College Football Single-Game Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 9/29/22 (Utah State at BYU)

The college football regular season rolls into Week 5 on Thursday as the Utah State Aggies square off with the Brigham Young Cougars.

For those unfamiliar, single-game slates feature five flex spots with identical scoring to the main slate. However, there is an "MVP" roster slot. The MVP receives 1.5 times his total fantasy points, making this spot crucial.

Player Breakdowns

At The Top

Jaren Hall, BYU ($17,500) - Hall will be the popular MVP option on Thursday night. The BYU signal caller is averaging 291.0 passing yards per game. He has also posted 79 rushing yards and 9 touchdown passes through four games. The matchup with Utah State is phenomenal for the versatile quarterback. Utah State ranks 100th nationally in total defense. They are allowing an average of 411.0 yards per game to opposing offenses and have been throttled for 17 touchdowns through four games.

Logan Bonner, Utah State ($15,000) - This is strictly a game theory play. Bonner has struggled and his starting job remains game-to-game at this point. Why roster Bonner then? Well, he is capable of playing at an elite level. The volume thrower was the MVP of the Mountain West Conference Championship game just a season ago. Additionally, I believe the popular roster construction will be Jarren Hall at MVP and two-to-three other Cougars in the flex spots. Consequently, Bonner will be a unique MVP option. If Bonner struggles early, he could be benched in favor of Cooper Legas ($6,000).

Keanu Hill, BYU ($13,500) - Hill has emerged as the top pass-catching option in the injury-riddled Cougars offense. Hill leads BYU with 283 receiving yards and 3 touchdown receptions through four games. He also leads the Cougars in pass routes ran (129) and aDOT (16.8).

In The Middle

Brian Cobbs, Utah State ($12,000) - Cobbs leads the Aggies in targets (32), receptions (18), and receiving yards (241). Through four games, Cobbs has been on the field for 120 pass plays and has run a route on 120 of those plays (both team-highs). As a result, Cobbs will be popular, but he is viable as an MVP option.

Gunner Romney, BYU ($11,000)- Romney is expected to make his season debut after missing time due to a lacerated kidney. The junior tallied 34 receptions, 594 receiving yards, and 3 touchdowns last season. He also posted an impressive aDOT of 16.6 back then. I'd keep an eye on his status prior to kick-off just to make sure Romney is suited up. Chase Roberts ($11,500) is also expected to play after suffering an injury during last week's game. He leads the Cougars with 23 targets this season. Deep threat Puka Nacua ($14,000) is questionable for Thursday night after suffering an in-game injury last week.

Justin McGriff, Utah State ($9,500)- McGriff starts opposite of Brian Cobbs at wide receiver for Utah State. McGriff has been on the field for 129 pass snaps, and he has run a route on all 129 of those snaps this season. The lanky wide receiver leads all rotational Utah State pass catchers with an aDOT of 16.0. NyNy Davis ($6,500) will likely start in the slot with Kyle Van Leeuwan expected to be unavailable (not listed on the depth chart). NyNy was targeted seven times in last week's loss to Nevada-Las Vegas Rebels.

At The Bottom

Miles Davis, BYU ($8,500)- The Cougars plan to roll with the hot hand at running back. Last week's starting running Christopher Brooks ($10,000) rarely saw the field for the rest of the game (2 carries for 10 rushing yards). Reportedly, his lack of playing time was due to hamstring tightness and Miles Davis' effectiveness. Davis delivered 133 rushing yards as BYU defeated the Wyoming Cowboys last Saturday. I believe that Davis will get the first crack at running back after his impressive game last week. He is under-salaried for that potential role. I do think Brooks makes for an interesting contrarian play. I think box score watchers will gravitate to Davis and skip over Brooks after last week's results. Lopini Katoa ($7,500) is also part of BYU's three-man running back rotation. He'll likely be the least popular of the trio.

Calvin Tyler Jr., Utah State ($8,000)- Tyler Jr. is operating as a workhorse running back for the Aggies. The diminutive rusher has recorded 78 carries through four games (292 rushing yards). He is under-salaried for his current role and the matchup with BYU. The Cougars have struggled to contain opposing ball carriers this season and have allowed eight rushing touchdowns through four games. Additionally, they're allowing an average of 152.2 rushing yards (81st nationally) per game.

Isaac Rex, BYU ($7,000) - The starting tight end has been a red zone magnet over the last two seasons. Rex has recorded an eye-opening 15 touchdown receptions during that time frame. The redshirt sophomore has been relatively quiet through four games. However, the touchdowns should come soon though as Rex is running a ton of routes. He has run 85 pass routes through four games which ranks third amongst all BYU pass catchers.

Matthew Hiatt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Matthew Hiatt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username easternmh. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.