This article is part of our FantasyAces College Football series.
As daily fantasy sports continues massive gains in popularity, RotoWire has ramped up its college football coverage this season, adding a Fantasy Aces College Football DFS column. Each week, I will post lineups, advice on players to target and pitfalls to avoid (through my own missteps).
First, the Fantasy Aces format: rosters consist of two quarterbacks, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end and two flex (RB/WR/TE), with half-a-point per reception and a $45,000 salary cap.
I entered a freeroll tourney for the Week 1 Saturday slate. It pays the top 250 of 10,000 entries. As is the case with any tourney-style DFS game, you must swing for the fences to get in the money. Looking at my lineup below, it may not have enough volatility to go really big. I will most likely share too many players to separate myself into the top 2.5-percent. Salaries are a bit flat early in the season, so I didn't need to mine incredibly deep for sleepers to stay under budget. In hindsight, it looks like a better lineup in 50/50 games, due to the low floor. To have any chance at getting into the money, my stacks will need to hit.
QUARTERBACK
Dak Prescott, Mississippi State (at Southern Miss) - $6,050
Quarterbacks are already extremely valuable in college DFS, so in a two-QB format, I'm willing to spend as much as it takes on signal callers. I'm also targeting dual-threat players with upside to score both on the ground (six points) and the air (four points), while also stacking them with at least one of their receivers -- more on that below. Prescott was the most expensive player behind Cody Kessler ($6,150), but I like the former to be the top performer Saturday. He has a tasty matchup versus Southern Miss that has a high over/under (61) and should be close enough that Mississippi State will need to keep its foot on the pedal.
Everett Golson, Florida State (vs. Texas State) - $5,150
This was an easy choice at first glance due to the discount on Golson, who wasn't named the starter until prices were already posted for Week 1. This is where I might lose, even if Golson goes off in the opener, because he could be among the most popular players in the Fantasy Aces universe. I got exactly what I wanted in Prescott and Golson -- a combined 6,894 passing yards, 56 passing TDs and 22 rushing scores in 2014, with high-scoring matchups.
RUNNING BACK
Nick Chubb, Georgia (vs. Louisiana Monroe) - $5,950
Chubb also will be highly owned. I wrestled with this decision, because I think there's a chance he goes completely nuts in the impending blowout of Louisiana Monroe. The question is, will he connect on enough big runs before getting benched in the second half? I think he will, and really there were not a lot of options I loved at RB (the pool of games to choose from is limited this week), and I had cash to spare. Something tells me Chubb won't come this cheap again in 2015. This is my least favorite pick.
Christian McCaffrey, Stanford (at Northwestern) - $4,750
OK, now the fun begins. I don't expect McCaffrey to remain less than $5,000 average salary for long. Ed's son put on eight pounds of muscle in the offseason and is expected to carry the load in a backfield that had 1,000-yard rushers six straight years before last year. Stanford coach David Shaw wants to get back to that dominant running game, and McCaffrey, who flashed as a freshman in 2014, could put up huge numbers as both rusher and receiver. Think D.J. Foster-type upside. Look for Stanford to make a statement Week 1 versus Northwestern, and after losing a ton of defensive starters, the Cardinal may need to score more than usual.
WIDE RECEIVER
JuJu Smith-Schuster, USC (vs. Arkansas State) - $4,000
Maybe it's the hyphenated addition to his name, but JuJu is a huge bargain at $4,000 in a game with an over/under of 69.5, highest on the available slate. Expect Smith-Schuster to follow in the footsteps of Robert Woods, Marqise Lee and Nelson Agholor, who made the jump to elite Trojan receivers in their sophomore seasons.
De'Runnya Wilson, Mississippi State (at Southern Miss) - $4,950
My goal was to stack at least one receiver with each QB, and Wilson is the obvious choice. Not only is he a bargain at just below average player cost, but the 6-foot-5 junior caught a third of Dak Prescott's touchdown passes in 2014.
TIGHT END
Ryan Izzo, Florida State (vs. Texas State) - $3,300
The popularity of spread offenses has created a dearth of tight ends in college football. My strategy was to pretty much punt the position. Izzo is the least known of Everett Golson's pass-catchers at Florida State, but the athletic redshirt freshman is a starting tight end and a dirt cheap stack for me.
FLEX
Keevan Lucas, Tulsa (vs. Florida Atlantic) - $5,800
The savings from my wide receivers and tight end mean I'm surprisingly able to go over slot at the flex spots. I've already rostered stacks for both quarterbacks, so I can pretty much go shopping for as many points as I can find. Keevan Lucas is the priciest WR on Fantasy Aces this weekend, but I can afford it. Tulsa is favored by seven points over Florida Atlantic, and I'd take the over on Vegas' 66.5.
Josh Reynolds, Texas A&M (vs. Arizona State) - $5,000
Reynolds gives me a horse in the game with the highest over/under (two games tied at 69.5), and three of the top-5 wide receivers available. I didn't expect to go WR-WR in my flex positions but, with the available slate, liked Lucas and Reynolds over most RB options at .5 PPR.
