Daily Fantasy College Football Week 5: DraftKings Last-Minute Picks and Advice
Daily fantasy football owners might be going into the main course ahead of Week 5, but the college season itself got the cupcakes out of the way early.
Many owners might wish for the friendly confines of easy-to-predict cupcakes, but look at the bright side: tougher games mean tougher play for all owners and more opportunities to crack into major coin if one can sift through the sand and find great value plays.
Below, let's do just that by analyzing recent performances, matchups, how Las Vegas feels and more to unearth some of the best last-minute value plays for an owner's lineup.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Quarterback: Brenden Motley, Virginia Tech ($5,700)
Ride the Brenden Motley wave, owners.
The junior has been nothing short of impressive in his three games as a starter, as the numbers show:
| 4 | @ECU | 281 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 85 | 1 | 28.74 |
| 3 | @PUR | 220 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 24 | 1 | 26.5 |
| 2 | FUR | 233 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 38 | 1 | 27.12 |
Motley has quickly emerged as one of the better dual-threat starters owners can buy low on each week, and it's a bit of a surprise his price hasn't gone higher than the $6,000 from Week 4.
Regardless, Motley next gets a struggling Pittsburgh defense, which just allowed 258 passing yards and three touchdowns on the ground to Iowa in the team's first real test of the season.
Look for Motley to post huge numbers as the Panthers struggle to contain the dual-threat quarterback.
Running back: Wendell Smallwood, West Virgina ($4,900)
It's also a bit of a surprise Wendell Smallwood won't cost owners more.
The junior touts an affordable price and strong production over the course of three games this season. He's scored 21.9, 21.2 and 28.0 points this year with three rushing touchdowns and plenty of yardage both on the ground and through the air.
While it might seem obvious to avoid Smallwood considering his West Virginia Mountaineers take on the Oklahoma Sooners, the matchup just isn't what it seems. The Mountaineers are underdogs by a touchdown, yes, but the game has an over-under of 59.5 and the Sooners just let Tulsa's Zack Langer amass 29.1 points.
In fact, two of the three starting backs who have encountered Oklahoma's defense have found strong success so far. Smallwood will merely be the latest thanks to his versatile, every-down ability.
Running back: Zack Langer, Tulsa ($6,100)
Speaking of Langer, he's a great value to consider, too.
Langer ran 31 times for 161 yards and a score against the Sooners. In the games before that, he posted 22.9 and 31.3 points.
Now Langer finds himself in an amazing position: Tulsa is an underdog by more than a touchdown against Houston this weekend, but the over-under sits at 81.5 and even Texas State just managed two rushing scores against Houston.
Normally, the knee-jerk reaction would be to ignore Langer since his team isn't favored. But this is too good to pass up as Langer figures to see plenty of opportunities in a game with plenty of offensive snaps for everyone.
Wide Receiver: Demarcus Ayers, Houston ($6,200)
Just stick with Houston-Tulsa because it's a hotbed for fantasy activity.
One of the chief value names to know would be Houston's Demarcus Ayers. In three games, Ayers leads the Cougars with 26 catches for 300 yards and three scores, which translated to outings of 28.5, 19.2 and 40.9 points.
Based on the over-under, it's quite clear the Tulsa defense hasn't been able to stop wideouts. Florida Atlantic wideout Jenson Stoshak caught seven passes for 114 yards and a score against the unit. New Mexico's Dameon Gamblin went eight for 131 and one. Oklahoma's Sterling Shepard, eight for 144.
The point isn't hard to figure out. Ayers sees the bulk of the targets in a pass-happy offense and he even has a rushing attempt in every game thus far. He's going to post a major line at a great price.
Wide Receiver: River Cracraft, Washington State ($6,500)
After a slow 4.6-point start to the season, Washington State wideout River Cracraft has emerged as a serious threat in the Cougars' offense, posting outings of 29.1 and 15.3 points.
In a pass-first attack, Cracraft looks like an incredible value this weekend given the fact his team's the underdog by a whopping 17 points against California in a game with an over-under of 72.
Translation: Cracraft is going to see a huge amount of targets over the course of four frames as Washington State tries to keep things close and pull off the upset.
California hasn't really been tested by a top-tier passing attack yet, so Luke Falk's 73 percent completion rate and eight touchdowns to one interception bodes well for Cracraft given the information surrounding the contest. Look for him to have a major day as a comeback-time producer.
Pricing information and scoring data obtained from DraftKings.com. Odds via Odds Shark.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
