and expect Abanikanda to be the main reason why.
Perris Jones, Virginia ($5,300) — If $7,500 for a running back is a little out of your price range, Jones offers some great value at a much cheaper price. First off, Duke’s run defense has been one of the worst in the country so far this season, coming in at 230th. Meanwhile, Jones has looked solid in his first season as a starter rushing for 273 yards on 50 carries which includes two touchdowns. Jones might see some competition for carries with his quarterback Brennan Armstrong who has shown a propensity to take off, but given that Armstrong hasn’t been the most accurate at throwing the ball this season, I suspect that the Blue Devils will be fully aware of his running capabilities and try to eliminate that aspect of his game as they force him to throw the ball. That should free up carries for Jones who is averaging 5.5 yards per carry and is coming off the heels of a 13-87-1 day against Syracuse on the road. The Cavaliers play another road game this week and are two-point underdogs with the total set at 54.5 in a crucial early matchup in the ACC.
Wide receivers
CJ Donaldson, West Virginia ($5,000) — Listed as a tight end, Donaldson has actually taken over lead back duties for the Mountaineers and for good reason. On 52 carries, the freshman has 380 rushing yards (7.3 yards per carry) and already has six touchdowns on the season. Those numbers aren’t against slouches either as West Virginia has faced a ranked Pittsburgh team and a much improved Kansas squad in their early going. Now, Donaldson and the Mountaineers match up with the Texas Longhorns who rank 170th against the run this season. Donaldson probably won’t do much in the air as he’s only caught six passes for 16 yards but his presence in the backfield is the reason for this pick. And who knows, perhaps West Virginia will have a few passing plays dialed up for him considering Texas doesn’t have a particularly good pass defense either. Considering there are other running backs that will cost you north of $7,000, I think Donaldson is a fantastic find as either a cheap flex play or, if you want to spend big money on your top running backs, using him to fill a hole at wide receiver, a position that looks to be a bit thin this week.
Justin Lockhart, San Jose State ($5,100) — Facing a Wyoming team that has already surrendered 12 passing touchdowns this season, I expect more of the same when the Spartans roll into town. And even though San Jose State quarterback Chevan Cordeiro has thrown just three passing touchdowns this season, he’s coming off a 17-for-28 performance against Western Michigan that included two touchdowns and 250 passing yards. While Lockhart has yet to find the end zone this season, the sophomore is also coming off a big game against the Broncos, one that saw him haul in four receptions for 116 yards in a 34-6 lopsided win for the Spartans. Lockhart and Elijah Cooks ($4,900) have formed a formidable duo at the wide receiver position and given Wyoming’s lack of pass defense, one, if not both, of them should be able to make something happen. I’m going with Lockhart tonight because I think the Spartans will try and go with the hot hand and try to reward him with some red zone targets after his best game of the season.
