Fantasy Football Daily - MUST DRAFT Underrated Players in College Football Football! | CFF All-Access

Episode Date: May 21, 2024

On this episode of College Fantasy Football All Access, the guys discuss the six most underrated players in College Fantasy Football in early best ball drafts, according to ADP. Consider joining a College Fantasy Football best ball as the season approaches. There is no better way to prepare for College Fantasy Football draft season. Enjoy this livestream and take your game to the next level with CFF All Access. Make sure to follow us for more valuable college fantasy football content! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What? What? Why you shaking your head? You're welcome. Hello, Eric Froot-on with Zach Holland, Mike Bainbridge. We are here on the CFF All Access Show. And as always, we want to make sure that we lead off with an interesting trending topic. And maybe it's just trending in my life.

Maybe this is something only I care about. But that's why I'm going to bring it to the forefront here. And that subject matter today is best ball drafts here. in the college fantasy football world. And specifically, what is it appropriate to do best ball drafts? And when is it not appropriate, frankly? We talk about them because in the preseason, as we discuss quite often here, there's the Champions League, which there's 12 of us.

We do 12 drafts every two weeks leading up to the beginning of the season. And that is a best ball format. Because as soon as we're done, you know, there's 12 different leagues. We just want to let that go and go about our business. However, when is it not appropriate to do best ball drafts? And my argument, personally, is you can't do best ball drafts in dynasty leagues. And what I mean is last year I did my first ever dynasty league that is a best ball format. I'd never done it before.

And that is one of those things in the CFF community where the lack of an injury report really screws us, essentially. because we don't know who's playing when, you know, it's gamesmanship with the coaches. We all know this. If you're here listening to this, you have an understanding that you know we're being lied to on a weekly basis by the coaches. So the bonus would be, all right, well, if we go best ball, then no matter what, this guy doesn't play, fine. We get his stats. That guy doesn't play fine. We still get his stats.

And in a smaller league format, I think that's viable. but my question is, when is it not viable? And my personal perception after doing a dynasty bestball league where you have 40-man rosters and you're playing two games a week, that it's too much. And the reason why is I want to be able to know what is going on in my game.

Every time I would check for the first six weeks of that league, what is going on in my league? Like, all right, where am I in my games? Am I winning? am I losing? Frankly, I have no idea. I have no idea if I'm winning. I have no idea if I'm losing. There's 40 teams on each roster, and it's total confusion. You don't know if you're going to win until Sunday morning. There's too many guys going. And on the same token, when you're in a dynasty format, and you have 40 players that are on your rotating roster, if you have big buy weeks,

you're incentivized to drop players in order to have an artificially sort of inflated roster, which it kind of defeats the whole purpose of dynasty where you're trying to build. You have your roster, you have your lineup, but then you also have your younger guys that are looking to come up. It devalues us stashing our favorite prospects. So with that being my opening here, I would ask you, Michael, how do you feel about the larger 40 plus dynasty formats. Do you even do a best ball format like that with a large dynasty league?

I cannot comment personally. I have not played in a dynasty best ball league. I would ask who created this brilliant idea of a dynasty bestball league? Because it sounds like you have issues with it, sir. Well, I don't have issue. The thing is, I didn't have any preconceived notions of it. I kind of wanted to say, all right, well, what does it look like? what happens when we go and do this and the age old what if we did a dynasty league that's best

balls so that you know the the waiver wire excuse me the injury report isn't a factor so i did it and it was the originator of this league none other than the contrarian himself cheese cheese nate marchies can you eugene wilson hater right there he he seemed a pseudo vindicated when when Elijah Badger went there, of course. But I still feel great about that prognostication. But, hey, Elijah Badger, he's going to take some of those targets. That being said, I don't think he has four touchdowns as the wide receiver won like Ricky Pearsall did last year. I don't think that's happening.

And I'm pretty confident of that. So anyways, whatever, who cares? Point is Nate put that together. And it was kind of an interesting case study. What will happen here? How is it? And I think some of the guys like it. You know, maybe he could speak to that better than I could.

But I got through five weeks and I went in Operation Shutdown, where I just, I stopped being able to even look at the league. The ADD adult brain here that I, that I'm sporting, I just, I just got sick and tired of not being able to know what is happening on Saturday. Because I want to see what's going on with my teams on Saturday. I want to check that live scoring. And I got so frustrated. by playing two games a week that I couldn't figure out what's going on.

Zach, do you have any opinions on this? I've never done a best ball league like that. I think I would probably stay away from something like that. Anytime I'm doing a best ball, I get the whole, like, you don't have to account for the injuries and that, but that also kind of takes part of the fun out of it for me. When I'm in season, doing season-long leagues, I like to mess with the lineup.

So that's something that probably will never really appeal to me. I don't think I would ever, ever do a best ball dynasty type league like that. I can see why some people might want to do that. It's just a little bit different format. It kind of gives you a different challenge. But for me personally, I probably wouldn't try that one out. Yeah, and you speak to something that's important. You have to make a call.

You have to make a decision on your lineup. In my personal opinion, at some point, you know, especially when you have 40 guys on the run. You can't just play everybody all the time in those sort of formats. And especially where you don't, there were weeks I don't, I only want my starting lineup in because I'll have 15 guys that are on buys or something, those big buy weeks. And we have two per team. Every team gets two by weeks this year. Last year you only have one buy week per team. So that doubles the issue.

You're going to have to deal with that. And I don't want to drop one of my young studs that I'm sitting here waiting for for next year just to, to, to, artificially pick up some hack that's a wide receiver three on Fresno State because they're playing New Mexico this week. You know what I mean? Like those are the calls you have to make. And I don't think that that's what we're doing, Dynasty 4. You know what I mean? And that's kind of just where I'm at. I had no preconceived notions. Went through that league last year. Cannot stand it. I blame Nate, as I do for so many things in this realm. But that being said, we are coming up on our first break.

So we will bow out for a moment before we get to our underrated, most underrated players. We'll go right into the underrated players leading us off. Mr. Bainbridge. We have somebody named after, I call them Camden Yards, all right, not a household name in 2023. 2024 comes in and going wide receiver 76 at this moment. Michael, tell us about Tulsa wide receiver Camden Benjamin. Yeah, Camden Benjamin.

Yeah, as you said, Froton going as wide receiver 76 currently in drafts, according to fantasy points ADP. I have them currently as wide receiver 45. What I love about not only Benjamin, but just kind of guys that I look for, for in general each year is how they close the year. And I don't think there may not have been a better receiver to close the year than Benjamin half, 50% of his 74 targets last season. So 37 came in the final three games alone.

He scored 86 fantasy points in the last three weeks. I really like kind of how the depth chart shaking out. you lose 141 targets, 43% of the target share, excuse me, from last year's roster, Markey Shoulders and Devin Williams both, you know, probably some tampering involved there, both at the same time transferred to Houston. They also lost Carl Chester's and Malachi Jones, too, from the roster. So a lot of vacated targets for Benjamin to kind of corral in that offense. Tulsa didn't really fill those spots on the depth chart.

They brought in Zion Stepto, a former four-star Purdue receiver slash defensive back. I think he played defensive back actually last year. So he was converting back to receiver. Braylin Presley, obviously the younger brother of Brennan Presley. And then it's kind of wide open after that for the on the two deep right now for, for, Tulsa. So I think we know this is a high volume passing attack under Kevin Wilson, the former Ohio State offensive coordinator, former Indiana head coach. So I just kind of like where it stacks up where he could get 25 to 30 percent of that target share. I think the

quarterback situation, I don't know if you guys have any opinions on that. I am not a Cooper LaGa fan, but I have him stepping right into that starting QB spot. but, Zach, did you do the same with that? Yep, that's where I was actually just rolling through their projections again and just to kind of piggyback on what you're saying. That receiver room, it's him. And I, you know, as I'm kind of going through my second round here, bumping him up a little bit.

And I really like where you're going with this because I think he's got a big opportunity. Not a huge Cooper Ligoff fan either, but he also was productive. productive last year and and you know they didn't have much of that position either so um i think he's he could be in for a really nice season this year yeah i think there's only one cooper legoff fan but two cooper legoffs i think are the only cooper legoffs i think are the only cooper legoff fans um but yeah where are you at with that proton yeah i don't i don't go and play at lego lego land cooper legas land as i'd say it but with tosa You know, there's intrigue in terms of their offense and in terms of their system and there's certainly room to grow.

It's kind of a reset year last year. If you remember, their defense was phenomenal in 2022 and 2121. They actually had a first round selection linebacker, which is, I mean, how many first rounders come out of Tulsa? That is extremely rare a couple of years ago. But, like, that defense was pitiful last year. Total, total reset allowed 36 points per game. last season in terms of overall, like, team performance, ranked 131st and passed the 130th and rushed E. I mean, it was, it was brutal, 8.9 yards from past 127th, 6.6 yards for play allowed.

That's 128th. It was just a jailbreak every time. So they were really up against it. I think you definitely see a little bit of, with the restructuring from last year, you'll see a better defense. But offensively, too, it really put them. under the gun. They only averaged 22 points a game last year. That was a hundredth in the entire nation. This wasn't a prolific offense for a team that has traditionally been one of the better AAC programs. But I mean, it clearly took a step back last year. But as you mentioned, you got a couple of guy coming in. At least he's used to running a up-tempo pass-oriented offense, Cardale Williams, more of a solo threat, which we've talked about before. Not a great

thrower. So I do give the edge to LaGha, as discussed, didn't bring in really any wide receiver help step to Jeremiah Ballard. But what it really makes me excited and just think that, all right, there's hope here. They're running a very fast offense. They want to click 24th in terms of, you know, seconds per play, 18th in terms of plays per game, 72 plays per game. This is a team that wants to most.

it. They want to hum. And they're not going to, I can't imagine 22 points per game is going to be, is going to be repeated this year. I think you'd be looking at probably 28, you know, 27, 28, 29 range with that speed, even if their defense stinks again, they're going to have to throw. I think this is a, this is a good situation to walk into, as discussed Mike. Great call. Yeah, and I think just looking at that schedule too, and I mean, we can say this with a lot of G5 schools, but I mean, you start with Northwestern. State, Arkansas State. I think the only hiccup you might have is Oklahoma State in week three. But then you're just going through the rest of the AAC and there's some conference USA teams in there as well.

So, I mean, in the playoffs, you close out with East Carolina, South Florida, and Florida Atlantic. Like, I, you know, I think you're set up for a really good season. I kind of poo poo on Cooper Legat, but I mean, this guy with 15 starts, right? It's an experienced starter. You're not having to go with freshmen like they did last year with Cardell. Williams and Kirk Francis too. But, you know, just to close him out, I think just, like I said, that depth chart is just wide open after him that it just sets up really nicely for a high target year. Yeah. Just real quick, Froton, I have them at right around 27 points a game this year. So

definitely going to see a jump in that from 22 up to 27. So that offense should provide a little bit more value for us this year. Yeah, a good call. Zach, I appreciate, you know, the heads up on that too. And it does go along what we're saying. And with offenses, you want to go where the trends are heading. And if you see teams going from 22 to 28, 27, and then also bringing in a more experienced QB where they had attrition in the room, I like the potential stability. But that being said, Zach, you are up next, my friend. And why don't you tell us about a quarterback from the Mac here. Not many of those were going to be featuring, and it's understandable.

He's probably not that particularly well regarded. But talk to us about Tucker Gleason. Yeah. So Tucker Gleason, I think I'm one of the few guys that's actually drafting him this year. I was looking through our ADP and I had him about half of the drafts we've had. One thing I really like about where his value is right now is you can get him in the mid-20s. and he's a guy that he's got a pretty high upside, I feel like. I know going into the spring there was questions on if he was even going to be QB1. Limited info on their spring camp, but it sounds like he's definitely going to be the guy,

came out of spring as that QB1, pushed a little bit by John Allen Richter, but I think it's Gleason's job. We didn't get a C a ton of him last year. just played in three games. And then the bowl game, which I didn't watch it, but it looks like it wasn't very exciting. They played Wyoming. Low scoring game doesn't look like he really did much.

Had like 40 yards on the ground or something. I mean, just nothing really there. But what I really, what really gets me excited about Gleason is back in 22, when Finn got hurt, he came in. And he had a three-game stretch where, he um he that you just see that ceiling from from a c f f uh standpoint in against eastern michigan he had 238 passing yards three touchdowns 33 rush yards bowling green 329 passing yards three touchdowns 1006 rushing yards two touchdowns and then western michigan 200 passing yards

and a touchdown so you just see um he can really step into that that quarterback role i love what that offense is. I think they're going to be one of the better teams in the Mac this year. I think that offense is going to roll like it has in the past. He's got pretty much the top receivers coming back. So Gerwan Newton's there. My boy. My boy, John, dude.

Yeah. So Junior Vanderross, Larry Stevens, all come back. They also have Jockets Stewart at running back. So I just think they have a lot of weapons. I think this offense is going to just be what it has been. I don't know if he's going to be near what Finn was. I mean, we've seen this quarterback from this system really be top 30, you know, and he's going as QB 5960 right now, so where you can get him in these drafts.

And that's why I've taken him in every draft I can. in the mid-20s, sometimes in the lower 20s, but you get Gleason as a QB4, QB5 on your roster with that upside. I really like where I'm able to get him. Proton, what do you think there? Yeah, and you mentioned Toledo too. Keep in mind, this is Jason Candle's offense. He's been there for, I think, like 13, 14 years. So in terms of stability, this is as rock solid a MAC program as you're going to get. And with that, I mean, they ranked last year, according to, you know, advanced data, 14th in overall passing performance and efficiency, 19th in yards per play. I mean, this is, this is EPA per play, 20th overall, 23rd in success rate. I mean,

just a well-coached dialed in program year in and year out. And if anything, you know, you're looking at this program as a whole. And, We talked about defense with Tulsa, but with Toledo, keep in mind, they're losing finally Kenyon Mitchell, who was a first round cornerback and could have transferred it up. He stayed there last year. He smothered the entire match. So their defense was awesome too. They were 13th and past defense. So with him gone, hopefully you see you see them allowing more points.

So they're not just sitting on the ball in the second half. and they actually have to kind of go with teams a little bit because Tweedo just had a tendency to be able to control the flow of the game and you had to beat them on the ground. You weren't beating them through the air. So, you know, a little bit more of a porous past defense is going to be a good thing because they were 92nd in plays per game offensively, but 44th in plays per second.

So I just think that a worse off deal. defense combined with the full boat coming back for wideouts. Penny Boone leaves as a running back. But as mentioned, Jarquez Stewart, you know, he pretty much ended up the year on, he was good last year anyways on a per carry basis. But then in the final game, if he had 20 carries, he looked great. And he also, for college fantasy purposes for fan tracks, qualifies as a wide receiver on fan tracks.

So, you know, I don't know. He's not exactly a Tito. I was going to say, where's your, where's your rant about, about his eligibility? I know, I love Dark Quest Tour. It's mine. I take him. So that's okay. But should he have that dual eligibility?

Well, if it weren't for double standards, I have none at all. So what am I going to do? Of course. No, I'm only kidding. But that being said, yeah, I mean, I don't think you should be a wide receiver. Absolutely. And frankly, you know, it gets back to Tito's just in terms of position eligibility overall. there's a certain amount of, after you've done a few drafts, you're going to know which players have that dual eligibility.

It probably shouldn't. It would be our recommendation to go through each one of those players individually and remove them from that particular destination. I think that should be done with Jarquois-Stewart. But that's just my personal beliefs. That being said, you know, since we have a couple of guys on the board here, I'd like to play a little game with you guys, right? I'm going to play pick your poison. So let's go here. Zach, where do you have our friend, Tucker Gleason, right now?

Where is your ranking for him? Right around 4950 range. 4950. Okay, I'm looking right here. I'm going by TV. Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby or Tucker Gleason. I'm taking Tucker Gleason. I like the schedule way more.

I think there's a lot of upside with Gleason. Gleason and a schedule. I mean, their non-con is super easy this year. They have UMass and FCS, Western Kentucky, and then they do have Mississippi State. But I think, uh, at Sources B, I like him, but I just, I just like that ceiling of Gleason. Okay. All right. Let's go with another one right around that range, according to ADP. Josh Hoover, TCU. Oh, man. Taking over the TCU offense. You know, it's right around there. Yeah, that's tough. I actually, I would, I wish Hoover, I wish we would have got more this spring from Hoover. He sat out. But I probably, I would lean towards Hoover on that one. I think if you can get the quarterback in that offense, I think you're going to be set. So yeah, I like Hoover's value there more. All right, I'll give you one more. Okay. Donovan Smith, Houston.

I just don't even know what to expect from that. I don't try that one. Yeah, I'm staying away from that. No problem, no problem. All right, then Michael, we'll go over to a wide receiver. What, you know, since we didn't get a chance to you pick your poison, where do you have your underrated wide receiver? Where did you rank him? Oh, Benjamin?

Yeah. Wired receiver 45. 45. Okay. would you rather have Camden Benjamin or Zachariah Branch your boy? Easy Camden Benjamin. All right, that was a little too easy. How about Kyle Williams, Washington State, or Camden Benjamin?

That was a good one. I'll go Kyle Williams. I think he's the more proven player. And, you know, there's some question mark as a quarterback, but it's generally a higher volume passing system. So Kyle Williams, but, but it's a, it's a, that one's a close one. Good, good. At least I'm in the range.

I want to make sure I'm picking some tough ones here for you. All right. Let's get, let's go with Will Shepard, Colorado. I'm scared to not pick Will Shepard because you made a strong argument for him last week. I'll go Camden. I'll go Camden, Benjamin, but I'm, I'm with you on the Will Shepard. I just think it just speak to the depth chart, right? There's so many, there's lots of targets to go around in both offenses,

but we know exactly where it's going to go with Benjamin. Okay, that's fair enough. That's enough. Pick your poison for this round. We will go over. It's my turn now. But we're at the 25-minute break. So we will hopefully take a quick break this time.

I will take a pause. We'll see if we break. And we'll come back with my player. All right. We're back. That was brisk. My player, wide receiver, Ole Miss, Ann Twain. Is it Antoine or Antoine Wells? Do you know, have you heard this pronounced yet? Is it Antoine, Antoine, Antoine, Antoine. Antoine. Antoine. A-T-W-A-N-E. So I'm going Antoine, Wells. Sue me. Wells, well's coming over from. South Carolina. Very, very, very well thought of last year coming in the last season. In terms of really his value from a C2C standpoint and kind of Devy had a lot of buzz due to his ability to create separation over there at South Carolina. But last year, unfortunately, gets her at three games in. You know, it just all waxed up, geared up, you know, ready to go. And unfortunately,

we didn't get the season we were looking for. We can get anything out of him. So, you know, he comes in as what I perceive to be, kind of a post-hyped sleeper where he had all the steam last year. He saw him going in the fifth, sixth rounds. Pretty often most of the best balls I was seeing last year. And, you know, here we are now. He's at the wide receiver 61 range.

After, you know, we're talking about 21, 22, round with 21, 22 range. after being taken the 5th, 6th, so why is that happening? First off, let's take a look at Old Miss themselves, because we're not at South Carolina anymore. So we don't want to look at Antoine Wells and project him in the Gamecox offense with, you know, Lenore Sellis first year of QB now. We've got Jackson Dart, and we've got the Lane train, and we've got an Old Miss team that is ranked in right around the top five preseason.

That's good reason why. 80.3% of their returning offensive production is back for Ole Miss. That's 11th most in the country. 134 teams. That's a big deal. And from last year, 285 passing yards per game, that was 19th most in the country, at 9.5 yards per attempt, sixth best nationally. And they scored 35 points per game.

As we talked about previously in this, I'm always looking at those 35 plus point per game offenses. Last year, there was only 16 teams that hit that mark. Okay, so you're talking about one of those special top rarefied air teams when it comes to their efficiency points-wise. Ranked 28th overall in ISOPP explosiveness. 12th in overall passing explosiveness. That's what, and 8.3 yards per dropback. So that's 10th nationally. You're just talking about overall in offense. They're just going to have a bigger pie and more potency to go through. To put that in a perspective, 20%, 27% of old misses pastes last year went for 20 plus yards, six most nationally. All right? So you're going from there and you're dealing with South Carolina. Okay. Last year, South Carolina,

three and a half percent interception rate last year. It was a hundred and second in the country. Jackson Dart, 1.7 percent. Literally, less. than half the interception rate. You're just dealing with a better offense overall. And then when it comes to dividing their production for Ole Miss, outside receivers, 41% of their targets went to the outside receiver. That was 31st nationally. The nation average 36%. 5% over that. To the slot, 40%. So if you look at it, 80% of their receptions, going to who is and it could be priest corn who's in the slot or who's on the outside it bodes well for an tawain wells he's pretty much had an 80-20 split to that wide um that wide slash slot split

that even up a little bit it was kind of like 65 35 last year a little bit but you got to go by 22 because we don't really have enough reps to go with that just bodes well schematically for what we're looking at for ant twain wells and when we're talking about You know, South Carolina, again, or what he did at South Carolina, let's at least talk about Wells himself. Caught 69 of 92 passes, 941 yards, six touchdowns. Pretty good. As we discussed, 6238 wide to slot rate. He moves all over the formation.

Two and a half yards per route, excellent. Was kind of using a short to intermediate range, you know, for the most part. 37% of his targets were coming behind the line of scrimmage. So either he was doing that or he was going 26% medium, 20% deep. Wasn't doing the short game. It was the pretty much manufactured screens or he's down there and he's stretching the field. And that's how he kind of got that two and a half yards per route. Check in the box, no problem on that.

Where he's really dangerous is when you're getting the ball on slants, curls, hooks, and you're letting him get the ball in space and work. Because his eight yards after catch, absolutely elite, exceptional number. One of the best that if it was 22, you know, if he was carrying that in this year, would be one of the best in the country. Okay, so the way he's being used, the way he's being targeted, it's just, it fits perfectly in what Ole Miss is going on to make him do because he broke 19 tackles on those 69 receptions,

28% broken tackle rate, right on the money. So what we're dealing with here is Antoine Wells is the classic post-hype sleeper, going from an offense that was decidedly less potent to one of the best in the country that has a really good schedule. First four games out of Ole Miss, I won't try to belabor the point. Furman, Middle Tennessee, Wake, Georgia Southern, straight go, horror show for each of those four teams having this Old Miss team coming in. Kentucky, one of the most experienced defensive teams in the country is week five, but then I'm in for South Carolina, LSU, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, those next four weeks.

I want those SEC battles. That's where you get these teams having to really blow up and go full bore the whole way. Sometimes when they got the cupcakes, you don't see them keep the pedal on the metal. They're going to go for that. They have Georgia after Arkansas, which obviously is a nightmare. But then for the stretch run, the last two weeks, Florida, which should be a very competitive game, and then Mississippi State, obviously, rivalry match. Are they not doing that week, that week 13, you know, typical SEC throw in a cupcake in week 13? Are they not doing that anymore? No, they, well, they loaded up all in the first four weeks. You heard, Furman, Middle Tennessee State, Wake, Georgia Southern.

I mean, they didn't do it. They do have the double buy. Here's the thing. You get the double by. So, and theirs are late. So they got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. It's first week eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, eight and twelve. So they got a week twelve by.

The double by allows them to, you know, provide for the stretch run. So to, uh, to put it to bed here, Antoine Wells is going as wide receiver 61. I have them around the wide receiver, low 40s. I got him in 40 on the note, 3940. So I see it as being like a solid 22 position leap. I think ADP wise, I've been, I mean, he didn't get drafted in two of the first four best boss. He went, he went straight up undrafted. And then the last one I started, I think he was at 21, 22, the round. So he's essentially, when when you want him, you could pretty much have him. I think he's probably closer to being, you know, in the round 14, 15 range.

And it kind of goes to, again, the power three, you know, potent offense wide receiver three theory. He's the wide receiver two to go with Jordan Watkins. I see him as being pretty much part and parcel, like an accessory to Trey Harris. There's no reason why I don't think Antoine Wells can put up a Don Tario Drummond type season from 2021. That's kind of what I see. Drummond had 1100 yards. Yeah, like 80 receptions. I just, he's going to catch everything he gets. 2.8% drop rate at shorthands.

I love everything about this situation. What do you think? I haven't fully, well, let me start with this. You are on the clock in the 14th round, Eric, and champions. And I would assume that, not that you have to draft right now, but because I think Kyle Francis is yelling at you in the DMs. But, bonus out.

Come on, you get a break kale. I'm kidding. I'm on the show, brother. But I would say that I'm trying to craft the argument here. And I think some of your advanced stats pointed to it. I am trying to craft the argument that Ole Miss could be, I mean,

not to the level of LSU of last year, but I think this offense kind of is similar to that with the dual threat quarterback in his senior year. You got the two outside receivers. Wells, very proven in the SEC. Obviously, Trey Harris is just a monster as he's as he proved last year. You know, I think we kind of talked about it too in previous episodes.

Like, they have no quench on Jenkins, obviously. And I'm expecting a full on committee in that backfield. I think Rashad Amos has chosen another school during this podcast. And look, I just don't think they're going to be as good running the football this year. And I think they're going to lean on their strengths, which is Jackson Dart, Wells, Trey Harris, Caden Priestcorn, Wackens. I think it sets up very nicely.

And like you said, with the start of the schedule, you're going to get on a roll there and you've got your big boy games in the SEC late. I think they're going to have to go pedal to the metal. All that returning production they have. I just, I think this suits up very nice. for this Ole Miss offense. They have to be, again, to use it, pedal to the mellow all the way through the season. So, again, I would like to think they might be LSU light this year for college fantasy.

That's why I took Jackson Dart in the fourth round in this Champions League. I think that highly of this offense this year. I'm not too pleased about that selection. I've been getting the seventh round every draft. And all of a sudden, you're going fourth round on him, Mike? He went to the fifth the last one. He went in the first. Andres and D'Art and Trey Wilson. You're giving the three-round bump on for me.

No who your league mates are. No who my friends are. Are you? Are you? All right. To tie up Antoine Wells before we move on, I put down some players who are being drafted right above him and right below him, who are wide receivers so we can get a feel for the pack that he's in between right now. Okay. Above him being drafted, five players. Micah Davis, Utah State. Theo, feel, feel my heat. Kobe Prentice, Alabama, for real? Over Antoine Wells?

Kelly Akiari. I like his name. Mississippi State. I don't know what to expect out of him. Robert Freeman. That's right. Two Utah, excuse me, three Utah statewide receivers are being taken ahead of him.

Mike and Davis and Robert Freeman are taken right ahead of him. I don't even think we have like. I don't think Freeman even. ran with the ones all spring. And I don't think Micah Davis is going to be healthy. No. What's going on? So they're being taken ahead of Antoine Wells. Why? Why? Okay, fine. Point taken. And then finally, Barry and Brown right there. Okay. And I get it. But man, that Kentucky team so defense oriented. You got Brockton Vandergriff. You know, obviously you don't have Liam Cohen there anymore at OC. There's a lot going on.

those are the ones above below him damon ward north texas trendy sleeper uh j michael sturdivant ucla you can have them uh chris mitchell noder dame that's an interesting one uh i don't feel i like great house but i mean i know mitchell is extremely productive at f i u like how do you feel about an f i u wide receiver coming to trying to take over nondon dame uh well i i feel better about those guys knowing that probably Mitchell Evans, your boy, your boy, is not going to be healthy for the start of the year. But what are I going to do? He's got a knee. Oh, he was so good last year. I'll stand by his C2C. Well, speaking of Notre Dame, Chris Tyree is being taken after him, UVA. Everybody's hoping he's the next book, Washington. Dare to dream on that one. I don't see it.

I think that's all Josh. I think he's the only one. It is a lot of Josh. He loves it. Dude, Chris Tyree, after he cost me some money that two years ago on that first game anyways and then Carlos Hernandez so that's um that's the range he's going in between right now and these aren't household names who would be taken above and below Antoine wells and I think he kind of speaks to that point so without any further ado we will move on to our next player and that is mr. Bamberg do you have a running back for us yeah uh since Cincinnati running back Corey Kiner. ADP currently sitting at RB 58. I personally have him as RB 32 at the moment. He did finish last season as RB 85 with 1,000 yards, five touchdowns on 192 carries.

You know, you mentioned Brendan Sorsby earlier. And I just think this offense is going to be improved as a whole. five starters back on the offensive line that finished 16th in line yards last year. You get Brennan Sordsby from Indiana, who's going to start a quarterback. I think a clear upgrade over Emery Jones at quarterback. I liked Sowery last year. I loved who you did in Indiana. He was in a bad spot, but he was good when I watched him. Well, so you get an upgraded quarterback.

The offensive line obviously performed well last year, and now it's got another year of experience under its belt. You know, it's kind of falling off the last three years, but we forget or, you know, maybe some people forget the kind of the strain that Scott Satterfield had, you know, going back to Appalachian State. And then with Louisville, the amount of 1,000 yard backs that he had, right? And I think he had four different 1,000 yard rushers in that last kind of decade span then. So, you know, you upgraded.

Obviously last year didn't go well, but now you've upgraded the roster, got a better quarterback, experienced offensive line. I think it really sets up well for Corey Kiner to have a big year here. And, you know, I think, I mean, he had a, he had 192 carries, 37% of the volume share in the backfield. I think that could increase now. I think we would all agree to that Brendan Sorsby is a dual threat, but he's probably, definitely not going to run as much as Emery Jones. So I think I've added probably 20,000.

30 carries to what what he's going to get. I mean, the backup to Corey Kiner is probably going to be Evan Pryor, who I think is going to feel more of a, you know, past catching role behind him. He's like 6'4. And he's like 6'4. He's the backup running back. Like, all right. So I don't think that's a threat.

No, you're thinking Evan Prater. I'm sorry, Evan Prater. I'm sorry. Prior. Prior. Yeah, Ohio State. Yeah. Ever prior. You haven't cratered me.

I was like, fucking, I'm sorry. So, like, all this stuff kind of sets up well for Corey Kiner. And then just to close it out, the schedule, let me pull that up here. Hey, Mike. Yeah, go ahead. They don't, they have one of the easiest schedules against defenses running back, running defenses last year. So points given up to running backs, they only play one top 35 defense. Everybody else is sub 50.

It's Kansas State. Iowa State was actually not very good against running backs last year. Good defense. They just weren't great against the running backs for some reason. But everybody else, I mean, and you can take back over, but they have one of the easiest schedules for running backs on a fantasy perspective. Yeah, I mean, like I guess in playoff weeks, you face Kansas State, you mentioned, and then at Iowa State.

I guess back-to-back road games is not great for the playoffs, but, I mean, the non-conference is nothing to scoff at. and like then you're getting some of the the poor big 12 teams in the middle of the schedule. So either way, like, it's just a track record of Scott's Hatterfield with his running backs. And then you get kinder paired with that, that experienced offensive line. So I, like, I'm sure, Eric, you're going to play this, this, you know, who would you rather have game with, with Corey Kiner here. So I have, I have a couple of, like, okay, I have Jonah Coleman, Chesma Lucey,

Montreal Johnson and Kanye Roberts are going in the range of Corey Kiner. Two of those guys that you guys take often. Eric, you just took Kanye Roberts. I don't understand that one at all. I took Jonah Coleman. I just took. And, okay, Jonah Coleman. Yeah.

So like just those guys. Why don't you like Easy? What's wrong with Easy? You didn't get the, you think Anderson Castle's in the sand is a. Not to get off topic, but I remember you telling, we, we face. him in the bowl game. You hated him in the bowl game. We went under on his prop. And then Anderson Castle. Anderson Castle got 20 carries that game. So like Kanye Roberts had a really good spring. But I mean, Anderson Castle got like if maybe it's recency bias, but he got 20 carries in

the in the in the bowl game over Kanye Robert. So I'm going on a tangent there. But I don't know. I trust that Corey Kinder is going to get carries more than a Chesma Lucy or a Kanye Robert. And that's why I like Cory Kiner this year. Is it Shea Malusi? I think it's Shea. I'm not sure. Ches, I think, I'm not sure. I think you think Cheez it when I see that.

But I think it's Shea, as in, you know, Goravara with a Z. But I've been wrong before. That being said, we are coming up on our 45-minute break. So without any further ado, we'll take our final break on the show before wrapping it up. God damn, we're getting good at those, aren't we? That felt great. All right. Zach, you have another running back for us and one that, yeah, is certainly, I would say one of the true risers of the spring and just a clear path to a pretty appealing job. Yeah. So Cam Cook at TCU.

Really good spring. He, you know, ended spring as at RB1. I know at least for me, really watch that closely to see if it's going to be him or Trey Sanders. I was taking Trey Sanders early on in those early drafts we had just because I wanted a piece of this offense. It turns out I probably am not going to get the value I wanted out of him. But it's Cam Cook.

Looks like he's going to be the guy. He's essentially going. undrafted, or he was until recently. I think in our Champions League last time, he was mid-teens. And then I actually just took him right around round 12, I think, is when it was. But it was like running back 55 off the board, which is about right where I have him in my rankings right around running back 50. So the upside, though, of the running back in this offense is, I mean, the last year, Amani Bailey went for 1,200 yards, had 180 receiving yards. nine total touchdowns.

When you look at what Kendall Browns has done, he had Rahim Sanders ran for 1,400 yards. He's had 1,000-yard rushers in the last 10 years. There's just so much value in this offense at that running back position. We just talked about Hoover a little bit ago, and he was injured all spring. I like him, but if they don't have a healthy quarterback this year, I think that even props him up.

a little bit more. So it's kind of a more recent one. It was probably a little bit unfair because he wasn't being drafted and now he is, but he's a guy that even in some of the drafts we've still seen, if he's not, if he's still around in like those late teens, early 20s, I would definitely take him because it's just, I just feel like that's going to be such a good value.

And I don't really think Trace Sanders is going to, I think it's going to look a lot like last year where Tray Sanders comes in a little bit. he got some of the goal line touches, which is a little maddening, but I still think this is Cam Cook's job. And I think he's going to have a pretty big year ahead of him. Proton, what do you think? Yeah, absolutely. And there's a reason why he's such a riser.

Second year player, four-star recruit, was groomed to pretty much be the takeover. If you look the way TCU has handled that backfield, they've done a pretty good job about, you know, making sure that there's a progression. The only real, I mean, the loan transfer they really took that came in was Zach Evans, but that was almost like he fell in their lap. Like, oh, okay, you want to come in and run for us, five-star, you know, R.B. one or two out of his class, fine. But Kenrey Miller, you know, demarcato, they've typically had the progression.

So with Cook, I mean, it's so linear. Good solid spring. I can find a fault with that, and I think you're right on the money. I will go with the, would you rather, the pick your poison, shall we say? Cameron Cook or, oh, geez, how about Montreal Johnson for Cook? Excellent. Okay. Marquez Cooper, Ball State.

Oh, man, that's tough. I good That's a good one then Yeah that is a good one I probably lean cook right now But I That's tough

Good Okay so we're in the right range though Just since they're back to back Cameron Cook or Corey Kiner I got Kiner I have Kiner ahead of him Right now so I assume you as well Mike

I would take Kiner but I think Cook is going to be like he's one of those guys I think he he could end up as a top 25 guy by the end of the year top 20 guys so I think the ceiling's pretty high there with him I is really in dynasty it's an easy oh for sure yeah I don't know this year I and correct me if I'm wrong I believe they have zero returning starters along the offensive line yeah I think that would be my biggest concern there I don't know how good the defenses be I don't look at the defense is too too much. But yeah, I think the offensive line play would be my biggest concern with him. But, yeah, I mean, he was consistently, I would take kinder over Cook, but Cook was consistently, like literally from day one, I think, ahead of Tray Sanders during spring ball. So I don't know that Tray Sanders will factor much into this backfield much at all. like I just like I were don't you remember week one where just Amani Bailey we get everything between the

10s essentially and then I played DFS that game and you didn't win if you didn't have that Colorado TCU stack on both sides but man I had Amani Bailey and they just gave way to Trace Sanders right when they got inside the 10 I don't think that happens this year so but yeah kind of overcook. And speaking of their offensive line, they do have two projected starters that released on the team last year. Coiton Derry, who is left guard, played 51% of the snaps. And then Michael Nichols, who is the right tackle, played 66% of the snaps. They brought in, in order to make up for it, three transfers, who were all extremely experienced. Each one of them, two of them played at least 95% of their team snaps and uh and bless harris played 45% he's a left

tax so a lot of turnover if not a lot of turnover yeah a lot of turnover and uh and same thing in their wide receiver they brought in mccalister from boise state to compete and uh and dabbony at tight end so i mean they they weren't sitting resting on their laurels by any means uh which brings me over to my last guy right We're getting there. We're getting to showtime. So this will be my guy. And it's quarterback, none other than Mikey Keene, Fresno State.

Probably not. I don't know if Bainbridge expected this. But I like Mikey. Mikey likes it, much like the life commercials back in the day. I'm dating myself. With Keene, 67% completion rate, but a 76% adjusted completion rate takes away the throwaways and drops. So, you know, very accurate. went back to his UCF days too pretty good in terms of his ability to hit his target,

but not really a downfield passing attack, seven and a half a dot last year, but had a 10 a dot, 10 yards of target depth in 22 with UCF. So, I mean, that's a full two and a half yards more. So I'd be interested to see if it's just simply scheme or if that's something they might open up this year. 78th percentile PFF passing grade, pretty good, doesn't run at all. I'm a six point passing touchdown guy. That's probably why he's suppressed in the four point passing touchdown formats. But, I mean, you look at what he did in 2022, had an 82 percentile PFF pass grade and a 72 percent completion rate.

So he is accurate. And I like guys who, you know, can run an offense and throw on time. So with the Fresno State offense, kind of a reset last year, 30 and a half points per game, which is fine, but 105 rushing yards per game, 118 nationally. This was a pass-oriented offense. Their offensive line, four offensive line returning starters with 73 percent of snaps played last year, all five starters of seniors. He's going to be in great shape there with the line. as far as they're passing. 282 passing yards per game last year.

It was 21st nationally in terms of passing volume. 40 attempts per game. That was ninth nationally. This is a passing offense. Full stop. Don't make any mistakes. Even with Malik Sharad, who I went and just took in Champion 6, the value of him is he catches a ton of pass.

He's going to get over 50 targets. So that is what this offense does, which is nice. As far as their run rate, 43% of the time they're running on standard downs. That's 130th in the nation in terms of when they are actually running. 58% is the national average. They're 43%, 15% less in terms of their standard downs, what they want to do. Pace of play, 42nd, good. You know, it's pretty brisk.

34th in points per drive. 75th in returning production. They have the 19th most offensive returning production in the country. As a team, 35th in passing success rate, excellent. What I really keyed on here, and what's a really important metric for me, it goes to show how good Keene is as opposed to what he's working with. 90% of the wide open passes that Keene had the opportunity to make, he hit. That's 25th in the nation.

So if a guy's streaking wide open, he hit them at the 25th best rate. However, only 19% of his passes went to wide open receivers. That's 120th in the nation. All right? So he wasn't getting the kind of open options that a lot of. of other quarterbacks were. But when he did, he cashed them in. Not just that on contested passes. That's wide open. On contested passes, he had a 41% completion rate. That was the 10th best in the nation on contested targets. He's putting the ball where he needs to be in the catch

radius on time and allowing his receivers that aren't really getting open to make plays as much they need to, but they're on to catch the ball. All right. So when I see something like that, he is making the most of his opportunities. It's just a matter of how many opportunities he's going to get. The only transfers that Fresno State brought in on the offensive side at all were wide receivers. They brought in two wideouts, Shadon James and Raylan Sharp for depth purposes. You still got Josiah Freeman, who Jake Hainer swore up and down to me at the combine last year, was going to be the real deal and he disappointed me.

Man, you didn't mention Jalen Moss at all, did he? You didn't mention Jalen Moss, Jake Hainer? I wasn't very considerate of him. But that being said, Mr. Hainer, fair enough. Jalen Moss is back. Josiah Freeman, locked into a starting role. Like, get ready. It's your show kid.

Hopefully you're ready to play this time because it's on. At least they have their talent coming back and they provided for, all right, maybe it isn't what happens with our boy there, Josiah. If they don't, they have a plan. Mack Delaney's back, too, who was also a starter as a senior, more of a possession type guy. But, I mean, it's going to be Moss and Freeman. If they're going to do it, it's going to be them. So that being said, with Keene wasn't drafted in the, in two of the first four leagues. Bainbridge took him at 342 in the first one.

And then nobody took them. And then Katz took him at 307. I think that's a mistake. When it comes to QBs that are drafted around Mr. Keene, above him, the three QBs above him, Katten the Hat-Hauser,

Kattenhouser, ECU, neon-Zion Chris, T.J. Finley. What do we notice about those guys? I mean, Zion, Chris, T.J. Finley, do they have jobs? Backups? No, I think T.G. Finley starts.

I think T. Fennley starts. But yeah, your point. Yeah. Fair, but he's, he's right there. And fine, you want to talk about maybe what West Kentucky's got a, you know, a good pass on office? Well, we just went through what Fresno State wants to do. And it's throw at a pretty obscene rate.

Four QBs that are picked right below Mikey Keene. Giovanni McCoy, Oregon State. Oh, yeah. Oh, field of heat. Kyle McCord, Syracuse. Are you kidding me? Peyton Thorne Auburn and Keown Jenkins, Florida International. Not a Hoosoo list of household college fantasy football names.

Am I correct on that one? Is there anybody you'd rather have than Keene in this list? Any of them? I drafted Keonanins right around Mikey Keen. I don't know why you love quarterbacks that just have negative rushing yards. Because I'm a six-point passing touchdown guy. I, because it's the way it should be, I believe, in equality, Michael. Do we have to, do I have to go on a rant about equality again?

Please no. That's why I love him. Because he's in a passing off oriented system. They want to throw, they throw an obscene rate. And in past, six point passing touch on leagues was the only leagues I will accept that even exist. Yeah, so I, I, obviously I've drafted Keene. I think he is the perfect, like, guy that you target if you're doing those late QB strategies in basketball, right?

You know he's going to be the starter in a high volume passing offense. He will get you 20 points, week and week out. He didn't necessarily do that last year. But, you know, I think a lot of that was health issues too. But, you know, improved wide receiver room. I think they added a couple good pieces there. Jalen boss is going to. shift back outside. Mac Delana running the slot. So I like their improved wide receiver room,

you know, cross fingers for Josiah Freeman. But that's, you're not going up, in my opinion. Maybe you disagree, Eric. You're not going up to seek out and get Mikey Key. I think if he falls to that range beyond maybe like in the 20th round range, that's where you're wanting to target him for those late QB builds, my opinion. He doesn't run. He doesn't run. He doesn't run, but he throws, baby. And throwing QBs have higher floors than sole threat QBs, especially in best ball formats. I love the certainty. I know that I can bank on him.

And there's a lot of QBs that are going around that range really, like, well above him. I feel like it could be anybody's guess. So I do think that, God, I'm looking at, put for a comparison, I'm looking at Quinn Ewers. And I'm looking at Mikey Keane and I'm saying, you can have queen ewers. I'll wait four more rounds and take Mikey Keen. And I don't have to sweat it. I don't have to sweat, you know, QB Jesus coming in behind them in Arch and completely throwing them, you know, checking them in the Cucktown Hotel.

So I think that this has to be, you know, factored in, especially in best ball leagues, you know, where you're going through this stuff. You're looking at the, you know, the Finley who has, these guys who have competition, they're going ahead of them. And that's, that's, frankly, a dangerous prospect, in my opinion. But, you know, that's what makes the world go around, doesn't it? This is why we do these things. I should at least go and talk a little bit about the chat. We'd like to thank Karp.

Brian Karp, he's been excellent. You know, he might explode from his terrible draft picking, respectfully. I don't think you will. Carp, you keep running those best balls. You're doing the Lord's work here. Anybody, if you're looking to get into a best ball league, follow our boy, carp dog. He's a saint, and seriously, he should be knighted.

I don't know if we have the ability to knight people here in CFF as the British do, but I feel like I should have the right to do so. I should be able to knight people, right? Mike, Dan, thanks, Mike. Eric Singleton is he going to explode this year? My answer is yes. I like Eric Singleton a lot. Michael, how do you feel about Eric Singleton?

I feel like I'm going to echo what a lot of people have already said. The schedule kind of scares me off with Georgia Tech. And I personally see some regression with that offense. And maybe I'm just, I don't know, maybe I'm thinking too much into it. because they obviously performed at a very high clip last year. But I haven't drafted Eric Singleton. Obviously, he was a standout freshman performer. But would I say explode?

I don't think so. I kind of have him where he slotted at last year. Which is, what are we looking at? Around QB 35, I should mean, wide receiver 35. Where do you got him? Where did he finish last year was? Give me a second. It's wider.

who wide receiver 100 and you have them ranked there i don't have them ranked there but uh he's a hundred who is it no he's in the wide receiver 40 range for me um that's so yeah that sounds right to me yeah that's that's that's right where he should be going um and he's in that that rachad owens cole wilson kyle williams type range right there that are all i mean those are all good wide outs that that's a good group and it's kind of a reason why I've been okay if I need to wait a little bit on wideouts and really start plucking them in the teens because of there. You know, those guys in that 40-50 range, some talented dudes who are going to end up being pretty prominent producers. So good stuff.

So I think that the boat does it. That's a wrap. Is that correct? Are we missing anything, guys? No, we hit it. I don't want Josh to get mad at me when he comes back and says, Proton, you forgot something. Is he going to get mad if you don't end with his? his little infamous quote.

With his gimmick. Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's see. I don't know if I remember what it is, but I will certainly try to end it the best of way. Well, that'll do it. Oh, actually, we got one by Baylor Bear.

We'll give one more since we're allowed to go up to 110. And I don't like, I don't like to skimp on content. What do we think of Kobe Pace? I have a comment on this one. Let's go. It's the Virginia offense. So you're not going to, you're not going to draft Kobe Pace until you know, 28, 29, 30 in one of these best balls that carp runs.

But there's quotes from the offensive coordinator this spring that they are going to give him a workman's or a workhorse type load here. So the depth chart is very sketchy beyond Kobe Pace. You look at the advanced numbers, they're not great. But you like quotes like that from coaches. Yes, yes, coaches live. But you'd like to hear these, you know, these coaches say during the spring. hey, we're going to give this guy carries, and they're going to give Kobe

the pace carries from all sounds of it. So I am perfectly fine taking a shot on Kobe Pace beyond 28, 29, 30th round. My question is, when was the last time we got a Belkow out of UVA? I mean, can you remember one? I mean, free Mendenhall era? Olamides, Zachius, but he was a wide receiver running back. He was the big of a running back. Wally Lundy? Are we going to Wally Lundy territory?

That's like early 2000s. Let's see here. Incredible. We have the, yeah, we have, where are we looking? Oh, boy. Now I'm rambling. Jordan Ellis, Jordan Ellis? Jordan Ellis.

He's probably the best one. Wayne Tala Papa? Remember that guy? I love it when you call me Tala Papa. Well, hey, you know, we got to have a little bit of big. here if that's what we're going to do so uh yeah Kobe Pace I haven't seen him getting drafted did he did he slip in for the 30th round any of these I don't believe so no I can't I can get the courage to draft the Virginia running back but hey true coordinator likes them

an offensive coordinator thinks he's going to feed him so there it is has to be considered then because there's going to be plenty of running backs that end up just not even getting any carries if you know somebody's going to actually get the bulk well, there's value in that. It's all the volume for those running backs. So we shall see. We shall see. But I think that does it for this episode,

the underrated episode here in the Champions Best Ball series for the College Fantasy Football All Access Show. I am Eric Froton for Zach Hall from Mike Bainbridge. Do small things with great love. Is that how it goes? It's good enough. I think that's pretty close. Do small things with great love.

Thank you very much, and we'll see you next week. What? Why you're shaking you, Ed? You're welcome.