If you thought Week 1 of college football was fun, just wait until you spend 11 hours on your couch watching Week 2. In case you need more reason to watch, adding some DFS college football picks on FanDuel to the mix should increase your passion. Texas and Alabama highlight a loaded week of great quarterbacks squaring off. I just would stay away from the Texas side of things.
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It’s about accountability here. My teams have been very hit-and-miss all in the same week. The first week, my quarterbacks let me down, but my receivers bailed me out. Week 2 saw Clayton Tune and Bryce Young ball out, but everyone else was below average. How we learn from here is the key, and I’m confident we have some winners here with this week’s picks.
QB: Bryce Young, Alabama ($11,800)
In 2016, I played a college football DFS league with my brothers. Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes were essentially a guaranteed 30+ points. It feels like Young might be the same way this year.
The Crimson Tide star and reigning Heisman Trophy winner accounted for 295 total yards and six total touchdowns last week against Utah State. That feels like just the beginning of his dominance.
We’re probably looking more at Mahomes’ fantasy potential than Jackson’s, but Young’s 100 yards rushing and a touchdown gave fantasy owners a new wrinkle to his game (and their scores). Young will be in my lineup until further notice, and the potential in his first month could be explosive if he follows Mahomes and/or Jackson.
Going back to that year, Jackson averaged 51.45 points in his first month of games while Mahomes averaged 44.33. If Young continues this new trend, watch out for him and the Tide.
RB1: Christian Turner, Wake Forest ($6,900)
Everyone’s talking about the return of Sam Hartman and for good reason. His return elevates everyone on Wake Forest’s roster in terms of college football DFS picks. For guys like Christian Turner, it means more room to run, though he’s shown that he doesn’t need much to make big plays.
The Demon Deacons face a 2-0 Vanderbilt team whose record is deceiving. The Commodores are struggling to stop the run, as evidenced by their 123rd ranking in success rate against the run. Turner only saw 13 carries last week against VMI, but he should see a bigger workload this week, and that has great potential.
RB2: Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama ($8,000)
Okay, so Jahmyr Gibbs didn’t have the week I anticipated, but he still averaged 10.3 yards per carry. He was limited by the fact that Alabama steamrolled Utah State, but we should expect him to play into the fourth quarter this week. That means more opportunities for big plays as a runner and a pass catcher.
Texas won’t be able to defend everyone on Alabama’s offense, and Gibbs could be the biggest beneficiary of more open field. It’s early, but the Tide looked really good in Week 1. All signs point to them rolling along in Week 2 despite having to go on the road.
WR1: Cedric Tillman, Tennessee ($8,400)
Need evidence that this pick should work well? Look at what Bryce Ford-Wheaton did to Pitt’s secondary last week (well, minus the dropped pass for a pick-six). The 6’3″, 224-pound receiver gave the Panthers plenty of headaches, and now Pitt gets the reward of essentially facing him all over again.
Cedric Tillman stands 6’3″, 215 pounds. The speedster got off to a solid start in limited action last week against Ball State. This game should see him play longer, and that means more targets and potential for explosive plays. In an offense that is more explosive than West Virginia’s, Ford-Wheaton’s performance should make Tillman extremely tempting.
WR2: Lavel Davis, Virginia ($5,500)
Looking for a sleeper DFS pick for this week of college football? Look no further than the Virginia Cavaliers. Let’s start with the fact that Virginia QB Brennan Armstrong shredded the Illini defense for 405 yards and five touchdowns last year. Jelani Woods was his top target, producing 122 yards and a touchdown. Now, Lavel Davis essentially replaces Woods, with the potential to be even more explosive.
In 2020, Davis averaged 25.8 yards per catch in seven games of action. He wasted little time reminding fans of that in 2022. The 6’7″, 219-pound playmaker caught four passes against Richmond for 89 yards (22.3 ypc) and a touchdown. Now he faces an Illinois defense that allowed 330 yards to Indiana’s Connor Bazelak. Oh, and the tallest Illini defender stands 6’1″.
With all of the attention on Dontayvion Wicks, Davis has already proven to be a great asset. At $5,500, it’s as good of a steal as you’ll find this week.
WR3: Nathaniel “Tank” Dell, Houston ($9,600)
Nathaniel “Tank” Dell continued to shine in 2022 with a 50-yard, two-touchdown performance last week against UTSA. Now he faces a Texas Tech secondary that allowed 208 yards to Murray State. Not a concerning number by any means, but this was a Racers team that averaged just 161 passing yards per game in 2021.
With the potential emergence of Matthew Golden and Joseph Manjack IV, Dell figures to see less attention from opposing defenses. That opens up the field to a guy who’s lightning quick and made a number of ridiculous catches last week. Throw on top of that the fact that Houston’s out for revenge from last year’s disappointment, and Tank Dell’s got everything you want from a DFS pick.
Superflex: QB Caleb Williams, USC ($9,600)
Stanford may very well be better than they were the last couple of years, but they haven’t faced a talent like Caleb Williams. The former Oklahoma transfer accounted for 317 yards and two touchdowns last week against Rice, and there’s reason to believe he’ll have an even bigger game this week.
In the five games he started last year against teams that didn’t finish in the AP Top 25, Williams averaged 30.8 fantasy points. Oklahoma went 5-0 against such teams. He’s continuing that trend at USC, and that makes his DFS value high for Week 2 of college football.