It’s conference championship week, and the CFB DFS options are abundant on this slate. As always with college football daily fantasy, traditional stacking rules and other general football DFS strategies apply (such as looking at college football ownership projections). With that said, let’s get into the CFB conference championship DFS picks and projections for Saturday, Dec. 2.
CFB Conference Championship DFS Picks & Projections | Dec. 2
Quarterback
Taylen Green ($6,700): In the premier DFS game on the conference championship slate, Boise State takes on UNLV as a 2.5-point favorite in a game with a 59 total. With Maddux Madsen going down earlier this year, Taylen Green has taken over full-time quarterback duties. Green provides excellent mobility and serviceable passing efficiency. More importantly, UNLV ranks 120th in pass coverage, setting up Green for success.
Jayden Maiava ($6,800): On the other side of the Boise State game, UNLV also benefits from an excellent game environment. Jayden Maiava has dual-threat ability, evidenced by his 244 rushing yards. He also has superior passing numbers, averaging 9.0 yards per attempt on a 63.7% completion percentage. Boise State also has a pathetic defense, ranking 97th against the run and 104th against the pass.
Michael Pratt ($8,000): Tulane is a 3.5-point favorite over SMU in a game with a 47.5 total. While Tulane has used Michael Pratt as a game manager against weaker opponents, it also unleashed him against superior competition. Pratt accounted for 321 rushing yards this year, while averaging 216.7 passing yards on 24.7 attempts. SMU has a solid defense on paper, but it also faced an FCS-caliber schedule. Recently, it allowed 402 yards to Seth Henigan in a 4-point victory over Memphis.
Carson Beck ($8,600): Georgia is a 6-point favorite over Alabama in a game with 54.5 total. While this will be Carson Beck‘s toughest test this year, he still averages 291.9 passing yards per game on 30.9 attempts. He also has 129 rushing yards, which keeps his ceiling, even in tough matchups. Georgia projects to return Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey and Rara Thomas for this affair as well.
Running Back
C.J. Baxter ($5,600): Texas is a 15.5-point favorite over Oklahoma State in a game with a 54.5 total. During an absolute beatdown of Texas Tech in Week 13, Texas limited freshman C.J. Baxter to just 10 carries after he sustained an in-game injury. In Texas’ two previous games, Baxter touched the ball 19 and 25 times. He is reportedly healthy and should find success against a Cowboy’s defense allowing 4.6 yards per carry.
Kimani Vidal ($7,000): Troy is a 5.5-point favorite over Appalachian State in a game with a 52.5 total. In this offense, Kimani Vidal averages 22.7 touches per game. This has resulted in 112.4 rushing and 16.4 receiving yards per game. Appalachian State ranks 111th in run defense and allowed 4.9 yards per carry to opposing rushers.
Makhi Hughes ($6,400): Tulane’s lead back Makhi Hughes has touched the ball 26, 20, 23 and 26 times over the last four games. He has also seen his routes climb over 50% in that span, which should keep him involved in all game scripts.
Roydell Williams ($4,000): Jase McClellan looks like a legitimate game-time decision this week. If McClellan sits, Roydell Williams will likely see between 15 to 20 touches. While the matchup remains tough, this volume/price cannot be ignored.
Trey Benson ($6,900): Florida State is a 1.5-point favorite over Louisville in a game with a 47.5 total. The Seminoles already lost Jordan Travis for the season, and rumors of a Tate Rodemaker concussion have begun to circulate. In a highly competitive game against Florida without Travis, Florida State fed Trey Benson 20 touches, while Lawrance Toafili only saw six. Rodney Hill also failed to log a touch. With Florida State willing to ride its lead back in competitive games, Benson remains worth a look for tournaments.
Wide Receiver
Jabre Barber ($4,400): The most underpriced receiver on the entire slate, Jabre Barber currently averages 70.2 receiving yards per game on 7.8 targets. Inexplicably, Chris Lewis comes in with a higher price tag. For reference, Lewis averages 52.8 yards per game on 5.3 targets. Barber is a top-3 cash play on the slate.
Johnny Wilson ($4,900): Despite potentially playing with a third-string quarterback, Johnny Wilson is too cheap for his talent. The stud receiver averages 8.0 targets per game over Florida State’s last three contests. He has actually out-gained Keon Coleman 66.2-58.1 in terms of receiving yards on a per-game basis. At this price, Wilson is worth a dart throw, regardless of quarterback.
Ricky White ($6,700): Perhaps the premier alpha receiver on the slate, Michigan State transfer Ricky White boasts a 35.5% target share while averaging 108.7 receiving yards per game. Volume and matchup set up White as the top overall receiver play.
Xavier Worthy ($6,200): Xavier Worthy has a discounted price tag as another Texas player who has been banged up. Worthy averaged 10.8 targets per game over Texas’ last four contests while posting a 28.2% target share on the year. Oklahoma State also allows 8.5 yards per pass to opposing quarterbacks.
Prince Strachan ($3,400): At wide receiver, Boise State lost Eric McAlister, Stefan Cobbs, Chase Penry and Shea Whiting. This leaves Billy Bowens, Prince Strachan and Austin Bolt to handle three-wide sets. All three have full route shares, but the small sample makes it difficult to determine the top pass catcher. They can be sprinkled as value plays, alongside Ja’Tavion Sanders (Texas), Jacob De Jesus (UNLV), Corey Thompson Jr. (UNLV), Romello Brinson (SMU), Key’Shawn Smith (SMU), Jake Bailey (SMU), Alex Bauman (Tulane) and Amari Niblack (Alabama).
