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:
Chandler Rogers, North Texas – Has there been a better fantasy quarterback over the last five weeks with Rogers now averaging over 31 FPPG in that span? This may not be the week to start Rogers if you can withstand it, facing a Tulane defense allowing just 14.9 FPPG to opposing QB1s, but you no doubt want the UNT starter the rest of the way.
Jordan McCloud, James Madison – If it hasn’t been already, I’m ready to declare it – James Madison HC Curt Cignetti is a quarterback whisperer. If you turn Jordan McCloud and Todd Centeio into near elite CFF QB options, you’re a whisperer. 30+ fantasy points in each of the last three games. Trip to Marshall should be difficult next week, but there is no defense threatening this offense beyond the Herd when looking at the remaining schedule.
Running Backs:
Makhi Hughes, Tulane – Hughes’ touch counts the last five games – 24, 14, 6, 23, 26. Four of those five games were relatively competitive, with the 36-7 blowout over Nicholls State being the matchup where Hughes had just five rushing attempts. Paints a clear picture that the true freshman is Tulane’s RB1 now and moving forward. North Texas allows THE MOST fantasy points in the country to opposing running backs, so this is as dreamy a matchup as you could ask for.
Dillon Johnson, Washington – Johnson is always going to hold value no matter the amount of carries he receives, because of the amount of scoring opportunities there will be in this Washington offense. But you give him 20 carries in a game, and Johnson is close to a must-have in your lineup weekly. Best part about this situation for Johnson owners – Washington isn’t rotating in any other backs right now. Johnson owns this Washington backfield.
Wide Receivers:
Noah Smith, Sam Houston State – The Bearkats remain winless, but a noticeable uptick offensively, specifically with the passing game. The key cog has been senior receiver Noah Smith who now has double-digit targets in each of the last three games. Bigger priority in full-point PPR formats as Smith is only averaging 8.2 YPC.
Xavier Restrepo, Miami – I noted in our DFS writeup that I was tentative this week with Restrepo facing one of the best nickel backs in college football. Didn’t matter. 11-96-2 on 18 targets for Restrepo who will have a 100-target, and 1,000-yard receiving season at this pace. 31 targets in the last two games alone.
Tight Ends:
Holden Willis, Middle Tennessee – Still under the 30% ownership threshold in Week 7 so we’ll include another week (so long as he has TE eligibility in your league). 31 of his season-long 35 targets have come in the last four games.
Jack Velling, Oregon State – The Beavers have a tradition of top-end tight end development, and Velling looks to be next in line with five receiving touchdowns in the last two games alone. Has seen at least four targets in all but one game this season.
Worth A Look
If you have the roster room, these prospects are worth a look.
Quarterbacks:
Garrett Greene, West Virginia – Don’t add Greene thinking that 391 yards will be a constant each week, but his dual-threat ability is. 70 fantasy points scored in the last two weeks, including 127 yards and four scores on the ground. Possible streaming option next week against an Oklahoma State defense allowing 22 FPPG to quarterbacks.
Dante Moore, UCLA – Similar situation here. The 5-star freshman has struggled against the powers of the Pac-12 but faces a Stanford defense that is giving up the most fantasy points in the country to quarterbacks.
Josh Hoover, TCU – Availability is the best quality in football, and unfortunately for Chandler Morris, two straight years he’s been unable to remain healthy. Doesn’t look like he’ll be getting his job back either after Hoover threw for 439 yards and four touchdowns in the blowout win over BYU. The redshirt freshman quarterback has been described as a “slinger” by his coaches, and his arm strength is very noticeable when compared to Morris.
Kyron Drones, Virginia Tech – Did not have the Virginia Tech QB1 outplaying the Wake Forest QB1 on my bingo card prior to the season. A career-best 321 passing yards and 30.7 fantasy points in the win over Wake Forest, giving Drones 20 or more fantasy points scores in four of the last five games. Tough matchups with Syracuse and Louisville looming, but Drones would close the year with Boston College, NC State and Virginia.
Running Backs:
Quinton Cooley, Liberty – You’re going through 50-60 games each week and you tend to gloss over a player or two, not realizing how well a player has been performing for a stretch of time. Cooley is that player this week with four 100-yard rushing efforts in the last five games. This week’s performance was promising for his season-long outlook in that Billy Lucas returned from injury, yet Cooley still saw a season-high 28 attempts on the ground. Liberty is the clear head of the class in C-USA, so expect game scripts the rest of the year to work in Cooley’s favor.
Braydon Bennett, Coastal Carolina – Consecutive weeks for Bennett now with double-digit carries and a rushing touchdown, with close to 100 receiving yards in that span. Similar to the argument for Quinton Cooley, the outlook is brighter in that both Reese White and CJ Beasley were available and playing, yet the staff gave Bennett the bulk of the carries. He’ll face an Arkansas State defense that is allowing the second most fantasy points in the country to RBs.
Malik Sherrod, Fresno State – The Bulldogs have absolutely fed their RB1 this season, its just that we’ve had two of them through seven weeks. Sherrod was the team’s projected RB1 entering the season, but injuries in fall camp limited his availability. Elijah Gilliam was the beneficiary, but the pendulum has swung back in favor of Sherrod, rushing for 130 yards on 24 attempts against Utah State. Three of the better run defenses in the MWC are upcoming for Sherrod, hence why he’s not in the must-add.
Jaylen Thomas, Kent State – I can essentially copy and paste what I said about Malik Sherrod above, as a similar logic applies here. Kent State has fed their RB1 all season, beginning with Gavin Garcia who seems to have been relegated to RB2 duties now behind the former Colorado State transfer with 20 or more rushing attempts in the last two weeks. Limited scoring opportunities with a poor Kent State offense, but volume is king.
Terion Stewart, Bowling Green – While having MACtion players on your roster is fun for moments like these, this is the frustrating part of rostering G5-level talents. Three 100-yard rushing performances from Stewart in the last four games but had a dud against Miami (Ohio) with just eight rushing attempts. G5 players outside of the Rasheen Ali’s of the world can be unpredictable. To his credit, Bowling Green was trailing Miami (Ohio) for much of the game, leading to Stewart having just eight carries in that matchup. Akron presents another strong opportunity for Stewart this week.
Jordan James, Oregon – Another week, another rushing touchdown for James. This will always be a split backfield situation with Mar’Keise Irving, but James gets enough run to hold value in CFF, as evidenced by surpassing double-digit fantasy points in all but one game this season.
Wide Receivers:
Elijah Metcalf, Middle Tennessee – Four touchdowns in the last four games, averaging 19.8 FPPG in that stretch. Has 13 more targets than the next closest Middle Tennessee receiver.
Roc Taylor / DeMeer Blankumsee – Memphis has a below average defense and can’t run the football effectively. Perfect recipe for receivers in CFF. Blankumsee has been targeted 28 times in the last three games alone. Taylor now has 100 receiving yards in three straight games. Taylor is close to a must-add at this point.
Elijah Surratt, James Madison – There is no Kris Thornton this year for the Dukes, but Surratt is starting to assert himself as the team’s top target with three touchdowns in the last four games. Best performance of the season against Georgia Southern with 5-10-5-1 on eight targets.
Rashod Owens, Oklahoma State – We listed Jaden Bray as Oklahoma State’s top WR pickup with the injury to De’Zhaun Stribling, but he managed just one target despite playing the entire game against Kansas. Owens was the top playmaker on Saturday with 9-112-0 on 12 targets, and now has 197 receiving yards combined in the last two weeks.
Silas Bolden, Oregon State – Three receiving touchdowns in the last three games for Bolden. When DJU looks to pass, its normally in just three directions with Bolden, Anthony Gould and tight end Jack Velling.
Devin McCuin, UTSA – Could be surprised, but really doesn’t sound like De’Corian Clark will return this season which bodes well for the true freshman who has been targeted eight times in each of the last two games. UTSA has tightened the WR rotation with McCuin, Tykee Ogle-Kellogg and Joshua Cephus garnering heavy snap counts.
Tight Ends:
Chamon Metayer, Cincinnati – Physically, it’s always been there for Metayer, and now the production is matching the physique. Three receiving touchdowns in the last two weeks for a system under Scott Satterfield that has had productive CFF tight ends in the past.
Oscar Delp, Georgia – Typing this up Sunday so we’ll see what updates we have over the course of the week with regards to Brock Bowers. Delp is no slouch himself as a 4-star recruit and caught a pair of passes for 32 yards against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Arlis Boardingham, Florida – The Gators have a bye week and then a matchup with Georgia at the end of the month, so you may not be able to play Boardingham for three weeks, but the 6-foot-3 sophomore has been targeted seven times in each of the last two games with three receiving touchdowns.
Longshots
Need to see more from these guys before pulling the trigger unless you are in the deepest of leagues.
Quarterbacks:
Jason Bean, Kansas – I don’t follow the inner workings of Kansas football closely enough to know all of the chatter that is surrounding Jalon Daniels and his injury. Saturday marked the first time that Daniels had traveled with the team since September 30th. HC Lance Leipold says he has great confidence that Daniels will play, and play well, for the Jayhawks when he’s healthy. Is that 2023? Is that 2024? Definitely some conspiracy theory talk with the KU fans out there if you search enough. Should you add Bean, KU has a bye week and then a matchup with Oklahoma. So you’re probably sitting him for two weeks and Daniels is potentially back by then.
Avery Johnson, Kansas State – Very curious to see what happens with the Kansas State QB job moving forward after the true freshman ran for 88 yards and five touchdowns, leading the Wildcats to a win over Texas Tech. Interesting quote from Chris Klieman about QB Will Howard, stating that “He plays for Kansas State, not Will Howard University.” Am I taking that out of context or is that a shot at Howard?
Running Backs:
Kanye Roberts, Appalachian State – Nate Noel left the contest against Coastal Carolina with what is believed to be an ankle injury. App State beat writer had no update outside of that, though it sounds like they do get practice access so we should know this week if Noel will play or not. I think we’ll see a three-back rotation if Noel sits, but Roberts was the primary with the RB1 out with 11 carries for 46 yards.
Dallan Hayden, Ohio State – Tre Henderson looked fine in pregame warmups so I would imagine that the Bucks were holding him out for precautionary reasons with the Penn State matchup looming. But Miyan Williams didn’t see a carry and Chip Trayanum was knocked out of the game vs. Purdue. Hayden might be one more injury away from seeing a healthy dosage of carries. Rushed for 73 yards and a score on 12 attempts.
Eli Sanders, Iowa State – Longshot streaming play here, probably for P5 leagues only. Double-digit carries in three of the last four games for Sanders, facing a Baylor defense that is allowing the 12th most fantasy points to running backs in the country.
Sione Vaki, Utah – So apparently Utah has a history of doing this, converting defensive players into productive running backs (Eric Weddle). Vaki played both sides of the ball against California, finishing with 158 yards on 15 carries and two scores in the win over California. Ja’Quinden Jackson is back in full force, finishing with 22 rushing attempts, but has Vaki surpassed Jaylon Glover on the depth chart?
Mario Anderson, South Carolina – The Gamecocks finally find a dependable RB1 and he gets hurt, of course. Nearly 300 rushing yards in the last three games for Anderson, garnering 20 attempts in the loss to Florida on Saturday. Shane Beamer said tests will need to be done this week, though, to determine the severity of Anderson’s injury, hence why Anderson is falling so low on this WW report.
Donavyn Lester, UNLV – The UNLV backfield is shaping out just how we predicted in the preseason as OC Brennan Marion has always utilized a committee approach. Just nine carries for Lester on Saturday, but found the end-zone three times, giving him five touchdowns in the last three weeks.
Wide Receivers:
Kelly Akharaiyi, UTEP – Out of principle, you have to list a player on the WW report that had over 220 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Akharaiyi has now seen double-digit targets in each of the last two games, and that could continue as it sounds like Tyrin Smith is contemplating sitting out the remainder of the year to preserve a redshirt. Don’t expect consistent production, though, as we know UTEP quarterbacks are normally underwhelming.
Elic Ayomanor, Stanford – Like most, I went to bed well before Stanford’s miraculous comeback against Colorado. 294 receiving yards and three touchdowns will obviously not be repeated, but physically Ayomanor looks very impressive at 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, and that Moss’ing of Travis Hunter was a sight to see. Ayomanor’s targets have been increasing with each week – 6, 6, 7, and 18.
Carnell Tate, Ohio State – We’ll see how long Emeka Egbuka is out, but it took just one game for of extended action for Carnell Tate to already match Julian Fleming’s season long output as the players are now tied with 162 receiving yards in 2023. Tate has already technically burned his redshirt so no reason to limit him now. He should be starting ahead of Fleming moving forward.
Chrishon McCray, Kent State – This was the concern, that Kent State’s QB play is so poor that McCray wouldn’t be a major factor week to week. And while that held true on Saturday with just 70 receiving yards on five receptions, McCray hit double-digit targets for the third straight week. Full-point PPR formats are where he’ll be most valuable.
Sean Atkins, South Florida – Double-digit targets for the second straight game for Atkins, who holds the most value in PPR formats. We’ll have to find out the status on Atkins’ starting QB this week as Byrum Brown did go down with an injury against FAU.
Dynasty
Players to add for future seasons
Kalel Mullings, Michigan – We mentioned in the CFFSite Discord this week that there was some discussion on the Michigan message boards about Mullings and his future eligibility with the Wolverines. Sounds like there is a strong chance Mullings will have one more season, and he’s seemingly surpassed Donovan Edwards on the depth chart. We know Blake Corum will graduate and I don’t anticipate Edwards will be in a Michigan uniform in 2024, so Mullings is an add in deeper roster dynasty formats as the potential RB1 next season.
