NCAAF

College Football Market Share Report: Week 8

Tyrion Davis-Price separated from the rest of the LSU backfield last weekend, and he draws a phenomenal matchup this Saturday against Ole Miss. Which other usage rates stand out entering Week 8 of the college football season?

Since many of the 2018 law changes that marked the return of college football daily fantasy, it has been quickly growing. After all, more individuals watched the 2020 National Championship Game than any other non-NFL sporting event.

With so many eyeballs on the games, and some monster statistics put up by the elite players in the sport, it is natural for many to gravitate to playing daily fantasy instead of traditional betting. FanDuel offers college football contests each weekend, which can include Thursday, Friday, and Saturday main slates -- depending on game volume.

College football is a unique challenge for DFS, as a lot of necessary information is not easily found. Often, injury news is reported through the schools themselves and newspaper beat reporters. It can also be particularly difficult to find accurate information on which players are on the field, who has the best usage, and where inefficiencies in the salary cap model may reside.

The latter point is the premise for this piece, which in addition to numberFire's betting guides and daily fantasy helpers, is designed to help you find out which college football players are on the field and seeing work.

With that in mind, let's examine the market shares for players on Saturday's main slate on FanDuel.

Note: Players with fewer than 10 pass attempts, 10 rushing attempts, and 5 targets in the previous week will not be featured but may still be viable in daily fantasy formats. For players returning from off weeks, previous reports will contain their most recent sample. All stats are from PFF.com.

Quarterbacks

Player Team
Name
Week
7
ATT
2021
ATT/G
2021
YPA
Rush
ATT/G
Rush
YDS/G
Jack TuttleIND5317.84.940.38.8
Tyler Van DykeMIA4722.08.381.025.3
Brennan ArmstrongUVA4647.18.501.931.7
Matt CorralMISS4031.79.117.587.5
Dennis GroselBC3923.86.883.225.2
Kenny PickettPITT3734.09.472.838.7
D.J. UiagaleleiCLEM3529.35.547.339.8
Ryan HilinskiNW3325.06.451.80.5
Spencer SandersOKST3125.27.5911.037.8
Anthony BrownORE2925.37.737.048.2
Bryce YoungALA2832.39.210.312.1
D. Thompson-RobinsonUCLA2723.78.456.356.4
Brock PurdyISU2626.38.642.327.3
Hendon HookerTENN2619.99.356.467.6
Skylar ThompsonKSU2420.89.232.016.8
Devin LearyNCST2434.87.341.05.0
Max JohnsonLSU2434.77.642.39.4
Caleb WilliamsOU2314.810.323.555.8
Jason BeanKU2123.56.646.354.7
Henry ColombiTTU2024.08.881.618.0


The top star in college football already might be Oklahoma's new freshman quarterback Caleb Williams ($12,000). Williams has accounted for eight Sooners touchdowns since coming off the bench against Texas, and it's come on fairly low volume in the passing game, but he does already have 13 rushing attempts and 154 yards rushing in that two-game sample. Williams' floor this weekend is elite taking on the lowly Kansas Jayhawks as 38.5-point favorites.

This whole report is about volume, but it can come with a cost. Matt Corral ($11,800) added 14 carries (and 210 yards!) to 40 passing attempts last week against Tennessee, but he now is fairly banged up heading into this weekend. If he cannot play, it would put a damper on an otherwise outstanding matchup with Louisiana State that has a 76.5-point total at the moment. Backup Luke Altmyer ($7,500) has just four pass attempts all season.

After an early-season injury to Phil Jurkovic, it is nice to also see Dennis Grosel ($6,900) growing comfortable in a Boston College offense with concentrated market shares. Grosel, Pat Garwo III ($7,600), and Zay Flowers ($5,900) do most of the heavy lifting for the Eagles, and they make a terrific stack squaring off with Louisville's 115th-ranked overall defense this weekend.

Running Backs

Player Team
Name
WEEK
7
RUSH
ATT
2021
RUSH/G
2021
RUSH
SHARE
WEEK
7
TGT
2021
TGT
SHARE
Tyrion Davis-Price LSU 36 14.7 57.2% 0 2.1%
Jaylen Warren OKST 33 24.7 56.1% 3 8.4%
Breece Hall ISU 30 22.3 73.2% 6 13.9%
Evan Hull NW 25 15.8 44.8% 2 8.0%
Z. Charbonnet UCLA 21 15.9 42.7% 2 8.3%
Jabari Small TENN 21 13.0 23.0% 2 2.7%
Israel Abanikanda PITT 21 11.5 33.5% 1 4.8%
Kennedy Brooks OU 20 14.0 46.4% 1 1.3%
Brian Robinson Jr. ALA 19 19.2 50.2% 5 6.5%
Stephen Carr IND 18 19.8 60.7% 9 7.5%
Deuce Vaughn KSU 18 17.8 54.0% 3 24.1%
Travis Dye ORE 18 13.0 36.1% 9 11.9%
Jaylan Knighton MIA 17 16.0 19.0% 3 1.9%
Devin Neal KU 15 11.7 35.5% 1 2.2%
Snoop Conner MISS 14 8.7 21.2% 3 4.9%
Kobe Pace CLEM 14 8.7 28.9% 3 3.9%
S. Thompson TTU 13 12.6 30.1% 1 2.5%
Pat Garwo III BC 12 14.2 41.7% 1 1.3%
Andrew Clair NW 12 6.5 18.4% 0 3.4%
Zonovan Knight NCST 11 13.7 42.5% 2 4.4%
Vincent Davis PITT 11 11.2 32.5% 1 5.7%
Roydell Williams ALA 11 6.2 16.2% 1 1.9%
Henry Parrish Jr. MISS 10 10.7 26.1% 6 9.3%


Talent won out in Baton Rouge. After seeing just 36 total carries in his first four games of the season, Tyrion Davis-Price ($8,500) saw 36 carries in Week 7 alone for LSU. Davis-Price is averaging 5.57 yards per carry for the entire year, and it was only a matter of time until his role expanded. They now see a Mississippi defense that is just ranked 109th against the rush.

Like a Camaro in snow, it may be best to leave Breece Hall ($11,000) and Jaylen Warren ($9,000) in the garage this weekend. It's not their workload, as especially after Warren saw three targets against Texas, they arguably have the two best workloads in all of college football. Their matchup is just poor. Iowa State is 3rd nationally in total defense, and Oklahoma State is 19th in that same category. This isn't your typical Big 12 shootout -- it carries just a 46.5-point total. Better days will be ahead for these bellcows.

I don't think Travis Dye ($8,700) had his salary increase enough for what his role truly is. Dye handled 16 of 19 running back carries for Oregon last week against Cal, and that will continue now with CJ Verdell out for the season with a knee injury. Dye is a legitimate workhorse back now, and while Anthony Brown ($9,600) may still steal some goal-line work, Dye gets to tee off on a UCLA defense that is ranked just 68th nationally.

Wide Recievers

Player TEAM
NAME
WEEK
7
TGT
WEEK
7
TGT
SHARE
TGT/G 2021
TGT
SHARE
2021
REC
YDS
SHARE
Key'Shawn Smith MIA 16 38.1% 6.8 16.1% 14.5%
Stephon Robinson Jr. NW 12 41.4% 7.3 25.1% 34.4%
Ty Fryfogle IND 11 22.0% 10.3 29.1% 26.0%
Billy Kemp IV UVA 11 25.6% 9.6 20.5% 16.3%
Taysir Mack PITT 10 28.6% 5.8 16.7% 14.5%
Justyn Ross CLEM 10 29.4% 7.7 25.7% 26.5%
Tay Martin OKST 10 33.3% 8.4 27.3% 28.9%
Cedric Tillman TENN 9 32.1% 5.0 19.1% 18.7%
Charleston Rambo MIA 9 21.4% 8.8 25.1% 25.7%
Dontayvion Wicks UVA 9 20.9% 7.1 15.3% 24.1%
Miles Marshall IND 9 18.0% 5.6 13.1% 12.5%
Velus Jones Jr. TENN 8 28.6% 5.3 20.2% 27.7%
Jadon Haselwood OU 8 34.8% 5.7 17.5% 12.0%
Jelani Woods UVA 8 18.6% 6.3 11.6% 11.2%
Rashod Owens OKST 8 26.7% 4.4 14.3% 15.0%
Davis Allen CLEM 8 23.5% 3.2 8.9% 7.2%
John Metchie III ALA 8 29.6% 7.6 24.5% 21.7%
Zay Flowers BC 7 20.0% 6.7 25.5% 26.9%
Jordan Addison PITT 7 20.0% 8.0 22.9% 27.4%
Malik Washington NW 7 24.1% 4.3 14.9% 20.9%
Keytaon Thompson UVA 7 16.3% 7.9 16.8% 17.1%
Erik Ezukanma TTU 6 25.0% 7.5 22.7% 25.4%
Mike Harley MIA 6 14.3% 6.5 18.5% 13.9%
Phillip Brooks KSU 6 27.3% 5.0 21.9% 23.9%
Malik Nabers LSU 6 27.3% 3.2 6.8% 7.5%
Javon Swinton IND 6 12.0% 2.8 6.6% 5.6%
Dontario Drummond MISS 6 17.6% 6.5 21.3% 30.2%
Emeka Emezie NCST 6 26.1% 7.5 22.1% 24.1%
Kazmeir Allen UCLA 6 24.0% 3.0 7.7% 8.7%
Peyton Hendershot IND 6 12.0% 6.6 15.5% 23.5%
Jared Wayne PITT 6 17.1% 4.6 11.0% 14.7%
Charlie Kolar ISU 5 19.2% 6.6 19.1% 18.8%
Jaylin Noel ISU 5 19.2% 3.2 9.2% 5.2%
Jaelen Gill BC 5 14.3% 3.3 6.4% 10.3%
Malik Knowles KSU 5 22.7% 5.6 20.4% 18.6%
Jahcour Pearson MISS 5 14.7% 2.4 6.6% 3.8%
Kwamie Lassiter II KU 5 20.8% 5.2 22.5% 23.7%
Trae Barry BC 5 14.3% 4.2 15.9% 19.4%
Joseph Ngata CLEM 5 14.7% 6.2 20.7% 33.0%
Jaylon Redd ORE 5 17.9% 3.8 11.9% 10.9%
JaVonta Payton TENN 5 17.9% 3.1 12.0% 14.5%


After Miami (FL) lost Cam'Ron Harris last week to an injury against North Carolina, they went to an air raid offense that almost pulled out the win. Freshman Tyler Van Dyke ($7,200) flung it 49 times, and he had a pair of favorite targets. Key'Shawn Smith ($5,500) saw 16 targets, and Charleston Rambo ($6,700) added 9 targets of his own. North Carolina State is tough against the pass (ranked 34th nationally), but the Canes are an interesting value stack in a game with a modest 52.5-point total.

As tough as it may be, Ty Fryfogle ($6,400) makes plenty of sense in the fledgling Indiana offense. Both Michael Penix Jr. and Jack Tuttle ($6,000) are averaging fewer than six yards per attempt this season, but they are getting the ball in Fryfogle's direction plenty to make him a candidate to run back Ohio State stacks. Fryfogle is averaging 10.3 targets per game, and he has seen at least 8 targets in every game. While he has yet to break 15 FanDuel points, he also has only scored less than 7 in one game. He is a high-floor value option that's ceiling could potentially be unlocked by a new quarterback.

Speaking of high-floor one-offs, Justyn Ross ($7,000) returned for Clemson last week and picked up right where he left off. Ross saw 10 targets, and he now has at least 9 targets in each of his last three games. The days of Clemson being giant conference favorites are over, as the Tigers are actually 3.5-point underdogs to Pitt entering this weekend. DJ Uiagalelei ($7,300) is at an extremely low salary as well, but Ross is a first-round receiving talent seeing great usage, and that makes him far easier to trust than his struggling quarterback.