Normally I would do a full write-up along with my player rankings when covering a CFB slate, but the holiday weekend makes time a little short. I’ve also got to get an NFL DFS post up by Saturday, and I’m covering the Friday and Saturday NHL slates for another site. That said, I’ve found the time to do all of my normal research for this Friday slate. I just don’t have the extra couple of hours it takes to do a full write-up.

Below you’ll find rankings for the 11-game Friday slate on DK along with a tiny bit of commentary. You’ll also find a matchup chart for the slate that includes information from Vegas and information on each team’s opponent in terms of their defensive strength. The defensive numbers are rankings from Football Outsiders’ S&P+ ratings. All the info is color coded as follows from most favorable to the offense to least favorable: purple-blue-green-yellow-orange-red-burgundy.

As always, keep in mind that price has a big impact on a player’s ranking.

Matchup Chart

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Player Rankings

Quarterback

1. Chris Johnson – $7,000 – Baylor
2. Tommy Armstrong – $5,100 – Nebraska
3. Vernon Adams Jr. – $8,100 – Oregon
4. C.J. Beathard – $5,500 – Iowa

Adams is the safe play as Oregon has by far the highest team total of the slate in Vegas. But he’ll be popular given the Vegas love, the good matchup and his crazy performance last week, so he could be someone to fade in tournaments. Johnson will continue to fill in for the injured Jarrett Stidham. In just one half of work last week, Johnson cleared 20 fantasy points. He seems impossible to pass up at his reasonable price. And then your super cheap options come from the Iowa-Nebraska game. Beathard has finally been consistently usable the last three weeks, but Armstrong has flashed much more upside this season. Plus, Iowa’s defense is a friendlier matchup for Armstrong than Nebraska’s is for Beathard.

Running Back

1. Royce Freeman – $7,500 – Oregon
2. Qadree Ollison – $5,300 – Pittsburgh
3. Devin Chafin – $4,400 – Baylor
4. Dontrell Hilliard – $4,100 – Tulane
5. Remi Watson – $3,700 – Marshall
6. Alex Collins – $6,100 – Arkansas

Again, going with the Ducks is the safe play. Their team total in Vegas is over 50 and no other team is over 40. Freeman averages 28.5 fantasy points per game and has at least 100 yards or a score in each game, so his floor is high, but he also has 40-point upside. Ollison also has a nice floor as he has at least 25 touches, 100 yards and a score in both of his last two games. The other non-cheap back to consider is Collins. Arkansas has thrown the ball a ton recently, but Collins has 40-point upside as well and isn’t likely to be as highly owned as guys like Freeman.

As for the salary relief options, Chafin is the man if Shock Linwood is unable to go. Linwood has been termed “very questionable” by Art Briles, so there’s a decent chance Chafin sees a lot of work in that offensive machine. Hilliard and Watson split carries with other backs in their offenses, but both back should see 10-15 touches. Hilliard has a particularly good matchup against Tulsa.

Wide Receiver

1. Taywan Taylor – $6,000 – Western Kentucky
2. Bralon Addison – $5,200 – Oregon
3. Jordan Westerkamp – $4,000 – Nebraska
4. KaVontae Turpin – $5,000 – TCU
5. Shaun Nixon – $4,400 – TCU
6. Victor Bolden – $3,800 – Oregon State
7. Jordan Villamin – $3,100 – Oregon State
8. Corey Coleman – $7,000 – Baylor
9. Matt VandeBerg – $3,600 – Iowa

Addison, Westerkamp, VandeBerg and Coleman are your stack options with the quarterbacks ranked above. VandeBerg and Coleman probably aren’t guys I would roster unless you’re also rostering their quarterback, VandeBerg because he’s not totally reliable with Iowa relying on the run and Coleman because he’s pricey. But Addison and Westerkamp have reasonable price tags and see a healthy dosage of targets each game.

Taylor leads the non-stack options. He’s been incredibly consistent as he has topped 20 fantasy points in all but two games. In his other nine games he has at least 80 yards and a score in each game. As for the TCU guys, Turpin has four straight games with double digit fantasy points, and he broke a long one last week on an 86-yard score. But I’m a bit concerned about Turpin. I was at the TCU-OU game last week and had Turpin rostered, so I was acutely aware that he wasn’t even on the field with the offense for the large majority of the first three quarters. He had been getting some regular volume prior and it makes little sense for TCU to ignore him. Nixon, on the other hand has seen consistent volume with 19 receptions in his last three games. And finally the Oregon State guys have a good matchup against Oregon who ranks 109th in total defense and 117th against the pass. Bolden is the higher floor guy, and Villamin is more boom-or-bust.

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