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:
Grant Wells, Marshall – Wells came into this week averaging 371 yards passing through the air, including back-to-back 400-yard performances. Came back to Earth understandably against an above average Appalachian State defense on the road but is still averaging over 25 fantasy points per game this season. Upcoming schedule features Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion and North Texas. Juicy.
Casey Thompson, Texas – Hudson Card to the portal in 3, 2, 1…Insert Vince Carter “It’s Over” gif. Thompson’s six total touchdowns likely close this competition for good, with Card not seeing any reps until garbage time when the game was already decided.
Kyle McCord, Ohio State – For me, this is all about your roster situation. I don’t know what the staff will do here. McCord was shaky to start, but you see the arm talent as he grew into the game, finishing with 319 passing yards and two touchdowns. Obviously, if you have Stroud, go after him hard. If you are desperate for a QB, I’d look to add him given the value of the Ohio State QB1. Will have to dig this week into what Ryan Day has to say, and what beat writers think the plan will be moving forward here.
Running Backs:
Calvin Tyler, Utah State – Even in a game where Utah State scored just three points, Tyler continued to produce with 126 yards on 19 carries where no other Utah State back had more than seven attempts.
Wide Receivers:
Xavier Worthy, Texas – Still not ready to say Worthy is THE WR1 for Texas as Jordan Whittington did lead the team in targets, but the explosive true FR stole the show with 5-100-3, looking more and more like Steve Sarkisian’s new DeVonta Smith. Worthy’s playing time has steadily increased with each passing week and now has four scores in the last two games. Something to do perhaps with Thompson being inserted now into the starting lineup?
Makai Polk, Mississippi State – Wash, rinse, repeat. Double-digit targets in three of the four games played and consecutive weeks with receiving touchdowns, yet owned in just 11 percent of leagues, compared to Jaden Walley who is on 84 percent of rosters. Polk is the WR1.
Western Kentucky WRs – Are people still sleeping on the WKU receivers with Daewood Davis, Malachi Corley and Mitchell Tinsley all under five percent ownership? Corley, Jerreth Sterns’ counterpart in the slot and just a freshman, has at least five catches in every game with two touchdowns. Tinsley has four catches in all three games so far. Davis has found the end-zone twice in three games. Those four are dominating the snap counts amongst WKU receivers too. Tough matchup with Michigan State next week, but these guys will thrive in C-USA play.
Tight Ends:
Jordan Myers, Rice – Is Myers going to be the most added player in College Fantasy this week? 26 carries for 160 yards and four touchdowns at the tight end (or wide receiver) position is just so invaluable to any roster. Granted it was against Charleston Southern, but the Owls are now into conference play next week with Southern Miss.
Worth A Look
If you have the roster room, these prospects are worth a look.
Quarterbacks:
James Blackman, Arkansas State – Not sure if something is going on behind the scenes or an injury took place, but Layne Hatcher didn’t see a single snap vs. Tulsa. James Blackman was OK, throwing for 321 yards and two touchdowns, but should he now be the full-time starter for whatever reason, his value shoots up tremendously. Will dig this week for any Hatcher updates.
Chance Nolan, Oregon State – Not loving the matchup this week with Washington, but Oregon State has settled on their QB for this season with Chance Nolan who has posted 27 fantasy points in each of the last three games, including an upset on the road at USC. QBs have succeeded in Jonathan Smith’s offense in the past, but haven’t possessed the mobility that Nolan adds with 30+ rushing yards in all three starts.
Garrett Shrader, Syracuse – Still leaves a ton to be desired as a passer, but that’s not why we want Garrett Shrader on our rosters. It’s clear which direction Dino Babers is taking this offense in 2021 to save his job, as Shrader and RB Sean Tucker dominated on the ground, with the former rushing for 60 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries. Remember back to the days of Eric Dungey who averaged double-digit carries and at least one rushing TD per game over his career. Anything from Shrader as a passer will be a bonus.
Devin Leary, NC State – That’s now consecutive games where Leary has accounted for four touchdowns, and gets a Louisiana Tech defense next week that currently ranks 128th in the country.
Gerry Bohanon, Baylor – Bohanon passed the first test, accounting for three total touchdowns against what was ranked as the best defense in the Big 12 in Iowa State coming into this week. It’s incredible what having arguably the best offensive line in the country can do for everyone involved in the Baylor offense. Bohanon has scored 29+ fantasy points in each of the last three games.
Running Backs:
Nate Noel, Appalachian State – One of the App State running backs is owned in 91 percent of leagues while the other is at just 3 percent. Want to guess which one leads in attempts and yards? Decent discrepancy on FPPG with Camerun Peoples having eight of the team’s 10 rushing TDs, but Nate Noel is seeing consistent run with at least 15 carries in every game, including two 100-yard performances.
Montrell Johnson, Louisiana – The Louisiana rush offense still isn’t producing at the levels we are accustomed too, but it was notable that Johnson did out-carry Chris Smith this week against Georgia Southern in what wound up being a narrow victory. Are we seeing the changing of the guard happen?
Pat Garwo, Boston College – Another performance where context is needed. Absolutely deserve a place on this list after rushing for 175 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries as Garwo has taken over the RB1 role the last two weeks. But that’s also against the worst rush defense arguably in the entire country in Missouri. If you add him, you probably aren’t even starting him next week against Clemson.
Evan Hull, Northwestern – Throwing this one out there more as a warning. I’m sure folks will flock to the WW looking for Hull after rushing for 200 yards and two TDs…against Ohio. Matchups coming up aren’t as forgiving with Nebraska (who just shut down Kenneth Walker) and Rutgers (who just shut down Blake Corum). Would want Hull on my roster only as a rotational piece provided the correct matchup.
Josh McCray, Illinois – RIP Chase Brown? He did not travel with the team to Purdue, and now may have lost his starting job (which was already in jeopardy) to freshman Josh McCray who rushed for 156 yards on 24 carries vs. Purdue. Definitely has the look of a Bret Bielema prototype runner at 240 pounds. He’s an add in redraft, and a high-priority in dynasty leagues.
Damien Moore, California – Moore hasn’t had a game in which he’s scored more than 21 fantasy points so he isn’t winning you any individual matchups, but has also scored at least 18 fantasy points in all four games. Dominating the touches in the Cal backfield as no other running back has more than 12 carries to his 59 rushing attempts.
Wide Receivers:
Corey Sutton / Thomas Hennigan, App State – Two realizations we have to come to terms with regards to Appalachian State: (1) Their defense isn’t as good as last year so they can’t rely just on bleeding the clock with the run game, and (2) Chase Brice is a decent QB at the G5 level. Both boost the value of Corey Sutton and Thomas Hennigan who now have two 100-yard performances each this season. I favor Sutton of the two, who leads the team with 28 receptions on 43 targets.
Tay Martin, Oklahoma State – Time to take advantage from those who dropped Martin during his stint on the sidelines due to injury. Martin came back with a vengeance, going 10-104-1 on a team-high 13 targets.
Corey Gammage, Marshall – Same message here as last week. Production wasn’t there against Appalachian State with just 3-12-0, but the volume was with another seven targets. Averaging 10 targets per game now and we mentioned the upcoming schedule for the Herd already.
A.T. Perry, Wake Forest – Another week, another touchdown from A.T. Perry (who still is not the WR1) who is assimilating himself well into the Donovan Greene role as the team’s primary big-play threat.
Kaylon Geiger, Texas Tech – That’s back-to-back 100-yard performances for Geiger who has seen his snap counts steadily rise over the last two weeks. Henry Columbi will be stepping in the next few weeks for the injured Tyler Shough, and while he did throw three touchdowns against Texas, I’ve seen enough of him to know to not expect that weekly.
Corey Crooms, Western Michigan – Skyy Moore is back in the lineup and Crooms continues to produce with three touchdowns now in four games, and was second in targets (7) in the win vs. San Jose State.
Gary Bryant Jr., USC – Bryant appears to be the second option behind Drake London in the passing game with three total touchdowns on 12 targets in the last two games. Sounds like Kedon Slovis will be his quarterback for the next few weeks whether you deem that a good or bad thing for Bryant’s value.
Tight Ends:
Zack Kuntz, Old Dominion – The former 4-star Penn State commit is finally living up to his recruiting status, now with 10 catches on 17 targets with two TDs in the last two games. The Old Dominion offense as a whole is finally starting to show some life after a year off.
Emmanual Stevenson, Arkansas State – Don’t really know much about this true freshman tight end, but has seen consistent targets through four games (2), and had a season-high four catches vs. Tulsa. Will have to give him a more thorough look this week.
Longshots
Need to see more from these guys before pulling the trigger, unless you are in the deepest of leagues.
Quarterbacks:
Chase Cunningham, Middle Tennessee – Look, you throw five touchdowns, you deserve mention in our Waiver Wire article. This was also against a Charlotte defense that ranks 105th in the nation, allowing north over 420 yards per game so some contest is warranted. Where I do like Cunningham moving forward – MTSU couldn’t do a damn thing still on the ground against one of the worst rush defenses in the country. Cunningham will be slinging it 30+ times each week.
Armani Rogers, Ohio – We’ll need to pay attention this week to the status of Kurtis Rourke who left the game against Northwestern with an injury and did not return. Ohio needs a change on offense anyways, and might be wise to start Rogers regardless to provide a change of pace. Rogers showed off his athleticism with 75 yards on five attempts with a TD vs. the Wildcats. Akron next week.
Ben Bryant, Eastern Michigan – RIP to Preston Hutchinson who saw just three total snaps vs. Texas State. Ben Bryant, the former Cincinnati transfer, completed 63 percent of his throws for 224 yards and four total touchdowns in the blowout victory and now enters MAC play as the clear QB1.
Gunnar Holmberg, Duke – Holmberg was a top streaming option at QB for this exact reason, accounting for five touchdowns and over 400 yards of total offense against a woeful Kansas defense. Holmberg is now averaging 28 FPPG, and while you could ask whether or not he’s faced a competent defense yet this season (he hasn’t), I would counter by asking if any ACC defense scares you outside of Clemson?
Running Backs:
Gerald Green, Georgia Southern – Not as though Logan Wright or J.D. King have been incredibly effective to this point, and the coaches gave the majority of run to sophomore Gerald Green who rushed for 185 yards and three TDs vs. a good Louisiana run defense. This is a player I’ve looked to stash on dynasty rosters previously as he showed a lot of burst late last year when I watched him against Louisiana Tech in the bowl game. Like his upside moving forward.
Jaren Mangham, South Florida – The Colorado transfer has been useful in the red-zone this season now with seven rushing TDs, but the Bulls decided to give him 26 carries on Saturday against BYU which was a season-high.
Wide Receivers:
CJ Daniels, Liberty – Daniels is emerging the last two weeks as the top receiver on the outside for Malik Willis over the likes over Kevin Shaa and Noah Frith who are middle-of-the-road players at best. Nine receptions on 11 targets with three touchdowns over the last two games for the 6-foot-1 redshirt freshman.
Tyrese Chambers, Florida International – Still not sure I trust Max Bortenschlager as a consistent passer, but it’s yielding results with the wide receivers, particularly Tyrese Chambers who now has a touchdown in three of the four games played this season. Had a season-high 175 yards and a TD on 12 targets.
Dynasty:
Jaden Williams, Boston College – I sprinkled some adds this past week, and I’ll be looking to add more shares in my dynasty leagues with the 3-star FR out of Texas who now has a receiving TD in three of the four games played this year.