College Football DFS: DraftKings Main Slate Week 3 Picks and Lineup Strategy

DraftKings CFB DFS Picks: Main Slate Week 3 Plays and Lineup Strategy

We had some hits last week like Michael Mayer, Chase Brown, and Brad Roberts but things fell apart in a big way with Virginia and a couple of other plays, so we'll call Week 2 a mixed bag. 

We're onto Week 3, which is a very funky collection of 13 games. The headlining matchups are games like Nebraska-Oklahoma, Purdue-Syracuse, Penn State-Auburn and BYU-Oregon. This slate might be won by targeting the lesser-known matchups, though. Vanderbilt-NIU is a nice game with affordable options on both sides and two bad defenses. The same can be said for Indiana-Western Kentucky and perhaps even Cincinnati-Miami (OH). I've broken down my approach to the slate below and you'll also see our full suite of CFB DFS tools and matchup info to help you build your best lineups. Onward. 

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Matchup Info

College Football DFS Picks: Quarterback

Jaren Hall ($6,700) BYU at Oregon

I'd be more worried about Hall in this spot if we didn't have last week's game to look back on when he had success against Baylor without Puka Nacua or Gunner Romney. It remains to be seen if either will be available here but BYU clearly has enough pass-catching talent to make this work even without them. 

Oregon likely won't get lit up the way it did in Week 1 in Atlanta but there's still work to be done in that secondary and Hall can take advantage. This is a good week to save at quarterback and spend up at other positions and Hall presents a solid path towards executing that. 

Jalon Daniels ($6,500) Kansas at Houston

Kansas has some things working against it here (great sell, right?); the Jayhawks play at a glacially slow tempo and run the ball nearly 60 percent of the time. Luckily, Kansas is making the most of its plays as it ranks fifth (yes, fifth) in yards per play (8.08). Daniels, for his own part, is completing 70 percent of his passes at an 8.7 YPA clip. He's also a proven runner and had 12 rushes last week against West Virginia, which is a number I think is repeatable this week in what should be a competitive game against Houston. Houston's pass defense numbers look bad so far but it has played two of the better passing attacks in the country, so don't get too hung up on that. Still, I think Daniels has the explosive per-play potential both as a passer and as a rusher to return value on $6,500 in this spot. Stacking Clayton Tune on the other side of a Daniels lineup is something I'll pursue on Saturday. 

Also Consider: Rocky Lombardi, Northern Illinois ($7,700) vs. Vanderbilt; Mike Wright ($7,100) Vanderbilt at Northern Illinois; Garrett Shrader ($6,400) Syracuse vs. Purdue

College Football DFS Picks: Running Back

Mohamed Ibrahim ($9,400) and Trey Potts ($6,400), Minnesota vs. Colorado

This is a rare instance where a backfield stack is actually appealing, especially in a slate of this size. Minnesota runs the ball at the sixth-highest rate in college football and has the fourth-highest implied total on the slate in what is expected to be a blowout. So, how do we expect the Gophers to rack up most of their points? On the ground, of course.

Both Ibrahim and Potts see huge shares of a high-volume run game with Ibrahim checking in at a 47 percent share and Potts with a 21 percent share. They've both been effective, too, albeit against weak competition with YPC marks hovering around 6.0. The weak competition continues this week, though, as Colorado is allowing an objectively hilarious 355 rushing yards per game thus far. To be fair, facing Air Force will do that if you're not sound against the run, but TCU also gashed the Buffs on the ground. Nearly $16K is a hefty sum to sink into your backfield in a PPR format admittedly, but there's a path to both Ibrahim and Potts cracking the 100-yard mark and reaching the end zone in this spot. Here's hoping the $9,400 price tag keeps the Ibrahim roster percentage at a reasonable level, though I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

Devin Neal ($5,400) Kansas at Houston

I don't understand Neal's usage thus far. Every time Kansas has given Neal the ball, it has worked out. 14 carries for 150 yards and four touchdowns. Two targets? Two catches, 27 yards, one touchdown. I think Kansas starts to get the memo and use him more Saturday. Houston is fairly tough against the run but Neal appears to be matchup-proof as long as he gets the volume, and I'm betting he will this week.

Jaydn Ott ($4,500) California at Notre Dame

Even if the Irish are taking Cal more seriously than it did Marshall last week, that still doesn't mean their run defense will be fixed. Notre Dame gave up 172 rushing yards to Ohio State, which is forgivable, but the 219 to the Thundering Herd is less so. 

Ott is seeing the most work of any California running back and is doing the most with his workload. He's averaging 6.5 YPC on 24 carries with a touchdown while no other Bear with more than two carries averages more than 3.6 YPC. Ott has also shown to be effective as a pass-catcher, which we love on DraftKings, catching five of seven targets for 42 yards and two touchdowns. 

It's unlikely we see Ott push for the workload that Khalan Laborn saw against the Irish but his explosiveness and pass-catching ability make him a viable target at $4,500. 

Zach Charbonnet $6,300 UCLA vs. South Alabama

Disclaimer: Charbonnet suited up but did not play last week against Alabama State. He should be good to go for Week 3 after practicing this week though. Those interested in Charbonnet will need to keep an eye for him in pregame warmups -- we'll have you covered here at RotoWire -- and have a pivot plan in place if he's not active since this game kicks off at 2 PM eastern. Budgeting an extra $200 to spend up for Zach Evans would be my fallback plan, or Shaun Shivers for $6,100. I'm not sold on paying full freight for Charbonnet's backup, Keegan Jones ($6K) if Charbonnet is ultimately sidelined, however. 

College Football DFS Picks: Wide Receiver

D.J. Matthews ($5,900) and Cam Camper Indiana vs. Western Kentucky

There will be a lot of DFS interest in the WKU passing game Saturday, and rightfully so, but let's not forget about the Hoosier side here. Indiana did just struggle against...Idaho, though that was coming off an emotional win over Illinois to open the season. I expect Indiana to be sharper in this spot and the combo of Matthews and Camper is accounting for over 50% of the Hoosier target share. Matthews is the more explosive of the two, averaging 10.7 YPT and notching a pair of scores while Camper has the higher catch floor with double-digit targets in each of his two games thus far. AJ Barner ($3,500) is a tight end but has some GPP appeal given his price tag and 4.5 Tgt/G rate in 2022. Indiana is throwing it 56 percent of the time so far this season so there should be targets to go around, especially if Western Kentucky holds its own on offense. 

Daewood Davis ($5,100 and Jaylen Hall ($6,000) Western Kentucky at Indiana

Malachi Corley headlines the WKU pass-catchers with three touchdowns thus far but the $8,100 price tag is a tad steep when he's touchdown dependent and punching up a weight class in terms of competition this week. Davis leads the team in targets with 16 through two games and has caught 11 of them for 202 yards and a score. Hall is riskier with just five targets, but he's a legitimate talent and the roster percentage should be low considering his production and salary compared to Davis, who will be somewhat chalky but still a good play. Western Kentucky hasn't pushed the pace or abandoned the run as much as last year but that philosophy could change in a game where the Tops are underdogs on the road. 

Jayden McGowan ($7,500) Vanderbilt at Northern Illinois

If $7,500 seems like an exorbitant salary for a Vanderbilt receiver, that's because it is. But this is one of the weirder main slates I can remember and I'm steering into the weird. 

This game has a high total (60.0) and narrow spread (Vandy +2.5 on the road), so both of those boxes are checked. McGowan, a freshman, was a min-priced option in Week 0 and has worked his way towards the top of the board. Many will see the $7,500 and the team name and keep scrolling, and that's fine. Keep the roster % down. People will naturally gravitate to the cheaper Will Sheppard, who has five touchdowns already. McGowan is a real talent, though, and it's clicking right away as he has at least five targets in each game so far. 

This game has the potential to help your lineups cash with the high total, terrible pass defense on both sides, and relatively anonymous players compared to the rest of the slate. McGowan is a good way to get exposure to it with a low roster percentage to boot. Shemar Thornton ($5,200) on the other side is an interesting play from NIU while Cole Tucker ($8,200) feels cost prohibitive, though he shouldn't be fully faded by those making multiple lineups. 

College Football DFS GPP Plays

South Alabama Stack

No, this isn't some secret menu item at Waffle House. 

South Alabama has had an efficient passing attack thus far this season led by Carter Bradley ($6,100) who has thrown for three touchdowns in each of his first two games. Now, UCLA's pass defense numbers may look intimidating on the surface, but the Bruins rank just 61st in defensive SP+. This game sets up where South Alabama likely won't be able to get much going on the ground so the passing game should have plenty of volume. I'm not sure I'll muster the courage to play Bradley in a lineup, but the receivers are interesting. Jalen Wayne ($5,500) just caught 10 of 15 targets for 98 yards and a touchdown against Central Michigan. Caullin Lacy ($4,100) has drawn seven targets in each of his first two games and should be plenty involved here as well. These are GPP-only type of plays, but Wayne is especially interesting given his projected target volume in a catch-up script. He's one of several viable options in the $5,000-$5,500 range, too, so the roster percentage should be low. 

Dillon Bell ($3,000) Georgia at South Carolina

Adonai Mitchell (ankle) is likely to miss Saturday's game. That will steer some of the target count over to Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey, but someone needs to take the reps at Mitchell's spot and Bell could be the guy. The freshman drew six targets last week and scored a touchdown in the second quarter against Samford. Georgia is expected to score 40 points Saturday and they won't all come on the ground. Again, Bowers and McConkey should be the main targets Saturday but Bell's role makes him worth a dart throw if you need a min-price option to make the rest of your lineup build work.