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:
Jaylen Raynor, Arkansas State – Over 100 fantasy points for the true freshman in the last two weeks, accounting for 11 combined touchdowns against Southern Miss and UMass. Raynor is an absolute must-add for the remainder of 2023. Is he a must-add for this next week against a Troy defense that just held Darren Grainger to 6 fantasy points? We’ll side with caution and probably sit Raynor in Week 6 unless you’re in dire need of a streaming option, but get him on your roster, if possible, for down the road.
Logan Smothers, Jacksonville State – 27+ fantasy points for the third time in four weeks for the former Nebraska transfer. Running QBs are CFF gold and Smothers fits the bill, in an offense under Rich Rodriguez that heavily features QB run plays. Sam Houston State had a Top 30 defense coming into that matchup as well, and Smothers shredded them.
TJ Finley, Texas State – Not sure why his ownership remains under 30% after hitting 25+ fantasy points in four of five games played this season. Probably more impressive is the efficiency with how Finley is throwing the ball in this GJ Kinne offense, now completing 73% of his passes with 10 touchdowns to one interception. A completely different player than the one we saw at Auburn.
Chandler Rogers, North Texas – Why again did North Texas not start Chandler Rogers in Week 1? The clear top QB on the roster has now hit 28 or more fantasy points in the last three weeks with favorable matchups on the horizon with Navy and Temple upcoming.
Running Backs:
Logan Diggs, LSU – Light boxes for Diggs as opposing defenses are having to account for the two studs LSU has on the outside in the passing game. Over 200 rushing yards combined with two scores for Diggs in the last two weeks as he’s now averaging over six yards a carry for the season. Why Diggs is a priority add for us is his volume share in the LSU backfield with 33 of the 41 attempts that have gone to Tiger running backs.
Ismail Mahdi, Texas State – Not a flash in the pan, apparently. We did see Mahdi split carries more this week with Donerio Davenport, but Mahdi found the end-zone three times on Saturday, giving him five touchdowns in the last two weeks alone. Texas State is now 9th nationally in scoring and doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Even if Mahdi doesn’t get 15+ carries each week, he’ll have plenty of red-zone opportunities the way this offense is clicking.
Emmanuel Michel, Air Force – We were somewhat hesitant last week about Michel knowing that former starting FB Owen Burk did not play. Well, Burk did play against San Diego State and Michel again dominated the touch count in the Air Force backfield. This is CFF Brad Roberts reincarnated as the last three weeks have shown.
Wide Receivers:
Eric McAlister, Boise State – The question now becomes if Taylen Green will be the one throwing McAlister passes moving forward as the coaching staff for Boise State hinted at a coaching change. Regardless, McAlister has established himself as the clear WR1 for the Broncos with at least 90 receiving yards in each of the last three games. Averaging just under 10 targets a game.
Sam Brown, Houston – Another big game for Houston’s most trusted playmaker at the wide receiver position with 10-113-1 on 12 targets. It was noticeable when watching Houston from the onset of the season that when Donovan Smith gets into pressure situations, he’s looking for Brown on his first read over Matthew Golden.
Tight Ends:
Mitchell Evans, Notre Dame – Part of this is Notre Dame’s depleted WR corps that was missing one starter and two rotational players on Saturday night. But I’ve watched Notre Dame’s last two games and Evans looks the part of a CFF starting tight end. 13 receptions on 15 targets in the last two weeks against two strong defenses. He’ll be leaned upon more in the coming weeks should Notre Dame still have injuries at receiver.
Worth A Look
If you have the roster room, these prospects are worth a look.
Quarterbacks:
Behren Morton, Texas Tech – It was an efficient day for the sophomore quarterback, completing 14-of-22 passes for two touchdowns in a dominant win over Houston. While we saw the Tech offense emphasize the run more on Saturday with Tahj Brooks, this will not be a constant under Zach Kittley in the Air Raid offense.
Jordan McCloud, James Madison – The senior quarterback just scored 33 fantasy points against the best defense he’ll face the remainder of the year in South Alabama. 86 fantasy points in the last two games alone. Also impressive McCloud is doing this with an average wide receiver room with no stud like last season.
Zeon Chriss, Louisiana – Wheels fell off a bit in the second half vs. Minnesota, but understandable on the road against a Big Ten opponent. Potential is there for Chriss to succeed once the Cajuns are back in Sun Belt play as a dangerous dual-threat option. We’re also getting better than expected play from the Louisiana passing game in general. Looking at the season in totality, Louisiana QBs are combining to average over 30 fantasy points a game. That bodes well for Chriss moving forward.
Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, Colorado State – Noticeable difference with the Colorado State offense since Fowler-Nicolosi entered the starting lineup (sorry Clay Millen). 51 fantasy points scored against Utah Tech on Saturday, throwing for over 450 yards with five total scores. Another favorable matchup against Utah State this week who is allowing over 24 FPPG to opposing QB1s.
Running Backs:
Malik Jackson, Jacksonville State – 56% of carries to running backs this season for Jacksonville State have gone to Jackson, who now has hit double-digit fantasy points in every game played this season. Backup Ron Wiggins is out for the season, so this is Jackson’s job full-time the rest of the way.
LJ Martin, BYU – Numbers aren’t overwhelming as the BYU offensive line is an average unit, but Martin continues to dominate the volume share in the Cougars’ backfield and found the end-zone twice in the win over Cincinnati.
Makhi Hughes, Tulane – CFF owners streamed Hughes against Nicholls last week and were burned by Tulane’s usage of six different running backs – none of which saw more than five carries. In a competitive matchup against UAB on Saturday, the staff rode their 200-pound true freshman for 123 yards and two scores on 22 attempts. Hopefully a sign of his usage moving forward in AAC play.
Parker Jenkins, Houston – Alton McCaskill 2.0? After rushing for 104 yards and two touchdowns against SHSU, the freshman averaged 5.5 YPC on 13 attempts vs. Texas Tech as he surpassed the middling veterans on the RB depth chart. Tough three-game stretch here where Houston will not be favored in their next three games, but face some of the bottom-tier teams of the Big 12 in the month of November.
Terion Stewart, Bowling Green – Is this the Terion Stewart we expected to see back in 2021? Injuries have hampered Stewart’s collegiate career, but he looks healthy now, rushing for 100 yards in back-to-back games against Ohio and Georgia Tech. Miami (Ohio) and Buffalo in the next two weeks.
Jordan James, Oregon – Noah Whittington is out for multiple weeks due to injury, so the former 4-star recruit has been elevated to RB2 behind Mar’Keise Irving. Won’t see more than 15 carries in any contest, but can be a spot-start in a pinch with all of the bye weeks. James has found the end-zone in all but one game this season.
Wide Receivers:
Roc Taylor, Memphis – 100 receiving yards in consecutive games with 26 of Taylor’s 35 targets coming in the last three weeks alone. We’re not used to Memphis having an established alpha in the WR room as they’ve been so spread out with WR production the last handful of seasons, but Taylor is standing out above the rest lately.
Jaylin Noel, Iowa State – Dare I say that Rocco Becht is a serviceable quarterback. Serviceable in the sense that he can at least complete forward passes enough to get the ball in hands of Iowa State’s top playmakers, one of which being Noel who has been targeted 30 times in the last three games. With Iowa State’s anemic running game and suspect defense, I think the only way to stay competitive is for the Cyclones to adjust their offensive identity and throw the football more.
Chase Roberts, BYU – I wonder how this room changes once Kody Epps inevitably returns from injury, but Robers has been the guy of late, finding the end-zone in three of the last four games. Targeted 20 times in the last two weeks alone.
Andrew Armstrong, Arkansas – You need to 10-15 points consistently each week at the wide receiver position? Armstrong has hit 70+ receiving yards on four of the five games played this season, leading the Razorbacks with 29% target share. Should be more opportunities moving forward with the unfortunate injury to starting tight end Luke Hasz.
Lewis Bond, Boston College – If it wasn’t settled already, it is now in claiming that Lewis Bond is Boston College’s WR1 in 2023, finding the end-zone for the fifth time in five games. This production came with Ryan O’Keefe in the lineup as well. Unfortunately, the former UCF transfer was transported to a local hospital after a scary collision. Should O’Keefe miss extended time, Bond becomes a bigger priority.
Malachi Fields, Virginia – We’ve spoken ad nauseum about the Virginia receivers so won’t go too deeply here. Whoever is at QB for UVA throws the football in two directions only – either Malik Washington or to Fields.
Amare Thomas, UAB – Double-digit targets in each of the last two games for the true freshman. The Blazers are 13th in scoring defense in the AAC currently, so UAB will need to be throwing more than we’ve seen in recent years. Thomas Mossed a defender yesterday (highlight).
Joey Hobert, Texas State – Team leader in targets (36), receptions (30) and touchdowns (3) after finishing with 10-126-1 on 12 targets in the win over Southern Miss.
Tight Ends:
Holden Willis, Middle Tennessee – This is assuming Willis has TE eligibility in your league. 18 of his 22 targets this season have come in the last two games alone with 189 receiving yards in that span.
Longshots
Need to see more from these guys before pulling the trigger unless you are in the deepest of leagues.
Quarterbacks:
Jase Bauer, Central Michigan – Wasn’t the weekly CFF winning performance he had a week ago, but you see why the coaching staff is rolling with Bauer over Bert Emanuel, completing 73% of his passes and leading the Chips to consecutive victories. 20 fantasy points a week feels like his floor in MACtion if CMU doesn’t rotate at the quarterback position.
Running Backs:
Anthony Watkins, Tulsa – Tulsa entered the year with four possible contenders for the RB1 job. It was a winding road to get here but seems as though the staff has settled on Watkins who now has scored in each of the last two games. More importantly, he’s gotten 20+ carries in both games.
Kadarius Calloway, Old Dominion – Don’t get fooled into thinking that 23.4 yards per attempt is even remotely sustainable, but you’d have to believe that ODU is going to look for more ways to feature the former JUCO transfer after rushing for 234 yards and three scores against a good Marshall defense. While Calloway outperformed the rest of the ODU running backs, the split was only 10-9 in carries over starter Devin Roche.
Tyrone Tracy, Purdue – Second straight week in the starting lineup for the former Iowa receiver, rushing for 97 yards on 18 carries in the win over Illinois. Tracy started last week against Wisconsin because of Devin Mockobee fumbling three times the game prior against Syracuse. Is this move now permanent?
Kaden Feagin, Illinois – I’d look to jump on this one now if you have the space despite the limited sample size. Can we all agree that Illinois stinks and that Josh McCray and Reggie Love are not the solution at running back? Perfect scenario then for a talented true freshman to enter the mix, and Feagin did on Saturday with 85 yards on 11 carries. With Love out due to injury and McCray underperforming, I’d be shocked if we don’t see more of Feagin moving forward.
Gavin Williams, Northern Illinois – Speculative add here as Antario Brown reportedly suffered a knee injury late against Toledo. Shame too because Brown easily had his best day of the season with 152 rushing yards on 16 carries. Hoping for a positive update here, but Gavin Williams would be next man up if Brown were to miss time.
Mario Anderson, South Carolina – Didn’t get a chance to watch this game, but the former JUCO transfer had another productive week with 100 yards and a touchdown, though 75% of those yards came on one run. Game script worked against Anderson here as South Carolina was in a trailing position much of the night.
Wide Receivers:
Elijah Metcalf, Middle Tennessee – Metcalf appears to be what we thought DJ England-Chisolm might have been in the preseason as the team’s WR1. MTSU has had a ton of success over the years with the small, shifty slot receivers, and Metcalf fits the same mold at 5-foot-9, 167 pounds. 25 targets in the last two games alone.
Jalen Royals, Utah State – I actually think this will be a good thing for those that own Terrell Vaughn – even though it was a disastrous week for those who do with zero targets from the Utah State WR1. Defenses won’t be able to bracket Vaughn all game if Royals continues this level of production with 185 yards and three scores vs. UConn. While the yardage was an outlier, his activity within the Utah State passing game is not, now with 26 targets combined in the last three weeks.
Joe Wilkins, Miami (Ohio) – There was no target hog for Miami (Ohio) with Gage Larvadain out of the lineup, but former Notre Dame transfer Joe Wilkins did top 100 yards on three receptions. We’ll check on Larvadain’s status again this week, but Wilkins looks to be the guy to own in his absence.
Monaray Baldwin, Baylor – Two weeks ago we thought Baldwin might be a transfer candidate after not catching a single pass in week’s 2-3 while playing just minimal snaps. Not sure what changed in recent weeks, but the speedy junior now has over 230 receiving yards over the last two games. Blake Shapen being back in the lineup will help all involved in the Baylor passing game.
Jaelen Gill, Fresno State – Gill’s playing time hasn’t really increased or anything, but the Boston College transfer has now found the end-zone five times in four games. Fresno State has a lot of talent as the wide receiver position as Mikey Keene is spreading the ball around to multiple playmakers.
Dynasty
Players to add for future seasons
Tyler Brown, Clemson – Yea, we might be at the point of wondering if Antonio Williams even gets his job back as the starting slot receiver after what Brown’s done the last two weeks with over 250 receiving yards on 18 targets. I would imagine this situation looks a lot like TCU last year when Williams eventually does return to the lineup with Derius Davis and Taye Barber both splitting slot reps.
Omarion Miller, Colorado – Keeping Miller in the dynasty section for now as a MUST-add in those formats. As for season-long this year, the 4-star true freshman is an option until Travis Hunter returns to the lineup, which sounded like it could be their next game. You start to wonder, though, if Hunter sees less time on offense moving forward to prevent another injury. One thing we know for sure – Miller has surpassed Javon Antonio on the depth chart from now on and could start opposite Xavier Weaver next week.
Javious Bond, East Carolina – This season is clearly a wash for ECU and would love it if they started getting the freshman running back more involved as it’s clear he’s the top talent in that backfield. Now averaging 6.6 yards per carry this season and over 10 yards per attempt in two of the last three games.
