College Football DFS: MACtion Slate Nov. 16

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Updated on November 16, 2021 3:32PM EST

Slate Overview

MACtion rolls on with a three-game slate featuring some of the best offensive players in the conference. The Ohio-Toledo game has seen its total climb three points Tuesday and is up to 58.0, putting it as the second-highest O/U on the slate behind Western Michigan-Eastern Michigan (66.0). The game with the lowest total on the board also has the widest spread with Miami (OH) checking in as 17-point favorites against Bowling Green with an O/U of 51.0.

The passing defenses on the slate range from decent (Toledo, 187 PaYD/G) to mediocre (Ohio, 247.6) with no obvious units that you have to target. There are enough quality quarterback and receiver options from multiple teams to where no defense needs to be avoided, even Miami of Ohio's.

The run defense metrics point to a few leaky teams headlined by Bowling Green (201.5), Eastern Michigan (194.9) and Ohio (193.7). Bowling Green faces a Miami team that is more geared towards the pass, but there could be some Redhawks who find success on the ground in this matchup.

DFS Tools

Matchup Info

Position-by-Position Breakdown

Quarterback

Ben Bryant, Eastern Michigan ($6,800 DK, $9,500 FD) vs. Western Michigan

Eastern Michigan has let Bryant turn it loose since MACtion began in earnest as the Cincinnati transfer has attempted 98 passes over his last two games. He's been effective with the expanded role, too, completing 71.4 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and two picks in that span. He has also hit 354 passing yards in each of those games.

Bryant doesn't offer the rushing upside of some of the other quarterbacks on this slate but his sheer passing volume helps his baseline fantasy production. He's also quarterbacking a home underdog in what is expected to be the highest-scoring game on the slate by far with a total of 66.0. Western Michigan will keep the pressure on Eastern Michigan to keep pace on the scoreboard, and with no real run threat to speak of for the Eagles, it should be the Bryant show Tuesday night.

Dequan Finn, Toledo ($8,200 DK, $9,700 FD) at Ohio

With Armani Rogers' role diminishing for Ohio, Finn stands out as the best dual-threat on the slate. Finn has turned a corner as a passer of late with three passing touchdowns in each of his last two games and he added a pair of rushing scores in the blowout win over Bowling Green last week.

The matchup isn't quite as favorable this time around with a road game against an Ohio team that has had a late-season renaissance with wins over Miami (OH) and Eastern Michigan in back-to-back weeks. Still, the Bobcats have the worst pass defense on the slate (247.6 YPG/A) and have given up over 300 rushing yards to opposing quarterbacks on the year. Toledo checks in with an implied total of 31.0 points that ranks third on the slate. Finn can do it all and that should be on display Tuesday.

Kaleb Eleby, Western Michigan ($7,200 DK, $10,000 FD)

It's tough to leave Brett Gabbert out of the quarterback writeups given his performance this season and the cushy matchup against Bowling Green at home. That said, he's cost-prohibitive on both sites, so most of my builds will target the mid-tier quarterbacks like Eleby.

Eleby is the other quarterback in the expected track meet between Western and Eastern Michigan. He's an effective passer (61% completion rate, 8.4 YPA, 15 TD) who rarely makes mistakes (4 INT) and offers a bit of upside as a rusher at the goal line with three red zone rushing TDs.

Western Michigan has the highest implied total (35.75) on the slate and Eleby will have his fingerprints on a lot of the Broncos' scoring Tuesday. Game-stacking this one should be viable in both GPPs and cash games.

Running Back

Keyon Mozee, Miami (OH) ($4,300 DK, $7,000 FD) vs. Bowling Green

Miami does not have a strong run game. It ranks 82nd in rushing yards per game and 68th in YPC. But a setup where the Redhawks are 17-point home favorites against one of the worst run defenses in the country (201 RuYD/G) means we need to take a closer look.

Mozee easily leads the team in carries with 98 and has punched in a team-high four touchdowns. He's coming off a season-high 15-carry workload and racked up 67 yards and a touchdown against Buffalo. Given the expected game script, Mozee should be heavily involved Tuesday and Bowling Green is not built to stop prolonged exposure to anyone's run game.

Kevin Davis ($3,400 DK, $5,800 FD) is another way to get exposure to the Miami run game. He's more explosive than Mozee (6.56 YPC) and he's used in the passing game with 15 grabs for 178 yards, which boosts his utility on DraftKings in particular.

Bryant Koback, Toledo ($8,200 DK, $11,000 FD) at Ohio

On a slate this small, it's hard to completely fade the top-billed guys. If you're paying up, you could do much worse than Koback, a workhorse back with explosiveness and touchdown upside to go with bankable pass-catching production. He has 155 carries for 951 yards (6.14 YPC) and 10 touchdowns on the ground along with 23 grabs for 257 yards and a touchdown as a pass-catcher.

Ohio allows 4.8 YPC and 193.7 rushing yards per game and Toledo is a touchdown favorite, so the game flow could skew towards the run and Koback, who has a 42 percent rushing share, stands to benefit. No need to overthink Koback too much on this slate.

GPP Consideration

Terion Stewart, Bowling Green ($4,900 DK, $6,900 FD) at Miami of Ohio

Stewart is coming off a clunky week with 13 carries for 42 yards. He salvaged his day with a touchdown but it was still a far cry from his 11-carry, 170-yard performance the previous week against Buffalo.

The silver lining, though is the rushing volume is on the uptick. 13 carries marked a season-high and he has had double-digit carries in back-to-back weeks. He has a 34 percent rushing share over the last three weeks as well. This is a player who has shown some serious explosiveness at times over the last two seasons and owns a 6.8 YPC mark for his career (91 carries, 10 games).

People won't be on the Bowling Green offense much and it makes sense given its perilously low implied total (17.0). Bowling Green is a 17-point underdog so it stands to reason that the Falcons may need to go away from the run if this gets out of hand. Reason doesn't always apply in MACtion though, and Stewart has the upside to pay off at a low roster percentage.

Wide Receiver

Target Info (Season-long)

Target Info (Start of MACtion)

Hassan Beydoun, Eastern Michigan ($6,200 DK, $8,700 FD) vs. Western Michigan

Eastern Michigan has a high-volume passing attack with a narrow target tree. Since MACtion started in Week 10, Beydoun, Dylan Drummond and Tanner Knue rank 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in targets among receivers on this slate. Each of them is drawing over 22 percent of the Eastern Michigan targets in that span.

Knue made his season debut in Week 10 and has been excellent with 17 catches for 182 yards and a touchdown on 22 targets. For as good as Knue has been, he should not have a higher salary on DraftKings than Beydoun despite being a good play tonight in his own right. Beydoun has caught 21 of 28 passes for 282 yards and two scores in the last two games and is coming off a 16-target night against Ohio.

I'm backing the Eastern Michigan passing game Tuesday for better or for worse and Beydoun will be a fixture in my Ben Bryant lineups.

Jalen Walker, Miami (OH) ($4,600 DK, $6,600 FD) vs. Bowling Green

Jack Sorenson is the clear headliner at receiver on this slate and in the Miami offense. He has a 22-target game to his credit from back in Week 10 and ranks 7th in the nation in receiving yards with 1,098. But that doesn't mean he's the only Miami receiver to target Tuesday.

Walker has come on strong in the last two weeks, averaging 9.5 targets per game and 10.3 YPT. He has touchdowns in back-to-back games as well. Walker represents a bargain way of getting exposure to the Ball State passing game and recent trends suggest he's in line for a strong target share.

Matt Landers, Toledo ($4,800 DK, $6,800 FD) vs. Ohio

The Georgia transfer is starting to emerge as a serious factor in the Toledo passing game. He has caught eight of nine targets for 207 yards and three touchdowns in the last two games. He's second on the team in targets in that span.

We're obviously working with a small sample here, but the numbers are eye-popping nonetheless. Landers is a big-bodied receiver at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds with an SEC pedigree and it appears he has figured things out in time to be an impact player down the stretch for the Rockets.

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. John McKechnie plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: Fanduel: mckech3; DraftKings: mckech3.