This article is part of our DraftKings College Football series.
CFB DFS Picks: DraftKings Week 6 Main Slate Breakdown, Lineup Strategy and Value Plays
We've got another fantastic slate to enjoy this weekend with 12 games to choose from, including seven games with totals north of 51 points. The sickos can appreciate games like Utah-California or Iowa-Wisconsin, but those really aren't on our DFS radar this week.
The crown jewel of the slate, and maybe the season, takes place in Seattle with Washington hosting Oregon with major stakes on the line. That game has an over/under of 67, which clears the next-highest by 11 points. It'll be the key to the slate in many respects that will be detailed throughout the article. The pricing makes it difficult to load up on the stars in that game without going so deep into the bargain bin that your lineup build has multiple possible goose eggs on it.
With that, the games I'm most intrigued by are Arkansas-Alabama, UGA-Vanderbilt, and Maryland-Illinois. FSU-Syracuse and Ohio State-Purdue also have some intrigue. Let's dig into the slate overview and dive into some plays to consider for this week.
Slate Overview
CFB DFS Tools
- New DraftKings College Football Optimizer
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- CFB Stats
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- CFB Advanced Team Stats with Plays per Game, Pass %, Run % and more
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Quarterback
As we've mentioned, this slate really centers on how the Oregon-Washington showdown goes. It will be the most popular game on the slate -- and with good reason -- and thus, fading it could take you out of the running if it pops off. It could also give you massive leverage if the offenses struggle. Such is the dilemma we face every week when talkin' chalk.
Zooming in on the quarterbacks from that game, we have the two highest-billed signal callers on the slate with Michael Penix ($10,200) and Bo Nix ($10,000) clearing the rest of the quarterbacks by at least $1,000. As such, jamming in both quarterbacks and pairing them with one or two viable pass-catchers could prove difficult. We'll hunt for value later in the article to help make those types of builds work, but in a vacuum, both have great projections.
Penix has been a surgeon through the air with 1,999 yards and a 16:2 TD:INT mark through five games. That's essentially 400 yards and three touchdowns every week like clockwork. Nix, meanwhile, lags behind in yardage (1,459) but has 15 passing touchdowns and just one pick. This year, Nix hasn't been running quite enough to bridge the gap between the passing numbers, though his legs are always a possible threat in these types of games. Nix simply hasn't needed to run as much this year with Oregon bowling over everyone it has faced, and that won't be the case this week. If I had to pick, I'd lean Nix in this spot but Penix is obviously in great position as well. Let's dig into some other quarterback plays to consider this week.
Emory Jones ($7,300) Cincinnati 
vs. Iowa State 
After detours to Florida and Arizona State, Jones has finally found his footing at Cincinnati. He has three games with multiple touchdown passes and has double-digit rushing attempts in each of his four FBS matchups. After some understandable struggles against Oklahoma, Jones bounced back before the bye with 256 passing yards and three scores against BYU to go with 94 rushing yards on 14 carries.
This week, Cincinnati gets a reeling Iowa State team at home. Yes, the Cyclones beat TCU in Week 6. They also lost 10-7 to Ohio. They have not performed well on the road and the Cyclones are allowing 285.7 passing yards per game in conference play.
Not only does Jones offer some floor thanks to his rushing upside, but this is a good spot for him as a passer as well. Pairing him with top wideout, Xzavier Henderson ($6,500), is more than doable with their respective salaries, too.
Jalen Milroe ($8,400) Alabama 
vs. Arkansas
We'll discuss this game more in detail during the running back section but there are key details that point toward Milroe being a solid play at $8,400. Milroe faces an Arkansas defense that has given up 8.3 YPA to opposing quarterbacks in conference play, and Arkansas also allows 8.3 YPA away from Fayetteville.
Milroe may be starting to round into form as a passer; throwing for 321 and three touchdowns against Texas A&M on the road is no small feat. He wasn't especially active as a rusher, which was likely A&M's goal going in, but that won't be as much of an issue this week. Milroe has rushed the ball 10+ times in three of his five outings.
It's becoming clear that A) Opposing teams who think they can get away with making Milroe beat them with his arm are wrong and B) Teams who don't respect his rushing ability will get burned for it. Arkansas doesn't have the personnel to stifle Milroe in either facet, and he should be in line for a huge DFS performance this week.
Running Back
Roman Hemby ($6,500) Maryland 
vs. Illinois 
Illinois has taken a significant step back defensively this season, allowing 176 rushing yards per game and 4.33 YPC. Only five Power 5 teams have worse marks against the run. Last year, the Illini held teams just under 100 rushing yards per game on just 3.28 YPC. That alone is a good basis to be interested in Maryland's run game this weekend.
We're also getting Hemby at a slight discount after a few down weeks. Now, you can excuse a down game against Ohio State on the road like last week, but it's harder to justify 14 carries for 54 yards against lowly Indiana or 10 carries for 12 yards against Michigan State. Those are simply bad performances. So why trust him here?
Well, Hemby still has a 38 percent rushing share and is a player who rushed for nearly 1,000 yards on 5.3 YPC last season. The talent is there, and so is the role. Catching a bad Illinois defense at home should help unlock Hemby and allow him to have one of his better games of the season. Maryland is a heavy favorite and carries an implied total of 32.5, which is slightly higher than Oregon's figure. Maryland's offense is worth considering this weekend, especially on the ground.
If you're not ready to jump back in on Hemby, teammate Antwain Littleton is just $4,800 and saw double-digit carries against the Buckeyes last weekend. At 232 pounds, Littleton is a load to bring down and that could get him a look at the goal line.
Jase McClellan ($6,300) Alabama vs. Arkansas
Alabama is a 20-point favorite against a reeling Arkansas team this weekend. That number might be a little low. The Tide has been rolling since its Week 2 loss to Texas and even though its rushing attack was stifled last week at Texas A&M, this is a great spot for the run game to get back on track.
Arkansas is giving up nearly 200 rushing yards per game in SEC play and no conference opponent has rushed for fewer than 189 yards on the Hogs.
As for McClellan, he owns a 35 percent rushing share in the Alabama offense. That hasn't completely translated to monster games -- he has just 100-yard outing through six games -- but he projects for his highest workload of the season this week. The fact that he's facing the softest SEC run defense that has been on Bama's schedule thus far is a nice tailwind in McClellan's favor.
In both McClellan and Hemby's cases, neither have been crushing value relative to their salaries this week. I'm trusting that the talent and matchup advantages will result in breakthrough performances from each at a low roster percentage.
Daijun Edwards ($6,800) Georgia 
at Vanderbilt
There's blowout risk here with Georgia checking in as 31.5-point favorites over the 'Dores. That could steer some players away from going heavy at the star players on Georgia's offense, and that's fair. Players like Brock Bowers or Carson Beck may not play long enough to return DFS value (not a certainty, but a possibility). Georgia's run game is a different story, though.
Injuries and a surprising lack of recruiting wins have led to Georgia lacking true star power in the backfield. Edwards is the best of the bunch, by far, and is performing well as the leader of this group. He missed the first two games of the year before logging 60 carries for 314 yards and five touchdowns in four outings.
Based on last week's blowout, there may be additional concern for Edwards as he only saw nine carries. He was still effective (9 carries, 54 yards to go with 6 catches for 51 yards on 6 targets) overall and if Edwards gets to 15 total touches against Vanderbilt's defense, that should be plenty.
Georgia doesn't have the backfield depth to put Edwards on ice super early in this game. If you're betting on a secondary target from this backfield, Kendall Milton had eight carries for 47 yards and a score in his return against Kentucky. He should be the next man up and at $5,100, he projects as a decent pivot off of Edwards that still allows you to get a piece of the Georgia offense.
Wide Receiver
Rome Odunze ($7,900) Washington vs. Oregon
Jalen McMillan's expected return creates some intrigue as to how the field will handle the Washington receiving corps this weekend. Again, this will be the most popular game on the slate and getting the right pieces from it is pivotal. McMillan and Odunze were neck-and-neck in terms of production before McMillan got hurt against Michigan State and missed the following two games. With that in mind, along with McMillan being nearly $1,000 cheaper on DraftKings, it makes sense that he'll be popular this week. I'm Team Odunze though.
Odunze has been healthy all season and has been utterly dominant with 13.8 YPT on 8.8 Tar/G while scoring four touchdowns. He has been held under 100 yards just once this season against Arizona.
I'm somewhat skeptical that after a three-week layoff, that McMillan will plug right back into his early-season production. Odunze has been a steady force all season long and I expect that to continue Saturday while McMillan backers risk seeing him have some rust to shake off.
On the other side of this one, Troy Franklin is hard to ignore if you have enough room to fit the $8,100 salary.
Jermaine Burton ($6,800) Alabama vs Arkansas
Not to belabor the point but I really like Alabama on this slate. Arkansas is in for a long day, and I expect Burton to be a big reason why.
Looking at Alabama's target distribution, Isaiah Bond leads the way with 31 through six games. He's been solid in that role, averaging nearly 9.0 YPT and notching a pair of touchdowns. Burton is playing at a different level, though. On five fewer targets, Burton has 111 more yards and two more touchdowns than Bond. Burton's YPT (14.8) is the highest on the slate among receivers with at least 25 targets this season.
The beauty of the Burton play is that he clearly doesn't need to be peppered with targets to produce. He might be able to get the job done on 3-4 targets, though we're expecting him to be a bit busier than that this week.
The Mid-Tier Volume Plays
Jaylin Noel ($5,100) Iowa State at Cincinnati
Only Illinois' Isaiah Williams (32) has drawn more targets over the past three weeks than Noel has on this slate. Noel was a target magnet last season with 87 opportunities and he is trending towards besting that by a decent margin with 48 through five games. Now, we can't paper over the efficiency issues -- he's catching 64.9 percent of his targets but averaging just 5.9 YPT, which is a full yard below the team baseline. Still, the target volume and catch rate are working enough in his favor. It helps matters that Cincinnati gives up 8.1 YPA to opposing passers, so this could be one of Noel's more explosive outings thus far.
Isaiah Williams ($5,500) Illinois at Maryland
Williams is the best way to get at the Illinois passing game this week. He has a 29 percent target share and hasn't seen less than a 25 percent share in any Power 5 game. Maryland's pass defense is credible but not overly imposing. If Illinois is trailing like the spread suggests, it should be another busy day for Williams.
Gary Bryant ($5,000) Oregon at Washington
Everyone will be searching for the No.2 target behind Troy Franklin this weekend, and I'm casting my lot with Bryant. The USC transfer had six targets in his last game and converted that into five grabs for 58 yards. He averages 11.6 YPT and has caught 19 of 21 targets on the year. If you need a little more cap flexibility, Bama transfer Traeshon Holden is $4,600 and should have a similar role to Bryant. Either way, Oregon's pass-catchers should be busy enough Saturday for more than just Franklin to return value.
Ainias Smith ($4,900) Texas A&M at Tennessee
Given how gruesome last year's season-ending injury was, it's awesome that Smith is even back out there. That he's producing at a quality level is all the more impressive. The senior has drawn eight or more targets in three of his last four games and has posted YPT marks north of 10 in three of his last four games as well, including four grabs for 88 yards on eight targets last week against Alabama. Going into Tennessee will be no picnic as the Vol's defense is solid at all levels, but Smith should be targeted enough for him to return value on the sub-$5K price tag.
GPP Plays
Garrett Shrader ($7,600) Syracuse 
at Florida State 
Perhaps this is my Gambling Brain taking over, but I see Syracuse being able to cover the 18.5-point spread Saturday in Tallahassee. A big part of that is Schrader, who won't give us a ton in the passing game in all likelihood, but is also excellent as a runner. We haven't seen Shrader have crazy success on the ground in the last two weeks, but that's forgivable against teams like Clemson and North Carolina.
Florida State hasn't been special against the run this year, and that extends to quarterbacks. Signal callers have run for a combined 236 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the 'Noles this season.
This play is somewhat risky -- Syracuse's offense is pretty one-dimensional with Oronde Gadsden out so it'll be easier for FSU to gameplan this week -- which is why it's in the GPP section. Still, Shrader has shown time and again that he's capable of putting up huge fantasy production even in tough matchup spots. We're counting on him being an effective runner in this spot and the numbers suggest that that could happen. At $7,600 with a likely low roster percentage, Shrader is an interesting leverage option at QB or Superflex this week.
Georgia Depth Options
The Bulldogs have the highest implied total on the slate at 44.25. It's unlikely that all those points will be coming from Brock Bowers and Daijun Edwards. With a bye coming up and a soft matchup, we can expect to see Georgia go to its reserves for a decent chunk of this game. Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint ($5,100) and Ladd McConkey ($5,900) project as the top wideouts, but even so, I'm not convinced that they'll see enough targets to return value. McConkey has also been brought along slowly following a back injury, and the bye presents an opportunity to get him more rest before the Florida game. I doubt he'll return value at nearly $6K. Rosemy is fully healthy and explosive when targeted, but $5,100 is risky when he may see just 2-3 targets.
As a result, my favorite bargain bin options from this offense are Oscar Delp ($3,400: 14 targets, 11 catches, 128 yards, two touchdowns) and Mekhi Mews ($3,300: 7 targets, 7 catches, 110 yards, one touchdown).
