College Football Daily Fantasy Sleepers for Saturday 10/3/15

Last week’s sleeper article was a lot like a game of Battleship, a few hits and plenty of misses. Utah burned me by concealing Travis Wilson’s availability until game-time, rendering my Kendal Thompson play virtually worthless. Syracuse keep things close enough in the Carrier Dome to keep Derrius Guice glued to the bench for most of the contest as well.

Luckily for those of you who followed this column last weekend, Shelton Gibson came up huge. The WVU burner went off for 6 catches, 118 yards and 2 touchdowns. The deep value play of Cam Serigne also paid off, as the Demon Deacons called his number early and often, leading to his best game of 2015.

This week I’m back in the lab, seeking out value plays to help you perfect your FanDuel lineup. Our premium game predictions once again play a large role in determining which players have the best opportunity of going off for your one day fantasy squad. Without further ado, here’s the best sleepers of week number five.

Value Quarterbacks

Early Slate - Brenden Motley, Virginia Tech ($7000)

Dual threats remain the name of the game in fantasy football. Motley led the Hokies in rushing last week with 85 yards on the ground and a touchdown. This week against Pitt our models are calling for 375 total yards from Virginia Tech and 25 points. After accounting for 83% of their offense last Saturday, it’s safe to say Motley will get every opportunity to rack up fantasy points this week. This matchup is also made a tad bit juicer by the fact that Pitt allowed a rushing touchdown last Saturday to Iowa’s quarterback, C.J. Beathard.

Late Slate - Jerrard Randall, Arizona ($7,000)

The Michigan-Maryland game was moved from 8 PM to noon due to concerns of a possible U.S. landfall from Hurricane Joaquin. FanDuel removed the participants from the player pool, making your options rather limited during the late slate. For that reason, I’m leaning Randall here with a major asterisk attached. As of right now, the Wildcats starting quarterback, Anu Solomon, is listed as day-to-day with a concussion. If he is ruled out for this game, Randall is a sneaky play thanks to his elite running ability. Our projections are calling for 23 points for Arizona against the rapidly improving Cardinal defense. Despite their defensive strides, Stanford has struggled with mobile quarterbacks surrendering a touchdown to both Northwestern’s Clayton Thorson and Oregon State’s Seth Collins.

Value Running Backs

Early Slate - Matt Dayes, NC State ($5100)

Dayes is an unstoppable touchdown machine -- nine touchdowns in four games, including three over South Alabama in which he only played for a quarter and a half. The step up in competition explains his discounted salary, but Louisville is far from a world-beater on defense, ranking 46th in that nation. Our model calls for 140 rushing yards from the Wolfpack, which should translate into about 100 yards for their feature back. If Dayes keeps up his touchdown pace this is a downright steal at just north of $5,000.

Late Slate - Remound Wright, Stanford ($5,200)

Speaking of stealing, Wright has been a touchdown thief all year long. Christian McCaffrey has toted the rock between the 20s this year for the Cardinal, but has been subbed out in the red zone time after time. Wright’s “touchdown vulture” status has been cemented over the past two weeks, as the senior has registered five rushing touchdowns on just 18 carries. Our projections call for 177 rushing yards and 35 points for Stanford in what can only be described as an ideal matchup against a Scooby Wright-less Arizona defense.

Value Wide Receivers

Early Slate - Joshua Atkinson, Tulsa ($5600)

Atkinson may be the third option for the Golden Hurricane, but he’ll see plenty of targets this weekend against Houston. Houston has one of the best Group of Five secondaries, and will look to shutdown the highly priced Keevan Lucas and Keyarris Garrett. Two weeks ago, with Oklahoma’s defense focused in on Keevan Lucas, Atkinson hauled in 10 passes for 104 yards and a score. On a weekend in which rain and wind will play a major factor in dozens of games, take full advantage of the ideal conditions in Tulsa as the Golden Hurricanes look to put it in the air early and often. With a projected score of 30 points, the chances of Atkinson nabbing a touchdown is a reasonable play, particularly at this price.

Late Slate - Bralon Addison, Oregon ($6,000)

Pay close attention to that injury report. The Ducks' versatile wide receiver, Byron Marshall, is done for the season, opening the door for more touches for Addison. As a bonus, Addison is also a playmaker on special teams with one punt return touchdown to his name already. Their game against Colorado also has the feel of a contest in which the struggling Ducks will unload their offensive frustrations on the Buffaloes. We’re calling for north of six touches from Oregon and Addison will likely cross into the endzone at least one time, making him a great play at this salary.

Value Tight End

Early Slate - Josiah Price, Michigan State ($3,300)

For a player that has scored a touchdown in five straight contests, this price tag is very reasonable. Amplifying Price's value in this game is the fact that the defense he's facing this week has an issue containing tight ends in conventional offenses -- Purdue surrendered two touchdowns two weeks ago against Virginia Tech's tight end Bucky Hodges. Our projections are calling for the Spartans to light up the Boilermakers to the tune of 38 points and 244 yards through the air. Look for Price to extend his touchdown streak.

Late Slate - Alize Jones, Notre Dame ($2,500)

Despite his backup salary, Jones has been thrust into the starting role for the Irish after Durham Smythe went down with a season-ending injury. Much like last week's Cam Serigne recommendation, Jones is a pure talent and opportunity play. Last Spring, Jones was the top rated tight end recruit in the country by ESPN. He stretched the field last week against UMass, averaging over 18 yards per catch against the Minutemen. Brian Kelly will find a way to find him the ball on Saturday night as the Clemson defense keys on Will Fuller.