RADIO
We now have college football every day until January 2, and not just one game per day like last week. Most wonderful time of the year, indeed! We were supposed to have four games tonight, but COVID is claiming some bowl games as their own, so who knows? Right now we still have three games tonight. I can be happy with that!
We start off with another football game in a baseball stadium (there were two last night.....well....supposed to be two last night) with Maryland and Virginia Tech meeting in Yankee Stadium. Next up it the Breece Hall-less Iowa State team taking on Clemson. We end the night with Oklahoma and Oregon in San Antonio. This is going to be another good one!
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy college football lineup picks for DraftKings on 12/29/21 locking at 2:15 pm eastern. I’ll be providing multiple player suggestions for players at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver, aiming to highlight one option apiece at the high, middle, and lower end of the salary scale. Good luck, RotoBallers. But first, we start with the betting picks!
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CFB Betting Picks 12/29:
Maryland(-3.5) vs. Virginia Tech at Bronx, NY
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 4
I'm not a huge fan of that half, but Virginia Tech lost two of three scholarship quarterbacks and their best receiver. Give me Maryland.
(19)Clemson(-2.5) vs. Iowa State at Orlando, FL
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 3
There are conflicting reports as to whether Breece Hall is going to play or not. Matt Campbell said he expects him to play, but it might just be a ruse to hold the line. It's working. If Hall were ruled out, like I believe will be the case, this line would have jumped closer to a touchdown. I'm taking Clemson.
(14)Oregon vs. (16)Oklahoma(-6.5)
Betting Pick Confidence Factor: 5
I have high hopes for this offense with Lincoln Riley gone against an Oregon team that is down 30+ scholarship players. I'm all-in on this one! BOOMER!
DraftKings CFB DFS Quarterbacks
Caleb Williams, Oklahoma ($8,200)
Williams shook off a couple of bad starts against Baylor and Iowa State with a good performance against Oklahoma State in a game the Sooners could have won. With Oregon losing Kayvon Thibodeaux and about 30 of his friends to either the draft or the transfer portal, this Oregon team is going to be hurting. It has been the opinion of many Sooner fans that Lincoln Riley was actually holding Williams and the receivers back this year with the playcalling. That fact alone has me paying up for Williams at least once. I'm excited to see what Oklahoma is going to look like with Bob Stoops back, if only for one game.
Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland ($6,700)
Taulia closed the season with strong outings against both Michigan schools and Rutgers, so I'm not all that scared of Virginia Tech. Taulia's horrible October is a distant memory. He put up 81.8 DraftKings points over the last three games of the season. Three starters on the Virginia Tech defense are opting out of this one, making me like Taulia even more. Caleb Williams is still a freshman. I view Taulia as the most reliable QB on the slate even if his upside isn't as high as Brown or Williams.
Connor Blumrick, Virginia Tech ($5,500)
Braxton Burmeister is also leaving Blacksburg along with Knox Kadum. That leaves Blumrick as the only quarterback. Good or bad, Blumrick is going to be at the helm the whole game. Losing Tre Turner to the draft hurts as well, but there is some reason for optimism. Maryland allowed 258.1 passing yards per game and 22 touchdowns to only six interceptions. Blumrick carried 20 times for 132 yards against Miami a couple of games ago. That's what really has me excited about Blumrick as a value option.
Also consider: Anthony Brown, Oregon ($7,100); Brock Purdy, Iowa State ($5,900); D.J. Uiagalelei, Clemson ($5,700)
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DraftKings CFB DFS Running Backs
Kennedy Brooks, Oklahoma ($6,200)
I don't see a good reason to pay up for running back here. Travis Dye has ample upside, but Oklahoma and Iowa State both have top-30 rush defenses, so I'll lean on Brooks a little more here. Aside from his limited work in a blowout win over Texas Tech, Brooks has at last 12.5 DraftKings points in every game since the West Virginia game in Week 4. My same feeling towards Williams applies to Brooks. I'm excited to see what the Oklahoma offense brings down I-35 to San Antonio.
Malachi Thomas, Virginia Tech ($6,000)
Raheem Blackshear has declared for the NFL Draft, but he hasn't ruled out playing in the Pinstripe Bowl. I'm guessing that he wont play, but if he does, I'm switching to Blackshear. His huge game against Virginia during rivalry week is more than enough to put me on him against Maryland. Thomas filled in nicely when Blackshear missed time in October and early November this year. I definitely want the starting Tech tailback with a new quarterback under center in this game, whether it be Thomas or Blackshear.
Jirehl Brock, Iowa State ($5,700)
Breece Hall has declared for the draft as well, but apparently he may play in the bowl game to extend his NCAA record for consecutive games with a touchdown run. If he does, I'm ignoring the Iowa State backfield entirely. If not, Brock has enough upside to consider against a Clemson team that lost their defensive coordinator.
Byron Cardwell, Oregon ($4,000)
Oklahoma is missing a couple of key pieces on defense as well, so using an Oregon guy or two may not be a horrible idea. Dye is going to need the find the end zone to hit value. Cardwell is enough cheaper to keep an eye on here. Forget the Pac-12 Championship against Utah. Prior to that, Cardwell had at least 35 rushing yards and six touches per game since C.J. Verdell went down. Cardwell scored two of his three touchdowns against Washington State so don't count on him getting a score. However, he should get enough touches to get us decent value.
Also consider: Travis Dye, Oregon ($7,200); Will Shipley, Clemson ($6,900); Tayon Fleet-Davis, Maryland ($5,300); Kobe Pace, Clemson ($4,800)
DraftKings CFB DFS Wide Receivers
Charlie Kolar, Iowa State ($6,400)
Kolar caught fire in November with 87.5 DraftKings points in four games. Three of his five touchdowns on the season came in November along with 30 of his 58 receptions. Clemson's defense is going to get after Purdy, especially since they likely wont have to deal with Breece Hall. That's what I'm not using Hutchinson here. Purdy likely wont have time to let all of those routes develop, resulting in many checkdowns to Kolar. I'm not playing Kolar for his ceiling. I'm playing him for the massive floor.
Beaux Collins, Clemson ($6,300)
I can't help but thinking that Collins should play for LSU, but I digress. Aside from the clunker against South Carolina in which Clemson ran the Gamecocks into submission, it was a great month for Collins. He racked up 67.1 DraftKings points in three November games prior to South Carolina. Iowa State's run defense is good enough to make Clemson go to the air again. Collins has big play written all over him. I'd guess that he's able to get deep at least once in this one.
Rakim Jarrett, Maryland ($5,800)
With all due respect to the other Maryland receivers, a healthy Jarrett is still far and away Taulia's favorite target. He hauled in 30 passes in the last five games. The only complaint was that he failed to reach the end zone. Jarrett's volume still gives him a solid floor, but until he starts scoring, he's tough to rely on. Still, he topped 20 DraftKings points in two of the last three games. I like those odds at this price. All of that without scoring a touchdown!
Marvin Mims, Oklaoma ($5,300)
Call it a hunch, but no one is happier with Lincoln Riley out of town than Mims. He wasn't used to his potential at all this year aside from the first game of the season. I'm looking forward to Mims putting up huge numbers next year. We should get a nice preview right here in the Alamo Bowl tonight!
Also consider: Xavier Hutchinson, Iowa State ($7,200); Chigoziem Okonkwo, Maryland ($4,700); Isaah Crocker, Oregon ($3,700); Nick Gallo, Virginia Tech ($3,600)
