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Mike Marteny's college football DFS lineup picks for DraftKings. Week 8 Friday Slate (10/23/26). CFB daily fantasy lineup picks and DFS sleepers for Friday.
We've got a stacked Friday with five college football games, and all of them are on the slate! Are you trying to tell me that people are actually going to watch the World Series over the UConn-UMass game? Read the capital letters for the "name" of that rivalry.
We finally have Army on a DFS slate. This slate is loaded with running backs and weak at receiver. That always makes things a little more interesting. The Big Ten gets Friday off this week since Fox carries the World Series. That's okay. We have the ACC and Mountain West to entertain us.
In this article, I'll share my daily fantasy college football lineup picks for DraftKings on 10/23/26, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. I’ll offer multiple player suggestions at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver, highlighting one option at the salary scale's high, middle, and low end. Good luck, RotoBallers.
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DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Quarterbacks
Cale Hellums, Army ($9.5K)
Army QB Cale Hellums Week 7
? 25 CAR
? 195 YDS
? 5 RUSH TDArmy defeats Florida Atlantic 56-24 https://t.co/jInBvixWXq
— Rafters (@RaftersHQ) October 18, 2026
Navy ran for 386 yards and four touchdowns on Tulsa two weeks ago. Another option team, Rice, ran for 290 last week. Neither of them have a player the caliber of Hellums.
Hellums has 418 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns over the last two games alone. Only South Florida held him under 22 DraftKings points. He has got over 30 three times in six games. You're not going to find a safer floor or higher ceiling anywhere else on this slate.
CJ Bailey, North Carolina State ($8K)
I know...I'm still seeing flashbacks of Bailey in Week 0 against Virginia and again in Week 3 against Vanderbilt. Bailey actually had a solid game against Vanderbilt before the gaffe heard round the college football world.
With Stanford, you just need to decide how you want to beat them. Darian Mensah threw five touchdowns against them Gio Lopez went the all-around route. There is no wrong answer.
Considering the Wolfpack have been better through the air and they want Bailey to get that swagger back that he lost against Miami last year, I think they'll showcase him against Stanford tonight.
Pop Watson, Massachusetts ($6.2K)
Watson practiced this week for the first time since going down against Eastern Michigan on October 3. It's still not confirmed that he is playing yet, but this is the biggest game of the year for UMass aside from Boston College.
If Watson is participating in practice, I have to think he plays in this one. If he's out, I'll move down to Walker Eget.
Also consider: Evan Medders, Air Force ($7.6K); Kalieb Osborne, Connecticut ($7.1K); Walker Eget, Duke ($5.9K)
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DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Running Backs
Nate Sheppard, Duke ($9.7K)
11 catches from a running back. Nate Sheppard is different ?
20 CAR, 11 REC, 175 YDS, 1 TD vs North Carolina
Tied for the fifth-most catches ever by a Duke RB in a game, and nearly won the Victory Bell by himself. https://t.co/wAX8XhOZmj— CFB Performances (@performancesCFB) October 21, 2026
And that game was with Sheppard operating at about 75%. He'll be closer to 100% this week. This isn't a great matchup against Virginia, but Sheppard is matchup-proof. Duke has nowhere else to go on offense since Miami raided them in the offseason.
Sheppard has at least 34 DK points against every FBS team this year. William and Mary was the only team that "held" him under that mark, and that's because he only had nine carries in the blowout win.
No one else can match the usage of Sheppard. Even though he hasn't attained the 100-yard bonus since that William and Mary game on September 26, Sheppard has 18 receptions in the last two games. That's worth more than the 100-yard bonus anyway!
Cyncir Bowers, Connecticut ($6.5K)
Jason Candle's offense may be even more run-happy than Jim Mora's at UConn. Bowers started slowly, but he has been huge in the last two weeks against Syracuse and Temple. Bowers has 247 ruhsing yards and three touchdowns in the last two games alone.
He has 37 touches over the two games. Expect another high number against UMass, especially if Pop Watson plays for the Minutemen and keeps the game close.
Davion Gause, North Carolina State ($6K)
We aren't pulling the wool over on DraftKings this time around. Jayden Scott is out, which leaves Gause as the featured back for the Pack. He's still priced up a bit.
This is an oustanding matchup, and I'll pay the premium. Gause has 28 carries and 8 receptions over the last two games. He hasn's scored in that span, but that dry spell is going to end against Stanford's porous defense.
Also consider: Micah Ford, Stanford ($8.4K); Jekail Middlebrook, Virginia ($7.1K); Godspower Nwawuihe, Army ($6.2K); Trequan Jones, Tulsa ($5.1K)
DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Wide Receivers
Oran Singleton Jr., Tulsa ($7K)
The return of Baylor Hayes a couple of weeks ago got Singleton back on track. He has 23 receptions for 272 yards and two touchdowns in three games with Hayes back in the lineup.
Singleton's 51 targets are 23 more than Javon Ross. He also has 15 more receptions than Ross. Singleton also has four of Tulsa's 12 passing touchdowns.
Keenan Jackson, North Carolina State ($6.5K)
Jackson leads the Pack in every receving category. Earlier in the season, it was Joshisa Trader who was getting more targets, but Jackson now has 11 more. He also has five of the 11 touchdown receptions for the Pack this year.
Trader is out for this game, so expect even more targets to funnel to Jackson. He should have his first 100-yard game since Vanderbilt.
Javon Ross, Tulsa ($4.5K)
Ross doesn't get the deep routes that Singleton does, but he is still a highly targeted piece of the offense. Ross has 10 receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown in the last two games.
This Tulsa offense is throwing more than in recent years. The strength of the Army defense is rush defense. Tulsa has the tools to go to the air this year.
Jabari Lewis, Massachusetts ($4.1K)
Lewis has played his way into the lineup. He has 17 of his 18 receptions in the last four week alone, even going over 100 yards against Eastern Michigan. He and Watson worked well together in that game. I'm high on what Lewis can do with Watson back in the lineup.
Also consider: Caden High, Stanford ($5.5K); Javon Brown, Connecticut ($5.1K); Jeremiah Hasley, Duke ($4.4K); Preston Douglas, North Carolina State ($4.1K); Jacquon Gibson, Virginia ($3.4K)
DraftKings CFB Stacks
North Carolina State
Stanford has been obliterated by every team with a pulse on offense. NC State isn't as high-powered as Miami, Wake, Notre Dame, or Duke, but they are close to Duke's output.
Bailey, Gause, Jackson, and Douglas will cost only $24.6K. That's less than half your salary to fill half your lineup. This is going to be a very popular stack. I like adding Victor Snow in large field GPPs to be different with Trader out, but he has been nowhere near the receiver that he was at Buffalo.
Mini Stacks
I don't see another full stack that I like, so I'll go with mini stack options instead
Duke: Eget/Sheppard/Hasley
Virginia: Beau Pribula, Middlebrook, Da'Shawn Martin
UMass: Watson/Elijah Faulkner
UConn: Osborne/Bowers
Army: Hellums/Nwawuihe/Samari Howard
Tulsa: Hayes/Singleton
Wyoming: Tyler Hughes/Markell Holman/Samuel Harris
