theCFFsite

College Fantasy Football's #1 online resource. Providing comprehensive coverage of CFF since 2011.

Non-Restricted

CFB DFS: Week 4 – Saturday Main Slate (Preview)

Sep 24, 2026
theCFFsite • DFS

CFB DFS: Week 4 – Saturday Main 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.
Texas logo
Texas
WEEK 4
VS
Tennessee
Tennessee logo
SPREAD
Tex -5.5
O/U
56.5
IMPLIED SCORE
Tex 31 – Tenn 25.5
WEATHER
67 degrees / 0% rain / 0 mph winds
Texas logo

Texas

★Top Play(s) – RB Raleek Brown ($5,900)
This will be Hollywood Smothers in this spot IF he plays on Saturday, as he was listed as questionable on the initial injury report on Wednesday. As of writing this, Smothers did not practice with the team on Wednesday. If there’s a weakness on the Tennessee defense right now, its facing the run, ranking 103rd in rush play EPA and 106th in rush play explosiveness. Georgia Tech running backs ran for nearly 150 yards in the matchup with the Vols earlier in the year.
↓Fade – WR Ryan Wingo ($6,900)
This feels a lot like Ohio State wide receivers in previous years. There’s three options every week, and the one that we fade ends up being the slate breaker. Target share is evenly split at the top with WR1-WR3 separated by just three targets, but Wingo seems to be struggling with drops again this year as he did in 2025 and was a non-factor against both Ohio State and UTSA. We’d rather spend up for WR Cam Coleman ($7,300) or go bargain shopping with Emmett Mosley.
↔Pivot Play – WR Emmett Mosley ($5,200)
Mosley is undoubtedly the third option in the passing game for Texas, but slot receivers have found the most success against this Tennessee secondary this season. In three games, slot receivers have combined for 18 receptions on 23 targets, including Kennesaw State’s Zion Booker who posted 10 catches on 11 targets this past week.
$Bargain Bin – RB Derrek Cooper ($4,700)
The 5-star freshman made his second appearance of the season against UTSA and was thrown right into the fire, rushing for 44 yards and a touchdown on 11 rushing attempts. If Smothers is playing, we’ll remove Cooper from the player pool. If Smothers is out, Cooper immediately becomes the RB2 in what should still be a split backfield with Raleek Brown.
+Best of the Rest – QB Arch Manning ($8,700)
Manning is in that middle ground amongst QBs on the slate, where we’d preferably rather spend up for Lincoln Kienholz or just save $200 and go with Byrum Brown who have better matchups with higher projections. What’s also hurting Manning is that he’s got only two red-zone rushing attempts after leading the Longhorns in rushing touchdowns last year.
!Injury Notes –
RB Hollywood Smothers (Questionable), TE Nick Townsend (Doubtful)
Tennessee logo

Tennessee

★Top Play(s) – RB DeSean Bishop ($7,900)
Bishop did come up a bit gimpy last week against Kennesaw State but was not included on the injury report and should be g2g for Saturday. Especially with a freshman QB, we expect the Tennessee offense to lean on their RB1, just as the Vols did late last year when Bishop had 19 or more rushing attempts in each of the last three games with six TDs in that span.
↓Fade – RB Daune Morris ($5,200)
Assuming 100% healthy, DeSean Bishop is getting 18+ carries in this game. Texas is only allowing 16 FPPG to opposing backfields so far this season, so there’s room for just one running back to hit value, not two.
↔Pivot Play – WR Mike Matthews ($6,800)
Matthews leads the team in receptions (10), targets (18), receiving yards (189) and tied for the team lead in touchdowns (2). Difficult not to remember just two weeks ago when another outside receiver in Jeremiah Smith cooked this Texas secondary for 164 yards and a TD. Matthews isn’t in that stratosphere, but he’s talented enough to give the Texas secondary some issues. Matthews also leads the Vols with an 18.9 YPC average and 16.0 aDOT.
$Bargain Bin – WR Radarious Jackson ($3,700)
Tennessee is not rotating much at WR in competitive settings, with Jackson playing over 50% of the team’s snaps and ranking third in routes run behind Matthews and WR Braylon Staley ($5,100). Jackson, along with the other receivers, also get a slight boost with starting TE Ethan Davis now out for the year. The target share should revolve around the top three wideouts.
+Best of the Rest – QB Faizon Brandon ($7,400)
Arguably the first big test for the 5-star freshman. While at home, Brandon is also facing a Texas defense that is giving up just 6.8 FPPG to quarterbacks through three games. This is simply not the spot to play Brandon on this slate when you could spend up just $200 on Trinidad Chambliss.
!Injury Notes –
TE Ethan Davis (Out), RB Javin Gordon (Questionable)
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.

Discover more from theCFFsite

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Verified by MonsterInsights