One. More. Game. Tonight is the culmination of six months worth of hard work. The Washington Huskies versus the Michigan Wolverines for the Natty. This will be the final championship game of the four-team playoff era, as next season will be moving to a 12-team format.
Tonight’s showdown slate will obviously have plenty of overlap, especially at captain, but there are a few interesting, lesser-known options that we can consider for our lineups. Additionally, make sure you watch the latest episode of the CFB SuperShow for in-depth analysis of the entire game. Let’s get into it.
Vegas Odds
Team
Odds
Team
Odds
Total
Washington
+160
Michigan
-192 (-4.5)
56.5
Captain Options
Jalen McMillan, Washington ($10.8k Captain/$7.2k Utility)
The most popular captains will surely be Michael Penix, Rome Odunze and Blake Corum. All of them are expensive as expected, but they make the most logical sense for single-entry formats. However, there is a solid way to get different without taking unnecessary risks. Jalen McMillan came into the year with high expectations after eclipsing 1,000 receiving yards a season ago. However, early injuries knocked him off course, and he ended up missing time which opened the door for the talented Ja’Lynn Polk to seize the WR2 spot. Despite missing roughly half the season, McMillan was third on the team in targets with 52 and produced a stat line of 39-520-4.
There are rumblings that he could end up returning for a final collegiate season to take over the WR1 spot with Rome Odunze NFL draft bound, but that remains to be seen. The defensive focus will surely be on containing Rome and Polk, which will leave McMillan in 1-on-1 coverage, something he can thrive in due to his speed and footwork. Don’t sleep on McMillan now that he is as healthy as he has been all year.
The Huskies secondary has made clutch plays all season and done a fantastic job executing the coaching staff’s plan of keeping everything in front of them. Ever since the first matchup against Oregon in which Troy Franklin cooked them repeatedly, the defense has kept most “burners” in check. Unfortunately, they’ve struggled against the run, which is something we saw Texas exploit often. The Longhorns are young at the RB spot, so Washington overcame their deficiencies, but both CJ Baxter and Jaydon Blue scored on the ground against them. Now they’ll be facing off against one of the most elite backs in the country in Blake Corum. The touchdown machine had far less 100-yard games this year, and the Wolverines offense was physical but lacked a dynamic element that most of us expected to see this year. Corum eclipsed 100 yards just twice all year but scored multiple touchdowns in nine of his 14 games played. It hasn’t always been pretty, but when the Wolverines get into the red zone, they usually walk away with a Corum score. He has rushed for 1,100 yards and a whopping 25 TDs this year while contributing 16-117-3 as a pass-catcher. It’s hard to realistically trust the Wolverines passing game, and Corum is quite possibly the safest captain option on the entire slate. Everyone else knows that as well, so you’ll be overlapping a lot of other people if you decide to go that direction. Either way, you need to have Corum in your lineup even if that ends up in the utility spot.
Quarterbacks
It’s a common strategy in showdown formats to utilize a quarterback in the captain slot, but that’s more of a secondary build for me. Michael Penix has been fantastic all year long with 4,648 passing yards and 35 TDs to 9 INTs. McCarthy has been less exciting with 2,851 yards and 22 TDs to just 4 INTs. Some would consider McCarthy a game-manager of sorts, but he has proven himself capable, and his elite connection with Roman Wilson is something we could wind up seeing tonight several times. Everyone on the planet expects Michigan to run the ball down the Huskies’ throat, but if they decide to mix in more passing than usual, McCarthy could wind up as an optimal choice. He has a little bit of rushing upside as well, especially in the red zone, so multiple scores on the ground could be a slate-breaker.
Penix isn’t going to give us much on the ground, so it’s probably best to push him to a utility spot, but 300+ yards and 2+ touchdowns as a floor makes him ridiculously safe. The Wolverine defense has given up just 150 YPG through the air and held opposing QBs to a 56% completion rate. However, they didn’t face many offenses like the Washington Huskies, and I think they’ll be shell shocked early on by some big throws from the arm of Penix.
Utility Options
Germie Bernard, Washington ($2.2k Utility)
I’m calling my shot on Bernard and will be using him heavily in all of my builds. I’ve thrown a chunk on his anytime TD prop as well which is -425 on a lot of reputable books. Bernard is going to be a star next year and will likely be one of incoming transfer QB Will Rogers’ favorite weapons. Bernard has elite speed and underrated hands that could take one to the house tonight if Michigan’s defense loses sight of him. He was fifth on the team in targets with 44 and caught 35 of those passes for 430 yards/2 TDs. He has been sneakily consistent recently logging two or more receptions in each of the last three high-profile games. His best outing came back in Week 5 against Arizona when he reeled in nine of his career-high 11 targets for 109 yards. There is legitimate upside with Bernard, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to introduce himself to the masses.
Cornelius “Corny” Johnson, Michigan ($3.8k Utility)
With the Huskies defense likely keying in on Roman Wilson in the passing game, the always dangerous Corny Johnson and Semaj Morgan should find themselves in single coverage. Johnson has been productive, albeit quietly throughout the course of his career. In the game against Iowa, he caught all nine of his targets for 64 yards while Wilson was effectively shut down. A similar outcome could play out tonight, and the sub-$4k price tag makes him extremely appealing overall. He has 44 receptions for 579 yards and a score this year.
Grady Gross, Washington ($4.4k Utility)
U Dub’s kicker has been steady all year, converting 16 of his 20 field goal attempts while making all 62 of his XP’s. He has scored 10+ fantasy points in four of his last six games and will have plenty of opportunities to hit double-digits once again.
Additional Player Pool Options
Jack Westover, Washington
Dillon Johnson, Washington
Tybo Rogers, Washington
Ja’Lynn Polk, Washington
Giles Jackson, Washington
Donovan Edwards, Michigan
Semaj Morgan, Michigan
AJ Barner, Michigan
Colston Loveland, Michigan
Kalel Mullings, Michigan
Core
Michael Penix
Blake Corum
PrizePicks Plays
Michael Penix OVER 296.5 Passing Yards
Jalen McMillan OVER 13.5 Fantasy Points
JJ McCarthy OVER 1.5 Touchdowns
Grady Gross OVER 6.5 Kicking Points
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