Ivan Herrera 
Welcome back to another exciting season of CFB! We are starting Week 8 action on Saturday with a big 12-game slate. We are starting to enter conference matchups, which always make for great environments. The biggest game on the slate is a Top 25 matchup between Pac-12 rivals Washington State and Oregon.
The purpose of this article is to break down the college football main slates, both on the DFS and betting sites. The article includes my favorite plays at every position as well as honorable mentions. You can also find my favorite bets under my Dragos Best Bets section.
The QBs:
Jensen Jones (AF): $5,400
My risky value play of the week: I was hoping that the Air Force’s starting QB Larrier would be available for the matchup against Navy but was ruled out. His backup and now-starting QB for the Falcons is Jones, who, like Larrier, is just a running back who is listed as a QB. It is a risk to play a QB who may only throw 3-5 passes, but we can’t ignore how successful Air Force has been running the ball. The Falcons are first in CFB in rushing yards per game and total rushing touchdowns this season. Navy’s rush defense is average at best, allowing 148.5 yards per game and over a touchdown. Unlike every other QB, don’t pair him with a WR but instead use a RB if you don’t want to play him solo.
Who to pair him with: These are all RBs. Emmanuel Michel. John Lee Eldridge. Owen Burk.
Bo Nix (ORE): $9,800
One of the reasons why I am so interested in playing a risky Jones at QB is to be able to fit in Nix and the QB I’ll talk about after Nix. Nix’s has a season low of 23.3 on DraftKings, but in that game against Hawaii, he left with 11:30 left in the third because Oregon was up 38. This weekend, he looks to bounce back after losing a great matchup against now-Heisman favorite Michael Penix and his Huskies. In front of him is the other Washington team, WSU. The Cougars are a team that can keep pace with Oregon thanks to their solid offense, so we don’t need to worry about Nix’s playing time. WSU’s pass defense ranks 118th against the pass, which bodes well for Nix. He’s my favorite higher-priced QB on the slate.
Who to pair him with: Troy Franklin. Tez Johnson. Terrance Ferguson (VALUE PLAY).
Quinn Ewers (UT): $8,600
Ewers is my favorite pivot off of Nix if you need some salary for other spots. Texas had a bye week last week after losing to rival Oklahoma on October 7. Ewers and Texas get a good matchup to bounce back from their first loss of the year. They play a Houston pass defense that is in the bottom 15 against the pass. The Cougars give up 267 yards per game, which is the second highest allowed on the slate, only behind WSU, which is playing Nix. Meanwhile, Ewers comes in averaging 284 yards through the air, which is the fifth highest on the slate. The matchup against Houston can help Ewers finish as a top three QBs on the slate.
Who to pair him with: Xavier Worthy. Adonai Mitchell. Ja’Tavion Sanders.
Honorable Mentions: Dillon Gabriel (OU). Cam Ward (WSU). Seth Henigan (MEM). Donovan Smith (UH). John Rhys Plumlee (UCF). Jacob Zeno (UAB). Alan Bowman (OKST).
Value QBs: Kurtis Rourke (OHIO)
The RBs:
Braelon Allen (WISC): $7,700
Another week of Braelon Allen. Allen failed to score last week and ended up struggling against an Iowa rush defense that found its toughness once again last week. But this week, one of the worst rush defenses in Illinois is ranked 100th against the run and has given up big games to RBs who aren’t as elite as Allen. Thanks to his struggles last week, he was given a $600 discount that will be beneficial. In his freshman year, he visited Memorial Stadium against Illinois and rushed for 131 yards and a score. Expect to see more of that type of game from him, as he should handle the Illinois rush defense.
Jonathon Brooks (UT): $7,400
Brooks has had a great season, replacing Bijan Robinson as the Longhorns starting RB. On Saturday’s slate, he is the RB1, averaging 24.8 DraftKing points per game. Like his QB mentioned above, Brooks has a great matchup against the fourth-worst rush defense on the slate. The Cougars come in allowing 162 rushing yards and 2.2 touchdowns per game. Along with Allen, Brooks has a chance to break the slate thanks to his matchup. In SE, you will probably need one of Allen or Brooks to have a successful slate. My preference is Allen since there isn’t a big price difference, but I wouldn’t ever say no to a lineup with Brooks.
CJ Donaldson Jr. (WVU): $6,500
Donaldson is the lowest-priced RB of my write-ups, but he still is a good CFB running back. He has had at least 15 rushing attempts in all but one game this season. The one game where he didn’t get 15 attempts is also the only game so far where he didn’t have a rushing touchdown. The OK State rushing defense is average at best; they rank in the bottom half of rushing yards allowed. On this slate, they have allowed the 10th most rushing touchdowns, giving up at least one touchdown per game.
Honorable Mentions: Bucky Irving (ORE) Blake Watson (MEM). RJ Harvey (UCF). Jermaine Brown Jr. (UAB). Ollie Gordon II (OKST). Tawee Walker (OU).
Value RBs (5K and under): Jalen Buckley (WMU)
The WRs:
Kyle Williams (WSU): $5,700
The Washington State vs. Oregon game has the third highest total on the slate with 61. This game will be a shootout, and for WSU to have a chance to pull off the upset, Williams will have to play a big role. We saw last week against Washington that the Oregon DBs struggled to contain multiple WRs. Odunze and Polk from the Huskies each had over 115 yards and a score. Like Washington, WSU has multiple WRs that the Duck secondary will have to be content with. While I like Victor and Kelly from WSU, Williams leads the team in receptions (33) and yards (448). Over the past three games, Williams has averaged eight receptions per game and has had at least seven in each of the three games.
Samuel Brown (UH): $6,500
Brown is one of my favorite WRs in CFB. He currently leads the Cougars in receptions (37) and yards (549) through six games. He is a big play threat as he averages 14.8 yards per catch, and the Texas defense is 65th in yards allowed per catch, allowing 11.94. With Golden struggling with a groin injury that kept him out of the second half of the WVU game, UH should look more to Brown to be able to keep up with a Texas offense that should be firing on all cylinders. The UH vs. UT game has the fourth highest total at 60.5.
Roc Taylor (MEM): $5,800
Taylor enters this week on a three-game streak of 20+ DraftKings points. Taylor gets a great matchup against a UAB secondary that has struggled to contain good WRs. Against teams that rank in the top half of passing yards per game, UAB has allowed at least 14.4 points on DraftKings. Memphis’s pass offense ranks in the top half as they are the 28th-ranked pass offense, and Taylor, on his own, is 40th in receiving yards. Taylor is the second-best option under 6K behind Williams, who opened the WR section of my article.
Honorable Mentions: Marvin Harrison Jr. (OSU). Sam Wiglusz (OHIO). Drake Stoops (OU). Andrew Armstrong (ARK). Lideatrick Griffin (MSST). KeAndre Lambert-Smith (PSU). Josh Kelly (WSU). Isaiah Williams (IL). Matthew Golden (UH). Koby Hudson (UCF).
Value Plays (4.9K and under): Demeer Blankumsee (MEM). Will Pauling (WISC). Tejhaun Palmer (UAB).
Drago’s Best Bets:
- Texas vs Houston over 60.5
- Penn State +4.5
- UCF vs Oklahoma over 67
- Oklahoma State vs WVU over 49.5
- Washington State +20.5
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