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:
Hendon Hooker, Tennessee – We got two weeks to use Hendon Hooker in our lineups before the schedule ramps up for the Vols in late October with Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia with a bye mixed in as well. Hooker sealed the deal on the Tennessee QB1 job with his 225-yard, three touchdown performance, giving him 10 passing scores in the last four games. Hooker gives us the added bonus with his legs, rushing for 78 yards on 11 attempts vs. Missouri. Tennessee should be able to score on South Carolina and Ole Miss the next two weeks. After that, I’m not so sure.
Garrett Shrader, Syracuse – Copy and paste the same paragraph here I wrote last week. Four total touchdowns, three coming on the ground, in the narrow loss to Florida State.
Running Backs:
Travis Dye, Oregon – Sounds like it’s a significant injury to CJ Verdell that just might keep him out the rest of the season. I don’t think this instantly means 25 carries a game for Dye, he’s not that type of player, but will clearly be the RB1 for the Ducks moving forward with some Byron Cardwell and Seven McGree sprinkled in.
Brad Roberts, Air Force – Owned still in just 17 percent of leagues, Roberts continues to dominate the volume in the Air Force backfield, and had another huge performance against New Mexico with 142 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. Roberts is second in the nation in carries per game at 23.4.
Alton McCaskill, Houston – Seems obvious that McCaskill would be a must-add this week after rushing for 77 yards and three touchdowns against Tulsa. I’m slightly hesitant to say “must” because Houston is still 85th in Run Play Percentage, and Ta’Zhawn Henry is still around to eat into some of the workload. As a famous Discorder said on Friday, though… “He is the future.” McCaskill does get looks in the passing game which adds to his value with 13 total targets.
Keaton Mitchell, East Carolina – Really should’ve been higher on my radar previously, but you’re always hesitant with running backs in a timeshare. Hasn’t mattered for Mitchell who has topped 100-yards rushing in each of the last three games, including a career-high 222 yards and two scores vs. Tulane. Didn’t happen this past week, but love a running back that gets consistent work in the passing game with 15 receptions on 17 targets through the first four weeks. What makes Mitchell’s performance all the more impressive is that the offensive line hasn’t improved much since last year either.
Wide Receivers:
Makai Polk, Mississippi State – Self-explanatory at this point.
Western Kentucky Starting Receivers Not named Jerreth Sterns – Also self-explanatory as we’ve covered this the last few weeks already.
Tight Ends:
Peyton Hendershot, Indiana – Hendershot and Ty Fryfogle have seen an uptick in targets the last two weeks with DJ Matthews now out for the season, with the senior tight end now posting double-digit fantasy points in each of the last three games.
Worth A Look
If you have the roster room, these prospects are worth a look.
Quarterbacks:
Ben Bryant, Eastern Michigan – Rough outing for Bryant against NIU as he was sacked five times and threw an interception, but still got 100 percent of the snaps with no Preston Hutchinson in sight. Threw for 337 yards and two touchdowns, targeting his favorite receiver Hassan Beydoun 16 times! MACtion is here and everyone’s stock gets a bump up now.
Jordan Travis, Florida State – Time for FSU to ride with Travis full-time moving forward as he’s easily been the most productive option at the position this season for the Noles. Threw for 131 yards, rushed for another 113 yards and two combined TDs in the win over Syracuse. Gets North Carolina next week and UMass the following week. Yes, please.
N’Kosi Perry, Florida Atlantic – Consider the Air Force performance just a blip on the radar having to face a good defense in a different time-zone. Perry has been excellent this season, averaging 28 FPPG with three 30+ point outings already. Completed 85 percent of his passes with four total touchdowns and even caught a pass vs. Florida International.
Running Backs:
Antario Brown, Northern Illinois – I preface this by saying I do not know the extent of the injury to Harrison Waylee right now so this all could be a moot point. IF Waylee is out, the 3-star freshman enters the conversation as one of the top adds this week after rushing for 101 yards on 16 carries against Eastern Michigan. Thomas Hammock’s recruiting win nabbing Brown away from P5 suitors was going to pay off at some point, and it might be now.
Tiyon Evans, Tennessee – I’m sure Evans is going to be a hot commodity on the waiver wire this week after his 156-yard, three touchdown performance. Here’s the deal…everyone and their moms can run on Missouri and Evans benefitted by starter Jabari Small leaving the contest with an injury. Will need to check on Small’s status this week, and Evans does become more enticing if he’s becomes the lone man in the Vols backfield. As mentioned with Hooker, good matchups the next two weeks, but schedule ramps up afterwards.
Marquez Cooper, Kent State – Time to start worrying about Dustin Crum and this Kent State passing game if they can’t throw for 200 yards against Bowling Green at home. Not having an alpha at receiver might be the root cause. The Flashes leaned on RB1 Marquez Cooper on Saturday with 118 yards and two TDs on 31 carries – his season high. I still worry about the potential RBBC here as Cooper didn’t have more than 16 carries in a game prior to this, but only one other RB saw work vs. BG.
Wide Receivers:
Dallas Dixon, Central Michigan – CMU couldn’t run the ball worth a damn and even had a quarterback change with Daniel Richardson taking over, yet Dallas Dixon continues to produce with his second-straight 100-yard performance and has five receiving touchdowns in the last four games. Averaging nine targets a game.
Corey Crooms, Western Michigan – Production wasn’t there with 4-52-0, but Crooms is seeing consistent looks each week, averaging nearly nine targets a game. We really haven’t seen this Western Michigan passing offense bust out yet – just 240 YPG – but its coming during MAC play at some point.
Quian Williams, Buffalo – The Bulls’ backfield is out of sorts right now, but leading to better production in the passing game, primarily for former Eastern Michigan transfer Quian Williams who had his second-straight 100-yard performance. Williams has not topped 90 yards receiving in four of the five games played this season.
Elijah Higgins, Stanford – Higgins has been a steady performer in 2021, and could be leaned upon more as Brycen Tremayne was carted off vs. Oregon. Still unsure as to when we see Michael Wilson either. Higgins is averaging six targets a game with a touchdown in three out of the last four weeks.
Tyrese Chambers, FIU – Short n’ sweet since Chambers has been on this list previously. Now four touchdowns in five games after finding the end-zone against vs. Florida Atlantic.
Tight Ends:
Zack Kuntz, Old Dominion – The former 4-star Penn State commit is finally living up to his recruiting status, now with 18 catches on 27 targets with two TDs in the last three games.
Longshots
Need to see more from these guys before pulling the trigger, unless you are in the deepest of leagues.
Quarterbacks:
Tai Lavatai, Navy – Checking the scores from Saturday and Navy beat UCF?!?! And they scored 34 points in the process? Don’t go thinking this is the Navy offense of old, but promising to see that Tai Lavatai saw 100 percent of the team’s offensive snaps on Saturday and could come in handy on a roster if he’s the clear-cut QB1 now. Did have two fumbles, but also rushed for 58 yards and two TDs.
D’Wan Mathis, Temple – Preseason prediction regarding Mathis looking a better after throwing for 309 yards and three touchdowns vs. Memphis, giving him back-to-back 20+ point fantasy performances. You aren’t playing Mathis next week vs. Cincinnati, but might be relevant to us after that with South Florida, UCF and East Carolina in the following three games.
Running Backs:
Jaren Mangham, South Florida – Guess who is tied for third in the nation in rushing touchdowns? Averaged just 1.9 yards on 11 attempts vs. SMU but those attempts around the goal-line for the 215 pounder is producing fantasy points.
Chase Brown, Illinois – Why couldn’t Chase Brown have done this in Week 0 when everyone had him in their lineup? The Life of CFF. Why isn’t a guy that just rushed for 257 yards and two touchdowns a must-add? Wisconsin, Penn State and Rutgers upcoming. A couple of matchups at the end of the year that favors the Illini should Brown remain the starter then, but you probably aren’t starting him next week, unless the Badgers have no interest remaining in this season.
Keaontay Ingram, USC – With the interim staff now in place, I think we might see the Trojans run the ball a bit more and not put so much pressure on Kedon Slovis to win games. I know the fan base is sick of Air Raid ball. Still a split backfield with Darwin Barlow and Vavae Malepeai getting work, but that’s a second-straight productive week for Ingram, rushing for 100 yards on 14 carries.
Wide Receivers:
Jeshaun Jones, Maryland – With Dontay Demus likely out for an extended period after the leg injury suffered against Iowa, Jeshaun Jones moves into the WR2 slot, and has already been somewhat productive to this point already with 18 receptions on 24 targets.
Stefan Cobbs, Boise State – Cobbs has been on here before in the Dynasty section looking towards 2022, but have to give him a look now after a career-high 132 yards and two touchdowns, converting on 10 of his 11 targets. Boise State can’t run the football worth a lick so don’t be shocked if they start throwing it 40 times a game.
Konata Mumpfield, Akron – Not heavily investing much into Akron players, but the freshman receiver now has a touchdown in each of the last four games. For Akron, they’re 209 passing yards per game average is up 70 yards from last year so maybe Mumpfield has more value than I’m giving him credit for at the moment.
Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda, New Mexico State – Credit to Doug Martin who has New Mexico State competitive at least right now as the offense is starting to look how it did a few years ago. IGC has had 10 or more targets in three of the last four games, and found the end-zone twice vs. San Jose State.
Dynasty:
Michael Trigg, USC – Tight ends aren’t utilized much in Graham Harrell’s Air Raid system, but don’t foresee this scheme being around next year with a new staff in place. The 6-foot-4 freshman looked the part on Saturday with a 46-yard touchdown and his snap counts are drastically increased in the last two weeks. Don’t think he’ll see the targets this year to be relevant weekly in CFF, but depending on the new staff for 2022, Trigg could be a top-end option at the position.
Nathan Carter, Connecticut – The new coaching staff for 2022 will have at least one building block in sophomore running back Nate Carter who has fully taken over the starting job from Kevin Mensah, and topped 100 yards on 25 carries against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
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