Heads Up: Week One DFS College Football
One key to winning in Dynasty football is a broad and in depth knowledge of players. Dynasty Scouts does a great job of letting you know of the upcoming stars to be aware of. Our hope is this article series is going to be another extension of expanding everyone’s mental library of college players. Chris Heil and Nick Whalen will be going up against each other weekly in a Heads Up competition in college DFS on FanDuel. The DFS industry is expanding and if you play in the college portion, hopefully our picks can help you win this year. If you don’t hopefully you’ll become a little more informed about upcoming dynasty stars. We start this series with players made up strictly from players who debut on Thursday night.
Nick Whalen’s Picks
Quarterback
Thomas Sirk, Duke
$5,100
In relief duty in 2014, Sirk led two game winning drives for Duke. He has good size, a solid arm and is a good running quarterback. The later is the main reason DFS owners are excited about Sirk’s prospects in 2015. Teammates have been complimenting his confidence running the offense, which is unique for a new starter. Tulane was a middle of the road defense last year and they also lost their leading tackler. Sirk is one of the lowest priced starting quarterbacks for Thursday night and it makes him a must play. This allows you to save much need cap space to address at other positions.
Running Backs
Elijhaa Penny, Idaho
$6,500
Penny started out college as a very successful running back in the JUCO ranks. His first season with Idaho started slowly, but ended with nine touchdowns over the last six contests. Penny is a tough runner who will be counted on to be the workhorse for the Vandals all season. This is a risky pick because Ohio has a good rush defense and returns five of their top six tacklers from a season ago.
AJ Ouellette, Ohio
$8,900
He isn’t going to win any races on the football field. Instead, Ouellette brings his lunch pail and grinds out the tough yards. As a freshman in 2014, he had 918 total yards and ten touchdowns. He goes up against Idaho, which had the 13th worst rush defense in the country in 2014. I’d expect a big night of ground and pound from Ouellette.
Wide Receiver
Dezmon Epps, Idaho
$5,900
Dismissed from the Idaho team in 2014, Epps was the top WR in 2013. In fact, Epps had more than twice the amount of yards and receptions of the second best WR! He’s made big plays in camp and I don’t see why that would change in 2015. While Ohio had a solid run defense in 2014, they were a bottom third pass defense. Epps is the #1 target in this offense and will outperform his price point.
Kolby Listenbee, TCU
$5,900
The #2 WR in 2014, Listenbee stepped up to have a significant role. Josh Doctson was the top WR in 2014, but he hasn’t practiced much this fall due to an undisclosed injury. Doctson also missed spring practices due to a broken hand. The WR3 in 2014, Deonte Gray, is doubtful to play in the opener. In one of the best offenses in the country, I’ll buy the top receiver who’s healthy.
Cayleb Jones, Arizona
$8,100
After transferring from Texas, Jones exploded for 73 receptions for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns in 2014. Big and physical, he can impose his will on most cornerbacks. They play Texas San-Antonio (who upset the Wildcats in 2014) on Thursday. I expect Arizona to lay it all out on the field and Jones should have a big night.
Tight End
Jonnu Smith, Florida International
$4,000
With 100 receptions through two seasons, Jonnu Smith has exploded onto the college football radar. He’s a smaller, athletic tight end who is a big factor for defenses to worry about. For his price point and differential in production from other tight ends, Smith is an easy pick here.
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Chris Heil’s Picks
First off, I want to wish Nick Whalen good luck in this friendly competition. I will be glad to point out each and every week I put a smack down on him. I don’t take losing well and I will blame it on some scoring formality if I lose on an off day. I respect Nick a lot and feel very lucky to match up with him. So, here we go!
Quarterback
Thomas Sirk, Duke
$5,100
This one won’t be much of a game and should be a blowout. Sirk is priced so incredibly low that you are able to build and spend more on other positions. The highest priced quarterback is Trevone Boykin at $10,500. Boykin is a Heisman candidate and will probably be one of the top scoring quarterbacks. However, I would much rather spend half that amount and build with other solid players. Sirk is a dual threat player and really relies on his legs more than anything. You don’t get to claim too many quarterbacks play like Tim Tebow, but Sirk does. He is going to score a lot, especially on the goal line with his legs. Tulane gave up 28.4 points to opponents in 2014 and that makes this a juicy matchup.
Running Backs
A.J. Ouellette, Ohio
$8,900
Ohio goes up against a terrible Idaho defense that gave up 37.3 points a game in 2014. I want to focus on whoever will handle the ball most in this game for Ohio. Ouellette was a freshman in 2014 and scored ten touchdowns in ten games. He also led the team in carries with 160 last year (the next closest player had 86). Ouellette averages around 16 carries a game and 78 yards rushing – those numbers might seem uninspiring, but he was a freshman in 2014 and they are playing against a terrible defense.
Brandon Wilds, South Carolina
$7,700
I like to focus on teams that tend to give up a lot of points. North Carolina does just that – they gave up 39.0 points a game on average. YIKES! I’m rolling with Wilds because he is their senior running back. In the first game of the year (especially against a rival) I like the guy with more experience over the younger players they want to get a closer look at. With Wilds being 6’2 and 216 pound,s I love what he has to offer in the red zone. He may seem like a gamble, but he could come up huge.
Wide Receivers
Samajie Grant, Arizona
$6,400
Dealing with injuries in 2014, his numbers aren’t nearly as good as they should. Sometimes players like these are steals because other fantasy players don’t take time to research if they missed games or not. Grant played last season as WR2 on the field. The game should be a blowout and he has big play capability. I like him to have at least one big play to pad his stats for the game.
Kolby Listenbee, TCU
$5,900
Listenbee won’t get the ball as often as Josh Doctson. Doctson is the clear wide receiver to have on TCU. However, he hasn’t been practicing with a undisclosed injury. Boykin is going to put up numbers in week one and I think Listenbee can be a great buy low value with Doctson banged up and not 100%. He is going to WR2, but may get more looks since Doctson might be limited.
James Washington, Oklahoma State
$6,000
You can tell I’m paying for cheaper wide receivers, but that’s all part of this week’s strategy – they could all still produce some good numbers. Washington led the team in touchdowns in 2014 with six as a freshman. There are two seniors ahead of him – David Glidden is one the receivers and he is priced very closely at $5,400. I would much rather take Washington since he averaged more points a game with fewer targets and is shown he can be trusted in the red zone.
Tight End
Jonnu Smith, Florida International
$4,000
This is the biggest steal of the night right here. He will be so heavily owned in every tournament. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him 75% owned, if not higher. When analyzing his stats, my jaw dropped. He had three games with over 20 receptions, two games with over 300 yards receiving and a game with four touchdowns. I’m all in on Jonnu!
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Nick can be found on Twitter at @_NickWhalen
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