College Football CFB DFS Playbook & Core Plays - Week 9 Saturday Early: Chase Brown Powers Illinois
Welcome to Week 9 of the 2022 college football season with a full Saturday slate of games for our CFB DFS lineups. If you're looking to play college football DFS, you can build lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel for Saturday's main early slate kicking off at 12 pm ET. Check out all the CFB DFS top picks, lineup strategies, teams to target, and value plays to lock in for Week 9 college football. Plus, watch Pete Cole and myself break down the CFB DFS Saturday main slate in our Week 9 college football preview video below. Remember, you can access all of our College Football DFS coverage with a Fantasy Alarm All-Pro Subscription. If you have any questions about CFB daily fantasy lineup strategy, ask away in the Fantasy Alarm Discord chat. Plus, check out our college football daily projections and the CFB DFS lineup generator for more winning picks. Now, let's jump into the CFB DFS top plays and lineup picks for College Football Week 9.
As always, this CFB DFS playbook will focus on the 13-game slate on Saturday afternoon mainly on DraftKings. The FanDuel main slate doesn't include some of those early matchups and instead swaps in some night games. Be sure to check out Pete Cole's night slate playbook for more top plays on the FD side of things.
College Football Week 9 Betting Odds
- 12 pm ET – Ohio State (-14.5) at Penn State – 60.5 O/U
- 12 pm ET – TCU (-7.5) at West Virginia – 68.5 O/U
- 12 pm ET – Notre Dame at Syracuse (-2) – 47.5 O/U
- 12 pm ET – Arkansas (-3.5) at Auburn – 60.5 O/U
- 12 pm ET – Oklahoma (-1) at Iowa State – 56.5 O/U
- 12 pm ET – Georgia Tech at Florida State (-24) – 47 O/U DK ONLY
- 2:30 pm ET – Rutgers at Minnesota (-14) – 40 O/U DK ONLY
- 3:30 pm ET – Oregon (-17) at California – 58.5 O/U DK ONLY
- 3:30 pm ET – Florida at Georgia (-22.5) – 56.5 O/U
- 3:30 pm ET – Oklahoma State at Kansas State (-1.5) – 56 O/U
- 3:30 pm ET – Wake Forest (-3.5) at Louisville – 64 O/U
- 3:30 pm ET – Illinois (-7.5) at Nebraska – 50.5 O/U
- 3:30 pm ET – Cincinnati at UCF (-1.5) – 55.5 O/U
College Football Week 9 Team Totals (via DraftKings Sportsbook)
- Georgia – 39.5
- TCU – 38.5
- Ohio State – 37.5
- Oregon – 37.5
- Florida State – 35.5
- Wake Forest – 33.5
- Arkansas – 31.5
- West Virginia – 30.5
- Louisville – 30.5
- Illinois – 29.5
- Oklahoma – 28.5
- Iowa State – 28.5
- Kansas State – 28.5
- Auburn – 28.5
- UCF – 27.5
- Oklahoma State – 27.5
- Cincinnati – 27.5
- Minnesota – 26.5
- Syracuse – 24.5
- Notre Dame – 23.5
- Penn State – 22.5
- California – 20.5
- Nebraska – 20.5
- Florida – 16.5
- Rutgers – 13.5
- Georgia Tech – 11.5
College Football Week 9 CFB DFS Picks – Saturday Early Slate
CFB DFS Quarterbacks Week 9
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG |
| Bo Nix | ORE | CAL | 9400 | 33.48 | ||
| Nix continues to be a weekly stud in real life and DFS after another great performance against UCLA. He’s now put up at least 32 DK in all of Oregon’s FBS matchups besides Georgia this season after throwing five TDs last game. Nix is getting it done through the air and on the ground every week and it’s become tough to fade him in cash despite the expensive pricing. Now he gets a favorable matchup against a Cal pass defense that’s allowing 332 passing yards per game against Pac 12 opponents. | ||||||
| C.J. Stroud | OSU | PSU | 9200 | 28 | 10400 | 26.57 |
| Stroud “only” put up 24 DK last week against Iowa’s tough defense, but the Heisman frontrunner still tossed four TDs to give him 28 over seven contests. He’s in play every week with how high-scoring the Ohio State offense is, and should be considered in cash again. This is theoretically a tough spot on the road against a solid Penn State pass D, but Stroud and OSU should still put up numbers. You can never go wrong with Stroud, and he’s a safer play than Nix with both on the road this week. | ||||||
| Max Duggan | TCU | WVU | 8500 | 30.46 | 11000 | 27.56 |
| TCU continues to win and Duggan is leading an offense that’s putting up 35+ points on a weekly basis. Duggan himself has a 19:1 TD:INT ratio over six starts and is doing plenty both through the air and rushing-wise to provide a solid DFS cash floor. He’ll face a West Virginia defense that’s gotten beat up by Big 12 opponents, allowing 332.8 passing yards per game during conference play. Duggan will benefit from this matchup, despite it being on the road, and be a great cash QB once again. | ||||||
| Malik Cunningham | UL | WAKE | 8000 | 29.2 | 10600 | 27.28 |
| Cunningham didn’t look great last week in his first game back from a concussion, but we should look for a bounceback performance here. First off, he’s playing a much easier defense in Wake Forest compared to Pitt’s above-average unit. Wake is an inconsistent pass defense that’s allowing 303.7 passing yards per game during ACC play. Second, Cunningham should be more comfortable at home and with another week back from the concussion. There’s a ton of cash or GPP upside here for the Louisville dual-threat to smash and possibly the slate’s top QB. | ||||||
| KJ Jefferson | ARK | AUB | 6300 | 29.65 | 10700 | 27.65 |
| Jefferson usually provides a solid DFS floor with his rushing ability and that should be the case against Auburn this week. The Tigers are good against the pass, but the rush defense is poor. Maybe this benefits Raheim Sanders more (we’ll get there later), but Jefferson can exploit the matchup himself. Plus, he’ll benefit from a bye week and more time to get back to 100% after missing Week 6 with a head injury. He’s fairly affordable on DK considering the proven floor this season, and he can be a solid QB2 in cash. | ||||||
| Will Howard | KSU | OKST | 6200 | 25.1 | 10200 | 25.10 |
| If Adrian Martinez sits out while dealing with a lower-body injury, then Howard is in line to start. He was impressive in relief of Martinez last week with 25 DK and three total TDs. Though he got banged up last game, Howard is reportedly healthy and will start if Martinez is out. You may remember Howard from years past as he’s filled in nicely before as Kansas State’s starter. He has some dual-threat ability like Martinez and can be a great Super-Flex cash QB. This is a very nice matchup against a soft Oklahoma State pass defense that’s allowing 332.8 passing yards per game in conference play (124th in FBS). Howard is priced up on FD, but he's a value on DK. | ||||||
| Hunter Dekkers | ISU | OU | 5300 | 19.3 | 8300 | 17.05 |
| Even though Oklahoma was on bye last week, we haven’t forgotten about its terrible defense. The Sooners have given up at least 41 points to every Big 12 opponent thus far and have allowed 12 total passing TDs across those four contests. Even though Iowa State’s offense isn’t as explosive as Texas or Kansas, there’s a clear path for the Cyclones to put up points and plenty of DFS points. Dekkers is a great value on both sites for the potential for 25 DFS points or more at his best. He just put up 31 DK last game against Texas and can do it again with how much ISU throws it on offense. | ||||||
| Robby Ashford | AUB | ARK | 5200 | 14.51 | 8500 | 14.29 |
| Ashford isn’t normally an exciting DFS play, but we’re targeting the matchup here. The Arkansas pass defense is one of the worst in the country, allowing 315.7 pass yards per game (128th in FBS). Ashford is cheap enough on both sites to take a shot in GPPs at the possibility of 20-25 DFS points in this favorable matchup. He also brings some dual-threat upside into the mix to give him a safer floor than you’d think. | ||||||
Other QBs To Consider:
- Sam Hartman – Wake Forest (GPP)
- Spencer Sanders – Oklahoma State (Cash)
- Garrett Shrader – Syracuse (Cash)
- Tommy DeVito – Illinois (GPP)
CFB DFS Running Backs Week 9
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG |
| Chase Brown | IL | NEB | 7500 | 26.8 | 10700 | 23.28 |
| The nation’s leading rusher is seeing a monster workload lately as Illinois’ true bell-cow. He had 44 touches (41 carries) last week and 35 touches (31 carries) the week before, leading to 233 and 163 total yards in those contests. Brown is pretty locked in to at least 100 rushing yards and 25 DK points on a weekly basis at this point. Now he gets a good matchup against a Nebraska rush defense allowing 190.4 ypg (115th in FBS) and 4.9 ypc. Expect Brown to be a popular RB1 in cash lineups. | ||||||
| Raheim Sanders | ARK | AUB | 6900 | 25.99 | 9800 | 22.49 |
| We teased it above, but this a great matchup for Sanders and the Arkansas run game. Auburn’s rush defense is allowing 204.4 rushing yards per game (119th in FBS) and 264.5 rush ypg to SEC opponents. That includes 13 rush TDs allowed across four conference matchups so far. Opposing lead backs have been having a ton of success against Auburn all season and Sanders should keep it going. As Arkansas’ workhorse, he has at least 100 rush yards in five of seven contests and is getting heavy volume each week. Load him up in all formats. | ||||||
| Kendre Miller | TCU | WVU | 6300 | 22.94 | 9500 | 21.73 |
| Miller has been putting up big numbers for TCU all season and he now has at least 25 DK in four of the last five, including 28 and 33 DK in the past two contests. Now he’s in another good matchup and we should be heavily considering in cash. The West Virginia defense is getting gashed on the ground during Big 12 play, allowing 179.5 rushing ypg and 4.6 ypc against conference opponents. Even though Miller is still sharing the rushing workload with Demercado and Duggan, he’s still getting 20 touches per game and has 100+ rushing yards in four of the last five contests. | ||||||
| Jirehl Brock | ISU | OU | 5400 | 12.3 | 6300 | 8.82 |
| Brock’s recent game logs aren’t too inspiring, but he has been dealing with an injury but is reportedly close to full strength after the bye week. It’s a risky play because we have no idea how much playing time he’ll get or what his true health status is, but this matchup is a fantastic one and Brock is very affordable. It’s worth taking a shot on Brock in GPP lineups against an Oklahoma defense that’s allowing 207.4 rushing yards per game (121st in FBS). | ||||||
| CJ Donaldson | WVU | TCU | 5200 | 16.15 | 5700 | 10.96 |
| Donaldson returned from a one-game absence and immediately saw the most carries in West Virginia’s backfield last week. That’s a good sign because he was the team’s best rusher before suffering a concussion. The TCU rush defense is allowing 166.75 ypg and 4.22 ypc during conference play and presents a nice matchup. Donaldson can easily return value, especially with Tony Mathis ruled out. | ||||||
| Jovantae Barnes | OU | ISU | 4100 | 10.78 | 5600 | 9.95 |
| Eric Gray may be the headliner in Oklahoma’s backfield, but Barnes is still plenty involved in this committee. He saw 21 carries for 69 yards and two TDs last game and has double-digit carries in three of the last four contests. It’s tough to tell how the workload or DFS production will be split game-to-game, but Barnes is worth rostering in GPPs for the potential 5x value. | ||||||
| RJ Harvey | UCF | CINCY | 4000 | 10.86 | 5200 | 10.06 |
| Harvey is an interesting cheap GPP play out of the UCF backfield. Bowser is still the lead back, but Harvey has flashed in a complimentary, change-of-pace role while being much more effective than Johnny Richardson. He just had seven catches for 77 yards last week, is averaging 8.0 ypc, and has at least 69 total yards in three straight games. You can do a lot worse than Harvey for the potential at double-digit DFS points this cheap. | ||||||
| Lawrance Toafili | FSU | GT | 3900 | 10.33 | ||
| Treshaun Ward may be out for a second straight game. That would put Toafili as one of Florida State’s lead ball-carriers alongside Trey Benson. With Ward out, Toafili saw 17 touches (11 rushes, six catches) for 113 total yards and 17 DK last game. He’ll likely split work with Benson again, but Taofili is much cheaper and saw more work than his backfield mate. FSU is a big favorite, which should lead to plenty of rush attempts for Toafili and Benson. Plus, Georgia Tech is allowing 177.4 rush yards per game this season. Toafili is a great value in all formats while being underpriced on the DK slate. | ||||||
| Trevion Cooley | UL | WAKE | 3000 | 12.1 | 7000 | 11.30 |
| With Tiyon Evans sidelined, Cooley has gotten more work and playing time in the Louisville backfield over the last two games. He had 18 carries for 77 yards and then 11 for 75 the next game. Even though Jahwar Jordan may technically be the “starter,” Cooley is outperforming and out-touching him. If Evans is out again this week, then Cooley is a steal at min price on DK. | ||||||
Other RBs To Consider:
- Mohamed Ibrahim – Minnesota (Cash)
- Eric Gray – Oklahoma (GPP)
- Deuce Vaughn – Kansas State (GPP)
- Bucky Irving – Oregon (Cash)
- Tank Bigsby – Auburn (GPP)
- Jaden Nixon – Oklahoma State (Cash/GPP if Richardson is out)
- Logan Diggs – Notre Dame (GPP)
CFB DFS Wide Receivers Week 9
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG |
| Xavier Hutchinson | ISU | OU | 7900 | 26.4 | 9600 | 17.42 |
| Hutchinson is as close to automatic as you can get when it comes to CFB DFS cash receivers this season. He’s priced up, but it still might not be expensive enough to put a real value on how consistent and dominant he’s been. Hutchinson is seeing a large target share in Iowa State’s pass-centric offense and he has at least eight catches and 84 yards in every game. He also has 20+ DK points in six of seven contests. Even when the Cyclones struggle to score, Hutchinson gets his numbers. | ||||||
| Marvin Harrison Jr. | OSU | PSU | 7400 | 24.03 | 9400 | 20.03 |
| Both Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka are firmly in play for GPP lineups, but it’s tough to fully trust in cash with so many mouths to feed on this Ohio State offense. They both have been very good for DFS this season, but Jaxon Smith Njigba’s return muddies the situation a bit. Plus, OSU could easily lean on the run game here and the receivers aren’t as valuable DFS-wise. With all that said, the OSU pass attack is good enough where either or both Harrison Jr. and Egbuka can go for 25+ DFS points. | ||||||
| Jahmal Banks | WAKE | UL | 6300 | 15.79 | 8000 | 14.35 |
| Unfortunately, Wake’s pass-catchers are mostly limited to GPP territory because Hartman and the offense spread the ball around a lot. Banks is a tad cheaper than A.T. Perry, and has the proven upside because Hartman looks his way often in the red zone. Both are solid, but Banks has scored two TDs in three of the last five games and will be lower-rostered than Perry. Louisville's pass defense has looked shaky in conference play and the GPP upside is there for this Wake pass attack to go off. | ||||||
| Kobe Hudson | UCF | CINCY | 6100 | 18.3 | 6300 | 15.30 |
| Since missing the start of the season, Hudson has now emerged as a favorite receiver for John Rhys Plumlee in the UCF offense. The former Auburn transfer had five catches for 85 yards last week and had two TDs the game prior. Ryan O’Keefe and Javon Baker are still around, but Hudson has carved out a legit role in this WR corps – and he’s actually outperforming Baker now. The Cincy secondary has taken a step back from last season and Plumlee could find Hudson enough for him to post big numbers. | ||||||
| Michael Mayer | ND | SYR | 5600 | 20.23 | 8100 | 15.80 |
| Mayer came through for us as an excellent value play last week and he’s still pretty affordable on DK when you consider his role/volume in the Notre Dame offense. He continues to be the Irish’s main offensive weapon and he’ll be even more important in a tough matchup on the road against Syracuse here. Mayer’s cash floor is pretty safe on a weekly basis because he’s seeing so many targets. | ||||||
| Bryson Green | OKST | KSU | 5400 | 16.37 | 8200 | 16.00 |
| Oklahoma State’s offense has a few injury situations worth monitoring. Braydon Johnson and Jaden Bray were both out last game and John Paul Richardson also got banged up. If any or all are out this week, then Green will be a solid play once again. The tight end benefited from their absences last game with five catches for 133 yards and a TD. He’s now gone for 100+ yards and 25+ DK in back-to-back games. Even though he’s priced up, the volume may be there depending on the injury news. | ||||||
| J.Michael Sturdivant | CAL | ORE | 5200 | 16.24 | ||
| Sturdivant is finally starting to get priced up on DK, but he’s still a solid value as the top receiver in Cal’s offense. He just put up 33 DK last game with eight catches, 104 yards and two TDs. Sturdivant now has at least 15 DK in four of the last five games while being a reliable target for Jack Plummer. We can expect Cal to be throwing a bunch this week playing catch up against Oregon. | ||||||
| Julian Fleming | OSU | PSU | 5100 | 17.74 | 8100 | 15.44 |
| Fleming is the forgotten man in the Ohio State WR corps, but still continues to pump out good DFS performances. In fact, he’s scored a TD and put up 15+ DK points in every game played so far. Though Fleming isn’t putting up the top-tier stats like Harrison Jr. or Egbuka, he’s still very much involved in the OSU offense and Stroud is looking his way just enough. Things may change with Smith-Njigba back, but it’s tough to ignore Fleming’s weekly production at this point – and he’s still very affordable on DK. | ||||||
| Ja'Varrius Johnson | AUB | ARK | 4800 | 10.47 | 5700 | 7.14 |
| As mentioned above with Ashford, this matchup for Auburn’s passing attack is very good with Arkansas struggling to defend the pass. We’d love to take full advantage, but unfortunately the Auburn receiving corps is pretty ugly from a DFS perspective. Johnson is the best bet to lead the team in receptions or yardage and is cheap enough to consider in GPPs. He’s been a favorite target of Ashford’s at times this season and could take advantage of this matchup to return value. | ||||||
| Jaylin Noel | ISU | OU | 4600 | 12.47 | 7100 | 10.05 |
| If you don’t want to pay all the way up for Hutchinson, then Noel is a cheaper way to still get exposure to Iowa State’s offense in this matchup against Oklahoma’s poor defense. Noel is the Cyclones’ slot WR who sees just enough targets and receptions for a solid value. He has six catches or more in three of four Big 12 matchups and just went off for 27 DK last game with two scores. | ||||||
| Brayden Willis | OU | ISU | 4000 | 12.99 | 6500 | 11.14 |
| Willis is always a GPP option who can catch a TD and put up 20+ DFS points in any given game. That’s the case again this week, though he is very up-and-down when it comes to DFS production. With Dillon Gabriel back healthy last game, Willis went for 24 DK on five catches for 102 yards and a TD. All of OU’s receivers are GPP territory at this point, but Willis is the cheapest viable option. | ||||||
| Stephon Johnson Jr. | OKST | KSU | 3000 | 9.63 | 4300 | 7.40 |
| Like Bryson Green above, Johnson Jr. is another Ok State pass-catcher who benefited from all of the injuries last week. He stepped into a bigger role with six catches for 90 yards with Braydon Johnson and Jaden Bray both out. This is a more risky play than Green because Johnson hadn’t done much of anything before that last game. Still, he’s dirt cheap on both sites and could be an interesting low-rostered GPP dart if we get late injury news of multiple OK State guys out again. | ||||||
Other WRs To Consider:
- Quentin Johnston – TCU (GPP)
- Emeka Egbuka – Ohio State (GPP)
- Troy Franklin – Oregon (GPP)
- Oronde Gadsden – Syracuse (Cash)
- Kaden Prather – West Virginia (Cash)
- Malik Knowles – Kansas State (GPP)
CFB DFS Week 9 Early Core Plays
DraftKings Cash:
- Chase Brown – Illinois
- Raheim Sanders – Arkansas
- Michael Mayer – Notre Dame
FanDuel Cash:
- Chase Brown – Illinois
- Xavier Hutchinson – Iowa State
- CJ Donaldson – West Virginia
DraftKings GPP:
- Malik Cunningham – Louisville
- Kendre Miller – TCU
- Jovantae Barnes – Oklahoma
FanDuel GPP:
- Kendre Miller – TCU
- Kobe Hudson – UCF
- Hunter Dekkers – Iowa State
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