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Wyoming vs. Akron
- Point-Spread: Wyo – 7
- O/U Total: 49
- Implied Score: Wyo 28 – Akr 21
- Weather: 66 degrees / 28% rain / 8 mph winds
Wyoming:
Top Play(s) – TE John Michael Gyllenborg ($6,500) It can be tough to stomach spending up on a tight end at this price if your name is not Brock Bowers or more recently Tyler Warren. But JMG is on the short list of tight ends in the country that could have that type of impact in 2025 as the team’s clear No. 1 pass-catching option. When healthy, Gyllenborg was exceptional last season with 31 receptions on 47 targets across nine games.
Fade – RB Sam Scott ($5,200) Scott is the incumbent, and listed at top the team depth chart, albeit with a bunch of OR’s in that running back room. The offseason was turbulent with news coming out of Wyoming spring and fall camp, with multiple RBs flashing on different occasions. Coming out of spring ball, it was Charlotte transfer Terron Kelleman. When Phil Steele published, he predicted North Texas transfer Damashja Harris as RB1. In an early August article, Iowa transfer Max White was the name popping as looking the best amongst the group. In summation, take the cheapest option or punt the group entirely because this looks like a committee.
Bargain Bin – RB Max White ($3,000) It’s a risk, as the Iowa transfer is third on the depth chart, but there’s an early August article from a Wyoming media outlet that is quoted as saying, “if I was to pick a starter today, it would likely be White – by a razor thin margin.” If White isn’t the starter, he should at the very least get some run on Thursday in a rotation.
Pivot Play – QB Kaden Anderson ($6,800) A Wyoming QB? In this economy? Anderson took over the starting job in Week 9 and showed flashes of potential, including a four-touchdown performance against New Mexico – though that defense finished 2024 as the worst in all of college football.
Best of the Rest – WRs Jaylen Sargent ($5,500) or WR Chris Durr ($5,400) This WR duo, along with Gyllenborg, should dominated the target share for Wyoming this season. Durr, a 5-foot-10 slot receiver, was a gem in last year’s recruiting class, finishing second on the team in targets (45) as a freshman. Sargent has the size at 6-foot-2 and was deemed the receiver most likely to hit 1,000 yards (if a Wyoming receiver did this season) by the team beat writer in the G5Hive episode on YouTube (watch it). Limit one to a lineup.
Injury Notes – n/a
Akron:
Top Play(s) – TE Jake Newell ($4,000) Without an official depth chart as of writing this on Tuesday, there’s not much to go on here for the Akron side, but we cannot ignore them with an implied team total of three touchdowns. Newel is the most known commodity on the team, finishing second last season in receptions (35) and third in targets (47), and should see a boost in fantasy production with more touchdown equity.
Fade – WR Alex Adams ($6,200) The floor is LOW, low for Adams who has been hampered by injuries in recent years, although he did finished as WR32 in college fantasy in 2022 with nine touchdowns when he last played a full campaign. He’s way too pricy, though, for a player whose best days might be behind him. RB Taven Curry ($5,400) is also an easy fade as he’s likely not top three on the depth chart.
Bargain Bin – WR Kyan Mason ($3,300) FWIW – Akron has an active message board with a moderator that seems to have access to practices. If you recall, this is how we found Adrian Norton last year who became one of the Zips’ top passing options. Mason caught just one pass in two games played as a freshman, and that went for a 28-yard touchdown. He’s expected to start in the slot, and there’s a chance he’s the actual WR1 for Akron in 2025.
Pivot Play – QB Ben Finley ($5,400) Finley is cheap, he’s the undisputed starter, and we know Akron chucks the football around under head coach Joe Moorhead. The Zips have ranked in the top 15 nationally since 2022 in pass rate at a 55.8% clip. Biggest downside is he’s a zero on the ground so will need to throw a few touchdowns to hit value.
Best of the Rest – WR Israel Polk ($3,500) We assume Akron will chuck the football around as they’ve done each of the last three seasons, and some of the projected starters outside of Adams and Mason are cheap. Polk brings experience, finishing four on the team last season with 45 targets. WR Marcel Williams ($3,000) has been a fall camp standout, and was shown catching a touchdown in a team highlight reel in fall ball.
Injury Notes – On the aforementioned Akron message board, it was mentioned that RB transfers Chris Gee ($3,000) and Jordan Gant ($4,700) are dinged up. Redshirt freshman Sean Patrick ($3,000) is expected to see extended playing time on Thursday. Again, take this info FWIW without a depth chart.
East Carolina vs. NC State
- Point-Spread: NC St – 14
- O/U Total: 61
- Implied Score: NC St 32.5 – ECU 18.5
- Weather: 74 degrees / 3% rain / 6 mph winds
East Carolina:
Top Play(s) – n/a. They’re all priced up to a point where it’s tough to consider anyone on the ECU side with a team total less than three touchdowns. We’ll attack this Pirate offense down the road with better matchups, because they’ll be one of the best offensive teams in the AAC.
Fade – RB Parker Jenkins ($5,000) ECU probably doesn’t have a Rahjai Harris this year and is likely a three-way committee with a few other candidates aside from Jenkins, the Houston transfer. But reading through spring and summer reports, Jenkins was consistently the third option behind the top two. We’d favor Montgomery or Gunn Jr. instead.
Bargain Bin – RB Marlon Gunn Jr. ($4,500) As we saw last year with Rahjai Harris, this appears to be a staff that values upperclassmen, and Gunn is the eldest holdover in the ECU running back room. While this will likely be a split distribution, Gunn has been listed first a few times by the team beat writer when mentioning the backfield. OC John David Baker also has a tendency as a play-caller to feature one back, as we saw last year and dating back to his time at Ole Miss with Quinshon Judkins.
Pivot Play – QB Katin Houser ($9,700) The last time Houser faced this NC State defense, it was ugly – 147 passing yards and two interceptions. Houser still finished with 24 fantasy points due to his rushing usage with 84 yards and two scores on 13 carries, so we know he can get it done both ways. After taking over the starting job last season, Houser was a relation over the last seven starts, averaging 267 passing yards with 20 touchdowns in that span. GPP play here as he’s quite pricy and probably won’t see a high ownership rate with a lower implied team total than we’d like to see.
Best of the Rest – WRs. At receiver, WR Yannick Smith ($7,200) is expected to step into a starting role on the outside after a strong finish last season, recording 60 or more yards in each of the final four games. WR Anthony Smith ($7,400) led the team with 805 receiving yards on 84 targets. Either player could end up being the WR1 for this team and see 100+ targets for the season. WR Jaquaize Pettaway ($6,700) is arguably the fastest receiver on the team and will start in the slot after transferring over from Oklahoma. Realistically only room for one in your roster with the pricing and would favor one of the Smith’s over Pettaway.
Injury Notes – n/a
NC State:
Top Play(s) – RB Hollywood Smothers ($7,000) The former Oklahoma transfer might be the best player NC State has on offense in 2025…if he gets the necessary workload. Under HC Dave Doeren, the Wolfpack have typically split carries in the backfield, having not produced a 1,000-yard rusher since 2018. The prevailing thought from most is that 2025 could be different – think Demond Claiborne last year who broke the mold of what a college “system” typically does.
Fade – WR Terrell Anderson ($5,200) The WR room for the Wolfpack does not inspire much confidence heading the season, losing last year’s leader KC Concepcion to the portal, and may end up being one of the few teams in the country where the tight end is the de facto WR1. Would rather spend up on a running back and go cheap at wide receiver than roster Anderson at this pricing.
Bargain Bin – RB Jayden “Duke Scott ($4,800) If NC State remains a committee of sorts in the backfield, the redshirt freshman back has been getting the hype in fall camp. RB2s have averaged around nine rushing attempts per game under Doeren over the last eight years.
Pivot Play – QB CJ Bailey ($9,500) Strong projection for Bailey this week, heading into his second season as the team’s starter after throwing for 2,400 yards and 22 combined touchdowns as a freshman. Bailey was very consistent, scoring 22 or more fantasy points in six of his final seven starts. He’s up over 200 pounds now after entering college at just 170 lbs and is expected to factor into the run game more with a new offensive coordinator. No need to stack Bailey with any NC State pass-catcher.
Best of the Rest – TE Justin Joly ($6,300) There’s a world where no WR steps up this season, and the target share once again funnels through Joly who finished second on the team in targets, receptions and touchdowns last season. He’s the best pass-catcher, by far, on the team. He’s the better option over WR Noah Rogers ($6,800) both from a production and pricing standpoint.
Injury Notes – n/a
Jacksonville State vs. Central Florida
- Point-Spread: UCF -18.5
- O/U Total: 53.5
- Implied Score: UCF 36 – Jax St 17.5
- Weather: 82 degrees / 68% rain / 6 mph winds
Jacksonville State:
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