This article is part of our FanDuel College Football series.
Saturday's college football DFS slate features three games but zero bowls. It's all about the first round of the brand-new 12-team FBS playoff. Everything begins at noon ET, with Penn State hosting SMU. That is followed by Texas against Clemson and Ohio State against Tennessee.
This is exciting stuff, to be sure, and it offers a change of pace from a DFS perspective in December. The transfer portal and opt-outs aren't part of the circumstances here as they are with bowl games. Although, notably, Penn State's backup quarterback Beau Pribula has entered the portal, which is possibly going to be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back on revamping the whole portal thing.
On the other hand, these are playoff teams, so quality is high. You don't get any of the breezy matchups to target you find during the regular season. Plus, injuries are still a concern, so before I get to the DFS recommendations, here's a quick injury rundown for skill-position players.
Penn State-SMU: The Nittany Lions are healthy, and the only concern will be what to do if Drew Allar gets hurt or if they want to run one of the Pribula packages. SMU's top tight end, RJ Maryland, has been out for the year since a knee injury in Week 8, so there is nothing new to know about there.
Texas-Clemson: Longhorns receiver Isaiah Bond is doubtful with an ankle injury. While he had 532 yards and five touchdowns this season, those numbers were very frontloaded, and he basically disappeared down the stretch even when he was healthy. Clemson has lost running back Jay Haynes to a leg injury. He was splashy as the backup to Phil Mafah, but he never had more than eight carries in a game due to Mafah's workload. Honestly, the Tigers may miss Haynes more as a kick returner.
Ohio State-Tennessee: The Buckeyes are good to go. However, three of Tennessee's top four receivers are all questionable. Squirrel White has an arm injury, Bru McCoy has a lower-body issue, and Dont'e Thornton has an upper-body issue. Earlier this week, all three were in non-contact jerseys at practice, so we're talking about true questionability here.
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FanDuel CFB DFS Plays for Saturday, December 21
Quarterback
Drew Allar, 
Penn State ($10,700) vs. SMU
Allar's ceiling is fairly high, but it's his high floor that offers comfort. He totaled 27 touchdowns against only eight turnovers. Allar threw seven picks, but five of them came in two starts. He had two against undefeated Oregon in the Big Ten title game, but he had four touchdowns in that game. Three came on a wild road trip to USC, where Allar threw the ball 43 times with 391 yards and two touchdowns to his name. The Mustangs have a high-level run defense, but the pass defense was pretty lackluster, as they allowed 232.7 passing yards per game. For comparison's sake, four of these teams allowed under 180 passing yards per contest.
Quinn Ewers, 
Texas ($9,000) vs. Clemson
SMU has the worst pass defense of these six teams, but Clemson, overall, has the worst defense. The Tigers gave up 214.4 passing yards per game but also 150.5 rushing yards and 22.3 points. Again, we have to frame those numbers among the defenses in play Saturday, and four of these six teams allowed under 20 points per contest. With Arch Manning's electric running skills, I'd consider getting cute if the salary risk wasn't high. However, Manning's salary is $9,000, same as Ewers, and that's too much to risk for a backup who might only see the field for a few gadget plays, if at all.
Salary-Saving Dice Roll: Nico Iamaleava, 
Tennessee ($8,200) at Ohio State
Running Back
Quintrevion Wisner, Texas ($8,800) vs. Clemson
Wisner became the go-to guy for the Longhorns down the stretch. He had at least 17 carries in each of the last four games and rushed for 186 yards against Texas A&M. By a wide margin, Clemson had the most issues with the run game. The Tigers, as noted, gave up 150.5 rushing yards per contest.
Phil Mafah, 
Clemson ($7,500) at Texas
Relatively speaking – I stress relatively – you can run on the Longhorns. They have the best pass defense in the FBS but allowed 106.7 rushing yards per game. Four of these teams actually did better than that. Mafah had his first 1,000-yard season, averaged 5.2 yards per carry, and scored eight touchdowns. If Clemson has any hope to win, Mafah will likely need 25 carries and need to do well with them, which is feasible.
TreVeyon Henderson, 
Ohio State ($6,500) vs. Tennessee
Henderson became the second half of a backfield duo with Quinshon Judkins. However, he averaged a whopping 7.0 yards per carry and totaled 751 yards and six touchdowns. Tennessee has a good run defense, but every one of these teams other than Clemson does as well. At this salary, and with the Buckeyes at home, I think the potential for Henderson to break off a big run makes Henderson viable for your roster.
Salary-Saving Dice Roll: Keith Adams, Clemson ($4,900) at Texas
Wide Receiver
Tyler Warren, Penn State ($9,700) vs. SMU
Though Warren is a tight end, you can still slot him into a wide receiver spot. Now, the salary outlay for Warren is significant, but he's so far ahead of his teammates in terms of production and quality that if you want a piece of the Penn State passing game, you want him. Given how SMU produced against the pass, you certainly do want a piece of it. Warren had 88 catches for 1,062 yards and six touchdowns and added four touchdowns in the run game as well. He averaged 9.5 yards per target, and if Penn State does anything offensively, Warren is going to have a big game.
Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State ($8,400) vs. Tennessee
Freshman Jeremiah Smith generated the excitement, but Egbuka was no slouch. He had 60 catches for 743 yards and nine touchdowns. Even sharing the spotlight with Smith, Egbuka was targeted 83 times. Ohio State is at home, and Tennessee's pass defense is on the "really good, but not elite" tier. This is a big game for Egbuka, and the salary difference between him and Smith at $8,800 is enticing to me as well.
DeAndre Moore, Texas ($6,600) vs. Clemson
Moore basically had three big games this season. In those three games, he had at least 97 yards and at least one touchdown. Two of those were against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. However, Moore also had nine catches for 114 yards and a touchdown against Georgia in the SEC title game. Now that turns heads. With Isaiah Bond likely to miss this game, Moore could be in line for a large role once again at home versus the Clemson defense.
Salary-Saving Dice Roll: Omari Evans, Penn State ($5,600) vs. SMU
