DraftKings College Football: All In On Winston

DraftKings College Football: All In On Winston

This article is part of our DraftKings College Football series.

Hey guys, thanks a lot for reading this year. This is the last one. Happy New Years!

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QB

Nick Marshall – Auburn vs Wisconsin ($7,900)

I think Jameis Winston ($6,300) will be the most owned quarterback in this slate, but I think Marshall is the second-most owned. He's coming off a 37-point fantasy performance against Alabama, and for this game he'll be going against a Wisconsin defense that's just too slow and small to keep up with Gus Malzahn's machine. The suspension of D'haquille Williams is a bummer, but I can't see it changing anything drastically.

Jameis Winston – Florida State vs Oregon ($6,300)

I'd be pretty shocked if Winston isn't the most owned quarterback in this slate. The price looks like an error, actually – he's the same as Jake Rudock and less than players like Connor Cook and Greg Ward. Oregon will almost certainly score points in this one, in which case FSU will need to throw the ball to keep pace. Oregon is without their best defender, cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, so Winston should stay hot after a big game against Georgia Tech.

QB Alternatives: Marcus Mariota – Oregon vs Florida State ($10,300), Bryce Petty vs Baylor ($8,100)

RB

Dalvin Cook – Florida State vs Oregon ($5,400)

The return of Karlos Williams (concussion) bothers me, as does Jimbo Fisher's history of spreading the ball around at running back, but this price is low enough to tempt me anyway. Plus, Cook is no mere Devonta Freeman or James Wilder. He's an absolute monster and, since he's so obviously better than Williams, the underdog Seminoles can't afford to take the ball out of his hands much. I also like how Cook's skill set should make him immune to game flow – even if Florida State falls behind, Cook has the receiving skills (11 catches in his last four games) to stay prominent in the offense.

Jalen Hurd – Tennessee vs Iowa ($4,700)

Hurd burned a lot of people (me) when he missed most of Tennessee's regular season finale against Vanderbilt with an unspecified injury, but he's been reportedly at or near full health for a while now, and the talented freshman returns in time for a matchup against an Iowa defense that struggled to stop the run this year. The Hawkeyes allowed 179 yards (4.7 YPC) and 1.5 rushing touchdowns per game to Power Five conference teams.

RB Alternatives: David Cobb – Minnesota vs Missouri ($7,100), Royce Freeman – Oregon vs Florida State ($7,000), Cameron Artis-Payne – Auburn vs Wisconsin ($6,200), Marcus Murphy – Missouri vs Minnesota ($4,200), Russell Hansbrough – Missouri vs Minnesota ($4,100)

WR

Rashad Greene – Florida State vs Oregon ($6,600)

I'm a pretty big fan of Greene, so I couldn't pass on him at this price in a shootout against a team that just lost its best cornerback to injury. Greene has both a high floor and ceiling in DraftKings' PPR scoring.

Tony Lippett – Michigan State vs Baylor ($5,900)

Lippett has been heavily targeted all year and provided a high rate of yardage and touchdown production per target. He might see his highest target count yet as Michigan State tries to match the pace of Baylor in a game with an over/under of 69 points. Like Greene, Lippett was a nearly non-negotiable pickup for me at this price.

Alex Erickson – Wisconsin vs Auburn ($3,700)

Erickson is generally good for at least 1/3 of Wisconsin's passing yardage, and I think the Badgers will give him one of his highest target counts on the year with Tanner McEvoy fully moved away from quarterback and pure (awful) pocket passer Joel Stave getting all the quarterback snaps. (Very dumb move, Barry Alvarez). I think Wisconsin will fall behind early on in this one, and Erickson gets fed when Wisconsin loses big.

WR Alternatives: Sammie Coates – Auburn vs Wisconsin ($5,400), Bud Sasser – Missouri vs Minnesota ($5,300), Deontay Greenberry – Houston vs Pittsburgh ($4,300), Dwayne Stanford – Oregon vs Florida State ($4,200), Charles Nelson – Oregon vs Florida State ($3,900), Jordan Payton – UCLA vs Kansas State ($3,800), Thomas Duarte – UCLA vs Kansas State ($3,400)

TE

Nick O'Leary – Florida State vs Oregon ($4,100)

I still don't think O'Leary is actually that good, but he's been heavily targeted lately and this is a very reasonable price for a No. 2 receiving target in a potential shootout.

TE Alternatives: Josiah Price – Michigan State vs Baylor ($3,100), Joshua Perkins – Washington vs Oklahoma State ($3,000)

FLEX

T.J. Yeldon – Alabama vs Ohio State ($4,800)

Alright, so Yeldon is technically a game-time decision with a hamstring issue. If he's out, just swap him with Derrick Henry ($5,000) – this lineup has $600 left over. I think Yeldon is pretty much entirely fine, though. He's been practicing leading up to this week, and he said himself he was fine. Plus, the last time he played was Dec. 6. Unless we're talking about a severe pull, a hamstring tweak shouldn't take him more than a two or three weeks to get over. In any case, I love the Alabama running game against an Ohio State defense that allows 3.9 yards per carry before you adjust for sack yardage, which the Buckeyes boast 284 of on 40 sacks.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Mario Puig plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: DraftKings: rotwireyasiel, FanDuel: rotowireyasiel, FantasyDraft: rwyasiel, DRAFT: rwyasiel.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mario Puig
Mario is a Senior Writer at RotoWire who primarily writes and projects for the NFL and college football sections.
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