Here we go with our best college football picks for Week 2 on Saturday, Sept. 7. We sifted through tons of daily fantasy sports picks and came up with our top five plays for Week 2.
Make sure to check back every week for a new article with all of our best college football player prop picks.
Best College Football Picks (Week 2)
Below, Props.com analyst Kyle Krogstad breaks down his top five college football picks for Week 2.
Colston Loveland More Than 37.5 Receiving Yards
First play of the weekend is in the MUST SEE top-10 showdown between #3 Texas and #10 Michigan. Loveland comes into this game following a 9 target, 8 reception Week 1 against Fresno State. He turned that into 87 yards and a touchdown. Now he faces a much better challenge in Texas.
Loveland is perfect for a new QB. He is a trustworthy target – a big body, security blanket, for Warren/Orji to throw the ball to. He did just that in Week 1 and I’m trusting him to do the same here in a HUGE early season game.
Looking at the season as a whole, Texas was pretty solid vs the TE position. However, many of those teams did not have a good tight end. Any team Texas played that had a solid TE cashed this line.
Amari Niblack from Alabama had 45 yards, Ben Brahmer from Iowa State had 49 yards, Ben Sinnott from K-State had 69 yards, and Jack Westover from Washington had 59 yards. I expect Michigan to try to play smash mouth, under-center football to keep this high-powered Texas offense & Quinn Ewers on the sideline. I believe they will put the ball on the ground often and be able to then hit Loveland on heavy play action.
Another aspect I’m going to start taking into consideration is game script. If Michigan is doing what they want it will be a lot of running, chewing clock, and play-action game which Loveland can get involved in. Also, if Texas is up big early, and Michigan has to go pass heavy, it even works better into our favor as he’s already gained the trust from new QB Davis Warren (9 targets last week) and shouldn’t have any problem getting home from this angle.
Either way, I like Loveland to hit here in what should be a great game in Ann Arbor Saturday morning.
Where To Play: Colston Loveland More Than 37.5 Receiving Yards | Sleeper Fantasy
Jaydon Blue Less Than 67.5 Rushing Yards
Make sure you read that correctly. My first UNDER of the season comes in the same game as play #1. Now I know, my first thought was this play is SCARY. At any point Jaydon Blue can hit a hole for a 70-yard touchdown and we’re done in one play. However, I don’t think it’s going to happen.
Michigan has to come in this game feeling a bit disrespected with the line moving from 3.5 to 7.5 after their week one “struggle” against Fresno State. I think this is a HUGE public overreaction, but that’s besides the point. Their defense is stout all around, and very talented on this side of the ball yet again.
They held Fresno State RB Malik Sherrod to just 24 yards a week ago and I think they’re going to come out and stuff the run again. They return Mason Graham, probably the best DT in college football. They also have 6’3”, 339-pound Kenneth Grant as a nose. They brought in DE Josiah Stewart from Coastal Carolina, who was fantastic last year. Lastly, they brought in two stud LBs from Maryland and Nebraska to round out one of the best front 7’s in college football.
Texas featured multiple backs last week in the 52-0 blowout win against Colorado State. The worrisome part is that it isn’t just because of the blowout. Quintrevion Wisner got five carries, which all came in the first few drives, possibly hinting at a split with Jaydon Blue this year?
Not sure, but what I do know is if Jaydon Blue gets 20 carries, this bet probably doesn’t hit. Now I don’t think that will happen for multiple reasons. First, I think Michigan is going to dominate the time of possession in this game. That has to be the game plan here. The Michigan offense wants to produce multiple long possessions to keep the ball out of Ewers’ hands. I also think Michigan will win the line of scrimmage, which will cause Texas to have to turn to the pass game early and often.
Where To Play: Jaydon Blue Less Than 67.5 Rushing Yards | Sleeper Fantasy
DJ Giddens More Than 88.5 Rushing Yards
My third play is on Kansas State’s lead RB, DJ Giddens. I expect a BIG day out of him. Last week, against UT-Martin, he had 13 carries for 124 yards. This week, Kansas State is traveling to Tulane in what should be a much closer game that will lead to some volume.
Tulane gave up an average of 117.3 rushing yards per game last season, which was 21st in the country. That’s pretty good, but they played a brutal AAC conference. UAB ran for 170 yards, UTSA ran for 177 yards, SMU ran for 184 yards and Virginia Tech (in the bowl game) CAVED this defense for 362 rushing yards.
They gave up some big yards to some of their better opponents on this schedule. Last week, they played Southeast Louisiana, and their two RBs combined for over 100 yards… that has to be saying something. Both starting DE (from a season ago) are gone to the NFL and portal, but other than that they return a good amount of production on the front 7.
Back to the game script. Kansas State is definitely a run-first team with Avery Johnson. They should be leading (10-point favorites) throughout the game and will be able to lean on the run game early and often. I think if Giddens ends up in that 17-22 carry range, he should get this no problem. I have him right around 100 yards in this one.
Where To Play: DJ Giddens More Than 88.5 Rushing Yards | Underdog
Dylan Raiola More Than 234.5 Passing Yards
My fourth play of the weekend might actually be my favorite, and I am considering laddering this up over 300. I won’t get into all the Patrick Mahomes comparisons; however, he does resemble him way too much not tot note. Anyway, Raiola is coming into the biggest game of his young career at home against Colorado.
First, the Colorado defense is lackluster at best. They allowed Cam Miller to throw ALL over them last week (18/22 for 277 yards). This defense is brutal in the secondary. Everyone saw them last year get torched week in and week out and I don’t think it will be much better this year.
Nebraska’s offense is majorly upgraded this season, as they can actually throw the ball down the field now… thanks to Raiola. They also have a few stud WRs; Isaiah Neyor from Texas/Wyoming and Jahmal Banks from Wake Forest are both big play guys. I think they’re both in store for a big night Saturday.
The game script is also a bit of a weird one. I’m almost positive Nebraska will not keep this Colorado offense silent all night, as I expect Colorado to put up points. Either way, I expect Nebraska to score points ALL night and if Colorado can keep up, they’ll keep scoring. I wouldn’t assume that the passing game gets shut down at any point in this one, even with a big lead.
I think Matt Rhule keeps the foot on the pedal after Colorado embarrassed them last season in Boulder. Raiola should have more than 250 passing yards in almost every scenario Saturday night and at 234.5, I’ll take this every time.
Where To Play: Dylan Raiola More Than 234.5 Passing Yards | PrizePicks
Brock Vandagriff More Than 206.5 Passing Yards
My fifth and final play of Saturday’s slate is the same as a week ago, and we’re going back to Vandagriff after a void last week (game called in 3rd Q due to rain). I think he was on his way to cashing for us as he had 170 passing yards one drive into the 2nd half. And now they discount his line by 30 yards? Doesn’t make any sense. He’s a former 4-star QB transfer from Georgia and finally is getting his time to shine after not seeing much meaningful playing time the past few seasons.
I’m going back for pretty much the same reasons as last week. He enters a Kentucky offense known to be a smash mouth, down-hill, running team. However, I think they had to mold to that style of play based on personnel they had. This is probably their best QB recruit in a long time.
He has a very good WR core in Barion Brown and Dane Key. Both were 4-star recruits who haven’t been able to really produce because they haven’t had a true quality quarterback. Kentucky also brings in Ja’Mori Maclin, a 1,000-yard receiver from a season ago with North Texas. This offense showed explosiveness in Week 1 with two pass plays of 35+ in just about a half of action.
They play a South Carolina team who was just taken to the wire by Old Dominion in a game where Grant Wilson (ODU QB) threw for 200 yards passing. Last season, the Gamecocks gave up an average of 246 passing yards per game, putting them at 91st in the country. This game should be a bit closer than Kentucky’s week 1 rainout, so I’d expect a bit more passing out of them, especially if they can’t get the run game going.
Kentucky has no more Ray Davis for 25+ carries and game over. I think Vandagriff soars over this line and it’s just a matter of time before Vegas adjusts his numbers.
Where To Play: Brock Vandagriff More Than 206.5 Passing Yards | PrizePicks
Author: Kyle Krogstad
