John Laub waxes poetic about his early explorations in college fantasy football, then gets down to business with his Week 1 CFF Sleepers.
Over the summer, I indulged my passion for history by reading Astoria: Astor and Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire. Author Peter Stark explores the settling of the Pacific Northwest in the early Nineteenth Century by entrepreneur and financier John Jacob Astor, who dreamed of an international fur trade conglomerate between North America, Asia, and Europe with Astoria the hub of the industry. When I first started playing college fantasy football ten years ago, I felt like Captain Thorn of the Tonquin leading Astor’s expedition around Cape Horn.
I treasured college football; nonetheless, I sought another challenge and alternative-reality football on Saturdays provided a new hobby to explore. Regrettably, there was very little information in regard to my newest pastime. For five years, I played and filtered all college football news and notes through a fantasy lens. Finally, I decided to share my knowledge and love of the game with others. I began posting my weekly CFF sleepers on my Twitter account, which had less than 500 followers. Success afforded confidence in my analysis and insight, and I took a giant leap forward, publishing The Scholar’s Surreptitious Starters for the past two campaigns.
College Fantasy Football began this weekend, and I am sharing my first column of the campaign. Every week I will pinpoint possible sleepers to insert into CFF lineups, or pluck off the waiver wire, based on matchups, game scripts, over-under lines, point spreads, and personal observations.
I can’t wait for kickoff this week and look forward to assisting readers with tough lineup decisions all season long. Enjoy my fellow CFF fanatics!
Get off the sideline and join a College Fantasy Football League on Fantrax this season. It will be one of the best decision of your life.
Week 1 CFF Sleepers
Week 1 CFF Sleepers: Quarterback
Tommy DeVito, Syracuse at Liberty: O/U 66 & Syracuse -17
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 62%
Over the past four seasons, QB Eric Dungey steered the Orange offense, and now, a new era kicks off in Syracuse, NY. In 2018, coach Dino Babers guided the Orange to their first 10-win crusade since 2001. Since the fourth-year coach took over, Tommy DeVito is the program’s only 4-star recruit. Expectations are sky-high for the team and DeVito this year. “Last year, 10 wins, that’s going to be the standard…and we hope to exceed that this year,” a confident DeVito proclaimed during a training camp interview with Stephen Bailey of Syracuse.com.
In limited action last season, DeVito passed for 525 yards and tossed four aerial strikes. Syracuse travels to take on Liberty and is expected to post well over 40 points versus the Flames. When a coach employs an inexperienced and exhilarating signal-caller, he likely covets a positive passing performance for his young field general. It is within possible outcomes for DeVito to throw for nearly three hundred yards and complete three touchdown passes against a poor Flames’ pass defense.
Jamie Newman Wake Forest vs. Utah State: O/U 61 & Wake Forest -3
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 32%
On August 18, coach Dave Clawson ended the training camp battle between Jamie Newman and Sam Hartman. “We made a decision today that Newman is going to be the starting quarterback. There’s the old adage that if you have two, you have none. In the case of Wake Forest in 2019, we really do have two good quarterbacks,” coach Clawson stated in an interview with Kevin McGuire of NBCSports.com. College fantasy footballers are thankful for the clarity in regard to the Demon Deacons’ starting signal-caller.
In the final four games of the 2018 campaign, the redshirt junior passed for 1,008 yards, tossed nine touchdowns and rushed for 177 yards. In the Birmingham Bowl, he earned MVP honors passing for 328 yards and scoring three touchdowns against Memphis. At 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, Newman is an imposing field general and likely to become a weekly starter in 2-QB leagues this season. Wake Forest welcomes Utah State to kick off the 2019 crusade, and Las Vegas expects a shootout between the Demon Deacons and Aggies. Insert Newman with confidence on Friday night.
Week 1 CFF Sleepers: Running Back
Jafar Armstrong, Notre Dame at Louisville: O/U 58 & Notre Dame -19
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 73%
Not many programs finished worse than Louisville in total defense (121) last year, surrendering over 44 points and 448 yards per game. Looking over the depth chart, the Cardinals return eight starters on defense. Is this good news for new coach Scott Satterfield? I am not convinced Louisville improved on defense—at least not early in the season. Las Vegas agrees with my assessment: Notre Dame is a huge favorite on the road. Dexter Williams, Josh Adams and C.J. Prosise have all recorded 1,000-yard campaigns over the past four years in coach Brian Kelly’s scheme.
At 6-foot even and 220 pounds, Jafar Armstrong switched positions from wide receiver before the start of last season and saw limited action behind Williams because of a knee infection and ankle injury, earning only 72 carries. In 2019, the junior playmaker is preparing to be the alpha dog in the Fighting Irish ground game. “…coming in every day and trusting running back coach Lance Taylor’s workout program and just endearing yourself and just loving the work. It’s easy to come in and work every day when it’s fun. You’re getting ready for a huge season,” Armstrong detailed in a 247sports.com interview by Tom Loy. I have a ticket on the Armstrong express Saturday and anticipate a huge outing running and catching the football for the dynamic runner.
Asim Rose, Kentucky vs. Toledo: O/U 62 & Kentucky -13
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 72%
For two years, Asim Rose watched from the sideline as Benny Snell bludgeoned opponents on the ground. The redshirt junior ascends to the top of the depth chart after rushing for 442 yards and five touchdowns last season. “I’ve been waiting for the time for them to say I’m starting now. I don’t have to worry about not playing or not getting the reps that I think I should get, all of that is behind me. I stayed patient,” Rose affirmed in an interview with Shawn Smith on gobigbluecountry.com.
A high school football and basketball player, Rose is a prodigious athlete at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds and employs speed, explosiveness, and power to beat tacklers. It is going to be a huge challenge for the Rockets to slow down the junior ball carrier. Last year, Toledo ranked 89th in total defense, allowing over 30 points and 400 yards per game. The Wildcats should not have any difficulties putting points on the scoreboard against the Rockets as Rose scoots for over 100 yards and a touchdown.
Alex Fontenot and Jaren Mangham, Colorado vs. Colorado State: O/U 59 & Colorado -11
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 6%
Over the past three seasons, the Buffaloes have produced huge fantasy statistics from their running backs. In 2016 and 2017, Phillip Lindsey recorded over 3,400 yards from scrimmage and 32 touchdowns, and last year, Travon McMillian totaled 1,127 yards and eight touchdowns.
In the Rocky Mountains, there might be gold for CFF owners in the Colorado backfield. New coach Mel Tucker inherits an awesome aerial assault with QB Steven Montez and WR Laviska Shenault, Jr. However, he must find a reliable starter at running back to complement the aerial assault.
At 6-foot-0 and 195 pounds, Alex Fontenot remembers the lessons learned from his former teammate Lindsey, who embraced every facet of the game; running, catching, and blocking. “With Lindsey, you can’t hate one thing and do everything else…You have to love everything you do and be that complete running back,” Fontenot asserted in the denverpost.com by Brian Howell.
Despite only 11 career carries, Fontenot is the so-called veteran of the backfield. Freshman Jaren Mangham is a 4-star recruit who turned down offers from Texas A&M and Michigan State to play in Boulder, CO. An early enrollee, he shined at the Buffaloes’ spring game: He accumulated 149 yards rushing and three touchdowns on only 12 carries. All CFF diehards must watch closely how the snaps and touches are allocated in the team’s opener. Colorado has won four consecutive meetings in the Rocky Mountain Showdown and are heavy favorites to earn a fifth-straight victory. The game script foreshadows the Buffaloes grinding the clock down in the second half and both players are likely to impress the coaching staff and CFF diehards.
Week 1 CFF Sleepers: Wide Receiver
Elijah Moore, Mississippi at Memphis: O/U 68 & Memphis -6
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 83%
Unfortunately, I am late to jump on board the Elijah Moore train and had to obtain a ticket from a scalper on the dark web… Luckily, I purchased a nice seat. In the offseason, Mississippi lost A.J. Brown, DeMarkus Lodge, and DK Metcalf, who accounted for 176 catches for 2,766 yards and 15 touchdowns last year.
Moore is in line for a huge increase in snaps and targets this season. A 4-star recruit, the sophomore corralled 36 receptions for 398 yards and two touchdowns as a true freshman last year. Against South Carolina, he established an Ole Miss freshman mark with 11 receptions for 129 yards.
A slot receiver, the future Rebels’ star excels in space with the ball in his hands and gains loads of yards after the catch. “We’re motivated by (the fact that no one knows us). I promise you by the end of the year you’ll know who every last one of us is… I need to be more of a leader and learn to take control of the game more. It’s consistency,” Moore detailed in the natchezdemocrat.com.
Moore will have a terrific opportunity to back up his words in the opening game against Memphis. The Tigers finished 110th in total defense, permitting 31.5 points and 420 yards per game. Game script presages a pass-heavy attack in the second half by Mississippi, and Moore will shine brightly this weekend.
Isaiah Hodgins, Oregon State vs. Oklahoma State: O/U 73 & Oklahoma St. -16
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 77%
Two teams from historically defensively-challenged conferences are a delight for college fantasy footballers. Neither the Beavers nor the Cowboys are very good at slowing down the opposition. Oklahoma State finished the season ranked 98th in total defense and allowed over 32 points per game. Oregon State produced nearly 250 passing yards per game and completed 17 touchdowns. Vegas projects a huge offensive output between both teams on Friday, and the Beavers are home underdogs, which foreshadows a pass-heavy game script.
Isaiah Hodgins stands atop the pecking order in Corvallis, OR and will be targeted all evening by quarterback Jake Luton. “We’re continuing to get that, (chemistry), every single day. It’s constant chemistry of where I’m gonna be and where he’s gonna throw it,” Hodgins detailed in an interview on kezi.com.
Last season, the junior snatched 59 passes for 876 yards and five touchdowns. During the offseason, Hodgins has trained hard to improve his speed, and at 6-foot-4 and 209 pounds, provides a difficult matchup for the Cowboys. He has been named to the 2019 Biletnikoff Award watch list, and the first game of the campaign offers a great opportunity to open the eyes of casual fans. Hodgins easily exceeds the century mark in receiving yards and reaches the promised land once.
Justin Jefferson, LSU vs. Georgia Southern: O/U 53.5 & LSU -28
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 53%
If you have listened to the CFF: On Campus Podcast, I have identified Justin Jefferson as an undervalued asset in college fantasy football all offseason.
Nicknamed J-Jets in high school, Jefferson is going to take flight in the overhauled spread offense under offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger and first-year passing game coach Joe Brady.
A couple of vital alterations will frustrate defensive coordinators: LSU will move receivers all over the formation, and the playmakers are expected to read coverages in order to adjust their routes. Welcome to the modern game Tigers faithful.
At 6-foot-3 and 192 pounds, the junior possesses pronounced speed combined with shiftiness to elude defensive backs and excels at making tough catches. In a Neanderthal-like passing game last year, he snatched 54 passes for 875 yards and six touchdowns. He will easily shatter those statistics in the new scheme.
Over the past seven years, seven Tigers receivers have been selected in the NFL Draft, and Jefferson is clearly on the radar of shrewd scouting departments. Georgia Southern had an underrated defense last year (ranked 41st in total defense), but will not be able to slow down LSU’s revamped aerial assault. QB Joe Burrow connects with Jefferson for over 100 yards and a touchdown against the Eagles.
Who are your Week 1 CFF sleepers? Also check out our 2019 College Fantasy Football Rankings!
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