WEEK 4: QBs to consider starting | RBs | WRs | Defenses | Rivals Fantasy Football Home
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Another weekend of college football is in the books. Here is a review with some thoughts from a college fantasy football perspective.
BOWMAN THE SHOWMAN
Texas Tech quarterback Alan Bowman has been one of the biggest surprises in college football this season and the freshman had another outstanding performance in a blowout win at Oklahoma State this past weekend. Bowman has more passing yards (1,557) than any Power Five quarterback in the country and he also has 10 touchdown passes, only one fewer than Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray and Missouri’s Drew Lock.
Bowman threw it 46 times for 397 yards with two touchdowns and two picks against Oklahoma State. Texas Tech trusts throwing the ball a lot with him and that should continue as the Red Raiders work through a challenging schedule ahead.
MINSHEW LEADS PAC-12
Fantasy owners should bow down and kiss Washington State coach Mike Leach’s Nikes for all the points he’s giving you in quarterback Gardner Minshew. Who you ask? Well, the Cougars’ quarterback is second among Power Five quarterbacks in passing yards with 1,547 through four games and he’s thrown 11 touchdown passes. Last week against USC, Minshew threw for 344 yards and three scores.
The East Carolina transfer has really developed a strong chemistry with Easop Winston (six catches for 143 yards and two scores against USC), Jamire Calvin and others and Washington State’s offense could keep humming because of it.
GO OUT AND GET BOOK?
Ian Book absolutely sparked Notre Dame’s offense against Wake Forest taking over for Brandon Wimbush as he threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 43 yards and three more scores in the Irish’s 56-27 win over Wake Forest. Notre Dame had scored a combined 70 points in its first three games and had no victories by double-digits.
Book could be a godsend for the Irish offense that desperately needed something new but from a fantasy perspective be a little cautious in the coming weeks. Stanford comes to town this weekend and then the Irish visit Virginia Tech, never an easy place to play. If Book is still lighting up the scoreboard in a couple weeks, throw him in the starting lineup. But be watchful.
DON'T SLEEP ON STANFORD RECEIVERS
It’s easy to get caught up in the big names like Ole Miss’ A.J. Brown or Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy or Arizona State’s N’Keal Harry but this is fantasy football where points matter most - and if you’re looking for someone like that then Stanford’s J.J. Arcega-Whiteside is your guy.
Arcega-Whiteside leads Stanford in receiving yards and he has seven of the Cardinal’s 10 receiving touchdowns so far this season. He’s the favorite target of QB K.J. Costello especially in the red zone where Arcega-Whiteside uses his huge frame to box out smaller cornerbacks. And Arcega-Whiteside has more receiving yards and touchdowns than Brown, Jeudy, Harry and many other higher-profile receivers. Pick him up as soon as possible.
FRANKS GETTING BETTER
There has been a lot of fair but also some unfair criticism of Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks. Sure, he’s only completing 52.6 percent of his passes and he can’t really put touch on the ball but what about the fact that he has 12 touchdown passes so far this season, just as many as Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and more than Murray, Lock, Minshew, Ole Miss’ Jordan Ta’amu and many others?
After winning the job this preseason, Franks has been getting used to coach Dan Mullen’s offense more each week and he looked good in Florida’s domination at Tennessee this weekend throwing for 172 yards and three touchdowns on only 18 passes and he also rushed for a score. Visiting Mississippi State and then hosting LSU won’t be easy in the coming weeks but Franks is putting up numbers, even if a lot of people aren’t noticing.
