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This is the seventh and final column in a series summarizing the college fantasy football options in each BCS conference and the independents. You can find the rest of the series here.
As the start of the season approaches, I’m here to help you all get ready for your college fantasy football leagues. I already wrote a draft guide, in which I tried to lay out some general guidelines for you to follow for your own league. College fantasy football has so many different ways to play, that I tried to make some key points you could use when thinking about your individual league rules. In the interest of helping as many people as I can, I will provide a breakdown of each of the BCS leagues (and the independents), and if your league takes some random combination of those (my league with the Solid Verbal podcast uses Big Ten, Pac-10, and independents only), you can look at my analysis of these leagues to prepare for your draft. Then, throughout the season, I’ll keep you updated on which players are underperforming, and which players are emerging as fantasy options.
Without any further ado, here is my preview on the ACC:
As a reminder, I will assume CBS league default scoring rules and roster limits when discussing these leagues, as those will be the most commonly used rules.
Here is one fantasy sleeper per team; some of these will make a large enough splash in the largest of player pools, while others are only worth consideration in ACC only leagues:
| Boston College |
Josh Haden (RB) |
| Clemson |
Jamie Harper (RB) |
| Duke |
Thaddeus Lewis (QB) |
| Florida State |
Caz Piurowski (TE) |
| Georgia Tech |
Demaryius Thomas (WR) |
| Maryland |
Davin Meggett (RB) |
| Miami |
Laron Byrd (WR) |
| North Carolina |
Ryan Houston (RB) |
| North Carolina State |
Owen Spencer (WR) |
| Virginia |
Jameel Sewell (QB) |
| Virginia Tech |
Xavier Boyce (WR) |
| Wake Forest |
Josh Adams (RB) |
Quarterbacks
NC State’s Russell Wilson is about the only great fantasy option in the ACC. Riley Skinner (Wake Forest) is a solid quarterback, but doesn’t have the numbers for fantasy. Other guys are projected for big years, but are unknowns due to a variety of factors.
The ACC in general is up in the air, so ACC-only leagues are tough to predict. My advice would be to lock down some definite starters (even if they are boring) and then to fill out the roster with high-upside picks. If you take several risky guys, some of them will pan out. And watch the walk-on pool closely, especially the first few weeks of the season when some position battles may be decided.
Jacory Harris (Miami) is by no means a lock to be a star, but considering three other QBs have transferred away from Randy Shannon’s squad recently, you could do a lot worse in the ACC. Their opening schedule is among the toughest in the nation, so you may have to snag a quality fill-in for those first few weeks. Which isn’t hard, because most other teams are playing the Indiana State’s of the world.
Tyrod Taylor (Va Tech), Kyle Parker (Clemson) and Thaddeus Lewis (Duke) are upside guys. I targeted Lewis as a sleeper pick, as Head Coach David Cutcliffe can seemingly coach up anyone.
Another sleeper QB in this conference is UVA’s Jameel Sewell. Virginia is incorporating aspects of the spread (Meyer’s Bowling Green OC, Greg Brandon, is the new OC under Al Groh after an unsuccessful showing as a HC).
Running Backs
Paul Johnson’s option attack at Georgia Tech means that RB Jonathan Dwyer gets the nod as the top ACC option. CJ Spiller (Clemson) is a popular choice to have a big year, but haven’t we heard that before? Still, he’s probably the second best option in the conference. A lot of the reasoning behind the Spiller-love is that James Davis is gone. However, I doubt they significantly change their offense, and stick to the two-back system. To me, this makes Jamie Harper a big-time sleeper pick for later rounds, and takes Spiller down a little from his lofty CBS projections.
Virginia Tech’s Darren Evans suffered a season ending knee injury, so now the starter is Ryan Williams (but up to 3 guys could get carries). Da’Rel Scott (Maryland), Greg Cooper (Miami), and Mikell Simpson (Virginia) fill out other solid options. Scott has lost a lot of ground to Davin Meggett, and many players make significant leaps for their sophomore season. For this reason I’d demote Scott a little, and picked Megett to be a later round sleeper to target.
Another RB on this tier, that I think has the potential to have a big year (based on having the most experience O-line among BCS teams) is Wake Forest’s Josh Adams. He’s definitely someone to stash on your bench for matchup plays, and could emerge as something more spectacular.
I may be more excited for Boston College’s Josh Haden due to his older brother (Florida CB and “Wildcat QB” Joe Haden), but I still have him as a good sleeper pick. He should benefit from question marks in the passing game, and I have no reason to doubt his entire family’s athleticism, so he is someone to at least follow in case injuries, bad matchups, or bye week issues arise.
North Carolina has been stock-piling talent, and most of the key players are fairly well-known in fantasy. I labeled Ryan Houston as a deep sleeper, as he could get the goal line carries.
Wide Receivers
Uncertainty abounds throughout much of the ACC, and the wide receivers reflect this uncertainty. Generally I recommend to spend earlier draft picks on more certain points to build your team’s core. Many teams in this league will have fantasy options at WR, but these options will develop over the first month of the season.
Clemson’s Jacoby Ford and North Carolina’s Greg Little are the two highest profile options, but are not elite draft options for anything outside of ACC-only leagues. It will be much safer to spend earlier picks somewhere else, and then to take later-round fliers on several of WRs, and to play matchups throughout the season. The frustrating thing for deciding matchup plays for ACC players is the unpredictability and the parity of the league. Detractors would call this the mediocrity of this league, but we’ll leave that argument for another time.
So who are some sleepers to target as WRs from the ACC? I think someone emerges from Miami to be a top-flight option, and I think that someone is LaRon Byrd. Owen Spencer (NC State) has the benefit of having the league’s most proven QB, and while he is a top option for ACC-only leagues, he could be overlooked in other leagues and a source of solid fantasy contribution. Georgia Tech’s Demaryious Thomas is a big-play option, and a matchup problem, in a run-first offense. Redshirt freshman Xavier Boyce has emerged as a top option at Virginia Tech, and has the physical tools to be a stud. Watch for him in favorable matchups in 09, and to emerge as a higher end option beyond.
Tight Ends
For all the uncertainty at WR, there is more at TE in the ACC. Definitely wait until the rest of your roster (minus defense and kicker) is filled out before selecting an ACC TE.
The top options, unsurprisingly come from Virginia Tech (Greg Boone), Clemson (Michael Palmer), NC State (George Bryan), and Wake Forest (Ben Wooster). I will also be watching Caz Piurowski (FSU), as I think he could benefit from a much-improved offense.
Kickers
Don’t draft one till the end. Don’t carry a backup. It’s a waste of time to try to rate one versus another for fantasy purposes. Just play the matchups.
Defense / Special Teams
D/ST can be projected to get a lot of points, but they are not worth the pick in the draft you’d have to waste to get them. Just play the matchups, and don’t carry a backup. You can get good production out of mediocre options based on the matchup, and use your draft picks on big-time sleepers at the more valuable fantasy positions.
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