Week 1 of the 2022 season officially kicks off Thursday night! This means that, moving forward, I can finally spend most of my fall evenings watching sports instead of any reality dating show I can get my hands on. That includes Amazon Prime shows like Cosmic Love and The One That Got Away which are absolutely 100% as stupid as they sound. But, that all changes starting Thursday night when I’ll become a real man while sipping my boxed pinot noir because I’m watching football now. And, setting some DK lineups in the process. Speaking of which, let’s get to it!
The purpose of every post I make here is to attempt to identify value for any particular slate. I am never going to offer the most expensive, obvious, and essentially best players as my “suggestions” or “picks” for a slate. I’m trying to point out options that could help you afford those players and/or options that I believe could provide similar results at a cheaper price based on logic and statistical evidence. That said, let’s talk some of my favorite plays for Thursday night’s slate!
Bru McCoy | WR | Tennessee $4,000
The former 5-star wideout has bounced around multiple prominent programs the last few years with some off the field issues. After some uncertainty regarding his 2022 eligibility, he was recently cleared to play this season by the NCAA.
Real Talk: I find this a bit rich considering Texas A&M basically singed their recruiting class for roughly $25 million without a bat of an eye. But, the NCAA still gets to determine McCoy’s eligibility? Whatever….
Anyways, the Vols are down two starters at receiver from last year’s squad that now is humming in Josh Heupel’s up tempo offense he brought from Central Florida. All the reports on McCoy have been nothing but positive since arriving in Knoxville. With a clean slate, the former elite recruit should have ample opportunity for the first time in over two years to showcase his abilities heading into the 2023 NFL draft. For this slate specifically, he’s probably more of a boom or bust candidate considering volume uncertainty and game flow risk. But, I think his ceiling/price combo makes him worth consideration Thursday night.
Jayshon Jackson | WR | Ball State $4,600
Sticking in that same matchup, this Cincinnati Bearcat transfer made a splash in his first season as Ball State’s WR1 finishing 2021 with a 69-830-5 line. The Cardinal’s are set as about a six touchdown underdog against Tennessee with one of the highest totals on the board. And, it’s no secret that Heupel coached teams going back to his UCF days aren’t designed to necessarily stop the opponent as much as they are to outscore them. At a sub 5k price, Jackson has as much going for him on paper heading into Thursday night as anyone in his price range. I’m expecting a 5-6 catch, 50-60 yard floor with considerable upside.
Taking on Huepel’s former team, I would copy/paste everything I said above for South Carolina’s State’s Shaquan Davis. His combination of size and speed makes him a legit NFL prospect. Like Jackson, he should also see enough volume in a juicy matchup to provide a solid floor with decent upside.
John Rhys Plumlee | QB | Central Florida $7,400
The chaos of the transfer portal has landed this former Ole Miss QB/WR in Orlando where current Oklahoma QB1, Dillon Gabriel, resided just last season. Wayyyyy back in 2019, Plumlee displayed his top tier athleticism piling up over 1,000 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns playing quarterback. Now, officially named the starter in a DFS friendly scheme Plumlee offers a QB2 floor with RB2 stats upside. Based on his game log from 2019, it wouldn’t surprise me if he approached 100 rushing yards every game he starts this season. At a position that is usually more challenging to fade the big dogs, I think Plumlee has the upside to compete with highest priced quarterbacks for this slate.
Good luck Thursday night! Follow me on twitter @realBobbyAdcock compliments and insults are always appreciated.
