CFB DFS Top Plays: Week 12 – Saturday Main

Editor’s Note: We may not write up every player we consider to be a top play. Be sure to consult the chart at the bottom of the page. This page will be updated as necessary.

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Understanding optimal lineups for cash games is extremely important, even if you only play tournaments. Players in our cash pool are the ones we believe are the most underpriced, have the best floor/ceiling combo, and typically feature a relatively tight range of outcomes. These are the best plays on the board when considering price, context, and positional scarcity. These are usually pretty good options for GPPs as well.

The optimal GPP lineup will typically mix some of these cash-type plays with higher-variance options, often in correlated lineups. In cash games (where roughly 50% of the field gets paid out), we don’t worry about ownership, game stacks, or correlation. In large-field tournaments, we should be much more mindful of ownership. For more tournament content, check out our projections, and Friday’s live show, Establish The Show: The College Years, with Alex Hardin, Ben Pritchett, and Sean Newsham.

These are our Top Plays considering the following factors: mean projection, matchup, upside, and value. Ownership is NOT considered here. Generally speaking, these players are what we consider to be “head-to-head and 50/50 considerations”.

They are listed in price descending order (NOT ranked by “best play”). At the bottom, you’ll find suggested rankings by site once salary is accounted for.

QUARTERBACK

Riley Leonard (ND – DK $9,500) – The Riley Leonard train just continues rolling, as he now has a rushing TD in eight straight games, including four games of two-plus rushing TDs. To their credit, Virginia has been rock solid against the run, allowing just 3.9 YPC, and they’ve held QBs in check in the run game this year, so it’s not the best spot on paper for Leonard’s legs. However, Leonard is by far the best running QB they have faced and this is otherwise not a good defense. They allow 413 total YPG and 282 passing YPG, which is bottom 10 in the nation. Leonard could see a little more success through the air than he typically does, and we know Notre Dame will still use him heavily in the run game regardless of matchup. GPP Recommendation: 0 to 1 pass catchers in stack.