This article is part of our FanDuel College Football series.
CFB FanDuel DFS Breakdown for Saturday Main Slate
Welcome to Week 14, a holiday-themed weekend packed with football. It couldn't be a better time of the year to have a slate with regular-season finales.
As is typically the case, Miami leads the way with an expected team score of 39 points as they stay out of the elements in the JMA Wireless Dome at Syracuse. Miami is currently favored by 10.5 points; however, we know they've had to pull a few rabbits out of their hat this year.
If you want to shy away from the popular game on the slate, we have some awesome rivalry games, including Arizona State at Arizona (O/U 53.5), Auburn at Alabama (O/U 52.5), and Kansas State at Iowa State (O/U 51.5). Not to mention Michigan at Ohio State (O/U 43.5), which is expected to be a battle in the cold between two great defenses.
College Football DFS Weather (winds 15+ MPH, precip. chance 50-plus percent and hot/cold temps noted)
Michigan at Ohio State - High 20's in big noon game
Kansas State at Iowa State - Low 20's in a competitive night game
Washington at Oregon - Low 30s in night game
Notable College Football Injuries/Absences for Week 14
QB
Quinn Ewers, Texas - Probable and likely to play against Texas A&M
DJ Uiagalelei, Florida State - Questionable with hand injury
RB
Jovantae Barnes, Oklahoma - Probable to suit up on Saturday
Dylan Edwards, Kansas State - Probable to play against Iowa State
Roydell Williams, Florida State - Questionable, but could play and still redshirt
DeSean Bishop, Tennessee - Questionable for game with Vanderbilt
Benjamin Hall, Michigan - Questionable against Ohio State
Treyaun Webb, Florida - Doubtful, has missed most of season due to surgery on leg
WR
Trebor Pena, Syracuse - Questionable, played limited snaps last week
Jordan Hudson, SMU - Questionable, entered concussion protocol last week
Brenen Thompson, Oklahoma - Questionable with leg injury
CJ Daniels, LSU - Probable and played last week with same designation
Umari Hatcher, Syracuse - Questionable after being hurt at end of game last week
Jadon Jackson, Kansas State - Questionable and played limited snaps last week
TE
Joshua Simon, South Carolina - Questionable with lower leg injury, missed last week
Colston Loveland, Michigan - Questionable, but trending in the right direction for OSU
Jake Briningstool, Clemson - Questionable for season finale against South Carolina
College Football DFS Tools
- FanDuel Lineup Optimizer
- Matchups Page (Vegas odds, opponent averages, etc.)
- Advanced Lineups Page
- Stats
- Team Trends
- Targets
- Defense vs. Position
- Team Rankings
Week 13 CFB DFS Plays on FanDuel
Quarterback
Dillon Gabriel, Oregon ($11,400) vs. Washington
I'm typically not a fan of fading the Heisman frontrunner, Cam Ward ($12,800), but when you can get another frontrunner for $1,400 cheaper, I'll go that route instead. Gabriel is coming off a tough matchup at Wisconsin, where he had just 8.4 fantasy points, so I do think this is a spot that could have lower ownership, which is what you're looking for in this slate. Gabriel is averaging 24.3 points at home and against Washington's defense, I think he can do even better than that.
Avery Johnson, Kansas State ($9,400) at Iowa State
Johnson entered the year with high expectations in the fantasy world as a true dual-threat quarterback. He's been much better over his last seven games, with all six of his rushing touchdowns on the season. In their last game, he had 27.1 fantasy points with three total touchdowns against Cincinnati. It's expected to be cold in a night tilt at Iowa State, so I expect Johnson to push double-digit rushing attempts, something he's done four times this year.
Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt ($8,600) vs. Tennessee
Speaking of running quarterbacks, Pavia is one of the best in the business. He's helped Vanderbilt to an impressive 6-5 record with 15.0 rushing attempts for 61.0 yards per game on the ground. He has 22 total touchdowns and a rushing score in four of his last five games. It's not likely that the Commodores will compete with Tennessee this weekend, but it's fully expected that Pavia is set up with multiple designed run plays.
DJ Lagway, Florida ($7,400) at Florida State
Lagway is an intriguing bargain play at quarterback because Florida State has been so bad. The Gators are projected to score 31.0 points and that's probably conservative considering that Florida State is allowing 27.7 points per game which ranks 86th in the nation. They recently gave up 52 points to Notre Dame, 35 points to North Carolina, and 36 points to Miami. A projection of 31 for Florida seems to be the floor which means Lagway doesn't need to do a ton to return a ROI on his price.
Running Back
The Top Dogs
Cam Skattebo, Arizona State ($10,800) at Arizona
Skattebo showed that he's fully back from his shoulder injury with 35.4 fantasy points against BYU. Arizona's defense is nowhere near the caliber of BYUs, so this is a spot that I would pound for DFS purposes. The senior back is having an amazing year with 1,681 total yards and 16 total touchdowns. There's no doubt he will have a big game in the regular season finale against their in-state rival.
Dylan Sampson, Tennessee ($10,500) at Vanderbilt
Sampson has at least one rushing touchdown in every single game this season. He's racked up 22 touchdowns and nine 100-yard rushing performances. He's truly been Tennessee's best offensive player, and I don't really see how Vanderbilt is going to put his touchdown streak to an end. Expect Sampson to run wild and have yet another huge game to put a cherry on top of what has been a breakout season.
Mid-Tier Targets
TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State ($6,700) vs. Michigan
It's time for the longtime Buckeye to get his revenge on the Wolverines. The discount is happening here because of teammate Quinshon Judkins ($7,400), but I expect Henderson to be much more motivated for a big game. Both backs will push double-digit carries in what projects to be a slugfest in cold conditions. I think it's completely okay to play both backs and I give a slight edge to Henderson because of the discount at price.
Jaydn Ott, California ($7,200) at SMU
This could be Ott's final collegiate game as he will have a choice to make on whether he wants to enter the NFL Draft or not. Cal is bowl-eligible; however, if he does make that choice to enter the draft, he would be likely to sit out that game as most prospects do. Either way, he should be motivated in a final regular-season game against a good SMU defense. Ott also has 93 career catches, so he can provide fantasy points in versatile ways.
Bargain Options
Amari Daniels, Texas A&M ($6,200) vs. Texas
The environment at Texas A&M is going to be electric as they try to play spoiler to the Longhorns and earn their way to the SEC Championship game. Daniels is coming off a career-high 27 carries at Auburn and has double-digit fantasy points in six straight games. His price has not yet caught up to his consistent volume, so this is a good spot even though Texas' defense is one of the best on the slate.
Cameron Seldon, Tennessee ($4,600) at Vanderbilt
Seldon scored his first collegiate touchdown against UTEP in Week 13. He's received an uptick in play due to DeSean Bishop's ($4,700) injury. Bishop enters the Vanderbilt game with a questionable tag, and if he doesn't play, Seldon is definitely worth considering. The Vols shouldn't have problems rushing the ball against Vanderbilt, and I believe there will be enough volume here to pay off on the bargain price.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
The Top Dogs
Tez Johnson, Oregon ($8,900) vs. Washington
Since I went with Gabriel as my top QB recommendation, I need a stack with one of his talented receivers. Why not go with Johnson who had an extra week to rest his shoulder after missing the previous two games against Maryland and Wisconsin. The Ducks' offense looked completely different without Johnson, so I like them to return to normalcy with their star receiver in the starting lineup.
Ryan Williams, Alabama ($8,200) vs. Auburn
Williams is one of my favorite players in all of college football, and when you're playing DFS, it's an entirely different feeling when you can root for players that you like. Alabama was embarrassed at Oklahoma last week, so they should bounce back with a respectable performance against their rival Auburn. It wasn't that long ago when this kid recorded 20 targets at Tennessee in Week 8. The faster the Crimson Tide can get Williams the ball as much as possible, the faster they'll get back to the winning circle.
Mid-Tier Targets
Jackson Meeks, Syracuse ($7,100) vs. Miami
I do not advise fading all of the players from the Syracuse and Miami games, so let's go with the receivers in that game. Meeks has double-digit targets in six of his last eight games. The Georgia transfer is having a great year with his new team, with 801 yards and five touchdowns. He's going to need to be fantastic if the Orangemen are going to compete with Miami's high-flying offense. It also helps that teammate Trebor Pena ($7,900) enters the game with a questionable tag.
Samuel Brown, Miami ($5,800) at Syracuse
On the other side, Brown is where all of the value is at. You could go with some of their higher priced options at receiver if you have room in the budget, but I like Brown to have an outside shot at a touchdown. He's averaging 3.3 catches on 5.1 targets per game. The ceiling is not high here, but Miami will be throwing the ball a lot at Syracuse. Xavier Restrepo ($8,700) and Jacolby George ($7,500) are quite a bit more expensive and don't give you as much flexibility in the rest of your lineup.
Bargain Options
Eli Stowers, Vanderbilt ($5,800) vs. Tennessee
That Tennessee and Vanderbilt game is my sneaky fantasy game because these offenses have been hit or miss during the 2024 season. I'm banking on a hit week and when that happens for Stowers, he's been unbelievable. He's averaging 10.9 fantasy points in home games, and he's had double-digit targets in three different games this year. You don't typically see that at the tight end position, so this is a good spot to differentiate your lineup this week.
Jaden Greathouse, Notre Dame ($5,200) vs. USC
With Notre Dame cruising past opponents, they haven't really needed to do much in the passing game. I think that changes against USC, which makes Greathouse an intriguing play. You could also go with Beaux Collins ($5,900) as they both are cost-effective. However, saving the $700 can give you a bit more flexibility for the QB and RB positions, which have better players at the top, in my opinion.