Week 9 DraftKings CFB Main Slate Plays (Thu.)

We are back with another Thursday night slate! The key this week is looking at who has been playing well recently, as there are a handful of guys in this slate that started out the season hot but have since cooled down. On the flipside, there are some good trending plays. Let’s dig in.

Against the Spread Picks

Georgia Southern (-1.5) vs Georgia State

Total Wagers

Virginia Tech vs Syracuse (Under 47)

Quarterbacks

Kyron Drones, Virginia Tech vs Syracuse (DK: $6.4K | FD: $9.2K | O/U: 47 | Implied: 24.75)

Kyron Drones is coming off a solid game against Wake Forest last week, in which he threw for 321 yards and two passing touchdowns as well as running for 59 yards. Three weeks ago, he threw for 228 yards and three touchdowns against Pitt. He also had 41 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on 21 attempts.

This Syracuse defense has been solid this year, but they have given up the most points to quarterbacks on this slate. With how well Drones has performed as of late, combined with his salary being the lowest of the four starting QBs, this makes him a great play in your lineups. He brings a threat in both the run and pass game against a defense that has allowed up more points to players than what they are averaging on the year.

Darren Grainger, Georgia St vs Georgia Southern (DK: $7.1K | FD: $11.0K | O/U: 64 | Implied: 31.25)

Darren Grainger has three top-20 finishes so far this year and will now face a defense that has given up +25 points 3 times this year. He’s only averaging 233 passing yards a game, but he’s a threat in the run game. He has 368 rushing yards on the season with five rushing touchdowns. Grainger is also the highest-projected QB on the slate.

Davis Brin, Georgia Southern vs Georgia St (DK: $6.9K | FD: $9.7K | O/U: 64 | Implied: 32.75)

Davis Brin is the other QB I’d consider on this slate, but he has been pretty up and down this season and is coming off two sub-60 performances. He does average 300 passing yards a game but won’t get you anything in the run game. I don’t think it will get much easier for him this week, as Georgia State has been good against QBs, only allowing 16 points a game. But he still feels like a better play than Garrett Shrader, who has been even worse and faces a defense allowing even less to QBs.

Alternatives

Garrett Shrader, Syracuse vs Virginia Tech (DK: $7.4K | FD: $K | O/U: 47 | Implied: 22.25)

Running Backs

Marcus Carroll, Georgia St vs Georgia Southern (DK: $7K | FD: $10.0K | O/U: 64 | Implied: 31.25)

Marcus Carroll is a true bell cow. He already has 169 carries on the season for 852 yards. The next RB has 17 rush attempts. Grainger is going to steal some attempts, but Carroll is the guy, and there is no doubt about it. He’s gone over 100 yards rushing in 5 of 7 games and has a rushing touchdown in all but one game on the season. He used sparingly in the pass game, so don’t expect much production there.

This Georgia Southern defense is also giving up 18 points a game to RB1s. That is good for 95th overall this year. Three times they have given up 22 or more points to a running back. Carroll might be the most expensive RB on the slate, but he’s going to get 24 rush attempts against one of the worst defenses against running back this year.

LeQuint Allen, Syracuse vs Virginia Tech (DK: $6.6K | FD: $9.0K | O/U: 47 | Implied: 22.25)

LeQuint Allen has been one of the most consistent running backs on the year. You could count on him to get you 22 points until the last few weeks. But this is a guy getting 15 rush attempts a game and 3.5 targets a game. Pretty close to 20 opportunities which you won’t find with many guys on this slate.

This Virginia Tech defense is another that gives up points to running backs. RB1s are averaging 22.8 points a game against them. They gave up 200 yards once, and three times the RB1 has scored multiple touchdowns. At $6.6K, Allen feels like a guy you can easily get in your lineup but is still a really good play. This Syracuse offense has struggled as of late, but Allen has still been scoring points.

Bhayshul Tuten, Virginia Tech vs Syracuse (DK: $K | FD: $8.3K | O/U: 47 | Implied: 24.75)

Bhayshul Tuten is another running back you could consider in a few lineups. The options start to thin out after the top two running backs, but Tuten is averaging 15 points a game and has been used in the pass game. He is averaging 4.2 receptions over his last 4 games.

There isn’t a lot that will wow you with his stats, but he tends to either gain a decent amount of rushing yards (88, 109) or he finds the endzone. And like I mentioned earlier, they use him in the pass game, where he is averaging 38.5 yards a contest. He’s been a top 50 RB the last 3 weeks, so he is trending the right way.

Alternatives

Jalen White, Georgia Southern vs Georgia State (DK: $6.2K | FD: $K | O/U: 64 | Implied: 32.75)

Receivers

Khaleb Hood, Georgia Southern vs Georgia St (DK: $6K | FD: $8.9K | O/U: 64 | Implied: 32.75)

Khaleb Hood is the most obvious receiver play to me. He’s only $6K but is the only guy on the slate averaging double-digit targets (11.3). He has at least 10 targets in 6 of 7 contests, and the lone single-digit target game came in week 1. He’s a favorite target of Brin, hauling in 590 yards with two 100+ games. He only has 3 touchdowns on the season, though. Georgia State has been solid against WR1s, but it’s hard to leave Hood out of lineups at his price.

Talique Williams, Georgia St vs Georgia Southern (DK: $5.3K | FD: $7.8K | O/U: 64 | Implied: 31.25)

Talique Williams hasn’t been the top-scoring WR for Georgia State, but he is the guy trending as the top guy as of late. He has 7 targets in each of the last two games and has turned that into 12 receptions for 210 yards and a touchdown. I’m looking for a cheaper option, and Williams sticks out to me.

This Georgia Southern defense hasn’t been very good against the slot guy either, which is where Williams lines up most of the time. Slot guys are scoring around 5 points more than their average against this defense, which means we could see Williams continue to trend up.

Jaylin Lane, Virginia Tech vs Syracuse (DK: $5.8K | FD: $8.0K | O/U: 47 | Implied: 24.75)

I mentioned Kyron Drones earlier, and when you look at the games where Drones played well, Jaylin Lane was a big piece of that. He has 217 yards and three touchdowns over the last 3 games. I could see the trend continue as this defense is allowing 21.7 points a game to WR1, which is 53% more than what they normally score.

Derwin Burgess, Georgia Southern vs Georgia St (DK: $6.4K | FD: $8.3K | O/U: 64 | Implied: 32.75)

Derwin Burgess has been on a bit of a slide as of late. He was averaging 20.2 points a game in his first three contests but has since only been averaging 13 a game. He is still highly targeted though, which makes him a good play. He is the second most targeted player on the slate averaging 9 a game.

Alternatives

Damian Alford, Georgia Southern vs Georgia State (DK: $4.8K | FD: $K | O/U: 47 | Implied: 22.25)

Robert Lewis Georgia State vs Georgia Southern (DK: $5.5K | FD: $K | O/U: 64 | Implied: 31.25)

$4.5K-or-less options

Donovan Brown, Georgia Southern vs Georgia State (DK: $4.3K | FD: $K | O/U: 47 | Implied: 22.25)

Dan Villari, Georgia Southern vs Georgia State (DK: $3.9K | FD: $K | O/U: 47 | Implied: 22.25)