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Mike Marteny's DraftKings daily fantasy college football lineup picks for the Wednesday (11/5/25) slate in Week 11. His CFB DFS lineup picks and DFS sleepers will help you win.
Our opening week of MACtion rolls on. We had a good Battle of the Bricks last night, and possibly the worst college football team I have ever seen -- UMass. You know what? We wouldn't trade this for any amount of NFL!
We have another four-hour tilt-fest tonight with both games starting at the same time. We have Northern Illinois heading to Toledo to take on a battered Rockets squad. Kent heads to Muncie to take on Ball State.
In this article, I will provide you with my daily fantasy college football lineup picks for the DraftKings slate on 11/5/25, starting at 7 pm Eastern. I’ll provide multiple player suggestions for quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers, aiming to highlight one option at the high, middle, and lower ends of the salary scale. Good luck, RotoBallers!
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DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Quarterbacks
Kiael Kelly, Ball State ($7.9K)
Step pump, step pump RUN @kiael_kelly ➡️ 🏠@BallStateFB | #MACtion pic.twitter.com/nbHXwwgTdT
— MACtion (@MACSports) October 18, 2025
Kent allows 204.9 rushing yards per game. Only five teams are worse. This is relevant since most of Kelly's value is tied to his rushing ability. He had three rushing touchdowns against Akron two weeks ago and has at least 50 yards rushing in five of eight games.
On top of that, Kent is 122nd out of 136 teams in pass defense. Kelly could torch them in multiple ways tonight. On paper, Akron's defense is better than Kent's, and Kelly racked up 30.6 DraftKings points in that game.
Dru DeShields, Kent State ($7.3K)
There isn't a great QB2 option on this slate, so if you wanted to run another receiver at Superflex, it's a way to get something different. Most run a second quarterback at Superflex just because the lineup allows it. That doesn't always mean that it's optimal.
DeShields has had some good games this year, most notably against Texas Tech when Kent had to throw to try and keep up. Ball State isn't a heavy favorite in this game, but maybe they should be. I can see DeShields having a strong game here.
Also consider these QBs:
- Tucker Gleason, Toledo ($8.4K)
- Josh Holst, Northern Illinois ($6.9K)
DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Running Backs
Qua Ashley, Ball State ($6.2K)
Ashley came to Muncie from Kennesaw State and has put together a few big games for the Cardinals. He is also active in the passing game, so whatever carries that he cedes to Kelly, he can make up for in receptions.
Ashley's two best games this year were against the poor run defenses of New Hampshire and Akron. We already mentioned how bad Kent's run defense is. Ashley could have a monster game if he gets around 20 touches again.
Telly Johnson Jr., Northern Illinois ($5.6K)
Johnson was quiet for much of the season, but he has had two games of over 100 rushing yards in his last three games. Johnson is good for around 15 touches per game. He'll need all of those against a decent Toledo defense, but in no way am I scared of the Toledo D.
NIU is still a run-first offense. Most will go with Chavon Wright, who had a monster game against Ball State last week. If you're strapped for cash, Wright is a good option. Johnson should still get first crack at the carries, but it appears as if NIU will go with the hot hand.
For what it's worth, Johnson still carried 15 times for 100 yards last week. It's a far cry from Wright's 37 carries, but it goes to show that this offense can and will support two backs.
Also consider these RBs
- Chip Trayanum, Toledo ($7.5K) - if he's active
- Chavon Wright, Northern Illinois ($5K)
- Kenji Christian, Toledo ($4.9K)
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DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Wide Receivers
Junior Vandeross III, Toledo ($6.6K)
Junior Vandeross is elite pic.twitter.com/2zT8wO3s27
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) October 11, 2025
When building DFS lineups, we can't understate the importance of an alpha receiver, especially on a slate like this where we have a couple of run-heavy teams. Vandeross is definitely Toledo's alpha.
He has at least four receptions in every game and has broken the 100-yard barrier three times. Vandeross has 24 more receptions than the next closest Toledo receiver. He has nearly 300 yards more. Vandeross has eight touchdowns this year. No other Toledo receiver has more than one. ALPHA!
DeAree Rogers, Northern Illinois ($5.8K)
If we're talking about only running one quarterback, the prices on the receivers aren't prohibitive. NIU doesn't throw much, but Rogers does have 38 receptions on the season. No other NIU receiver has more than 12 catches. He has 439 of the 825 NIU passing yards this year. That's more than half!
Rogers has also caught three of the five touchdowns. Northern Illinois doesn't throw enough for Rogers to break the slate, but he's the only NIU receiver that I would even consider using.
Cade Wolford, Kent State ($4.9K)
Wolford has emerged as the big-play threat of the Kent receivers. He only has five receptions in the last two games, but Wolford has 153 yards and two scores. He's a good bet to find the end zone here as well.
Koby Gross, Ball State ($4.2K)
The Ball State receivers may as well be in witness protection. Kiael Kelly is a runner first, and when he does pass, he loves to hit the running backs or the tight end. Gross has a few more targets lately, but this is more of a GPP dart than a sure thing.
Also consider these WRs:
- Trayvon Rudolph, Toledo ($5.2K)
- Da'Shawn Martin, Kent State ($5K)
- Qian Magwood, Ball State ($4.5K)
DraftKings CFB Stacks
Ball State vs. Kent State
Kent's defense has struggled against any kind of offense. Most will attack with the run game for good reason. I mentioned that only five teams have allowed more rushing yards per game than Kent this season.
Kelly is essentially part of the run game. Kelly and Ashley are going to be the two pieces that most use and leave it at that. I also mentioned that Ball State doesn't throw the ball a lot. Qian Magwood is a good piece to add to GPP lineups.
Even though the Cardinals run a lot, they only use the backup running backs sparingly. This is because Kelly and Ashley are essentially co-starters at running back. TJ Horton has had decent games, but his stats are a bit skewed by a return touchdown.
It's best to run Kelly, Ashley, and Magwood. Gross is a bit of a desperation heave, but I don't trust the tight end that much here, where Ball State should get everything they want on offense. This could be the game that Donovan Hamilton goes nuts.
Northern Illinois vs. Toledo
Most will run the other side of this, but I like the idea of using NIU as a GPP stack. Toledo's defense isn't as good as it has been in recent years. Holst, Johnson, Wright, and Rogers will only set you back $23.3K, and you get around 75% of the offensive production from the Huskies.
Also consider this stack: Toledo
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