College Football Daily Fantasy Helper: Saturday 10/15/22

With daily fantasy football so popular, it was only a matter of time before it translated to the college level.

FanDuel offers college football daily fantasy contests now in most states, and there's a twist on the NFL ruleset. You select a quarterback, two running backs, three wideouts (which can include tight ends), and a "SuperFLEX" that can be any of those positions.

Finding target data for pass-catchers in college can be difficult, so finding out which players are on the field and getting work can make all the difference. Naturally, there are also more lopsided outcomes in college, so balance game scripts appropriately as well! Your running back's monstrous first half could lead to a bagel in the second.

It's rivalry week with a ton of in-conference rivalries, and some of them are expected to have a boatload of points on the board. Outside of a few obvious games to exclude, we can really chase volume and quality of a player's role this week.

Note: All stats are from PFF.com. All tables are sortable by any category.

The Slate

This slate absolutely has the freedom and ability to be different.

Many will key in on the showdown between Alabama and Tennessee, but there are two quality defenses in that one.

The same can't be said for Kansas traveling to Oklahoma. Your eyes don't deceive you; the Sooners are an appropriate 8.5-point favorite there, expecting to get back their signal-caller after last week's laugher against Texas.

Oklahoma State will travel to face Texas Christian, and that one's got a classic Big 12 feel to it with plenty of points.

However, the standout point to me? There are a ton of games with low totals. Seven games have totals below 55 points, and another is right on that mark. That's uncommon for modern college football, and you can absolutely still target some of the bad defenses in those totals in some spots.

Defensive Matchups and Rankings

Note: Higher numbers are easier matchups for the opposing team. Lower numbers are better rankings and tougher matchups.

There are four defenses that just stink in both facets: Florida, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Stanford. The spreads are close enough to target those teams plenty in DFS.

There are also three defenses I, personally, don't want to test: Michigan, Penn State, and Texas. Alabama would be on that list if not for the star-studded Vols on the other side.

Oklahoma, Auburn, and Mississippi State have been incredibly vulnerable against the run. We'll talk about tailbacks against all three.

On the flip side, you'd much rather throw on Kansas, Tennessee, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State. None of the teams facing those four truly prefer to pass, so that'll make targeting those matchups a little tricky.

Quarterbacks

There's a no-brainer in cash games this weekend: Louisiana State's Jayden Daniels ($8,500).

Daniels was swallowed by Tennessee's tough defense, but the Gators are a different story. Daniels threw it 45 times last week in a negative script, but he's also added 74.8 yards per game on the ground on average. His floor is absurdly high in this matchup, and his salary is tiny.

Among the top guys, Max Duggan ($11,000) stands out in a great matchup with the Pokes. He's run for scores in back-to-back weeks and also now has a clear stacking partner that emerged last week in Quentin Johnston ($8,700).

Dillon Gabriel ($10,400) is expected back for OU, and he'll get a soft landing spot at home against the Jayhawks' 104th-ranked pass defense (in terms of YPA).

The best stack of the day might be the defense-optional contest in Provo. Arkansas' KJ Jefferson ($10,600) and Brigham Young's Jarren Hall ($10,100) are both dual-threat options that could nuke the slate with several scores.

On the other side of Daniels, Anthony Richardson ($8,600) also comes at a very fair salary. LSU's defense isn't nearly as poor, but that game should have some scoring.

Running Backs

I'm good to cross off Bijan Robinson ($10,500) at the top. Iowa State's run defense has been exceptional, and Texas is far less reliant on him with Quinn Ewers ($9,400) back in the fold.

He's still Bijan, so he'll be popular. Getting 21.0 carries a game, Raheim Sanders ($9,600) is a god-tier pivot against BYU. Jarren Hall and Sanders are one of my favorite mini-stacks of the day.

The best play on the slate for cash games is Travis Dye ($9,200). Southern California handed the Oregon transfer the reigns last week against Washington State. He got 80.0% of USC's carries (28), and Utah is 97th in FBS in rush yards per attempt allowed.

Along with Bijan, Blake Corum ($9,000) and Sean Tucker ($8,600) are also top-four backs in season rush share percentage on this slate. They're in brutal matchups, but their talent always can win out. The fourth is Casey Filkins ($8,200) against Notre Dame.

Dominic Richardson ($8,700) had the work last week. He got 19 carries (57.6% of tailback attempts), but he turned it into just 16.1 FanDuel points. That wasn't bad, but TCU's rush defense is much stronger than Texas Tech's.

There's plenty of value this week, too.

Chris Rodriguez Jr. ($8,200) is fully back for Kentucky. He got 22 totes last week, which was 75.9% of the team's total attempts. That's the weakness of the Mississippi State defense, too.

Other running backs that got at least 50% of their team's opportunities last week include Utah's Tavion Thomas ($7,500), BYU's Christopher Brooks ($7,200), and North Carolina State's Jordan Houston ($6,200).

I also don't mind Notre Dame's Audric Estime ($8,100). The sophomore got 14 carries last week, and he'll get a bulk of the blowout run as the Irish pull away from Stanford.

Wide Receivers

Duke's pass defense isn't bad, and Josh Downs ($10,000) doesn't have quite the same role he did last year. Still, with a 34.8% target share last week (8 looks), he's on the radar.

Xavier Hutchison ($9,200) leads this slate in target share for the season (38.3%). He's a dynamic player, but Iowa State's implied team total (16.5) is awfully low to justify his salary.

In a great matchup, Michael Mayer ($8,800) has been insane with Drew Pyne ($8,800) at quarterback. He's gotten 11.5 targets a game in the past two, which is good for a 41.9% share. Notre Dame basically isn't ahead unless Mayer is scoring, so he's awesome again.

The Volunteers continue to feature Jailn Hyatt ($8,000) in their post-Cedric Tillman offense. He got nine targets last week and caught a pair of scores. He's viable for game stacks or as a one-off despite the brutal test against 'Bama.

Ronnie Bell ($6,800) got 15 targets last week in a decently neutral script against Indiana. With a 25.9% target share on the year, his role is pretty legitimate for this salary -- even in a tough matchup.

Jordan Addison ($9,300) and Mario Williams ($7,300) have way too similar of a role for the salary difference when stacking Caleb Williams ($10,300). They've both gotten 6.7 targets per game this year and received 6 looks last week.

In a game with plenty of points in the forecast, Jadon Haselwood ($7,100) is great value from Arkansas. BYU just has too flat of a target tree to responsibly target the other side beyond Hall and Brooks.

Now with Dillon Gabriel back, Marvin Mims ($7,100) is a slam dunk value as well. Hopefully, a majority of the field doesn't realize OU ran a wildcat-style offense last week without their quarterback. Mims got 6.3 looks per game in Gabriel's four full contests.

Ole Miss' Jonathan Mingo ($7,500), Utah's Devaughn Vele ($7,300), Kansas' Luke Grimm ($6,700), and LSU's Kayshon Boutte ($5,700) are other notables that got at least eight targets last week.