This article is part of our DFS College Football series.
We're basically down to playoff games being all that is left on the schedule. Friday features two bowl games, and it is the last day of the college football season with multiple games on the docket. At 4 p.m. ET we have the First Responder Bowl, and that is followed by the Duke's Mayo Bowl. Yes, somebody will get mayonnaise dumped on them Friday. That won't impact the world of DFS, though. My recommendations will follow a quick look at the injuries and opt-outs that will impact these games.
North Texas vs. Texas State in the First Responder Bowl: The Mean Green will be without two key offensive players. The biggest loss is starting quarterback Chandler Morris, who is off to Virginia. Meanwhile, wide receiver DT Sheffield, who had 11 touchdowns, has moved onto Rutgers. The Bobcats have their quarterback Jordan McCloud, and on the receiver front only Kole Wilson, who was third in receiving yards and catches. In the run game, though, Ismail Mahdi has headed to Arizona. He carried the ball 183 times for 991 yards.
Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech in the Duke's Mayo Bowl: Minnesota is in good shape, whereas Virginia Tech could be quite shorthanded. Their top-two receiver Jaylin Lane and Da'Quan Felton are sitting out. On top of that, star running back Bhayshul Tuten is doubtful because he's expected to sit out, while starting quarterback Kyron Drones is doubtful due to multiple injuries. That would be tough enough but there's more. Backup quarterback Collin Schlee and backup running back Malachi Thomas are both questionable with injuries.
College Football DFS Tools
- FanDuel Lineup Optimizer
- Matchups Page (Vegas odds, opponent averages, etc.)
- Advanced Lineups Page
- Stats
- Team Trends
- Targets
- Defense vs. Position
- Team Rankings
CFB DFS Plays for Friday, January 3
Quarterback
Jordan McCloud, Texas State ($12,900 FD, $9,000 DK): McCloud paces the way in quarterback salaries by a comfortable margin, but, well, there's a good reason for that. He's the best quarterback, for starters. McCloud had five 300-yard games and he totaled 36 touchdowns when you throw in seven rushing scores. North Texas has a poor defense, having allowed 456.6 total yards per game and also a whopping 34.5 points per contest.
Max Brosmer, Minnesota ($9,100 FD, $6,000 DK): Brosmer is the only other actual, proper starting quarterback in line to play Friday. His job was mostly to manage the game, but he did that well, only turning the ball over seven times while completing 66.8 percent of his passes. Brosmer did through four touchdowns against Maryland, though. The Hokies were not bad against the pass, but this is a bowl game, and I'll go with the guy who is used to being under center for his team over the other options.
Salary-Saving Dice Roll: Drew Mestemaker, North Texas ($7,400 FD) or William Watson, Virginia Tech ($4,500 DK)
Running Back
Makenzie McGill, North Texas ($7,600 FD, $4,500 DK): Shane Porter is expected to play, even though he's in the portal, but how much will he play? McGill, a redshirt freshman, is part of this program's future, and also won't be worried about jeopardizing his portal movement. Plus, he averaged 6.2 yards per carry and ran for nine touchdowns. The Bobcats gave up 148.2 rushing yards per contest, so the matchup isn't too imposing, even if Porter gets double-digit touches.
Lincoln Pare, Texas State ($8,600 FD, $3,400 DK): As you can see, FanDuel and DraftKings are positioning McGill and Pare differently from a salary perspective, but both have upsides. Mahdi has moved on, and Pare has the inside track. He had 26 carries for 96 yards and a touchdown in Texas State's last game, and he had five catches for 66 yards as well. North Texas has a porous run defense, as it has given up 195.5 yards per game on the ground.
Torrance Burgess, Texas State ($6,800 FD, $3,700 DK): Well, given that the Mean Green allowed almost 200 rushing yards per game, it makes sense to double down on Texas State. Given that Mahdi is out, there's also the potential for one of these backs to emerge ahead of the other. Pare had the better season of these two, but Burgess averaged 6.4 yards per carry in limited action.
Salary-Save Dice Roll: Kiefer Sibley, North Texas ($5,600 FD), or Marcus Major, Minnesota ($4,000 DK)
Wide Receiver
Jaden Williams, Texas State ($8,100 FD, $5,400 DK): The Bobcats didn't have clear standout receiver, which is nice for DFS purposes because you can save some salary by not having to dish out for a true number-one guy. Williams was not quite as good as Joey Hobert, but he had 49 catches for 652 yards and six touchdowns. North Texas allowed 261.1 passing yards per game, which is more than, say, Purdue or Middle Tennessee State.
Daniel Jackson, Minnesota ($7,800 FD, $5,800 DK): Jackson was a target vacuum, but owing to the nature of Minnesota's offense, his numbers don't inherently reflect that. He was targeted 116 times and came away with 75 catches for 863 yards and four touchdowns. Yes, that speaks to a lack of big plays, but last year, he had eight touchdowns, a good reminder that receiving touchdowns can be a bit hard to project. I do feel like it is easy to envision Jackson getting double-digit targets, though, which gives him plenty of upside.
Blair Conwright, North Texas ($6,900 FD, $4,400 DK): Suddenly, Conwright emerged here in his senior season as a complementary receiver. He had 40 catches for 542 yards and seven touchdowns, all personal bests. On six occasions he had at least 40 yards receiving, scoring in five of those games. Texas State did well against the pass, but Minnesota was better, and North Texas is built to air it out. The Mean Green will at least make an effort to get it done vertically, which may not be the case for Minnesota and could be an issue for shorthanded Virginia Tech.
Salary-Saving Dice Roll: Chris Dawn, Texas State ($6,700 FD, $3,800 DK)
