College Fantasy Football: Five fades in the SEC
The college football season is starting this weekend which means you need to put the finishing touches on your college fantasy football team. Here is a look at five SEC players to fade heading into the season.
1. JAKE FROMM
Does it make sense to fade a quarterback who completed more than 67 percent of his passes for 2,749 yards with 30 touchdowns and six interceptions last season? Probably not. But in fantasy football you have to take some shots and Georgia loses a lot – a lot! – in the passing game. The top five pass catchers in Riley Ridley, Mecole Hardman, Isaac Nauta, Jeremiah Holloman and Terry Godwin are gone. They combined for 154 catches, 2,323 yards and 27 TDs last season. Fromm is great, but that’s a lot to make up.
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FANTASY FACE-OFF: Trevor Lawrence vs. Tua Tagovailoa | Travis Etienne vs. Jonathan Taylor | Rondale Moore vs. Laviska Shenault | Albert Okwuegbunam vs. Jared Pinkney | Alabama defense vs. Georgia defense
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2. JARRETT GUARANTANO
Guarantano is a really talented player. And Jim Chaney is a really smart coach. But also Guarantano could be running for his life again this season and the coaching staff needs to keep him upright because the Vols don’t have any other quarterbacks with any experience. And I do think Chaney benefited from calling plays at Georgia last season while having Fromm and an insane amount of receivers to dial up. This is going to be a big challenge. Tennessee has some quality receivers and Guarantano is a playmaker, but until I see that offensive line figured out there are better options at quarterback around the country.
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3. KENTUCKY DEFENSE
Kentucky had one of its best defenses ever last season and allowed just 16.8 points per game, but the Wildcats lost phenom defensive end Josh Allen and basically their entire secondary. There could be some significant growing pains for this unit, so don’t get caught up in the numbers from last season. Plus, Kentucky opens up against Toledo, which averaged 40 points per game a year ago, and has a tough schedule through September. This is a no-touch.
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4. MISSISSIPPI STATE QB
There has been a lot of discussion in Starkville about whether Penn State transfer Tommy Stevens or Keytaon Thompson would win the starting job, and that still has not been announced publicly. This one falls in the "too hard to tell" camp, and when one wins the job, will he be looking over his shoulder the entire time to see if the other one is coming in the game? Stevens backed up Trace McSorley, and Thompson backed up Nick Fitzgerald. We don’t know a whole lot about how either will perform as a starter, so there are better options elsewhere.
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5. VANDERBILT DEFENSE
The Commodores improved their scoring defense by nearly five points last season but there are some concerns here – especially early in the year – where I can’t jump on board. The defensive line should be decent, as it’s getting better, but there are major questions at linebacker and in the secondary. What worries me the most is that Vanderbilt opens against Georgia, Purdue and LSU. That’s brutal, and it could get ugly early on.