This article is part of our DraftKings College Football series.
CFB DFS Picks: Bowl Season DraftKings College Football Main Slate for December 16
Bowl Season is officially upon us. Let us rejoice.
The most wonderful time of the year gets underway Saturday as we get ready for 41 games worth of college football goodness spread over the next few weeks. To the uninitiated and the casuals, Saturday's slate may fall under the radar. I am neither uninitiated nor a casual, and if you're reading this, neither are you. We love bowl season. And the weirder the matchup, the better. Luckily for us, we have plenty of weird on this slate as we're treated to five appealing games featuring teams ranging from the PAC-12 and Big 12 all the way to FBS newcomer Jacksonville State out of Conference USA.
We've got a great rollout of CFB DFS content this bowl season, covering slates all the way from the first day to the National Championship Game in Houston. Let's kick things off in style, shall we?
Slate Overview
Keeping up with the latest injuries is always crucial for college football DFS as major swings in the slate can happen just minutes before kickoff. That becomes doubly true during bowl season when key players are opting out or hitting the transfer portal. With that, make sure to bookmark our CFB news page for up-to-the-minute updates around the clock.
This slate is a bit of a departure from the main slates we're treated to during the regular season. Instead of 12 games to choose from featuring sky-high totals and blueblood programs, we have five games featuring smaller schools and the highest total is set at 58.0 (Jacksonville State vs. ULL).
In looking at the defensive units to target, California, Boise State and Jacksonville State are the most vulnerable teams against the pass. App State, Fresno State and Texas Tech are the most susceptible teams against the run.
In terms of the player pool, the wide receiver pricing is particularly soft. The highest salaried player is just $6,600 and there are plenty of viable options between $4,500 and $6K. Running back is top-heavy and most of my lineup builds will center on jamming in Jaydn Ott, Ashton Jeanty and Tahj Brooks and going from there. Quarterback is mostly lacking in star power outside of Diego Pavia, but there are playable cheaper options to help you pay up elsewhere.
CFB DFS Tools
- New DraftKings College Football Optimizer
- Weekly CFB Matchup Info
- CFB Targets
- CFB Stats
- CFB Team Trends
- CFB Advanced Team Stats with Plays per Game, Pass %, Run % and more
- CFB Strength of Schedule Metrics
Quarterback
Diego Pavia ($8,600) New Mexico State 
vs. Fresno State 
This is partially a nod to how money Pavia has been all season, but there's also a strong chance he puts a bow on his strong season with a big outing in Saturday's bowl game. Pavia has been held under 20 DraftKings points just three times this season and averages 24.1 DK Points Per game. He's a threat both through the air and on the ground, having thrown for 26 touchdowns with an 8.6 YPA to go with 157 rushes for 853 yards and six touchdowns. The rushing detail is of particular interest as Fresno State has allowed 419 rushing yards to opposing quarterbacks. Pavia is the priciest quarterback on the board, but on a slate with slim pickings at the position (and some values), it's reasonable to take the plunge on the NMSU star in any type of contest style.
Zion Webb ($7,000) Jacksonville State 
vs. Louisiana-Lafayette 
A 5:6 TD:INT ratio will often take a player off your list on a given slate. Again, this is a short slate with limited options, and fixating on that metric alone would be a mistake. Webb has come on strong in his last five games, especially on the ground. Webb has racked up 449 rushing yards and six rushing scores in that span.
In terms of the matchup, Louisiana has one of the worst defenses on this slate with the 103rd-ranked unit according to SP+. The Gamecocks have the highest implied total on the board (30.25) and with Webb at the helm, he's a strong play this week. The 300-yard passing bonus may not be in play, but the 100-yard rushing bonus is certainly on the table.
Behren Morton ($8,000) Texas Tech 
vs. California 
Speaking of high team totals, Morton's Red Raiders rank just behind Jacksonville State in terms of implied total (30.0) as they get set to face the Golden Bears. Morton has had nearly a month to get back in gear after a miserable outing against Texas in the season finale. Outside of that clunker, Morton has been playable with a 62% completion rate and 12 passing touchdowns in nine games. The matchup should put Morton in position to have one of his better games this season as well given that Cal gives up 283.3 passing yards per game. Adding on, Morton is not much of a runner but Texas Tech does make use of his 215-pound frame around the goal line as he's punched in four rushing scores.
Generally, Morton would be an easy fade at $8,000 but on a slate like this, there's at least a decent track record to get behind and a favorable matchup working in his favor.
For the record, I would not blame anyone for taking the opposing quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, at $6,200 on the other side of this matchup.
GPP Play
If you're looking for a real YOLO play in your lineup build, take a look at Henry Hesson. $6,700 for a player with five career attempts at Miami -- all of which were in 2022 -- likely means that we'll see an extremely low roster percentage on him. We simply don't know what we're going to get out of this former three-star recruit with this little experience. Miami is already a run-heavy outfit (62% run rate) and will probably lean even further into that. I won't go heavy at Hesson, but I'll trot him out there in a lower-stakes tournament in the event that he's much better than expected.
Running Back
Rashad Amos ($6,500) Miami (OH) .png)
vs. Appalachian State 
As mentioned above, there's reason to be concerned about the Miami offense Saturday given the question marks at quarterback. Even if App State is stacking the box, Amos is going to get his work in on Saturday. No other Miami running back has had more than six carries over the last month while Amos has taken 43 rushes in that span. On the year, Amos has 176 carries for 887 yards (5.0) and 12 scores. He'll face an Appalachian State defense that's soft against the run, allowing 175.9 rushing yards per game. It may not be the most efficient day on the ground for Amos, but volume should carry him to a solid value return.
Looking a little further down the board in the Miami backfield, keep an eye on Kenny Tracy's availability during warmups. He was unavailable against Toledo in the MAC Championship but has been an explosive player when active. Tracy ($4,500) has 46 carries for 250 yards and two scores to go with 10 catches for 126 yards and a touchdown.
Malik Sherrod ($6,800) Fresno State vs New Mexico State
Sherrod checks in as one of the most productive running backs on this slate with 877 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground to go with a whopping 35 grabs for 181 yards and a touchdown. That pass-catching ability juices his value on DraftKings with its PPR scoring and makes him a player to get plenty of exposure to on this slate.
New Mexico has had trouble defending running backs in the passing game as the Aggies have allowed an 81 percent catch rate and 8.3 YPT to RBs. Sherrod's pass-catching ability fuels his appeal, but he's an effective runner who gets solid volume. Since the start of conference play, Sherrod averaged 16 carries and 93.4 yards per game and he capped off the season with 138 yards and a pair of scores on San Diego State's defense. Getting him at under $7K is a nice value on this slate.
Jaydn Ott ($8,400) California vs. Texas Tech
Ott announced that he's returning to California next season on Friday and that seems to suggest he'll be ready to roll Saturday against the Red Raiders. While it's tough to pick between Ott and Ashton Jeanty ($8,600) on this slate and may be worthwhile to lock both in and figure out the rest of your build, Ott gets the nod from me.
While Ott and Jeanty are both elite talents, Jeanty has the tough task of producing against UCLA's brick wall of a run defense. Opt-outs and debatable motivation for this game might mean that UCLA won't be able to maintain the 2.3 YPC-allowed level of efficiency, but even still, it's going to be tough to run on the Bruins on Saturday.
As for Ott, it's a much more favorable matchup against a suspect Texas Tech run defense that allows 4.5 YPC and allowed over 200 rushing yards in each of its last three games. Ott doesn't need an easy opponent to produce, though. He racked up 1,260 yards and 11 scores on the ground and added 21 grabs for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Ott gets workhorse volume on the ground (229 rushes in 11 games) and with the rest of the backfield dealing with injuries, it should be the Ott show on Saturday.
Others to Consider
Elijah Gilliam, Fresno State ($4,100); Malik Jackson, Jacksonville State ($6,100)
Wide Receiver
Kaedin Robinson ($5,600) Appalachian State vs. Miami (OH)
Robinson has been on my radar each time that App State has been on a slate lately and those who have backed him have been handsomely rewarded. The 6-2, 205-pound wideout has been eating over his last five games with 26 grabs for 330 yards and six touchdowns on 38 targets. The matchup is pretty tough, to be fair, as Miami has the best pass defense on the slate and one of the better ones in the nation. Miami's offense could also drag the game pace down, so this isn't the cleanest setup in the world for Robinson.
Still, Robinson will get opportunities considering his 22 percent target share over that recent sample. $5,600 is a good number for Robinson considering the tough matchup and he has shown an ability to overcome difficult circumstances recently, such as his two-touchdown outing against James Madison on the road.
Mac Dalena ($5,200) Fresno State vs. New Mexico State
It's tough to parse out the Fresno State pass-catchers for this matchup as the Bulldogs spread the ball around to so many different targets. Over the last four games, four different Fresno receivers have a target share of at least 10 percent. Dalena leads the way in that sample, though, commanding a 20 percent share on which he has caught 17 of 29 targets for 211 yards and a score. The explosiveness doesn't stand out, but the volume certainly does. He's clearly starting to click with Mikey Keene going into this game and offers a solid floor for the $5,200 price tag.
Perry Carter ($5,400) Jacksonville State vs Louisiana
We discussed Jacksonville State's passing game earlier, but as a quick refresh: the Gamecocks only throw it 35 percent of the time and only complete 51 percent of their attempts. And yet, I am all over Carter on this slate. When Jacksonville State does throw it, Carter is the target seemingly more often than not. He has a target share just under 30 percent over his last three games and has been lighting it up with 14 grabs for 266 yards and a touchdown. He is the engine of the Jacksonville State passing game and with so little competition for targets, Carter really sets up nicely on this slate.
Others to Consider
Jonathan Brady, New Mexico State ($5,100); Coy Eakin, Texas Tech ($5,000); Logan Loya UCLA ($5,500)
