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The college football season is just flying by, as we are already into Week 4. This is technically our fifth main DFS slate, since we have been playing since Week 0. The frustrating blowouts that occur during the first portion of the season are just about behind us and as we enter conference play, we can expect games to be much closer going forward. Closer games mean less chance of our players being pulled early and our fantasy-point expectations will be much more accurate.

In addition to this writeup, you can catch the latest episode of the CFB SuperShow. We break down each game for both the Thursday and Friday slates with our primary focus being on DraftKings. We also highlight a ton of PrizePicks props, which is something I’d encourage you to start entering earlier because a lot of the numbers are significantly higher by Saturday. Also, there is plenty of betting market chatter on the show, so you’ll have several different ways to make money this week.

This breakdown will highlight my top 2-3 plays at each position as well as some secondary options for those looking to MME. Furthermore, I will be providing you with a three-man core for both sites that you can use for your main build. You can also count on me to list out any soft PrizePicks lines that I see which tend to change often so you’ll want to jump on them early if you plan on tailing.

Lastly, news is constantly dropping in the college football world and it’s not exactly easy to find unless you know what you’re looking for. This is why you should fully take advantage of a key piece of your subscription which is the CFB DFS Discord channel. This is where we drop updated depth charts, any breaking injury news as well as sharing our evolving thoughts. I know as much as anyone how time-consuming tracking news and researching can be but that’s why you have us to do it for you. Let’s dive into Week 4.

Vegas Odds

Team	Odds	Team	Odds	Total
Virginia	+295	Syracuse	-360 (-9.5)	53.5
Nevada	+1400	Air Force	-3500 (-24.5)	46.5
Boise State	-720 (-16.5)	UTEP	+520	45.5

Quarterbacks

Garrett Shrader, Syracuse ($7.8k DK/$12k FD)

The Syracuse offense has been completely revitalized and now has a solid mix of pass/running plays. Last year, the passing game was nonexistent, and they were fully reliant on running the football. It was great for DFS purposes because we knew the heavy volume for Sean Tucker and Shrader could be relied upon with confidence, but it didn’t lead to as many victories as the team would obviously like to see. Shrader has been slinging it through the first quarter of the season with 704 yards and 8 TDs to an impressive 0 INTs. He has also completed roughly 67% of his passes while still being a factor in the running game with 201 yards/3 TDs. The price tag is wrong, and he is Friday’s 90% rostered option.

Brennan Armstrong, Virginia ($6.6k DK/$9.8k FD)

Just like Thursday, I will be rolling two quarterbacks from the same game in my main lineup. Armstrong has been the opposite of Shrader in that his passing has actually gotten worse under a new offensive coordinator, but he has maintained fantasy relevance thanks to his dual-threat ability. He has completed a lowly 53% of his passes for 710 yards and 2 TDs to an ugly 3 INTs. He has rushed for 150 yards and TD but has lost two fumbles, so turnovers have been an early Achilles heel for him. I’m just not a believer in this Syracuse defense despite how good they’ve looked in the early going, so I’ll trust that Armstrong can get things going tonight and be the reliable fantasy asset that we have come to know him as.

Additional QB Targets

Haaziq Daniels, Air Force — Service Academy offenses have been an intriguing part of the fantasy landscape for years, and Air Force has been the most viable triple option squad this season. Daniels typically won’t see much passing volume, but his heavy involvement in the running game makes him an intriguing short-slate GPP option. He did attempt 14 passes last week, so that’s a wrinkle in the offense that would push me toward more exposure on Daniels if we think it continues.

Gavin Hardison, UTEP — His completion rate is atrocious sitting below 50%, but he is getting heavy volume having thrown 40-plus times in three of four games. Going up against Boise State, I expect those attempts to continue as they’ll likely fall behind early and have to play catch up.

Running Backs

Sean Tucker, Syracuse ($9.1k DK/$10.5k FD)

The Virginia Cavs rush defense has been among the worst in college football for the past two years, so this is a matchup that Tucker can fully exploit despite the fact that the Orange are throwing the ball more. Even though Tucker’s rushing attempts have declined slightly his touches are still healthy due to the fact that his target share has gone up in the passing game. He leads the team in targets with 18 and has a stat line of 12-124-1. On the ground he has piled up 254 yards and he is clearly the No. 1 option on this slate at all positions.

UTEP RBs

The Miners have a collection of backs they’ll give touches to, but Ronald Awatt is the primary option when it’s all said and done. He has accounted for 66% of UTEP’s carries and 57% of the total rushing yards. There is the worry about getting gamescripted out as they likely fall behind Boise State but at near min price, I’m willing to take that risk. We can also look at Reynaldo Flores at $3.2k. He actually isn’t a running back at all but the WR2 on the team. This is the opposite of last night when CJ Donaldson was listed at WR despite essentially being a running back. Flores is second on the team in targets with 38 and has caught 22 passes for 272 yards. The UTEP offense might not be particularly efficient, but the target share will be massive for their key skill position players and since they’re all cheap, we can feel good about getting exposure to them.

Additional RB Targets

Boise State RBs — George Holani has been a versatile weapon out of the backfield for the Broncos rushing for 186 yards/1 TD and catching 11 of his 12 targets for 96 yards/2 TDs. Primary backup Ashton Jeanty is getting roughly 30% of the carries which makes him a viable option for all formats at his $4.9k price tag on DK. If this game plays out the way I expect, the Broncos will run the ball plenty and Jeanty will get a lot of the late game work. Ashton has rushed for 118 yards and has caught all 8 of his targets for 78 yards.

Nevada RBs — The Wolfpack offense is truly horrific this season, which is simply a product of losing their coach to a rival program and 80% of their production moving onto the NFL. This means the QBs and the WRs are easy fades most of the time but their veteran RBs do possess some fantasy viability. Toa has rushed for almost 300 yards and 3 TDs through 4 games while catching 11 of his 14 targets for 88 yards/1 TD. Backup Devonte Lee is a playable value piece since he is also active in the passing game with 5 catches on 7 targets for almost 50 yards. He has also rushed for 173 yards and 4 TDs so his equity in this offense is solid for his meager price tag.

Brad Roberts, Air Force — This is a run-heavy offense and Roberts will typically be featured heavily. However, we will often see 10-plus players get a carry throughout their games, which obviously leads to some frustrating touchdown variance. The emergence of John Eldridge (277 rushing yards) has taken some shine off Roberts, and I’m not going to be prioritizing him at his high price tonight. I’m not saying to fade him by any means as he has rushed for almost 350 yards and found the end zone four times, but I think we can spend our money a little more responsibly in our main lineup. I will save my Roberts exposure for tournaments for this short slate.

Wide Receivers

Tyrin Smith, UTEP ($5.4k DK/$9k FD)

For years, Jacob Cowing was an elite fantasy option in this UTEP offense, and he made us profitable many times. Now that he is gone to Arizona, we have been able to rely on Tyrin Smith in that Cowing role. He has a whopping 56 targets through four games and has caught 27 passes for 435 yards/2 TDs. This slate is starting to look like a mini UTEP stack is the move, but it might seem a bit awkward because I’m simply not looking to use Gavin Hardison.

Virginia WRs

Dontayvion Wicks leads the team in targets with 37, but he only has 12 receptions, which tells us that catchable balls just haven’t been coming his way. This is especially frustrating because we know Armstrong is going to look Wicks’ way all game but if he can’t find a way to accurately hit him in the numbers his fantasy viability will continue to tank. I favor Keytaon Thompson over Wicks since the team uses him in a Swiss Army knife manner. He hasn’t had the carries this year like he had in the past, but they still line him up all over the field and the way to get Armstrong going might be through shorter passing routes which is something Thompson can excel at. He has caught 18 of his 24 targets for 235 yards. Billy Kemp is banged up, so Lavel Davis should see his target share spike a bit and he is a nice salary saver in all formats. He is third on the team in targets with 20 and has caught 8 of those passes for 203 yards. As you can see, the catch rate is terrible for the deep ball options, but Thompson’s 75% rate tells us that he is the top PPR option.

Additional WR Targets

Latrell Caples, Boise State — Cobbs hasn’t stepped into the Khalil Shakir role like most of us thought, but his 17 targets do lead the team so it’s not as if he has been terrible. It’s actually been Caples that has played the Shakir role more which has resulted in him getting carries and lining up all over the field. He has a 72% catch rate and has caught 2 TDs through four games. I like him quite a bit if you aren’t stacking up Boise State RBs.

FanDuel Core

Garrett Shrader
Sean Tucker
Tyrin Smith

DraftKings Core

Garrett Shrader
Sean Tucker
Tyrin Smith

PrizePicks Plays

Sean Tucker OVER 126.5 Rushing + Receiving Yards
Tyrin Smith OVER 5 Receptions
Keytaon Thompson OVER 5 Receptions
Garrett Shrader OVER 281.5 Passing + Rushing Yards