Below are positional rankings for the 17-game early slate of DraftKings contests on Saturday with some commentary along the way. Keep in mind that salary has a huge impact on a player’s ranking.

Matchup Chart

Below is a matchup chart I create each week 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. One thing to note with the defensive ranks is that a team’s total defense rank is schedule adjusted, but the rushing and passing ranks are not adjusted. All the info is color coded as follows from most favorable to the offense to least favorable: purple-blue-green-yellow-orange-red-burgundy.

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Quarterback

1. Baker Mayfield – $8,000 – Oklahoma
2. Seth Russell – $9,300 – Baylor
3. Patrick Mahomes – $8,400 – Texas Tech
4. Seth Collins – $7,100 – Oregon State
5. DeShone Kizer – $6,200 – Notre Dame

Baker Mayfield has been exceptional for Oklahoma so far with at lease three passing touchdowns in each of his four games and 17 total touchdowns. He’s right up there in terms of fantasy points per game with the top quarterbacks available on this slate, but he’s cheaper than the other top QBs, quite a bit cheaper in some cases. Oklahoma doesn’t have the highest team total according to Vegas, but their team total is high enough and ranks sixth for the slate. The matchup against Texas is more than fine as the Longhorns rank 75th in total defense and have been worse against the pass than they have against the run.

In a vacuum, perhaps I’d rather roster Seth Russell than Baker Mayfield. Russell is one of the few QBs who has been better than Mayfield, though no one has really been better than Russell. Russell and Baylor have the highest team total of the slate against Kansas (duh), and Kansas ranks 123rd (out of 128) in total defense. But when you factor in the fact that Russell is $1,300 more expensive than Mayfield, I’m more inclined to go with Baker. I’m not overly concerned that Russell won’t get his before Baylor puts in the backups when this one gets out of hand. But there is at least some risk of that limiting Russell’s upside.

If you want to pay up for two top QBs but can’t afford Russell, Patrick Mahomes is an option to pair with Mayfield. Mahomes is averaging 367 yards per game and four total touchdowns per game, so he’s been consistently good so far. But I’m a bit wary of his matchup. Iowa State has been an above average defense ranking 32nd in total defense, and they’ve been better against the pass than they have against the run. The competition hasn’t been overly stiff, but they’re allowing less than 200 yards per game through the air. I’m positive Mahomes will get to 200 and pretty sure he’ll get to 300. But I’m not positive the upside is there.

If you’re looking for a bargain option, I like Seth Collins against Arizona. Collins hasn’t been great this season, but he did have a little breakout last week with 275 yards passing and two total touchdowns. The main reason he’s a consideration this week is a very good matchup against Arizona. Arizona ranks 115th in total defense and 126th against the pass. Arizona has seen UCLA’s Josh Rosen and Stanford’s Kevin Hogan so they’ve seen some decent quarterbacks, but those guys aren’t exactly elite QBs. That makes the fact that they’ve allowed at least two passing touchdowns in four of their five games even more concerning.

If you want to go even cheaper at QB2, DeShone Kizer is an option. Kizer has really settled in the last two games with three total touchdowns in each of the last two weeks and 321 yards plus 60 rushing yards last week against Clemson. I really like his price and am tempted to go with him over Collins as a price-saving measure since Kizer will save more. But I’m a bit concerned about the matchup. He’ll face a Navy team that has an above average defense and a much better pass defense than run defense. If you’d rather save more, then I have no problem with Kizer over Collins.

Running Back

1. Qadree Ollison – $5,200 – Pittsburgh
2. Travis Greene – $5,600 – Bowling Green
3. D’Andre Ferby – $5,700 – Western Kentucky
4. Jordan Parker – $4,300 – Middle Tennessee
5. Justin Stockton – $3,700 – Texas Tech
6. Ezekiel Elliott – $8,500 – Ohio State

Let’s start with the fact that I don’t have Leonard Fournette ranked. Other than price, there’s no reason not to like him. He’s been a complete monster and his matchup against South Carolina isn’t a bad one. But at his price tag ($9,900) you’re going to need him to go for close to 40 to hit value. He could absolutely do that, but the chances of it are a bit lower this week against a real SEC team. I’d also prefer to spend on two quarterbacks if possible, so I’d just rather allocate my money elsewhere.

If you do want to pay for a top running back, Ezekiel Elliott is the pricey guy with the best chance of hitting value. Ohio State has the third highest team total of the day, and Elliott has been the only reliable piece of that offense. Coming in at $1,400 cheaper than Fournette, Elliott is my preferred expensive option. But as you can tell from the rankings, I’d prefer to just go cheap at running back.

The cheaper options start with Qadree Ollison. Since James Conner went down for Pittsburgh, both Ollison and Darrin Hall have seen work in the backfield. But Hall missed last week with an injury, and Ollison carried the ball 19 times for 122 yards and a score. That performance earned him the top spot on this week’s Pitt depth chart, so the job appears to be his. He has a good matchup against Virginia this week who ranks 104th in total defense and is equally bad against the run and the pass.

Two teams with high totals and good matchups are Bowling Greene and Western Kentucky. Normally their quarterbacks, Matt Johnson and Brandon Doughty, would be considerations, but I don’t like their price tags. So instead I’ll get my exposure to those teams in the running game with Travis Green and D’Andre Ferby. Both teams are favorites, so game flow could be in the backs favor. But more importantly, they have good matchups against Massachusetts (110th total D, 103rd run D) and Middle Tennessee (56th total D, 121st run D). Greene has been slightly more productive and has the slight better matchup, plus he’s $100 cheaper, so he’s the one I prefer of the two.

If you’d like to go very cheap at running back (or at flex) Jordan Parker is worth considering. I’m a bit confused by his two carries last week against Vandy, and I’m kind of assuming he was injured. But I can’t find anything about why he only got two carries, and all previews of the upcoming game against Western Kentucky speak of Parker as if he is expected to play. He is salso till listed atop the depth chart at RB, and he carried the ball 23 and 14 times in the two games prior to the Vandy game.

The cheapest back I can really recommend in Justin Stockton. The Texas Tech sophomore manages to find a way to have an impact almost every week. In the last four games he has at least 55 yards from scrimmage in each game, and he is averaging 73.5 yards from scrimmage per game in that stretch. He also has four total touchdowns through five games, so he even has a little upside on top of that decent floor of 60 or so yards per game. If you need to save money in a flex spot, consider Stockton.

Wide Receiver

1. Corey Coleman – $7,900 – Baylor
2. Chris Godwin – $4,400 – Penn State
3. Jordan Villamin – $4,100 – Oregon State
4. Marken Michael – $4,200 – Massachusetts
5. Matt VandeBerg – $4,500 – Iowa
6. Taywan Taylor – $6,000 – Western Kentucky
7. Tyler Higbee – $4,300 – Western Kentucky
8. Malachi Dupre – $3,600 – LSU
9. Mark Andrews – $3,200 – Oklahoma

Look at Corey Coleman’s game log. Look at it. The guy is a total monster. It actually reminds me a lot of what Michael Crabtree did in 2007 when he scored 17 touchdowns through Tech’s first six games. With this super-soft matchup against Kansas, I see no reason why the touchdown parade is going to end this week. Whether you roster Russell or not, I’d try to roster Coleman.

Aside from Coleman, the only two receivers ranked here whose quarterbacks were ranked above are Jordan Villamin and Mark Andrews. Both are good red zone targets. At 6-5, 231 Villamin is a big target for Collins, and Villamin has scored a touchdown in three of four games so far. A Collins/Villamin stack would save a nice bit of money. And Andrews is also a red zone target that can provide salary relief. Andrews is touchdown-dependent as he’s rarely on the field between the 20’s, but he’s in for almost every snap in the red zone. The big tight end also has three touchdowns this season and is someone Mayfield always has his eye out for near the end zone. As for stack options to use with Mahomes and Kizer, I’d probably lean toward a cheaper option like Devin Lauderdale for Tech and then you have to go with Will Fuller for the Irish.

Let’s quick hit the remaining ranked receiver:

• Godwin – Penn State has a great matchup against Indiana who ranks 96th in total D and 118th against the pass. Godwin has at least 49 yards and at least four catches in each of his five games and averages 69.8 yards and 4.6 catches per game. That’s a nice floor, but there is upside in this matchup.
• Michel – Tajae Sharpe is the premier UMass receiver, but Michel gets his. Michel averages 71 yards and 5.5 catches per game, and he flashed his upside last week with 113 yards and two scores. His matchup is very good against Bowling Green who ranks 110th in total D.
• VandeBerg – The Iowa passing game has a tough matchup against Illinois, but VandeBerg is kind of a PPR mahcine as he has six or more receptions in four of five games. There are probably better options, but VandeBerg is suited to the PPR format.
• Taylor and Higbee – If you want exposure to the WKU passing game, you could do it with Taylor and Higbee without having to pay Doughty’s price. Taylor has been a total monster the last four weeks with an average of 132.75 yards and 7.25 receptions per game to go along with five touchdowns. Higbee is the big tight end who also has five touchdowns this season. And Higbee isn’t a touchdown-only guy as he has 408 yards on 28 receptions in five games.
• Dupre – Dupre is nothing but a home run option if you need to go cheap at a flex spot.

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