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Snatch ‘Em Up Now
If they weren’t already drafted in your league, these guys will be hot commodities on the wire this week.
Quarterbacks:
Donovan Smith, Texas Tech – The severity of Tyler Shough’s injury was not revealed immediately afterwards but sounds like it was the same shoulder that he injured a year ago which kept him out the remainder of the season. We’ll likely find out this week how long Shough is out, but wise to add Smith who completed 14-of-16 passes for 221 yards and four touchdowns against Murray State. Quotes from beat writers do not seem promising that we’ll see Shough again for some time.
Mitch Griffis, Wake Forest – No Sam Hartman, not problem. Didn’t watch the game but saw highlights of Griffis dropping a few dimes, and had the stat-line to show for it with 288 yards and three scores in the win over VMI. Sure, its just VMI. But the schedule the next two weeks is also favorable with Vanderbilt and Liberty. If Hartman doesn’t return and Griffis continues to play like this, he’s got Florida State, Army and Boston College in succession after the Week 4 Clemson matchup.
Jayden de Laura, Arizona – Sensational performance from de Laura who completed 63% of his throws for four touchdowns against San Diego State. No shortage of weapons with WR1 Jacob Cowing and stud freshman Tetairoa McMillan who boost JDL’s stock, but the upcoming schedule is appetizing for potential fantasy points. Zona won’t likely be able to run on Mississippi State at home next week, so expect 40+ attempts from de Laura. Then its North Dakota State, California and Colorado to follow.
Mike Wright, Vanderbilt – Wright is exactly what Gerry Bohanon was a year ago with a *very* favorable non-conference schedule. Be ready to drop him once SEC play hits on September 24th when the Dores vs. Alabama, but we still get two more weeks of goodness with Wake Forest at home and NIU on the road.
Running Backs:
Khalan Laborn, Marshall – The former 5-star recruit had a Rasheen Ali-like performance vs. Norfolk State with 138 total yards and two scores. Still unknown as to when Ali will return to the field as he’s taken a leave of absence from the team, so Laborn is the guy for the foreseeable future. Won’t be starting him this week against Notre Dame, but the schedule is smooth sailing afterwards.
Anthony Grant, Nebraska – Typical RB1 volume share under OC Mark Whipple – 23.4%. That number so far for Anthony Grant – 61.5%. How sustainable is Grant’s production so far? TBD, particularly once the Cornhuskers get into B1G play where they’ll likely rely on the pass as underdogs. But this week against Georgia Southern? Grant is a must-start.
Oscar Adaway, North Texas – Maybe the UNT coaching staff was just getting Adaway acclimated to being back on the field last week? His snap counts and carries jumped considerably vs. SMU, rushing for 117 yards and a touchdown on 20 attempts. We were high on this rush offense coming into the year given their current personnel, and like Adaway even more if he’s getting 20 carries a game.
Tiyon Evans, Louisville – We made the switch to Evans at RB1 about two weeks into fall camp as reports surfaced he was impressing in scrimmages, so maybe he’ll still be out there on waivers if your league mates aren’t up to date with the news. Snap counts and attempts were significantly in favor of Evans so we didn’t see the rotation that scared some off here.
Wide Receivers:
Charlie Jones, Purdue – My favorite phrase with CFF – “the tea leaves are pointing in that direction.” We don’t have insights into many situations around college fantasy because of the lack of reporting with certain schools, or being behind paywalls, but there were two articles in the few weeks leading up to the season suggesting Charlie Jones could be WR1. And you saw exactly that vs. Penn State. Most snaps of any Purdue receiver. 12 receptions for 153 yards on 18 (!) targets.
Isaiah Williams, Illinois – Can’t see Fantrax ownership percentages, but this is likely the one-time only rule that Williams will show up on this report. The clear and evident WR1 that now has 16 receptions on 24 targets in just two games. On pace for 40% target share season which is up in the Josh Downs territory from a year ago.
Tyrin Smith, UTEP – The Miners are a terrible football team, but I like some of the pieces they have in the passing game. Gavin Hardison could be a starter at a few P5 schools. And they’ve been throwing the ball around this season, mostly out of necessity. Smith has now posted 15 and 12 targets in consecutive weeks with 15 receptions. This game script likely continues for much of the season. Honorable mention for Rey Flores who has 19 targets in two games. RB/WR designation Fantrax.
Traeshon Holden / Kobe Prentice, Alabama – No lies told on the Alabama offensive depth chart as it was Holden and the true freshman Prentice getting the starting nods. And both performed well, combining for 10 receptions and two touchdowns on 13 targets. Is JaCorey Brooks healthy? What happens when Tyler Harrell is? Questions that need to be asked, but Holden and Prentice are the WR2 and WR3 moving forward it appears.
Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State – His production benefitted from Jaxon Smith-Njigba being less than 100%, but it appears we have a situation similar to last year where there will be three high-end CFF options in the Ohio State passing game. 9-90-1 on 11 targets. The one and only chance this week to add him if not on a roster already.
Jerand Bradley / Loic Fouonji, Texas Tech – Zach Kittley’s system favors the inside slot receiver position as we covered extensively this offseason, but if Donovan Smith is the starter moving forward, that benefits Bradley and Fouonji significantly. Smith throws a tremendous deep ball as he displayed last season, and that showed against Saturday where Bradley/Fouonji combined for 10 receptions on four touchdowns on 12 targets.
Tight Ends:
Joel Wilson, Central Michigan – Don’t anticipate Central Michigan needing to throw the ball 49 times like they did against Oklahoma State, but Wilson was targeted early and often with 6-64-0. Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino utilized his tight end heavily at Idaho, where his starter averaged 13 FPPG the last two seasons.
Bryson Nesbit, North Carolina – The closest thing that UNC has had since Eric Ebron at the position, standing 6-foot-5 with movement skills like a receiver. And that’s essentially how UNC utilizes him as he’s their best offensive weapon not named Josh Downs. Two receiving touchdowns in two games.