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Mike Marteny's college football DFS lineup picks for DraftKings. Week 1 Saturday Main Slate (9/5/26) CFB daily fantasy lineup picks and DFS sleepers for Saturday's main slate.
We've got the first of 14 monster DraftKings slates that will grace our Saturday afternoons all season long! We've got some ranked teams in action such as Texas, Indiana, and Ohio State. We've got some rebuilt teams such as Penn State and Auburn. Oregon paid Boise $2.5 million so they wouldn't have to go play on the Smurf Turf this year. We've got just about everything that you can ask for in a college football slate for the first main slate of the season.
These gargantuan slates can be tougher to navigate. That's where I come in. I've been playing DFS for 14 years now, exclusively on DraftKings for the last 10 years. I've been playing college football DFS for as long as it has been available. I will try to help out as much as I can.
In this article, I will provide you with my daily fantasy college football lineup picks for the Main DraftKings Slate on 9/5/26, starting at noon Eastern. I’ll give multiple player suggestions for players at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver, aiming to highlight one option at the salary scale's high, middle, and lower end. Good luck, RotoBallers.
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DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Quarterbacks
Conner Weigman, Houston ($9K)
The QB Club’s own Conner Weigman has wheels. ???#Big12FB | ? ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/GXfC6eMZMr
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) October 26, 2025
That's what Weigman can do for you. He may only throw for 200 yards or so, but he's a threat for triple digits on the ground. That may change this year with Makhi Hughes in the backfield.
Houston coach Willie Fritz has also expressed that freshman phenom Keisean Henderson will see some time. I would guess that will mostly be for rushing attempts and once the game is out of hand. Weigman should still get enough against an Oregon State team that allowed nearly 30 points per game in 2025.
Byrum Brown, Auburn ($7.8K)
I'm all about the dual threats on this slate, and why not? When Brown is this cheap, I pay attention. I know what he's capable of. Auburn won't run Brown quite as much with Jeremiah Cobb in the same backfield, but we're still going to see at least 10 rushes per game out of Brown.
Brown hasn't been this cheap on DK since last year's Miami game. He topped 30 DK points in eight of the 12 games he played in. Auburn is going to want to get out of a fast start and show off this new offense. Brown is a gift at this price.
Michael Hawkins Jr., West Virginia ($7.3K)
This is the perfect offensive system for Hawkins. Oklahoma always wanted more from Hawkins as a passer. Rich Rod won't care. Those of us who are a bit long in the tooth and remember such folklore as something called the Big East Conference remember what Rodriguez did with Pat White.
The similarities between White and Hawkins are many. Hawkins is a bit bigger, and White was more elusive, but West Virginia should use Hawkins about the same way they did with White. That's going to lead to massive upside from rushing yards.
Hawkins fits the mold of previous quarterbacks that thrived under Rodriguez and nuked DFS slates. White was the first. Rich Rod also got the most out of Denard Robinson and Michigan and Khalil Tate at Arizona.
Mason McKenzie, Boston College ($6.1K)
We saw more FBS programs willing to take a flier on Division II quarterbacks after the success of Trinidad Chambliss last year. McKenzie is one of those. He threw for 4,300 yards and 31 touchdowns at Saginaw Valley State in two years as a starter. He also ran for 1,600 yards and 18 more touchdowns.
We're not asking for hero ball out of McKenzie. We're just looking for him to not turn the ball over and poach a rushing touchdown so we can afford some expensive stacks. McKenzie may be the least dangerous of the cheap QB landmines.
Also consider: Arch Manning, Texas ($9.3K); Anthony Colandrea, Nebraska ($8.3K); Walker Eget, Duke ($6.7K); DJ Lagway, Baylor ($6.5K)
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DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Running Backs
Cam Cook, West Virginia ($8.7K)
The Mountaineers only passed around 51% of the time last year, which is very low by today's standards. They might run even more in 2026.
Cook led FBS in rushing with 1,650 yards and Jacksonville State last year. He also caught 30 passes. There's nothing that Cook can't do. He ran for at least 75 yards in every game last year. This is a great matchup for a team that loves to run the ball.
Makhi Hughes, Houston ($7.6K)
I'm excited to see if Hughes still has what made him great at Tulane in 2024. Hughes left for Oregon when Willie Fritz went to Houston. He now reunites with the coach who left him loose for 1,403 rushing yards in 2024.
Houston RB Makhi Hughes (5-11, 210) had a solid profile for adequate traits entering a lesser 2025 (17 carries for 70 yards) with Oregon post-Tulane transfer
♦️2x All-AAC
♦️19 runs of 15+ in ‘24
♦️Stacks 2nd/3rd step & explodes off plant foot
♦️5+YPC & 250+ carries 2x pic.twitter.com/fle3I0btWR— Clint Goss (@NFLDraftDome) May 16, 2026
Hughes was elite at Tulane and should be well-rested. The Oregon State run defense was gouged at the end of last year. Look for Hughes to start 2026 the same way for the Beavers.
Jeremiah Cobb, Auburn ($6K)
Cobb was good in a bad offense. Now he finds himself as a sole holdover from the 2025 Auburn offense. He was invaded by the South Florida offense, whose QB was its run game. Things are going to change this year.
Auburn can pass this year, which will prevent the run stacks that Cobb faced in the second half of last year. Cobb still averaged 5.1 yards per carry last year in 175 attempts. I doubt we'll see 20 carries out of Cobb here, but Baylor allowed 197.2 rushing yards per game last year and 30 rushing touchdowns. There's a ton of upside for the price.
Gi'Bran Payne, Cincinnati ($4.2K)
There are a whole lot of unsolved backfields on this slate. I plan to avoid most of them. It's hard to avoid Payne at this price, though.
Payne stood toe-to-toe with expected starter Zylan Perry in camp and is expected to have a big role in the backfield. Sorsby ran 100 times last year, so that will leave more carries available out of the backfield. French is almost exclusively a pocket passer.
Also consider: Nate Sheppard, Duke ($7.9K); Dierre Hill Jr., Oregon ($6.9K); Turbo Richard, Indiana ($6.6K); Duncan Brune, Ohio ($5.4K)
DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Wide Receivers
Cam Coleman, Texas ($7.3K)
Obviously, Jeremiah Smith is the gold standard at WR, not just on this slate. However, the price is prohibitive. Coleman generated a ton of buzz in the portal. Can you imagine if he had a QB like Arch Manning throwing to him before what the hype would be?
Coleman suffered through Ashton Daniels and Jackson Arnold as his quarterbacks. The sky is the limit with Arch throwing to him. I expect Texas State to hang around for a while, which could mean an even better game for Coleman.
Dakorien Moore, Oregon ($5.9K)
Moore finished with 497 yards last year as a true freshman, and that's with target hog TE Kenyon Sadiq taking a lot of the passing action. Moore is the guy Oregon will look to early in this game. If Boise manages to stick around, it could be even better for Moore.
Beau Sparks, Texas State ($5.2K)
Sun City Stars ⭐️
Former Franklin High School football standout Beau Sparks caught 5 passes for 155 yards, including a 65-yard go-ahead touchdown, leading Texas State to a 43-36 win over rival UTSA on Saturday
The Bobcats are now 2-0.@epfranklinfb | @Beausparks5 pic.twitter.com/meav4Fg6BF
— Sam Guzman (@SamGuzmanTV) September 8, 2025
The Bobcats had two 1,000-yard receivers last year. The Texas defense is going to get after Brad Jackson, but he'll still be able to get some passes to these talented receivers. The Bobcats are going to be behind for much of the game.
This is a team that likes to throw anyway. It could be amplified playing from behind. Sparks put up 10 receptions for 70 yards against Arizona State last year. The stage shouldn't be too big for him, or Chris Dawn Jr., for that matter.
Jeremiah Koger, Auburn ($4.8K)
Keshaun Singleton gets most of the attention, but he also carries a much higher price. Koger tied for the USF lead in touchdown receptions last year. Koger is capable of some big plays.
He caught all eight of his touchdowns in the final eight games of the season. South Florida looked to him more as the season went on. With Byrum Brown possibly running less, we could see some more balls for these talented receivers.
For this slate at least, I'm going to save the money with Koger. I'll upgrade to Singleton if the salary allows, but the opportunity hasn't presented itself yet.
Also consider: Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State ($8.6K); Amare Thomas, Houston ($6.7K); Keshaun Singleton, Auburn ($6.1K); Nyziah Hunter, Nebraska ($5K); Trent Walker, Houston ($4.7K)
DraftKings CFB Stacks
Auburn Tigers
The first thing I look for in stack options is a game that should stay close and preferably high-scoring. Auburn-Baylor fits that bill on this slate. On top of that, Auburn is easy to stack.
Brown used all three of his receivers liberally at USF last year. Cobb is going to be a huge part of this offense. The best part is that a stack of Brown, Cobb, Singleton, Koger, and Chas Nimrod will only set you back $30K. That leaves $20K left for the other three slots.
Nimrod is listed as "or" on the depth chart with Christian Neptune. Neptune is just $3.1K if you want to use him instead of Nimrod to save money.
Houston Cougars
I was going to put West Virginia here, but a WVU stack should be limited to two-man stacks. The offense revolves around Hawkins and Cook. Houston is much better suited for a full stack.
Weigman, Hughes, Thomas, and Walker are all affordable. If you want a fifth option, TE Patrick Overmyer, a UTSA transfer, will be taking over for Tanner Koziol. Koziol was a huge part of this offense. If Houston still leans heavily on the TE spot, Overmyer can set your Houston stack apart.
Also consider: Cincinnati, Texas, Texas State (GPP only)
