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Throughout your college fantasy football season, I’ll be keeping you updated on some players that could be excellent plays that week- and, more importantly, available in your walk-on pool. (For you NFLers transition to the college fantasy game, walk-on means free agent). Got an injury, a bye week, or an otherwise unfavorable matchup (natural disaster in the area of the game, or USC’s defense against your quarterback- to choose two examples)?
I’m going to try to stick to guys in BCS conferences, as your league more likely contains those conferences in some combination. I’m also going to try stay away from telling you it’s a good matchup to play guys against FCS teams. Use your own judgment for those plays, as some players will definitely put up stats, but will be subject to a 25% penalty. And sometimes the backups will get a lot of time.
Quarterbacks
The Sam Bradford injury could mean that you’re stuck piecing together 3-4 weeks of matchup plays. I’ll get you through it, and some of these guys might be good enough to consider starting a couple weeks in a row. Jevan Snead is on bye this week, and I’d consider benching Terelle Pryor. Here are some below the radar type guys that could help you, as well as some of the better options for you to start in your leagues with more shallow player pools:
Ricky Dobbs, Navy (Louisiana Tech) – I’ve been on the Dobbs bandwagon for a while, and, despite the awful INT which proved the difference against Ohio State, remain on it.
Thaddeus Lewis, Duke (Army) – I like Coach Cut working some magic with Lewis in year two, and Army is one of those matchups where you can make it happen. They also threw the ball 55 times last week, despite the surprising loss to Richmond. Remember, all you care about is his stats, not if his team is any good (it isn’t).
Greg McElroy, Alabama (FIU) – It doesn’t get much better than playing FIU, if you’re looking for a low-end opponent and to avoid the 25% penalty for playing FCS teams. Alabama is a run-first offense, but that’s why McElroy is only owned in 9% of CBS leagues. His 17 points last week aren’t all that impressive, but I’m told Virginia Tech is a better defense than FIU.
If you’re hardcore: Kirk Cousins, Michigan State (Central Michigan) – The Chippewas aren’t as awful as you’d expect a directional Michigan school to be, but this is still a fantastic matchup. He’s available in all but 2% of college fantasy football leagues.
Running backs
The LaGarrette Blount saga angered many a fantasy college football player, myself included. I built my team solidly enough that with his poor showing, I was still the #2 scorer in the league where I own him. By now the entire world has heard of guys like LaMichael James, whom I thought would be valuable eventually, but are now thrust into action.
I’ll try to stick this week to guys that are starters or have the potential to be long term fantasy replacements for Blount, and will at the least be worth adding to store on your bench as matchup plays throughout the season.
Duane Bennett, Minnesota (Air Force) – Two weeks in a row I’ve mentioned Bennett, and he’s still owned in only 4 % of leagues. I actually did grab him in the league where I lost Blount (at least 2 other Oregon RBs were owned, it’s a two-conference league with a couple Ducks fans). Syracuse showed up to play more than I thought they would, but Bennett still had a decent day (78 yards and a TD).
Onterio McCalebb, Auburn (Mississippi State) – Any time a true freshman back at Auburn gets stats in his first game that involve the phrase ‘since Bo Jackson’, you should pay attention. This is the best matchup he can get, in conference, and I’m intrigued by the talent and the new offense to the point where I think he’s worth an add in the 91% of CBS leagues where you can still stash him on your bench. This could be a home run for you, depending on the way Dan Mullen’s boys get up for their most winnable SEC West game.
If you’re hardcore: Joe Martinek, Rutgers (Howard) – Depending on how the craziness of week 1 left you, you could be in a position where you need to look past that 25% reduction in points. The favorable opponent is enough for me to consider it, as Howard has to be 25% worse at football, than someone like Air Force, whom I’ve already recommended a play against. Martinek had a fairly mediocre week last week, but I still like him on what was the Big East’s best offense a year ago. Besides, if they go conservative against the inferior competition, they’ll still run the ball.
Wide Receivers
Riley Cooper, Florida (Troy) – Living in a Gator-centric world, it took me a while to realize all college fantasy football fans might not be aware of his 100 yard performance last week. Sure, it was against Charleston Southern, but considering the limited action for most of Florida’s starters, and the flu he was fighting, it was a very encouraging performance. He was only owned in 10 percent of CBS leagues Thursday, so go get him.
Blair White, Michigan State (Central Michigan) – His two TDs last week probably won’t be repeated, but the fact that he got 9 catches bodes well for his future opportunities for fantasy points.
Graham Zug, Penn State (Syracuse) – Syracuse’s close game a week ago was against an opponent inferior to the Nittany Lions, and I fully expect Greg Paulus to get a more formal welcome to college football this week. I was excited preseason to see what Galen Hall had in store for this offense, and think this could be a game where a go-to receiver emerges in Happy Valley.
If you’re hardcore: Chris Owusu, Stanford (@Wake Forest) – Stanford’s offense is built around Toby Gerhart, and Wake Forest has a good defense and a cross-country homefield advantage. But with the excitement for Andrew Luck, I think there’s a chance the big-play ability of Owusu emerges this week.
Tight Ends
You should probably be playing matchups all season with your TE anyways, and if you own Jermaine Gresham (now out for the season) or Rob Gronkowski (out for another week), you could be scrambling. Here are some good fill-ins for this week:
Caz Piurowski, FSU (Jacksonville State) – This week, you’ll take the 25% points penalty for the FCS matchup. I think it’s a hit worth taking, as he now has TD catches in his last 2 games, and he possesses the skills to be an impact fantasy player through the rest of the season.
Andrew Quarless, Penn State (Syracuse) – For all the reasons I like most of the Penn State offense, I also like Quarless. He’s only owned in 20% of leagues.
If you’re hardcore: Greg Boone, Virginia Tech (Marshall) – Boone has the talent and will be a good play this season. But he may miss this game due to injury. I like Boone for the rest of the season, as he also gets occasional touches in the running game. You’re hardcore if you pick him up and start him this week, as you’re probably looking at taking a zero for now, but the payoff for future weeks means he should be owned in more than 16 percent of leagues, given the current uncertainty throughout the TE position.
Defense / Special Teams
D/ST are another area where you should frequently play matchups, as for bye weeks and tough matchups you can get great fantasy production out of lousy units.
Illinois (Illinois State) – They aren’t playing Missouri again, and Ron Zook does have talented players on his team. The talent difference alone means they’ll be much better this week.
South Florida (@Western Kentucky) – As a general rule, you probably can’t go wrong playing a BCS conference team’s defense (yes, the Big East counts) against the worst team in the FBS.
If you’re hardcore: Wisconsin (Fresno State) – Sure, Fresno State seems like a pretty good matchup. But they only totaled 10 fantasy points last week against Northern Illinois.
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