Saturday’s main slate is shaping up to be the best of the young 2024 season. The docket is jam-packed with Top 25 teams, heated conference showdowns, in-state rivalries, and some of the best college football players in the nation. As usual, we’re sifting through our projections to highlight our top plays from the main slate, giving DFS bettors the winning edge in building lineups.
We’ve got you covered for DFS purposes, highlighting our preferred players from Saturday’s main slate.
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Or if cash games are more your speed, you can build your lineups alongside our projections with our Lineup Builder. From there, you can hand-build your lineup or lock in a few guys and let the builder optimize the rest based on our projections.
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Let’s dive into this week’s slate!
CFB DFS Quarterback Picks
Riley Leonard (Notre Dame Fighting Irish): $8,600 DraftKings
Saturday’s home opener versus the Northern Illinois Huskies is an ideal situation to roster quarterback Riley Leonard. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish signal-caller had a ho-hum game against the Texas A&M Aggies last week, but he’s projecting as the top QB available on the main slate. We’re expecting him to reach peak production against an inferior Huskies defense.
Leonard finished last week’s 23-13 victory with modest if not efficient, passing totals. The 6’4″ senior completed 18 of 30 passes for 158 yards and no touchdowns, adding 63 yards on 12 carries on the ground. Neither of those benchmarks set him apart, with Leonard compiling a paltry 12.6 fantasy points in Week 1; however, a mistake-free game against a stout Aggies defense is a reason for optimism moving forward.
That’s particularly true in Week 2, as the Fighting Irish take on an over-matched NIU side. The Huskies gave up nearly 300 yards of offense to the FCS Western Illinois Leathernecks at home last week, underscoring their defensive concerns as they head out onto the road against a National Championship contender. Leathernecks quarterback Nathan Lamb threw for 204 yards and a touchdown in the outing, setting the low bar on what to expect when Leonard dissects the Huskies on Saturday.
With the South Bend faithful at their backs, we expect Leonard and the Fighting Irish to put on a show this week. The Notre Dame quarterback will have free reign to improve on last week’s showing, amplifying his fantasy ceiling in Week 2 against a lackluster NIU defense. This salary is a steal for what we expect Leonard to produce.
Haynes King (Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets): $8,100 DraftKings
Through the first two weeks of the college football season, Haynes King has stood out as a top fantasy producer, a trend we like to carry into Week 2. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets pivot manufactured a stunning upset over the Florida State Seminoles in Week 0, following that up with another solid effort against Group of 5 Georgia State last week. Now, he gets to triplicate his success against the Syracuse Orange on Saturday.
King’s fantasy value is anchored to his abilities as a dual-threat quarterback. The junior has a tidy 77.8% completion percentage, throwing for 421 yards on 44 pass attempts. That equates to an effective 9.4 yards per pass attempt, yielding two touchdowns to one interception. Still, where the magic happens is when King starts to use his legs. Through two games, he’s toted the ball 19 times for 91 yards and a score, heightening his fantasy profile.
Syracuse is going to get exposed by King and the Yellow Jackets ground game. The Orange gave up 255 rushing yards at home to the Ohio Bobcats last week, with both of Ohio’s touchdowns coming via the rush. That’s in addition to the 181 passing yards they gave up to Parker Navarro, who completed 60.0% of his passes against a superior Power 4 team.
Week 2’s ACC opener is the reality check the Syracuse Orange didn’t need. King will mount an unrelenting attack at the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday, giving him ample opportunity to set the high bar for fantasy quarterback production. We like his ceiling and expect King to end the day as one of the top-performing signal-callers.
CFB DFS Running Back Picks
DJ Giddens (Kansas State Wildcats): $6,600 DraftKings
The Kansas State Wildcats head into their non-conference tilt versus the Tulane Green Wave as -9.5 road chalk. That’s a promising sign for DJ Giddens, who will be a prominent player in the game-planning heading into Week 2. The K-State running back accumulated 124 yards on 13 carries in Week 1, setting the stage for another standout performance against a Group of 5 defense.
Giddens was operating at peak efficiency last week. The Kansas native shredded the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks for 9.5 yards per carry while playing the first half in last week’s blowout loss. His usage and production will reach a new stratosphere when the Wildcats take on Tulane in Week 2.
Using last season’s stats as a benchmark, we know how effective Giddens can be. As a sophomore, Giddens totaled 1,226 and 10 touchdowns in 2023, crossing the century mark in six games, including the last four of the season. That’s without considering his added value in the passing game, in which he totaled 323 receiving yards on 29 catches, yielding three scores.
We got a glimpse of it in Week 1, but Giddens is the Wildcats bell cow on offense this season. He’ll have the workload in the ground game and aerial attack to reach his fantasy ceiling week after week, but we’ve identified him as one of the top RB candidates on this week’s main slate.
Ollie Gordon (Oklahoma State Cowboys): $9,600 DraftKings
It’s hard not to make a case for Ollie Gordon’s inclusion on our fantasy rosters every week. The Heisman Trophy candidate has already shown potential beyond what any other running back can do. Moreover, he’ll have the opportunity to run rampant over an Arkansas Razorbacks defense that consistently ranks as one of the worst run-stopping units in the SEC.
Gordon’s ceiling knows no bounds. In Week 1, the junior saw 27 carries against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, translating those attempts to 102 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Likewise, he hauled in four of five targets for an additional 42 yards and another score. Mike Gundy didn’t limit his feature back against inferior competition, meaning he’ll see an equal, if not superior workload against the SEC foes on Saturday.
Unfortunately, there’s little the Razorbacks can do to hamper Gordon’s success. While Arkansas held the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions in check in Week 1, they have a terrible track record of falling apart against top competition. They finished last season by allowing 154.4 rushing yards per game, fourth-most in the SEC. Worse, the Razorbacks had some of the worst defensive scoring metrics, allowing 27.9 points per game, increasing to 30.3 as the visitors.
It will be a strategy employed by many, so it’s important to find high-value fantasy contributors with low salaries, but Gordon could be the player to build your fantasy rosters around. He’s already flashed his top-end potential, and the Cowboys will turn to him more frequently as the season progresses. Gordon leads our running back projections by a substantive margin and should have no problem reaching the pinnacle of success.
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CFB DFS Wide Receiver Picks
Xzavier Henderson (Cincinnati Bearcats): $6,500 DraftKings
The Cincinnati Bearcats sharpened their claws against the Towson Tigers in Week 1, but they’re biting off a piece of meatier competition this week as they host the Pitt Panthers at Nippert Stadium. We got a glimpse of Cincinnati’s reliance on the passing game against the Tigers, but they can turn to it more frequently in a crucial non-conference showdown.
Despite leading for the entire contest, the Bearcats still turned to their passing attack 50.8% of the time in Week 1. As we saw, Xzavier Henderson was the preferred target on Brendan Sorsby’s progression chart. Henderson ended the contest with 11 targets on 31 pass attempts, representing a hefty 35.5% target share. More importantly, the senior made the most of his opportunities, hauling in seven receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown. A similar workload is expected every time Cincinnati takes to the field.
Pitt doesn’t possess the defensive faculties to hamper that offensive production in Week 2. The Panthers gave up 181 passing yards and two touchdowns to the lowly Kent State Golden Flashes last week, needing 13 unanswered fourth-quarter points to cover the spread as -23.5 chalk. Those vulnerabilities will be exposed in Week 2 as they embark on their first road game of the season.
Henderson’s salary is on the top end of the spectrum, but it doesn’t truly reflect his fantasy ceiling. For now, that makes him one of the top values, as he ranks among the elite wide receivers available on Saturday’s main slate.
Oronde Gadsden II (Syracuse Orange): $5,000 DraftKings
We’re going back to the Syracuse versus Georgia Tech matchup for another value pass-catcher, albeit not from a correlated perspective. The Orange unleashed a fiery passing attack in a decisive victory last week, relying heavily on Oronde Gadsden II to drive the offense. Surely, the Syracuse tight end will replicate that success against the Yellow Jackets.
While he was out-matched in touchdowns, Gadsden was the pre-eminent target in the Orange’s aerial assault. The junior soaked a team-high 12 targets against the Bobcats, going off for 108 yards and a touchdown while representing a 30.8% target share. That’s the workload we saw from him back in 2022 (he burned his redshirt campaign last year due to injury), in which he finished with 969 receiving yards while averaging 5.1 receptions per game. More impressively, Gadsden earned All-ACC honors thanks to his standout campaign. He’s off to a good start to replicate that ceiling in 2024.
Gadsden is another pass-catcher whose salary doesn’t match his ceiling in Week 2. The tight end of NFL progeny has emerged as the first option in Syracuse’s pass-happy offense. He’ll have every opportunity to shine as the Orange try to keep pace with the Yellow Jackets. This contest features one of the highest totals in Week 2, and Gadsden will do his part to see it sail over the total.
Tai Felton (Maryland Terrapins): $5,400 DraftKings
With two mobile quarterbacks under center, we’re abandoning our usual correlated approach in favor of another underappreciated wide receiver. Tai Felton had himself a day in Week 1, going off for 178 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions. He may not be able to match that energy against the Michigan State Spartans, but Felton should still end the day as one of the top fantasy producers on the main slate.
Entering the Big Ten tilt as -9.5 favorites, Maryland is expected to run away with their Week 2 contest. As was the case in their season-opener, the Terrapins’ passing attack will set them apart against Michigan State. Quarterback Billy Edwards didn’t break a sweat against the UConn Huskies, going 20-of-27 for 311 passing yards and two scores. Over half of those yards came thanks to Felton who was Edwards’ preferred target from the outset.
In the end, Felton grabbed seven of nine targets, using his breakaway speed to snap off catch-and-runs of 75 and 39 yards. That’s a reminder of what we saw from the senior at the end of last season, in which he totaled 329 yards over the final four regular season games, in which he had four receptions for greater than 30 yards.
Defensive concerns continue to plague the Spartans, and that inhibits their outlook again in 2024. They allowed the second-most passing yards in the Big Ten last season, facing a stiff test in Week 2 against the Terrapins. We expect Maryland to prevail on Saturday, emphasizing their elite passing attack from the get-go. Felton will once again be the featured wide receiver and should deliver another game-changing performance.
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