College Fantasy Football: Looking ahead to Week 1 in SEC
The first full week of college football is coming up, which means it’s time to set your fantasy rosters. Here are some players to love heading into the week and others to consider putting on the bench. We look today at the SEC.
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LOVE 'EM
Maybe I’m buying into some Arkansas hype this year, but I think this offense is going to be pretty good in coach Chad Morris’ second year, especially in the opener against a weak Portland State team. Hicks won the starting job during a heated battle in preseason camp and he’s going to be throwing to Trey Knox, Treylon Burks and some other really talented receivers looking to prove a point in a really fast-paced offense. When Portland State was bad last season it was really bad, giving up 72 to Nevada, 62 to Oregon and 74 to Eastern Washington. Fantasy is about picking your spots, and Hicks is in a great situation here.
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Here’s what I like about this opportunity with Hill: Mississippi State scored 56 against Louisiana last season and I understand that was with Nick Fitzgerald at quarterback but Tommy Stevens is no slouch and should keep the Bulldogs’ offense going. The only change is that Hill should get more carries (last season he had 117 compared to Fitzgerald with 221), so Hill should have more chances to put up big numbers. Louisiana’s defense gave up 5 yards per carry and 37 rushing scores a year ago. The Ragin Cajuns are going to be simply outmatched in this contest.
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Texas A&M defense
At some point, new coach Jake Spavital could get Texas State rolling on offense, but the stories I read this week were about preparing his team for how loud Texas A&M’s stadium is going to be this weekend. That’s not a good sign. Neither is the fact that the Bobcats didn’t even average 20 points per game last season and scored only seven against Rutgers in the opener. Texas A&M has some things to figure out on its defense, especially at linebacker and some in the secondary, but the Aggies’ pass rush is going to devastate Texas State and could keep it out of the end zone.
NOT SO SURE
According to Joe Goodman from AL.com, Harris and fellow running back Brian Robinson will be sidelined for the first half against Duke for missing a team function. By that time, the Crimson Tide should have a significant lead, because their passing attack is so lethal and Harris’ and Robinson’s carries should probably be limited. It’s time for the five-star and former No. 1 to start delivering in a big way and being penalized for the first half of the first game of the season isn’t a good start. With Harris and Robinson out for the first two quarters, it might be worth snatching up any Alabama receivers available or possibly RB Keilan Robinson, if he’s going to get the bulk of the carries now.
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I like Mond a lot, especially for fantasy purposes because he has a lot of weapons around him, he has big-play capability and he’s not afraid to run, but Texas State returns almost its entire defense, and how much is A&M going to show with Clemson up next? My guess is Texas A&M jumps out to an early lead and then gets vanilla on offense, so Clemson doesn’t have a lot of valuable tape on what it’s going to see the following week. Mond will have a big season, but the opener might be a little underwhelming.
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Vaughn put up really nice numbers last season and probably will again this year, but Georgia slowed him to a crawl in 2018 as he had only 79 yards on nine carries with a long of 43. Georgia’s defensive front has some things to prove, which should make the Bulldogs even hungrier and the linebackers could be really good. Vanderbilt has still not named a starting quarterback, but whoever it is will probably have to throw to move the ball against the Bulldogs.