The first week of college football is in the books and there is a lot to consider after watching and following those matchups. Here are some players to start and to avoid in the SEC heading into Week 2.
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LOVE 'EM
1. South Carolina RB Tavien Feaster
Start Tavien Feaster no matter what. Even if Hurricane Dorian changes paths and lands right on top of Columbia, S.C., Feaster should still be in your lineup. Owned in only 6 percent of leagues, the Clemson transfer had a nice showing in South Carolina’s loss to North Carolina in the season opener.
There are so many reasons to like him here: Charleston Southern gave up 9.2 yards per carry to Furman in a 46-13 loss. The Gamecocks have gone to backup QB Ryan Hilinski, so establishing a run game will be important. And South Carolina is coming off a heartbreaking loss and will be looking for redemption. It might be smart to start Feaster and fellow RB Rico Dowdle and accumulate tons of fantasy points.
2. Florida QB Feleipe Franks
Florida’s offense looked disjointed against Miami in the season-opener, but that was against a talented Hurricanes defense. The Gators should roll through UT-Martin, which gave up 387 passing yards to Northwestern State in its first game. Franks should have a field day with a bunch of talented receivers and a renewed focus after not looking great against Miami. College fantasy football is all about exploiting matchups and Franks should be in a perfect situation here.
3. Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs
Alabama had 367 passing yards in its 42-3 win over Duke in the season-opener, but for one reason or another Ruggs was not really used in the passing game. Ruggs finished with only two catches for 14 yards as the Crimson Tide quarterbacks looked for Jerry Jeudy and Jaylen Waddle more often. The former four-star could be more of a target this weekend especially against a New Mexico State defense that got absolutely torched by Washington State last weekend.
LEAVE 'EM
1. LSU QB Joe Burrow
Burrow went 23 of 27 for 278 yards and five touchdowns in LSU’s season-opener and that’s nice and all, but it was against Georgia Southern. Texas is a real defense and Burrow will find it much harder to put up anything near those numbers this weekend.
I still think LSU wins the game but the Tigers might rely more on the run game and Burrow won’t be firing it all over the field. Yes, Louisiana Tech did post 340 passing yards against the Longhorns, but that was on 54 attempts so Burrow’s numbers come back down to Earth this weekend.
2. Texas A&M RB Jashaun Corbin
Texas A&M had an easy opener against Texas State where the Aggies rolled and Corbin rushed 22 times for 103 yards and a touchdown. Things should be much, much more difficult this weekend. Clemson replaces its entire defensive line but it’s still very skilled and very determined to slow down the A&M offense. The Tigers allowed just 3.5 yards per attempt against Georgia Tech, which ran the ball 45 times last week and only scored once. If A&M is going to move the chains, it’s going to be through the air so Corbin should be sidelined this week.
3. Vanderbilt defense
I don’t like the situation here for the Commodores. First, Vanderbilt got pounded by a more physical, tougher Georgia team and now it has to go on the road to play a really ticked-off Purdue team with an early kickoff. The Boilermakers blew it against Nevada in the season-opener and they have skill players who can make Vanderbilt pay. Purdue QB Elijah Sindelar threw 52 times last week. I don’t think the Commodores will have a lot of answers this weekend.