College Football Week 0
College Football is back with a nice 3 game slate! The first couple of weeks are always “News Slates” and a lot of reading and watching spring games are involved. I try to go with a lighter bankroll until I see how teams are going to utilize their guys but that doesn’t mean you have to. Each week I’ll break down each position group and try to point out guys that I like and matchups we can exploit. The projections will be in LineupHQ, the articles will be here and news will be in the discord as always. Snyder, Suzy, Mangone, and I will be in there to answer any questions you may have. It’s just the best time of the year and a great way to build your bankroll.
QB’s
In College Football, unlike NFL, we can play 2 QB’s. It doesn’t mean we have to, with the last spot being a Superflex. It all depends on the slate size and the QB’s in play. This week is definitely a 2 QB week even though it’s a smaller slate. QBs that can run a ball well are always a hot commodity and we have a few this week. Adrian Martinez gets a great matchup this week and can run the ball very well. His rushing grade of 81.4 (PFF) is tops on the slate and is even better than some running backs. I love him at the discounted price of 6800 here against this porous Illini defense. Dorian Thompson-Robinson (DTR) will carry heavy ownership due to the matchup tomorrow and also has the same slate breaking rushing ability of Martinez. His passing has left something to be desired and he does have some brittle bones but his ceiling is high. Brandon Peters was named the starting QB for Illinois and looked fantastic in the spring game. I feel like he could go overlooked with most paying up for 1 and playing Martinez. He will throw mainly to the TE’s and he even runs the ball relatively well (77.8 on PFF as a runner). Finally, Jake Haener just has the best matchup of the week. UCONN hasn’t played football in 2 years and takes on a really solid Fresno squad with a lot of weapons. I lean towards taking the running game here but Haener definitely has 30 point upside and is safe for those cash games.
RB’s
The running back spot is very loaded this week. The “Running Back By Committee” is en vogue in the NFL and the college game so we need to try to find the best spots here. Ronnie Rivers is a stud and priced like it. Not only does he carry the ball 17-20 times a game, but he can catch the ball also. This is very important, especially on Draftkings. They get the soft defense of UCONN so he could get to value in the first half. Brittain Brown was great the 2nd half of last season for UCLA and he should get the bulk of the carries against Hawaii. He’s a workhorse of a back. They brought in Zach Charbonnet from Michigan and he will definitely steal some carries. You can easily play both backs as Hawaii gave up 34.5 ppg to running backs last year and both of those guys are under 6k. One of my favorite guys to watch last year was Calvin Turner Jr. He’s a utility back for Hawaii and does a little bit of everything. He was a run-first QB before transferring and is so slippery. He may go under-owned at 6400 but he is the most fun guy on this slate. The Nebraska running back situation is one to monitor. They have 3 backs in Markese Stepp, Sevion Morrison, and Gabe Ervin Jr. Stepp, the transfer from USC, has had injury issues but when he’s healthy, is a great back. Morrison is a redshirt freshman and Ervin is a true freshman. Both of those guys are more slightly built but very explosive. Illinois has about 4 guys who might get carries so I’ll try to stay away from them but Chase Brown is a great GPP play. He’s bulked up and can catch the ball out of the backfield.
WR’s and TE’s
Wide receivers in weeks 0 and 1 are the hardest to figure out. A lot of it is just going off last year’s data, news, and depth charts. I do know that one of the most explosive players on this slate is Jalen Cropper. I played him a few times when he was 3k and it turned out well and 7.3k is no problem. He’s unique and they diagram plays to get him into space. Ty Jones, the Washington transfer, has been said to be doing very well in practice and he may go under the radar in this offense. Nebraska also has some receiving threats this year that should make Adrian Martinez look like a legit QB. Samori Toure is a transfer from Montana who A-Mart looked to a ton in the spring game. He has good hands and can catch the ball in the slot. The TCU transfer, Omar Manning, also looks very talented. Oliver Martin is a lot like Toure in that he’s very steady and catches most balls thrown his way. UCLA’s offense runs through the slot and TE’s so that makes Kyle Philips and Greg Dulcich in play with a DTR stack. I love UCLA’s offense and Chip Kelly has had a long offseason to work on what he loves most. Illinois has a few talented guys on offense against a defense in Nebraska, that wasn’t great last year. Illinois should be able to run the ball here but they love to throw the ball to the TE. They have 2 great ones in Luke Ford and Daniel Barker. Ford, a Georgia transfer, looked fantastic in the Spring Game, catching a ball one-handed in the end zone. They also moved last season’s QB, Isaiah Williams, into the slot and bumped Navarro to the outside. This makes me really like Williams and the Miami transfer outside receiver Brian Hightower.
