I suggested placing two SEC quarterbacks in your day slates this part Saturday and, it turned out those two gunslingers, Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa, were key cogs in the machine as DFS players who won big money that day had both in their lineups.
Cheers
I called Joe Burrow of LSU a must-play, and he didn’t disappoint with 398 yards passing and six touchdown passes as he led the Tigers to a 66-38 victory over LSU. Burrow has completed 80 percent of his passes through four games, with 1,520 yards, 17 touchdowns, and two interceptions. Heisman voters are surely taking notice.
Many DFS players were concerned that Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama’s own Heisman Trophy candidate QB, might not pile up gaudy stats given the 39-point spread in Bama’s game against Southern Miss. But, Tagovailoa threw for 293 passing yards and five touchdowns in the game. If you’re keeping score at home, Burrow earned 40.92 DK points on Saturday, compared to 32.52 for Tagovailoa. Those two are setting up one whale of a matchup when LSU comes to Tuscaloosa on Nov. 9.
Jeers
It seems a bit harsh to give LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson a jeer given his ankle injury, but for the purposes of DFS, he was a bust on Saturday. Suffering that minor injury in the early going, Jefferson was only able to snag two passes for 18 yards and a TD before he left the game. He is expected to return to action in two weeks when the Tigers face Utah State.
The Pitt Panthers focused on stopping the Central Florida running game, and were able to lock down starting running back Greg McCrae to just 3.1 yards per carry. He managed just 40 yards on 13 carries, and caught two passes for negative five yards. UCF fell behind 21-0, and McCrae became a much smaller part of the game plan. Pitt upset UCF 35-34 in the end.
Meh
Elijah Collins is really in a kind of gray zone between cheer and meh. The Michigan State running back rushed for 76 yards and a TD on 17 carries, and caught one pass for nine yards against Northwestern. That was worth 15.5 points on DK on a $4,600 salary, so he got more than 3x value. Still, I hoped for more from the lead back in a game the Spartans won 31-10.
Texas A&M freshman wide receiver Ainias Smith had a breakout game in Week 3 when he finally got some playing time, and looked to be a bigger factor against Auburn. He wasn’t, and only caught one pass for 15 yards. It was a touchdown pass, however, giving him 8.5 points on his $3,400 DK salary.
