RADIO
It was a slow week of bowl games with only four games all week and no classic college football tournaments. That's about to change. Bowl season kicks into high gear this week...after we let the NFL (and Christmas) take over for a couple of days. We have seven bowl games today before the hiatus and I'm going to enjoy it! I'll be around a lot more next week covering both college football and basketball as we close out the last great college football season.
We start out with the two Alabama games. The Birmingham Bowl between Troy and Duke and the Camellia Bowl between Arkansas State and Northern Illinois. Next up is the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth between James Madison and Air Force. We have the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl from Boise featuring Georgia State and Utah State. The evening puts us back in Alabama (Mobile this time) for the 68 Ventures Bowl between South Alabama and Eastern Michigan. Up next is the Las Vegas Bowl between Utah and Northwestern. We end this out on the islands with the Hawaii Bowl between San Jose State and Coastal Carolina.
In this article, I will provide you with my daily fantasy college football lineup picks for DraftKings on 12/23/23, locking at noon Eastern. I’ll provide multiple player suggestions for players at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver, aiming to highlight one option at the high, middle, and lower end of the salary scale. Good luck, RotoBallers.
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DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Quarterbacks
Darren Grainger, Georgia State ($7,400)
I trust veteran quarterbacks more in bowl games. Grainger has been doing this for a long time. He played parts of two seasons (2018 and 2019) at Furman before transferring to Georgia State. Grainger has been the starter since day one, racking up 54 passing touchdowns to just 18 interceptions in three seasons. He added 17 rushing touchdowns and 2,005 rushing yards. The rushing upside can't be ignored and might be more on display with Marcus Carroll transferring and not playing in this game.
Ethan Vasko, Coastal Carolina ($6,600)
Vasko is different from all of these other teams that have quarterbacks transferring out since he has started the last three games because of injuries to the guys in front of him anyway. Vasko led the Chanticleers to wins over Old Dominion (in Norfolk, which was not easy to do this year) and Texas State before losing easily to James Madison. The big takeaway for me is that Vasko only threw one interception in 87 pass attempts to four touchdowns. He also showed some wheels, running for 170 yards on Old Dominion. He's not going to do that against San Jose State, but Vasko shouldn't be rattled out there.
Ben Bryant, Northwestern ($6,000)
Bryant faced some pretty good Big Ten defenses this year and still put up decent numbers. The Wildcats won't be able to run on Utah, so if they are to pull the upset like I picked, Bryant will need to have a good game. He should be serviceable no matter what, but that won't help us much in GPP formats. In GPP formats, you might be better served taking a chance on whoever starts the game for James Madison or Ike Udengwu III from Eastern Michigan.
Also consider: Chevan Cordeiro, San Jose State ($7,900); Luke Bottari, Utah ($6,500); Levi Williams, Utah State ($6,400)
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DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Running Backs
Kairee Robinson, San Jose State ($8,100)
Kimani Vidal might be a little more talented than Robinson and he'll definitely get more touches, but Duke's rush defense bordered on elite for much of the season. Coastal gave up 168.5 rush yards per game this year. Not only that, but Robinson is a much better receiver out of the backfield. Those extra few points on receptions can pile up in a hurry, and they help us make the decision to take Robinson in this situation. The matchup is a lot better.
Antario Brown, Northern Illinois ($6,900)
The run defense of Arkansas State was shredded by Troy, Marshall, and Oklahoma, so that skews the stats a little. So I guess the question is whether Brown is as good as Kimani Vidal or Rasheen Ali. From what I have seen, the answer is not quite. However, Brown isn't that far off and NIU still likes to run the ball because of the inconsistent passing game. Brown should still see plenty of touches in this game.
Jaquez Moore, Duke ($5,800)
Moore withdrew from the transfer portal, so it is assumed that he will start for Duke. With most of the rest of the offense still in the portal, Moore should see a healthy workload. Troy has a solid run defense, so I don't view this as a must-play, but there's not a lot of value on this slate unless you don't mind chasing unproven backs. That didn't go so well last week with Appalachian State since they have shorter leashes and the guys behind them are almost on the same level. Moore is a known commodity.
Also consider: Kimani Vidal, Troy ($8,000); Samson Evans, Eastern Michigan ($6,700); Freddie Brock, Georgia State ($4,500)
DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Wide Receivers
Jalen Royals, Utah State ($6,900)
Royals is the big-play guy. Terrell Vaughn in the possession receiver. Down the stretch the Aggies learned how to get the most out of both of them. The quarterback situation is still a big up in the air for the Aggies, but given the state of the Georgia State pass defense, there is a lot of potential for both Aggies receivers here. Royals is better for GPP purposes. Vaughn has the higher floor and is better suited for cash games.
Sam Pinckney, Coastal Carolina ($5,600)
Jared Brown has transferred to South Carolina, so Pinckney should see even more targets in the bowl game. Pinckney finished the season with four consecutive double-digit DraftKings point games, three of which were with Vasko at quarterback. Pinckney's stock was trending upwards anyway. He has perhaps the highest ceiling of any receiver on this slate.
Cam Johnson, Northwestern ($5,200)
Johnson was the leading receiver down the stretch for the Wildcats. By the end of the season, he and Ben Bryant really had something going. Johnson finished with four straight games over 12 DraftKings points, culminating in a seven-catch, 124-yard performance against rival Illinois. The Wildcats are going to have trouble running on this Utah front. Any give will be through the air. With a receiver like Johnson, Northwestern has a chance to pick up a couple of chunk plays.
Jabre Barber, Troy ($4,400)
Barber caught at least four passes in each of the last four games and had at least 70 yards in three of those four. Chris Lewis is the guy making the plays down the field, but Barber's sure points are hard to ignore. He even logged a couple of carries out of the backfield as the Trojans keep looking for ways to get him the ball. I'll take the shorter pass receiver against a tough Duke defense.
Also consider: Nick Nash, San Jose State ($6.400); Reggie Brown, James Madison ($5,700); Jalon Calhoun, Duke ($5,500); Courtney Jackson, Arkansas State ($5,100); Phoenix Sproles, James Madison ($4,500)
DraftKings CFB Stacks:
Northern Illinois
Arkansas State's defense was put through the wringer by a few teams this year. That is skewing their stats some, but it's not responsible for all of the lapses they had defensively this year. Rocky Lombardi is always a risk to use. It's unconventional to leave the quarterback out of a stack, but I expect NIU to run the ball more. That was their game plan all season. Antario Brown is a must in this stack. The return of Trayvon Rudolph can only help, and with Kacper Rutkiewicz and Davis Patterson both unlikely to play, that will leave more balls for Rudolph. Grayson Barnes scored a touchdown in four of the last five games and is worth a look as well.
Utah State
Georgia State's defense struggled at times this year. Without Marcus Carroll around to help with clock control, the Aggies could wind up with the ball even more. Cooper Legas has been downgraded to doubtful, so former Wyoming quarterback Levi Williams will start. Williams is a solid play, but he likely won't provide a ceiling play for both receivers. I would suggest taking only one of Vaughn or Royals and using Rashul Faison instead.
Also consider: South Alabama, San Jose State
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