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Mike Marteny's DraftKings daily fantasy college football lineup picks for the Friday (1/2/26) slate. His CFB DFS lineup picks and DFS sleepers will help you win.
This is the last day of regular bowl games. After today, only the College Football Playoff semifinals and National Championship remain. Where did this season go? It has been a fun ride, and I'm not going to leave you hanging on the last day of classic DFS for the 2025 season!
We have a Texas showdown between Rice and Texas State. Navy takes on Cincinnati. Wake will face Mississippi State. We close this out with Arizona taking on SMU.
In this article, I will provide you with my daily fantasy college football lineup picks for the DraftKings slate on 1/1/26, starting at noon Eastern. I’ll give multiple player suggestions for quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers, highlighting one option at each end of the salary scale. Good luck, RotoBallers!
DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Quarterbacks
Blake Horvath, Navy ($8.3K)
Spot on Blake… spot on!
This right here⬇️🔥 pic.twitter.com/f7KmLzyu4M
— 🇺🇸PJ Volker⚓️ (@PJVolker) December 15, 2025
That quote from Navy's starting quarterback says everything about this matchup. Cincinnati has over a dozen players transferring, including starting QB Brendan Sorsby. 11 of them are on the defensive side of the ball, including the Godfather (Dontay Corleone).
Horvath said it best. Navy doesn't make the big bucks in NIL. Everything about this team is sacrifice of self for the good of the team (or country). I was going to go heavy on Texas State's Brad Jackson over Horvath until I read the opt-out list.
This will be it for Horvath at Navy. We've seen him flirt with 50 DraftKings points more than once this season. I think we'll see it again as he closes his epic career with Navy.
Kamario Taylor, Mississippi State ($7.2K)
The Bulldogs moved on from Blake Shapen before the Egg Bowl. Taylor performed well enough to start in the bowl game. It makes sense. Shapen is preparing for the NFL, and the Bulldogs are preparing for 2026.
Taylor put up some big numbers as a backup over the last month of the season. Most of them were on the ground. He rushed for six touchdowns in four November games, despite only starting one of those games. He scored all three touchdowns against Georgia.
Taylor was pedestrian as a passer against Ole Miss and will likely be the same against Wake as well. His rushing chops make him a valuable asset. He ran for 173 yards on the Land Sharks in the Egg Bowl.
Also consider these QBs
- Brad Jackson, Texas State ($8.5K)
- Noah Fifita, Arizona ($7.8K)
- Robby Ashford, Wake Forest ($7.4K)
DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Running Backs
Eli Heidenreich, Navy ($7.1K)
With this catch…
Eli Heidenreich now has the MOST receiving yards in a single season in Navy football history.
Heidenreich now has 861 (!!) receiving yards (and counting) this season. pic.twitter.com/FPBOsHAwds
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) December 13, 2025
This is Navy's most elite senior class in quite some time. Unlike Horvath and Alex Tecza (with whom Heidenreich has played football for 16 years), Heidenreich will likely play in the NFL before fulfilling his Naval service.
Heidenreich is the closest thing that Navy has to a wide receiver, and that will likely be his position at the next level. The receptions are the way that Heidenreich hits value. The fact that he carries the ball a half-dozen times or so is just potential for more points.
Kedrick Reescano, Arizona ($5.4K)
It's always tough to use a running back in a timeshare, but we at least know what we're getting with Reescano. He'll get around a dozen touches and will likely find the end zone at least once.
Reescano scored five touchdowns in the last three games for the Wildcats. Ismail Mahdi is still the better receiver and could get a few more carries, but I'm leaning toward the guy scoring the touchdowns.
Ty Clark III, Wake Forest ($4.5K)
Former King William standout (@KWHSFB) and Wake Forest (@WakeFB) running back Demond Claiborne (@ClaiborneDemond) announced he will skip his final year of eligibility and enter the 2026 NFL Draft! Claiborne will not play in the Demon Deacons Bowl game.@CBS6 pic.twitter.com/yFMH0juHkQ
— Sean Robertson (@CBS6SportsSean) December 16, 2025
We get some nice value on this slate with Demond Claiborne opting out, and Cincinnati's Evan Pryor likely following suit. Clark closed the season with his two best games for Wake this season, scoring a touchdown in each despite limited touches. What he does with a full workload could nuke the slate.
Also consider these RBs
- Lincoln Pare, Texas State ($7.5K)
- Alex Tecza, Navy ($6.5K)
- Fluff Bothwell, Mississippi State ($5.7K)
- Zion Johnson, Cincinnati ($4.4K)
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DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Wide Receivers
Beau Sparks, Texas State ($6.5K)
Sparks scored in double figures in DK points in every game this season and broke 35 three times. He has a great floor and a high ceiling. You literally can't ask for anything more.
Kris Hutson, Arizona ($5.8K)
Hutson was a high-profile transfer out of Washington State, but it took him a while to get going. Arizona won five straight games to close the season. Huston scored 92.2 DK points in those five games.
In what is a rarity among non-CFP or service academy teams, Arizona is expected to be at full strength in this game. That says a lot about the state of the program. It doesn't provide us much DFS value, but it also takes away a lot of potential flops.
Brenen Thompson, Mississippi State ($5.5K)
A young quarterback's best friend is his tight end. His second-best friend is the track star lined up at receiver. Thompson didn't break one deep in Kamario Taylor's first start, but he did catch six passes for 80 yards.
The Egg Bowl is the only real measuring stick that we have for this iteration of the Mississippi State offense. It sure looks like Thompson is the alpha receiver at a very reasonable price.
Aaron Turner, Rice ($4.9K)
The Owls love to burn the clock and keep opposing offenses off the field. The bad part is that they aren't particularly good at it, especially against potent offenses.
This is an awful bowl draw for Rice. The silver lining for DFS players is that once Rice is forced to the air, Turner is the favorite target. He closed the season with at least six receptions in each of the last three games. He scored half of his touchdowns on the season in November. Turner is trending in the right direction.
Also consider these WRs:
- Cyrus Allen, Cincinnati ($5.9K)
- Jordan Hudson, SMU ($5.7K)
- Chris Dawn Jr., Texas State ($5.4K)
- Seydou Traore, Mississippi State ($4.5K)
DraftKings CFB Stacks
Navy vs. Cincinnati
The plethora of defensive opt-outs for the Bearcats makes this a prime target. Just know that you won't be alone. Navy presents a risk beyond Horvath, since around five players will also get carries.
When Navy throws, it's almost always to Heidenreich. My preferred Navy exposure is Horvath and Heidenreich, as it will be for many others. It's nearly impossible for a full stack here, but even adding Tecza to a Horvath/Heidenreich mini stack could come with lower ownership due to Tecza's price.
Brandon Chatman is a solid fourth option if you don't mind Navy using up all of your RB spots. That will definitely be a unique lineup.
Texas State vs. Rice
Out of all of the teams that made a bowl this year, Rice is statistically the worst. Texas State grades out as one of the best offenses in bowl games. This should be fun!
Jackson/Pare/Dawn/Sparks is an easily attainable four-man stack for the Bobcats with all of the value at RB. The only possible option for a Texas State full-stack is backup RB Greg Burrell. Burrell has at least eight carries in all but one game since the end of September.
Also consider these stacks:
- Wake Forest
- Arizona
- Mississippi State (GPP only)
More College Football Analysis
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