theCFFsite • DFS
CFB DFS: Week 1 – Saturday Late Slate
Matchup-by-matchup analysis with top plays, fades, pivots, bargain options, injury notes, and Mike’s Core Four.
★ Top Play
↓ Fade
↔ Pivot
$ Bargain Bin
+ Best of the Rest
! Injury Notes
MEMBERS-ONLY ACCESS
theCFFsite’s
Heisman Members can view the
full article, and
Heisman/All-American Members can access the
Weekly Player Projections. Become an
All-American or Heisman Member for our exclusive members-only content and access to theCFFsite Discord, or access this week’s DFS write-up and Player Projections with a
one-week membership pass.
See 2026 membership options here.
IMPLIED SCORE
LSU 30 – Clem 20.5
WEATHER
82 degrees / 14% rain / 0 mph winds
Clemson
★Top Play(s) – WR Bryant Wesco ($5,200) or WR TJ Moore ($4,600)
New OC Chad Morris loves feeding his outside receivers dating back to his first go-round with Clemson with the likes of Mike Williams and Sammy Watkins. Clemson has first round NFL talent at receiver with the likes of Wesco and Moore who both averaged over 15 yards per reception last season, which is exactly what Morris wants to do this year in generating more big plays. There’s no Antonio Williams in the slot to battle for targets with, and Clemson doesn’t have an elite pass-catching tight end either. The biggest issue would be the QB play.
↓Fade – QB Christopher Vizzina ($6,500)
Clemson did not add a quarterback in the transfer portal, so the staff feels comfortable with Christopher Vizzina after serving as Cade Klubnik’s backup the last three seasons. Limited on experience with just 105 career attempts, Vizzina performed well in his first career start last season vs. SMU with 317 yards and three touchdowns. There’s elite QB options at the top on this slate, though, that don’t run the risk of potentially being benched like Vizzina who potentially is still competing with freshman Tait Reynolds.
↔Pivot Play – RB Gideon Davidson ($5,200)
Davidson is the cheapest power conference running back on the slate that’s fully locked into a starting role that allows you to spend up at other positions. This was appearing to be a full-fledged committee early in the offseason, but Davidson appears to have distanced himself a bit from the rest of the RB group. LSU will also be starting a pair of freshmen along the defensive line so there could be some growing pains with the run defense for the Tigers early on.
$Bargain Bin – WR Tyler Brown ($3,300)
Not the biggest fan of Tyler Brown, but he will be the starting slot receiver taking over for Antonio Williams and his 129 receptions over the last two years. Brown is at the very least an experienced option with 79 career catches.
+Best of the Rest – TE Christian Bentancur ($3,400)
The talented 4-star sophomore has taken over the TE1 spot away from Olsen Patt-Henry and displayed glimpses of his talent a year ago as a freshman with 20 receptions on 25 targets and three touchdowns. Morris was on staff when Jake Briningstool broke out for 50 receptions back in 2023. Is that in the realm of possibilities for Bentancur?
LSU
★Top Play(s) – TE Trey’Dez Green ($5,100)
The best tight end in the country and our No. 1 fantasy TE for 2026. The coaching staff took so much precaution with their star player that they had Green in a red non-contact jersey in practice despite being 100% healthy. We know Lane Kiffin and his staff know how to properly utilize a tight end with the likes of Daequan Wright, Michael Trigg and Harrison Bryant producing monster statistical seasons over the years.
↓Fade – RB Caden Durham ($4,500)
Remember a few years back when we thought LSU had their next star running back in Durham? Times have changed. Durham fell to third on the depth chart pretty quickly in spring ball and now appears to be fourth behind a Central Florida transfer. We’d be shocked if Durham doesn’t hit the portal after this year.
↔Pivot Play – Fade RB position altogether.
Sounds counterintuitive given the workhorses that we’ve seen under Lane Kiffin in year’s past, namely Quinshon Judkins and Kewan Lacy. But Clemson will be a stout defensive group this year, and LSU has given each of RB Dilin Jones ($6,700), RB Harlem Berry ($5,500) and the aforementioned Caden Durham first-team reps in fall camp. This could take a minute before LSU settles on one running back this season. Our attention for this slate will be rostering the LSU pass-catchers over the muddy RB situation.
$Bargain Bin – WR Winston Watkins ($4,200)
Watkins doesn’t have the upside that players like WR Jayce Brown ($6,100) and WR Jackson Harris ($5,600) do starting on the outside, but the talented sophomore slot receiver quickly established himself as a starter because of his knowledge of the system coming over from Ole Miss. We’re spending down at WR on the slate, where a $4.2k salary like this makes a ton of sense. FWIW – in an argument for either Harris or Brown – a boundary receiver has been the WR1 for Kiffin in each of the last four seasons.
+Best of the Rest – QB Sam Leavitt ($8,000)
Leavitt is healthy and playing in one of the most fantasy friendly offenses for quarterbacks in the country. Just once in the last six years has Kiffin not produced a top 20 fantasy quarterback, with that being Jaxson Dart in 2022 who still had over 3,600 yards of total offense. I tend to prefer some of the other QBs on the slate playing against lesser opponents, but a 25-point projection at this cost is playable.
MEMBERS-ONLY ACCESS
theCFFsite’s
Heisman Members can view the
full article, and
Heisman/All-American Members can access the
Weekly Player Projections. Become an
All-American or Heisman Member for our exclusive members-only content and access to theCFFsite Discord, or access this week’s DFS write-up and Player Projections with a
one-week membership pass.
See 2026 membership options here.
