AFriedman15 – Aaron Friedman researches and writes college football articles for DFS Army. Aaron is a lifelong resident of the Chicago suburbs and a Northwestern alum and football season ticket holder. College football was Aaron’s first DFS sport and he was thrilled to see it return in 2018. He believes that the thrill, pageantry, and the importance of every game are unparalleled in sports. Aaron enjoys betting on the games and watching everything from #Pac12AfterDark to #MACtion, and especially enjoys the Tuesday-Friday games with so much happening on Saturdays. In real life, Aaron is an IT analyst and with his wife, is the parent to three small dogs. Find Aaron on Twitter at @AFriedmanDFS.
Slate Overview:
This Friday, we are back at it with a three-game slate:
Georgia Tech (-4, O/U 57.5) at Louisville, 7pm ET
Middle Tennessee at Marshall (-6, O/u 52.5), 7:30pm ET
Utah State at BYU (-2.5, O/U 54.5), 9pm ET
QB
Georgia Tech QB TaQuon Marshall is (8400 DK/10000 FD) is my top QB play. On Wednesday, the Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote an article noting Marshall’s excitement to play on a Friday night instead of Tech’s usual Saturday noon EST window. GT is 2-3 overall, and 0-2 in the ACC, so this is pretty much a must win if the Yellow Jackets have any bowl game aspirations.
Next on my board is Utah State QB Jordan Love (8600 DK/ 9200 FD), who has completed 66% of his passes while leading Utah State to 51.5 points/game (yes, it has been a light schedule). I am pretty high on Utah State (3-1, 4-0 ATS) — I actually bet them to go over 7.5 wins on the season– and I have some action on Utah State +2.5. On FanDuel, Love is the 3rd most expensive guy in his own backfield, with Thompson and Bright both over 9400 on FD.
Louisville QB Jawon Pass (7200 DK/7800 FD) will also be in my player pool, but he is GPP only. He has been very inconsistent this season and at times, he has been pulled for backup/co-starter Malik Cunningham. Last week, vs. Florida State, Pass played the entire game accounting for 306 passing yards and 25 DK FP. Cunningham did not play for the first time since Week 2, so that is promising for Pass’ job prospects. Pass is worth rostering due to the potential upside of Louisville needing 30+ points. GPP only for me.
MTSU QB Brent Stockstill (9000 DK/ 9900 FD) is an okay option with Marshall allowing 261 pass yards/game. I was honestly a little surprised to see him as the highest priced QB on DK given his pedestrian 2018 season to date. Stockstill is just 67 yards shy of 10,000 career passing yards and that milestone should be reached with ease on Friday and he has thrown at least one touchdown in 27 consecutive games.
BYU QB Tanner Mangum (5100 DK/7600 FD) has some value in a GPP game stack with Jordan Love. He went 18/21 last week vs. Washington, but his scores were low due to a lack of touchdowns.
Marshall QB Isaiah Green (7800 DK/9000 FD) was injured throwing a TD pass and required assistance leaving the field. Green is not in play for me, but his absence or presence is noteworthy to me due to ramifications on other Marshall players.
RB
USU: BYU average on rush defense averaging 155.4 yards/game (62nd in FBS), but don’t get cute on FD with RB. Gerald Bright (7400 DK/9400 FD) and Darwin Thompson (6900 DK/9700 FD) have combined for 553 yards and 10 TDs. if only picking one, Bright is my priority, due to Thompson not having more than 10 carries in a game so far. Utah State is averaging a solid 190 yards/game on the ground.
MARSH: The QB uncertainty at Marshall has me very interested in the RB tandem of Keion Davis (5200 DK/8700 DK) and Tyler King (4300 DK/ 7000 FD). Establishing the run will be very important in this game to force the respect of the MTSU defense. In last year’s MRSH/MTSU game, Davis and King both rushed for two TDs. This year, Middle Tennessee is below average on rush defense averaging 203 yards/game (106 in FBS) so this is a fairly enticing matchup for the home favorites.
BYU: I expect this game to be a bounce-back spot for BYU RB Squally Canada (6600 DK/ 9300 FD) who has struggled since the Cougars upset Wisconsin. Utah State is below average on rush defense averaging 187.3 yards/game (99th in FBS), and I am also interested in Canada’s backup RB Lopini Katoa (3800 DK/6300 FD) who has three rushing touchdowns and has caught 12/13 targets
GT: Louisville slightly below average on rush defense averaging 168.8 yards/game (83rd in FBS). At the beginning of the season, starter KirVonte Benson went down with a season-ending knee injury and the consensus was that Jordan Mason would take over as the lead back. This has not been the case as Jordan Mason (6000 DK/ 7900 FD) has been splitting carries with backup Jerry Howard (3900 DK/ 6100 FD). Mason is an okay play to me.
LOUISVILLE: Anemic rushing attack ranks 112 in FBS with 122 rush yards/game. Georgia Tech slightly above average on rush defense averaging 150 yards/game (57th in FBS). This is a stay-away spot for me.
MTSU: Marshall is very strong on rush defense averaging 103 yards/game (14th in FBS), but I like RB Brad Anderson (5900 DK/8200 FD) who actually is also the leading receiver for the Blue Raiders slightly better on a PPR site like DK. I also like Patrick Smith (4900 DK)
WR
With 51 targets (good for 10th nationally) Marshall WR Tyre Brady ( 8800 DK/9800 FD) towers above the rest of the slate on FD), but with the QB status up in the air, I don’t know if you need to go there.
You have to think a first touchdown is coming soon for Utah State top WR Ron’quavion Tarver (6300 DK/8400 FD) who leads Utah State in targets, receptions and receiving yards, yet no TDs. TE Dax Raymond (5700 DK/6800 FD) is my 2nd favorite receiver on USU.
In that range, I also like Louisville WR Jaylen Smith (6100 DK/7300 FD) who has had a productive career for the Cardinals. Last week, Smith had Louisville’s first 100-yard receiving game of the season and has 31 targets on the year compared to Dez Fitzpatrick’s (5400 DK/7700 FD) 24 targets.
BYU’s TE Moroni Laulu-Pututau suffered an ACL injury last week and is done for the season making slot WR Aleva Hifo (4500 DK/6900 FD) more interesting. Hifo runs a lot of jet sweeps as well and is the third leading rusher on the time I prefer Hifo more on DK where the scoring isn’t as touchdown dependent as FD.
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