This article is part of our DraftKings College Football series.
Slate Overview
Welcome to bowl season! Friday kicks off this year's bowl slate with two games on the docket. Both involve a team from Conference USA, funnily enough. We've got UAB and Miami (OH) down in the Bahamas for the Bahamas Bowl, and then two ranked squads, UTSA and Troy, square off in the Cure Bowl. That's an exciting one, and since it has true stakes, players aren't looking to sit out that bowl. Whichever team wins is going to have the best season in program history. Now, there are questions about offense. The Roadrunners rank 15th in offensive SP+. That's really good! The Blazers rank second of these four teams…and they rank 75th.DraftKings
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College Football DFS Picks: Quarterback
Frank Harris, QB, UTSA vs. Troy ($8,200)
The Trojans don't mess around on defense. They rank in the top 10 in points allowed per game and passing yards allowed per attempt. However, I still have to lead off with Harris because he is by a wide margin the best quarterback starting Friday. In fact, I would call him the best quarterback in the Group of Five. This year he completed 71.1 percent of his passes for 3,865 yards, 31 touchdowns, and only seven picks. He also rushed for 588 yards and nine scores. Bet on talent.
Gunnar Watson, Troy vs. UTSA ($6,300)
If you want to save some salary at quarterback – and this is the only reason not to go with Harris – then I would go with Watson. Was he good this year? Not particularly. There were five games in which he didn't throw a single touchdown pass. However, he did just throw for 318 yards and three touchdowns against Coastal Carolina to win the Sun Belt. The Roadrunners are excellent offensively, but mediocre defensively. That includes ranking 73rd in passing yards allowed per attempt.
Running Back
Jermaine Brown, UAB vs. Miami (OH) ($6,300)
The Blazers were an offense built on running the ball. DeWayne McBride was one of the best backs in college football, racking up 1,713 yards and 19 touchdowns even though he missed UAB's opener against Alabama A&M, which would have been a great opportunity to pad his stats. McBride is also not expected to play in this game. Next man up? That's Brown. I told you this offense was built on running the ball. As a backup, Brown had 142 carries for 832 yards and six touchdowns. Without McBride, how many carries will Brown get? 25? 30? It will probably be quite a few, and he averaged 5.9 yards per carry.
Tyre Shelton, Miami (OH) vs. UAB ($5,000)
There is a problem here. The Blazers were gashed pretty badly on the ground. They rank 111th in rushing yards allowed per attempt. So what's the problem? Well, who is the lead back for the RedHawks? I have no idea, because Miami seems to have no idea. Shelton is atop the depth chart, at least. It had been Keyon Mozee, but he didn't play in Miami's last two games. This is a shot in the dark, but one worth taking.
Wide Receiver
Zakhari Franklin, UTSA vs. Troy ($7,400)
Bet on talent, part two. Last season, Franklin exploded with 81 catches for 1,027 yards and 12 touchdowns. This year, he has 86 catches for 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns. Franklin is coming off a game with 10 catches for 144 yards and three touchdowns. However, to me, it means just as much that he had six catches for 84 yards and a score against Texas. If he can do that, I don't have to sweat Troy's legitimately-tough defense as much.
Trea Shropshire, UAB vs. Miami (OH) ($5,600)
The Blazers don't have much of a passing offense, but to the extent they do, it goes through Shropshire. He turned 35 catches into 740 yards and five touchdowns. Shropshire had at least 60 yards in his last five games as well, with three touchdowns across those outings for good measure. The RedHawks rank 46th in passing yards per attempt, which isn't bad, but UAB is 21st and Troy is 10th, so going to either of those wells is dicey.
RaJae' Johnson, Troy vs. UTSA ($5,300)
Johnson, a UAB transfer, only had 34 catches this year. That being said, he turned them into 672 yards and six scores. In each of his last two games, he has gone over 100 yards and scored a touchdown. The Roadrunners would appear to have the worst passing defense of these four teams. Clearly, with Johnson, all it takes is one big play for him to do some damage, and he's definitely capable on that front.
