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:
Jack Plummer, Purdue – It wasn’t perfect as the Boilermakers had just 13 first half points against one of the lesser defense in the Pac-12 in Oregon State, but the end product was 313 yards and two TDs on 41 passing attempts. Doesn’t appear as though the Purdue run game is fixed either, averaging just 2.7 yards per carry as a team. Expect big numbers this week vs. Connecticut, and the high-volume passing attack we are used to from Jeff Brohm.
Running Backs:
Treyson Potts, Minnesota – Just announced this morning, Mo Ibrahim is out for the season following the injury suffered vs. Ohio State. Once Ibrahim left the game, it was almost all Treyson Potts the rest of the way, and looks to be the RB1 moving forward. I wouldn’t expect an Ibrahim-like workload of 25+ touches per game, but he’s the one to own here with Cam Wiley and Bryce Williams seeing sporadic work.
DeAndre Torrey, North Texas – So I guess North Texas won’t miss Oscar Adaway much at all, huh? 25-244-3 for Torrey on the ground vs. Northwestern State as the Mean Green leaned on their ground attack with the QBs struggling a bit. 4 starters are back for North Texas on an offensive line that was one of the best in the conference last year, so good chance this continues – albeit to a lesser extent with SMU and UAB upcoming.
Tavion Thomas, Utah – Thomas was generating quite a bit of buzz late in fall camp, and he backed that up with 107 yards and two touchdowns vs. Weber State. Micah Bernard was very good in his own right, and excelled in the passing game, but if there is a Utah RB to own right now, it’s the 230-pounder in Thomas. I’m not sure we see a situation like last year where it’s the RB1 and nobody else involved in the running back, but Thomas looks to be the lead guy.
Isaiah Bowser, UCF – Another switch we made mid-camp, inserting Bowser into the RB1 role for UCF and that came to fruition. The major surprise, especially this early, is that all the carries went to the former Northwestern transfer, rushing for 170 yards and a TD on 32 carries. Sound like a broken record here, but Gus Malzahn has shown to ride his RB1 in the past, so if that is truly Bowser, 20+ carries will happen regularly.
Kenneth Walker III, Michigan State – Seems ridiculous now after Walker rushing for 264 yards and four TDs that he’s still under 30 percent ownership currently on Fantrax. We knew the Wake Forest transfer was the most talented option in the backfield, but with mixed reports by beat writers as to where Walker sat on the depth chart, combined with the offensive coordinator’s propensity to use a committee, we were a tad hesitant he’d see 20+ carries on a regular basis this year. Not anymore.
Chez Mellusi, Wisconsin – This has the feel of an impending transfer for Jalen Berger who was dressed, but didn’t see a single carry on Saturday vs. Penn State. Doing a bit of digging, I’m not going to throw out message board posts, but there is mention of some off-field matters that led to this. Regardless, Mellusi looked perfectly capable in Berger’s place, rushing for 121 yards on 31 carries vs. a very good Penn State defense. This is his backfield until we see otherwise.
Brandon Thomas, Memphis – We were on Brandon Thomas prior to the Memphis depth chart release, and it played out that way for one week with the redshirt FR leading the team with 147 yards and a TD on 16 carries. Everyone had success for the Tigers with Memphis averaging over six yards an attempt as a team, and get another plus-matchup in Week 2 vs. Arkansas State. If Memphis finds success on the ground again, another sign they’ve fixed some of their offensive woes that plagued them a year ago.
Harrison Waylee, Northern Illinois – If Waylee can rush for 144 yards and a TD on 27 carries on the road vs. Georgia Tech, what will the sophomore be capable of once NIU gets into MACtion play? Tough non-conf schedule remaining with Wyoming and Michigan in the next few weeks, but Waylee succeeding against a P5 opponent and dominating the market share in the NIU backfield boosts his outlook dramatically for the rest of the year. Owned in just 8 percent of leagues.
Wide Receivers:
Western Kentucky WRs – Wasn’t able to watch this one, but looking through the data, four receivers saw 25 or more snaps with three coming as a mild surprise in Oregon transfer Daewood Davis, Mitchell Tinsley and FR Malachi Corley. Doesn’t seem that OC Zach Kittley has any loyalty to his former Houston Baptist wideouts with Jerreth Sterns being the only one making an impact. The trio of Davis/Tinsley/Corley combined for 12 receptions on 16 targets with all three finding the end-zone and I’m making it a priority to add all three if it looks like they’ll be the core four amongst WRs.
Tay Martin, Oklahoma State – Not worried about it just yet, but the “Mike Gundy’s system favors outside receivers” narrative played true for one week with Tay Martin leading the team in targets, yards, and receptions, finishing the day with 6-107-1. Still has a case of the drops with two vs. Missouri State. Will monitor this situation over the coming weeks, but is a sure-fire add for the upside of a WR1 in this system.
Calvin Jackson Jr., Washington State – This is a team in disarray right now, losing to Utah State in the opener, and can’t settle on a starting QB – doesn’t help when they chose the wrong one to begin with. If there will be one constant this season, it will be the slot receivers with Travell Harris and Calvin Jackson Jr. who likely dominate the target share again in 2021. PFF data looks off so I can’t tell exactly how many targets Jackson had, but it was likely the most on the team as he had 7-91-0 vs. Utah State. Immediate add in full-point PPR leagues.
Tight Ends:
Cameron Latu, Alabama – Jahleel Billingsley who? Latu saw the seventh most snaps of any Alabama player on Saturday, finishing with two receiving touchdowns in the blowout of Miami. We know Bill O’Brien’s extensive history of featuring the tight end both in college and the pros, and this year won’t be any different it appears.
Worth A Look
If you have the roster room, these prospects are worth a look.
Quarterbacks:
Braxton Burmeister, Virginia Tech – Love the upcoming schedule for the Hokies here with Middle Tennessee, West Virginia and Richmond remaining in the month of September. Burmeister still leaves plenty to be desired as a passer, but combined for over 200 yards of total offense and two touchdowns in the win over UNC. Between 7-12 carries from Burmeister every week should be a constant in this offensive scheme which makes him plenty valuable vs. the kind of defenses he’s about to see in the next three games.
Chris Reynolds, Charlotte – Lot of positives to come out of that performance from Chris Reynolds with his four-touchdown performance against Duke. We didn’t see backup James Foster at all which is a huge plus moving forward. His 10 carries for 37 yards and a TD is massive for his future outlook where we could see his numbers look closer to 2019 where Reynolds rushed for 767 yards and six touchdowns. Lastly, Charlotte’s defense looks every bit as poor as expected which means we could be in for some shootouts with the 49ers in 2021.
Will Levis, Kentucky – Levis won’t face Louisiana-Monroe every week, but what made the entire offense attractive this year from a fantasy perspective was the lackluster schedule that doesn’t feature many Top 25 projected defenses. Levis was exceptional with four passing touchdowns and 367 yards through the air, and has two dynamic receivers to throw to in Wan’Dale Robinson and Josh Ali. I’d also expect his four carries for negative yardage on the ground to be a season-low as Levis is a fantastic athlete in his own right.
Running Backs:
Miyan Williams, Ohio State – We made the switch in our preseason rankings to Miyan Williams over Master Teague, and that looks to have paid off as the redshirt FR led the Buckeye backfield with 125 yards on nine carries, including a 71-yard scamper. I suspect Williams will get the first carry this week against Oregon, but he’ll need to perform up to Ohio State standards with true FR TreVeyon Henderson who displayed he has the goods on his very first touch. I’m attempting to nab Williams for the immediate future, but not blowing my budget as it’s possible he loses this job at some point too.
Zaquandre White, South Carolina – As expected, Kevin Harris was not needed in the romp over Eastern Illinois. Zaquandre White continued his preseason hype into the regular season with 128 yards and two total touchdowns on just 12 carries. Does Harris ramp up his workload this week against East Carolina as he prepares for SEC play or will he sit another game? Will have White highly ranked in another favorable matchup vs. the Pirates who gave up 200+ rushing yards to Appalachian State.
Rasheen Ali, Marshall – I was only watching this game through the DFS Discord channel where I got four notifications that redshirt FR Rasheen Ali found the end-zone. I’ll have to watch some of the game this week to see how it looked, but its not as though Marshall dominated on the ground, averaging just 3.4 yards per carry as a team. Ali is a definite add this week if possible, particularly in dynasty formats, but I’ll be curious to see if this continues moving forward against better teams.
Tahj Brooks, Texas Tech – Brooks paced the RB room with 15 carries for 134 yards and two TDs against Houston, though he did benefit from an early fumble from Xavier White. Great matchups in the coming weeks vs. Stephen F. Austin and Florida International, but will have to monitor the status of Sa’Rodorick Thompson who was cleared for contact per head coach Matt Wells. Assume they won’t get him up and running this next week so another big Brooks performance could be in store.
Tyler Nevens, San Jose State – Exactly what we wanted to see here in the first couple games with Nevens being the featured RB in the backfield, and that continued against USC with his 15 carries to just three for Kairee Robinson. Nevens has rushed for a TD in both of the first two weeks and have a very favorable schedule in the next four games with Hawaii, Western Michigan, New Mexico State and Colorado State on the horizon.
Blake Corum, Michigan – Offseason hype was real with the redshirt freshman who rushed for 111 yards and two total TDs in the win over Western Michigan. Caution that this will remain a RBBC for much of the year unless someone can CLEARLY separate themselves. Good start for Corum in what will be a run-heavy offense in 2021.
Brad Roberts, Air Force – Roberts didn’t find the end-zone vs. Lafayette, but the carry distribution was very promising with no other RB getting more than five carries on the day compared to 25 for the Air Force starting full back. Looks like the only one Roberts will be battling for carries with is QB Haaziq Daniels. Owned in just 17 percent of leagues currently.
Tayon Fleet-Davis, Maryland – Looks like we can expect a shared backfield for Maryland this year with Tayon Fleet-Davis and Isaiah Jacobs, but TFD was far more productive with his 18 carries, averaging nearly seven yards a carry and over 120 rushing yards. Beautiful upcoming schedule with Howard, Illinois and Kent State on the horizon.
Sean Tucker, Syracuse – If Week 1 is any indication, we probably will see a heavy dosage of Sean Tucker, and only Sean Tucker, in the Syracuse backfield as they sort out the QB situation. 25 carries for a career-high 181 yards vs. Ohio, and the schedule remains advantageous upcoming with Rutgers, Albany and Liberty in the next three games. Only rostered in 20 percent of leagues.
Wide Receivers:
A.T. Perry, Wake Forest – There was some mystery here as to who would take over Donovan Greene’s spot in the offense between Perry and Donald Stewart, but it looks like we have clarity after Week 1 with the former posting four catches for 81 yards and a touchdown vs. Old Dominion. His yards per reception (20.3) and aDOT (23.2) indicate he is perfectly suited for that deep-threat role in this offense that Greene occupied a year ago.
Kevin Austin Jr., Notre Dame – Promising start for a player that hasn’t had much live action over the last few years with Austin posting 4-91-1 vs. Florida State. Owned in just 12 percent of leagues right now, and will benefit if Jack Coan continues to play like he did on Sunday.
Mario Williams, Oklahoma – The electric true FR led the team in receptions (6) and targets (8), and it took just one game to be convinced he will be the second-most productive receiver on the Sooners in 2021. Hopefully not projecting that to start the season won’t come back to bite us in the rear. Still available in 79 percent of leagues.
Josh Ali, Kentucky – Same arguments here that were made for Will Levis above. Ali won’t dominate the target share as he did a year ago now with Wan’Dale Robinson in the fold, but Week 1 showed that won’t be an issue. Led all Kentucky receivers with eight targets.
Samori Toure, Nebraska – Oliver Martin picked up a minor injury and did not play vs. Fordham. Toure paced the WR group with eight receptions for 133 yards on a team-high 11 targets, and could get the bulk of the looks again next week vs. Buffalo should Martin miss another week.
Makai Polk, Mississippi State – Didn’t find the end-zone, and only averaged 5.7 yards per reception, but the offseason reports appear to be true regarding the California transfer who caught all 10 of his targets vs. Louisiana Tech. Prioritize him more in full-point PPR formats.
Neil Pau’u, BYU – Pau’u did benefit from the injury to Gunner Romney who left the game after his leg got rolled up on, but had a massive outing with 126 yards and two touchdowns on 11 targets. His value moving forward will depend on Romney’s health status.
Tight Ends:
Trae Barry, Boston College – We weren’t expecting the same target volume for Barry this season that Hunter Long received in 2020, but the Jacksonville State transfer showed he doesn’t need it with a 51-yard touchdown where he leapt over Colgate defender. BC will be racking up the points in the next few weeks vs. UMass and Temple.
Longshots
Need to see more from these guys before pulling the trigger, unless you are in the deepest of leagues.
Quarterbacks:
Devin Leary, NC State – Efficient night for Devin Leary, completing 65 percent of his passes with two touchdowns in a romp of South Florida. I like the schedule upcoming for Leary if in need of a streamer with Mississippi State, Furman and Louisiana Tech in three of the next four contests. Owned in just 12 percent of leagues, and should be a consistent 20-25-point quarterback on any given week.
Terry Wilson, New Mexico – Successful opening week for Kentucky transfer Terry Wilson, completing 20-of-26 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Houston Baptist. Wilson also rushed for 49 yards on nine carries which will be a constant in this offensive system that averages over 100 rushing attempts per year out of the QB1. Favorable matchup again for Wilson this week against New Mexico State if looking to stream.
Anthony Richardson, Florida – For now, I’d say this is mostly for the folks who have Emory Jones on their roster as it appears Richardson will be getting more looks with the first-team offense starting this week. Not throwing in the towel yet on Jones as Dan Mullen indicated, but this will be a full-fledged competition this week in practices. Do we see a two-QB system moving forward?
Austin Kendall, Louisiana Tech – Maybe we see a resurgence of the Louisiana Tech offense from year’s past? Promising debut for Austin Kendall who combined for over 300 yards and three touchdowns on the road against a SEC opponent. Better news for Kendall is that La Tech averaged under two yards per carry as a team if you eliminate Kendall’s 59-yard carry from the stat sheet.
Running Backs:
Deneric Prince, Tulsa – Tulsa scored just 17 points on Thursday, but the ground attack dominated for the most part with both Deneric Prince and Shamari Brooks averaging over eight yards a carry. Prince led the way with 179 yards and a touchdown, and I tend to lean towards the former Texas A&M transfer as the better option in that backfield. Even if Brooks remains the “starter” in name, this has tended to be a split between the RB1-2 in year’s past, and Tulsa has a dominant run blocking offensive line so both should backs should find weekly success.
Jabari Small / Tiyon Evans, Tennessee – Everyone finds success running the ball against Bowling Green as the Vols showed this week, rushing for 326 yards and four TDs on 64 carries. Head coach Josh Heupel has shown to favor the committee approach during his time at UCF, and we saw exactly that with 22 and 16 attempts between Jabari Small and Tiyon Evans, respectively. Long-term outlook, I’m not sure how they’ll perform vs. the SEC, but with Pittsburgh coming into town and then Tennessee Tech the following week, both should get considerable carries. Pittsburgh had a dominant run defense in 2020, and held UMass to under two yards a carry, so next week isn’t a gimme for fantasy production.
D.J. Jones, North Carolina – There was a portion of that contest vs. Virginia Tech when it was solely D.J. Jones getting carries over Ty Chandler, and probably would have finished with more than six carries had he not gotten banged up in the second half. For a system where the RB2 averages around 120 carries per season, I’d look at add Jones if you have the space, as I believe there could be a possibility he takes over the starting job at some point over Chandler. The UNC offensive line will have to be MUCH better for any running back to be fantasy relevant this season.
Keyon Mozee, Miami (Ohio) – Neither Jaylon Bester nor Ty Shelton played vs. Cincinnati for reasons unknown to me, but maybe their time at the top of the depth chart has passed. Kansas State transfer Keyon Mozee saw the bulk of the carries, rushing for 80 yards on 15 carries (5.3 YPA) against one of the better defense in the country in Cincinnati. Situation to monitor if Mozee retains the top spot even when Bester and Shelton are back in the lineup.
Richard Newton, Washington – Abysmal offensive performance from the Huskies against Montana, putting up under 300 yards of total offense. Biggest plus coming out of the game from a fantasy perspective was the carry distribution in the Washington backfield with Richard Newton finishing with 17 carries. Just 3.6 YPC and has a tough matchup vs. Michigan this week, but could be a back-end of the roster type if he sees the majority of the work in the backfield.
Edward Saydee, Temple – Not many bright spots when you lose by nearly 50 points to Rutgers, but Edward Saydee ran hard with 57 yards and a TD on 12 carries. No other running back had more than four attempts on the day. Two favorable matchups on the horizon with Akron and Wagner, so Saydee could be a useful filler.
Wide Receivers:
Brandon Johnson, UCF – Still believe Tennessee transfer Brandon Johnson is sitting third in the pecking order behind Jaylon Robinson and Ryan O’Keefe, but that looks to still be a profitable spot still if UCF is running 88 plays per game on offense. Johnson posted 5-47-1 vs. Boise State and was tied for first on the team in targets with eight.
Grant DuBose, Charlotte – I think you could poll 10 College Fantasy Football analysts and not one could successfully say they knew a person named Grant DuBose existed. Mistake on our part as he went for 4-118-2 on five targets vs. Duke. Not counting on this being a weekly thing, but name to monitor moving forward.
Te’Vailance Hunt, Arkansas State – Dahu Green did not play so we’ll have to see if this dynamic changes once healthy, but Hunt looks to be the WR2 for one week, finishing second on the team in catches (6), targets (9), yards (96) and found the end-zone.
Tez Johnson, Troy – We spoke in the offseason about someone having to step up in the slot for the departed Kaylon Geiger, and Tez Johnson was the odds-on favorite in the preseason to assume that role. Played out that way in Week 1 with 5-92-1 on a team-high six targets.
Roderic Burns, North Texas – Situation to monitor moving forward with the WR snap counts for North Texas. Didn’t get to watch the game so not sure how it played out with the matchup being a blowout, but it was Burns and Georgia transfer Tommy Bush who saw the most time on the field of any receivers. Burns led the team with 5-98-1 on seven targets.
Stanley Berryhill, Arizona – We mostly ignored Arizona players this offseason thinking this would essentially be a Year 0 under a new coaching staff. And that looks to be the case after a Week 1 loss to BYU. But maybe we shouldn’t have dismissed last year’s WR1 Stanley Berryhill who caught 12 passes on 13 targets for 102 yards. The Wildcats struggled to run the ball, averaging just 2.3 yards per carry, which could lead to a pass-happy offense that attempted 45 throws on Saturday. Further good news for Berryhill is that Gunner Cruz looked…decent?
Dynasty:
Stefan Cobbs, Boise State – I like this addition if you’ve got substantial space to “waste” a roster spot for a year. Cobbs received quite a bit of praise during the offseason, and saw the most snaps of any Boise State receiver vs. UCF, finishing with 4-63-0 on six targets. Part of that was due to Khalil Shakir being on a limited snap count, but Cobbs should be part of the rotation regardless in 2021. Shakir, CT Thomas and Octavius Evans will move on after this year so Cobbs could be the foreseeable WR1 down the road.
Titus Mokiao-Atimalala, UCF – Malzahn looks to have landed a stud in 4-star receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala who nabbed a touchdown in his debut. The 6-foot-1 freshman had a litany of Power Five offers, including Oregon, Michigan, Notre Dame and a host of others. Jaylon Robinson and Brandon Johnson, the two primary outside receivers this season, are likely gone after the year so TMA could step right into a starting role in 2022.
Will Sheppard, Vanderbilt – Week 1 is the exact reason we weren’t all that high on Re’Mahn Davis coming into the year. This is a terrible team. Looking down the road in 2022 and beyond, I’ll be wanting shares of rFR Will Sheppard who led the team with a whopping 19 targets vs. East Tennessee. If Vanderbilt has to throw it this much, Sheppard may even have value this year with game scripts in his favor.