DraftKings College Football: Week 4 Main Slate

Welcome to the DraftKings Main Slate Breakdown for Week 4. We have an interesting mix of games with the SEC joining the fray, along with a handful of other intriguing matchups. The Big 12 offerings are particularly interesting with Texas-Texas Tech looking like a track meet and Oklahoma always brings its own offensive fireworks regardless of the opponent. Looking back to the SEC matchups on the slate, we have some major question marks to be answered. How will the Mike Leach offense translate to SEC Country? How will LSU fare after its mass exodus to the NFL? Who will  Lane Kiffin ride with at quarterback for Ole Miss? In all, this sets up to be a fun slate and there are plenty of ways to attack it. Let's dig in. 

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Matchup Info

Position by Position Breakdown

Quarterback

Sam Ehlinger, Texas ($8,900) at Texas Tech

The top-billed quarterback on the board doesn't need a long explanation. Ehlinger is a fourth-year starter who is surrounded by elite talent. He looked as sharp as ever in the opener, completing over 75 percent of his passes at 12.9 YPA with five touchdowns against UTEP. Now, that was UTEP, but he's going up against a Texas Tech defense that surrendered 33.0 points and 11.2 YPA to checks notes ah, Houston Baptist. Ehlinger will be a staple of most lineups, both GPP and cash, and with good reason. 

K.J. Costello, Mississippi State ($5,900) at LSU

This is Costello's SEC debut, and going on the road to face the defending national champs is helping keep his salary down below $6K. Mississippi State is 16.5-point underdogs, which isn't awful compared to what that line would have been against last year's LSU squad. LSU lost a ton of talent on both sides of the ball and will be young on defense. There's also the wrinkle of the Mike Leach offense being installed in Starkville. We know that Leach will have Costello drop back to pass on north of 70 percent of Mississippi State's plays, and that volume will ultimately lead to the type of production needed for him to return value, even if the efficiency isn't pretty. As long as Costello stays away from Derek Stingley Jr., he will be one of the better value quarterbacks on the board Saturday. 

Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma $8,200 vs. Kansas State 

Oklahoma has the highest implied total (44.25) on the slate and draws a home matchup against a Kansas State team that surrendered five passing touchdowns to Arkansas State in its shocking upset loss to start the season. Meanwhile, Rattler already looks like the real deal, even if his only start has come against Missouri State. He went 14 of 17 for 290 yards (17.1 YPA) and four touchdowns without breaking a sweat. Rattler isn't as mobile as Jalen Hurts or Kyler Murray, but his accuracy and command of the passing game look like they will be right on par with Oklahoma's great quarterbacks of recent vintage. Kansas State can play much better than it did in its opener and still get carved up. There won't be many teams that can slow OU through the air this year. 

D'Wan Mathis, Georgia ($6,700) vs. Arkansas

All signs point to Mathis getting the start for the Bulldogs with Jamie Newman's decision to opt-out and, perhaps more importantly, JT Daniels still not medically cleared as of Friday. Mathis will be a popular play given the value and the opponent, but he has selling points beyond those factors. He's a former blue-chip recruit who has drawn plenty of praise from his teammates for his command of the offense and his athleticism.

Georgia might keep the kid gloves on Mathis and limit his pass attempts, but his mobility should still carry his fantasy value against a weak Arkansas defense. It will be important to keep an eye for a late clearance on Daniels in the lead-up to kickoff, however. 

Running Back

Kylin Hill, Mississippi State ($6,800) vs. LSU

This game will be a massive indicator of how Hill's season will go. Yes, Mississippi State is fairly heavy underdogs, but with this new offense, that doesn't mean Hill's usage will go by the wayside if/when the Bulldogs fall behind. The Leach system targeted its running backs 120 times at Wazzu last season and 170 times the year prior. Targets will be there for the running back in this system and Hill should get the first crack at them. The pass-catching will be an added bonus to Hill's impressive rushing ability, though his carry volume may see a dip under Leach. Still, Hill's role in the offense should net us some solid returns in this PPR format. 

Vincent Davis, Pittsburgh  ($5,400) vs. Louisville

Davis will be a popular play this week given the salary and the matchup, but everything is in place for him to hit value. He has taken a lead in the Pitt backfield with 28 carries while no other Panther has more than 16 carries. The efficiency has been poor, to be fair, with Davis averaging just 3.89 YPC against Austin Peay and Syracuse. A home matchup against a Louisville defense that just got carved up for 154 yards on 7.3 YPC against Miami means that this is another favorable setting for the Pittsburgh offense. If Davis can't take advantage here, he might not be the answer in the Pitt backfield after all. 

Jahmyr Gibbs, Georgia Tech ($5,400) at Syracuse

We have a two-game ACC sample on Syracuse now and can see that defense is not its strength. The Orange have been able to hold opponents to 3.6 YPC, but it's closer to 4.2 when you remove sacks and sack yardage. Even still, Gibbs may be matchup proof already and this may be the last time we see him check in under $6,000 ever. Gibbs should have the backfield to himself with Jordan Mason (undisclosed) likely out again as well. On top of that, Gibbs showed what he can do with volume in his debut last week with 28.6 DK points (15-66-1; 4-60-1). If you're looking for a contrarian play on the other side of this game, Syracuse's Sean Tucker ($3,300) may be worth a look as Georgia Tech's run defense is awful (176 RuYD allowed/gm) and the Orange may be fed up with the empty returns Jawhar Jordan (2.44 YPC) has given them thus far. 

Other Suggestions:

Kenny McIntosh, Georgia ($4,000) at Arkansas: He's the third option in the Georgia backfield so this isn't a cash-game viable play, but the Bulldogs are a run-heavy outfit with an inexperienced quarterback, so look for them to go with a deep backfield rotation here. Zamir White is expected to be the alpha and James Cook is second in line, but if Georgia is up big as Vegas expects, McIntosh will get some run. He averaged 7.0 YPC and had two rushing scores on 25 attempts last season. 

Wide Receiver

Terrace Marshall, LSU ($7,000) vs. Mississippi State

No Ja'Marr Chase means Marshall is the new No.1 in the LSU offense. Of course, Joe Burrow is gone too and Mississippi State won't have to contend with stopping Justin Jefferson this time, either. Still, this LSU offense isn't going to fall off a cliff with the transition to Myles Brennan, who is reportedly more downfield oriented than Burrow. 

Look for deep shots aplenty here, with Marshall getting the bulk of the looks. Freshman Kayshon Boutte ($5,000) is getting the start and is worth a look, too, but Arik Gilbert ($4,500) is a sneaky play too. Gilbert is the rare five-star tight end and it looks like he's already living up to the lofty billing. If he gets targets, no one in the Miss State secondary can check him. 

Noah Gray, Duke vs. Virginia

Duke is an interesting case this week. The Blue Devils are playing in their third game of the season while this is the season opener for Virginia. This could prove to be significant if UVA isn't ready for the physicality of game action. Gray, meanwhile, is a tight end (sorry, I know two tight ends in one article is over quota) who leads Duke in target share (18 percent) and yardage share (26 percent). He will get fed Saturday and is efficient with his targets, and the added bonus of this being Virginia's first game helps boost Gray's upside if you're in the sub-$5K end of the player pool.

Tarik Black, Texas ($6,200) at Texas Tech

Joshua Moore ($7,100) is the top option in the Texas offense with good reason, but if you can't fit that salary into your lineup, you could do worse than Black. The Michigan grad transfer has already hit his stride with the Longhorns, securing five of his six targets for 86 yards and a score in his Texas debut. Jake Smith being out helps simplify Texas' usage tree and should keep Black as the No.2 option behind Moore against a leaky Red Raider secondary.

T.J. Vasher, Texas Tech ($5,700) vs. Texas

Vasher led all Red Raider receivers in targets (10) in the season opener and secured eight of them for 79 yards. Teammate Erik Ezukanma ($6,800) checks in $1,100 higher and did hit pay dirt against Houston Baptist, but his targets (8) and receptions (4) lagged behind Vasher. Ezukanma is still a strong play, but Vasher as a value-per-dollar option strikes me as the better play in this PPR format. KeSean Carter is also a viable play at $4,300 after snaring six of seven targets for 86 yards and a score in the opener.