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Below is our preview for the 1/2/16 bowl game slate on DraftKings.
Quarterbacks
Top Options
Vernon Adams $8,800-
This one is a no-brainer and he is likely going to be the highest owned player on the slate. With a game total of 74.5, this is by far the highest total on the slate as Oregon is projected to score 41 points. Over the second half of the season, Adams was one of the best quarterbacks in college football as he threw for 19 touchdowns in his last five games of the season. This is a TCU team that statistically is a better pass defense than what they truly are, as in they have allowed big passing games to quarterbacks who are not nearly the caliber of Adams including a 352 yard 5 touchdown game against Oklahoma State earlier this season.
Mike Bercovici $6,900
Mike Bercovici is a guy who ended the season on a high note as he created a connection with Devin Lucien and it really paid off. He ended the season throwing for 300+ yards ieach of those last two games and threw for 6 touchdowns in those games. This should be a high scoring game with an over/under total of 63.5. This is the closest spread on the day, and Arizona State should rely heavily on Bercovici’s arm and his connection to Lucien.
Punt Option:
Bram Kohlhausen- $4,400 (If he is announced the starter prior to the game he becomes an elite play.)
Running Backs
Aaron Green $5,900-
This Oregon team has one of the worst defenses in college football as they allow 480 yards per game to opponents including 180 yards rushing per game. With the suspension of Trevone Boykin, TCU will be forced to turn to the running game in order to win this game. In the last game with Boykin out, Green had 23 carries for 126 yards in a close loss to Oklahoma, and he should be safe for 20-25 carries with upside to get to 30 carries this week. He is a great play in both cash games and GPP’s as his price is just too low this week.
Royce Freeman- $7,800
Royce Freeman receives the biggest upgrade on the Oregon side with the suspension of Trevone Boykin for this game. Freeman on the season has six games with 25+ touches and three games with 30+ touches this season. In the last game that Boykin missed, TCU allowed 188 yards to Samaje Perine who is a very similar running back to Freeman. This should be a game where it is high scoring and Oregon gets out to an early lead and leans on Freeman to carry a heavy workload. Freeman is a great GPP and cash game play this week.
Alex Collins- $6,800
Alex Collins at $6,800 is going to be a nice play this week as Kansas State has really struggled against good running teams this year. They have allowed a 248 yard 3 touchdown performance to Texas Tech, and Brett Bielema’s Arkansas team is the best running attack that they have faced all season. This should be a game where Collins sees 20+ carries. Collins is a running back who scores his touchdowns in bunches, as he has four multi touchdown games this season which is definitely possible against this Kansas State defense. The one risk here is that you never really know what game plan Arkansas is going to go with, as there have been games that Brandon Allen has thrown the ball 30+ times and then there are also games where they throw the ball less than 20 times. We expect the latter, but there still is the risk that they could go with a pass heavy offense.
Cheap Option:
Kalen Ballage- $4,600
Wide Receivers
Devin Lucien $5,900
Devin Lucien ended the season as the best wide receiver in the country over the last two games as he had 390 yards and four touchdowns over those games. We were waiting for the UCLA transfer to finally breakout as the top receiving option for the Sun Devils. While West Virginia only allowed 220 yards passing per game, these numbers are heavily skewed due to their non-conference schedule along with the weak teams in the Big 12. West Virginia allowed 300+ passing yards to Oklahoma, Baylor and TCU this season including allowing 11 touchdowns in those three games. Arizona State is going to lean on Lucien in this game and he should be the top wide receiver play this week.
Darren Carrington Oregon $5,600
Since Darren Carrington has returned from injury this season, he has been a tremendous asset for this Oregon team and has been their most consistent wide receiver since returning. This is a matchup where we want significant exposure to this game and Carrington is a way to do it. Choosing between him and Addison is going to be the most difficult decision on this slate outside of which TCU receiver to choose.
Bralon Addison Oregon $5,800
In scored four touchdowns in those two games and has gone over 100 yards in each of those games. Prior to this however, he had just one other game all season over 100 yards which was in week 2. The matchup is a good one as we want as much exposure to this Oregon TCU shootout as we can get, but he is more of a GPP play than a cash game play this week due to his highly volatile game logs this season. However with the lack of great options in this slate and with the soft pricing he is going to be heavily owned in cash games so if you have the ability to fit him into your lineup
Kolby Listenbee
This is going to be one of the most difficult decisions on the slate, as you’re dealing with an uncertain backup quarterback and selecting between two underpriced receivers for TCU that have been secondary options prior to Josh Doctson’s injury so the sample size is not significant to determine which receiver you should target. Listenbee is the deep threat and had one of the biggest games of the season when Boykin was out earlier this season as he had four receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown. He is not going to see a significant number of receptions as he is the speed deep threat so there is risk that if one or two of those deep balls are overthrown he may not have a great game, but he has gone over 50 yards in five of his last six games since returning from injury.
Kody Cook- $4,200
Kody Cook is likely to see time at quarterback this week, which makes him a must start at $4,200 at the wide receiver position put him in your lineups in all formats.
Hunter Henry- $3,700
Hunter Henry this season has been one of the most consistent tight ends in the country, as he has multiple receptions in all but one game this season. His price is expensive however especially on a slate where you want to pay up for the top options. If you can afford him he is likely to score the most points of any tight end, but that $500 difference between him and Kohl could be a critical upgrade somewhere else.
Secondary Options/Punt Options
Drew Morgan- $3,800
Dwayne Stanford- $3,900
D.J. Foster- $4,400
Kody Kohl- $3,000
Shaun Nixon- $4,200
