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Mike's DraftKings daily fantasy college football lineup picks for Tuesday (12/26/23). His CFB DFS lineup picks and DFS sleepers will help you win.
After the NFL and NBA take over on Christmas Day, it's all about college football bowl games until the end of the year. There are multiple games per day from now until New Year's Day. The final stretch of the last great college football season begins here, so let's enjoy it!
We begin in Detroit with the Quick Lane Bowl between Bowling Green and Minnesota. Next up is the First Responder Bowl from Dallas between Texas State and Rice. We end in Phoenix for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl between UNLV and Kansas.
In this article, I will provide you with my daily fantasy college football lineup picks for DraftKings on 12/26/23, locking at 2 PM Eastern. I’ll provide multiple player suggestions for players at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver, aiming to highlight one option at the high, middle, and lower end of the salary scale. Good luck, RotoBallers.
DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Quarterbacks
TJ Finley, Texas State ($8,000)
The Auburn transfer had a superb November to push the Bobcats into a bowl. He threw for over 300 yards three times in four November games while throwing nine touchdowns to two interceptions. Overall, it was a great season for Finley and he should finish strong given the volume he is going to get in this game. Bo Nix was once benched for TJ Finley at Auburn. That says volumes about his ceiling.
AJ Padgett, Rice ($6,500)
The latest concussion for JT Daniels has forced him to retire from football, so this will be Padgett's team for the bowl game. Padgett was solid down the stretch for the Owls, leading them to back-to-back victories to close out the season and take them bowling. He doesn't have the ceiling of Daniels, but Padgett closed the season with 45.4 DraftKings points in the last two games. Texas State is a lot of things, but defensive stalwart is not one of them. Padgett will have room to create here.
Also consider: Jason Bean, Kansas ($8,900); Jayden Maiava, UNLV ($7,200); Cole Kramer, Minnesota ($5,800)
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DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Running Backs
Ismail Mahdi, Texas State ($6,200)
Mahdi catches enough passes out of the backfield to give him a high floor. That's all we're really looking for on this slate. The running backs on this slate are incredibly risky with mixed reports about Devin Neal and who is starting at running back for Minnesota. We should get some confirmation before kickoff, but we know that isn't always the case. Mahdi is the safest player with the highest floor.
Jordan Nubin, Minnesota ($4,800)
Darius Taylor is healthy, but there is still no word on who will start at running back for the Gophers. Nubwin was strong down the stretch but Taylor was electric in September against Eastern Michigan, North Carolina, and Northwestern -- all three of those teams are bowl teams. At the very least, I expect Nubin to get around 30-40% of the carries if he doesn't start to around 70% if he does. Based on the price difference, I'm leaning toward Nubin, but I can't call either of them a bad play in this matchup.
Daniel Hishaw Jr., Kansas ($4,500)
Rumors are swirling that Devin Neal is going to enter the NFL Draft. If that is true, why would he play this game? That's the reasoning and I don't disagree. The thing is...we have no official word on anything. We don't even have a spoof video from Neal a la Jaydn Ott. Neal wouldn't be the first back to opt-out right before kickoff. Samson Evans did it over the weekend.
My reasoning for Hishaw here is that he's safe. Even if Neal plays, Hishaw should get enough carries to be relevant. I guess Hishaw would be more of a cash play, but he's going to be major chalk if Neal opts out.
Also consider: Darius Taylor, Minnesota ($6,400); Vincent Davis Jr., UNLV ($5,300); PaSean Wimberly, Bowling Green ($3,200; if Terion Stewart is out)
DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Wide Receivers
Luke McCaffrey, Rice ($8,000)
McCaffrey and Padgett were firing on all cylinders in the win over Florida Atlantic to end the regular season. McCaffrey caught half of Rice's completed passes (12) and had more than half of the receiving yards. He is set for a massive workload once again. No one on the slate can match the kind of usage that McCaffrey is going to get with the possible exception of the Kansas quarterback (whoever that may be).
Ricky White, UNLV ($7,200)
There is plenty of value across the board to blow our budget on receivers. With guys like McCaffrey and White on this slate, that's the way I'm leaning with most lineups. White caught 81 passes this season, which is 29 more than Jacob De Jesus, who was second on the team. His 1,386 yards was 875 yards more than De Jesus, who was by far the second on the team. If the ball is in the air, there's about a 50% chance that it's going to White.
Ashtyn Hawkins, Texas State ($5,500)
Hawkins was huge in the last two games of the season with Joey Hobert limited or out. He caught 13 passes for 296 yards over the last two games and should have a larger slice of the pie due to those performances even if Hobert can suit up for this game. Of course, we have no update, but Hawkins should be relatively safe at this price no matter the status of Hobert.
Also consider: Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green ($6,600); Daniel Jackson, Minnesota ($5,600); Odieu Hiliare, Bowling Green ($5,000); Jacob De Jesus, UNLV ($4,500)
DraftKings CFB Stacks:
Texas State
The Bobcats are heavy favorites in the public eye and on the moneyline with the news of the retirement of Daniels. If they are to live up to that promise, it will be on the backs of Finley and Mahdi. The status of Joey Hobert is going to be very important in this one. If he plays, I want both Hobert and Hawkins as part of my stack. If he's out, I'm locking in both Hawkins and Kole Wilson.
Kansas
Statistically, Kansas should be able to run the Rebels. This is also statistically the most explosive offense on this slate. Based on gut feeling, I think Neal plays and Bean starts, but I have nothing to base this on. If that's the case, I think you need both and you could add Lawrence Arnold to soak up some of the passes. If you're looking for a cheaper option, Mason Fairchild isn't heavily targeted, but he is targeted often in important situations. He scored three touchdowns on 12 receptions in the last five games.
Also consider: Rice, Bowling Green
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