The great thing about the Campus2Canton format is the type of fantasy player it attracts; these are hardened fantasy gamers. Your C2C leagues are likely composed of long time college fantasy gamers who know the backup slot receiver’s name for UTEP or long time NFL dynasty players who were obsessed, at one time, with evaluating the incoming rookie class. But make no mistake, your league mates are mostly paying attention. If you want to get ahead of them, you have to have conviction and strike first.
With that, below is a list of players, in the order I would prioritize them, that I recommend you pick up now, before they are drafted in 2025 Freshmen & Supplemental drafts.
10. Pierce Clarkson, QB Louisville (9% Rostered)
Clarkson was a celebrated recruit coming into Louisville. He and his family posted billboards around the city celebrating his commitment. That was just before Jeff Brohm was hired as head coach. Since then, Brohm has fired up the transfer portal, bringing in players at all the skill positions. Brohm could certainly fire up the transfer portal again following the 2024 season, but Clarkson showed some promise in the 2024 spring game, competently orchasting Brohm’s aggressive and vertically centric passing scheme. Clarkson will likely enter the 2025 spring in a competition with journeyman Harrison Bailey, or a transfer, but he is worth a preemptive stash now.
9. Ahmad Hardy, RB UL Monroe (31% Rostered)
Hardy leads all freshmen in rushing yards with 916. He is the clear bellcow for UL Monroe with four straight games with over 100 yards rushing, including a 207 yard performance against Marshall. At 5’10” and 205 pounds, Hardy has the frame to carry the load, at least at the G5 level. There’s no reason to expect his volume to change if he stays put in 2025. Hardy will be flirting with the Top 5 at the position in college fantasy next season.
8. Cayden Lee, WR Ole Miss (10% Rostered)
Lee should be the WR1 for the Rebels after this season. But he’s been impressive in a secondary role with 40 receptions for nearly 700 yards. As a freshman, Lee would have avoided dreaded Year 1 Zero status, so he appears to be on the right trajectory. But Ole Miss is expected to lose a lot of players after this season. How the team will look next season is unclear. Regardless, Lee should be one the team’s featured playmakers.
7. Emmett Mosley, WR Stanford (11% Rostered)
Mosley’s name popped up in the spring, with quarterback Ashton Daniels saying that the freshman would one day win the Belitnikoff award. The quarterback play at Stanford would be virtually certain to eliminate even Justin Jefferson from that conversation. But Mosley appears to be a talented outside receiver with good body control and ball tracking ability. Admittedly, those traits are not necessarily the blazing speed or jitterbug quickness that usually gets fantasy gamers excited. And Mosley’s fantasy potential will likely be capped with an ineffective Stanford passing game. Nonetheless, the drum beat for Mosley started early, and he has been productive when given the opportunity.
6. Owen McCown, QB UTSA (27% Rostered)
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Two years before the franchise would be the first to go 0-16 in 2008, the 2006 version of the Detroit Lions were sputtering in futility. An aging tight end named Dan Campbell was the fourth leading receiver on the team that would finish 3-13. Due to injuries at the receiver position, the Lions’ backup quarterback Josh McCown was forced into spot duty at receiver. Nearly 20 years later, that aging tight end is the head coach of an unrecognizable Detroit Lions team that is an NFL force. And McCown is the quarterbacks coach for the resurrected Sam Darnold.
For our purposes, Josh is the father of UTSA’s left handed gunslinger Owen McCown, who is top 10 in the country in pass attempts. The third year sophomore has been relatively efficient with his volume, completing 60% of his passes. McCown is averaging 27 points per game on the season, but has 40, 43, 25, and 36 points in his last four games. Volume is king in fantasy football, and McCown should return with the same volume in 2025.
5. Davion Gause, RB UNC (9% Rostered)
The 215 pound true freshman appears poised to take the reins from CFF stalwart Omarion Hampton. Gause is second on the team in yards and carries, and nearly equals Hampton’s yards per attempt at 5.3 to Hampton’s 5.5. Gause had a 100 yard rushing performance to kick off the season, and then has spelled Hampton in spots since Week 1. Gause is built like two down bell cow, much like his predecessor. It is not difficult to see the Tar Heels handing the backfield and a voluminous workload to the freshman after Hampton departs for the NFL draft.
4. Michael Van Buren, QB Mississippi State (12% Rostered)
A lot has been placed on Van Buren’s plate since being inserted as the starter for the Bulldogs, but that’s nothing new. His team’s schedule as a high school senior included multiple national powerhouses as opponents including St. John Bosco, IMG, and Buford. MVB will be asked to sling the ball to all quadrants of the field for head coach Jeff Lebby. He is fully capable of following through. Van Buren has been one of the better freshman quarterbacks in the country. He could make a jump with additional development.
3. Jake Retzlaff, QB BYU (32% Rostered)
Retzlaff is the latest in a string of exciting playmakers at the position for the Cougars. Like Zach Wilson before him, Retzlaff is an improvising, gunslinging dynamo with a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde playstyle. However, and as we’ve seen with players like Anthony Richardson over the years, the NFL will prioritize projects with elite physical traits. Retzlaff has some of those traits in his improvisational ability and cannon right arm. Further, Retzlaff has a penchant for pushing the ball downfield, a characteristic of his that can also lead to turnover worthy plays. But the evaluation community in generally has historically been too focused on what a player cannot do as opposed to what he can. Retzlaff can do a lot. You should stash him now, and reap the rewards if he can develop more consistency as a passer in 2025, and move away from his rollercoaster playstyle.
2. Mario Craver, WR Mississippi State (12% Rostered)
Don’t worry if you’ve missed Craver in an extremely talented freshmen wide receiver class. Craver is the Bulldogs’ second leading receiver in yardage, and he leads all true FBS freshmen in yards per catch at 21.65, a number that places him sixth in the country regardless of class. Coach Jeff Lebby stems from the Josh Heupel/Art Briles coaching tree, so elite offensive output is certainly within the range of outcomes. Lebby was the offensive coordinator for the 2019-2020 Ole Miss teams that produced fantasy juggernauts in quarterback Matt Corral and receiver Elijah Moore.
Craver spends about 90% of his snaps lined up out wide. But his 5’10”, 170-lb. frame and laterally explosive skill set would suggest that he can play both inside and outside. For the time being, Craver is well worth the stash as he continues to develop and gain the trust of fellow true freshman, quarterback Michael Van Buren.
1. CJ Bailey, QB NC State (18% Rostered)
There’s an argument to be made that Bailey has been the best freshman in the country, regardless of position (and yes, considering phenoms Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith). Bailey has shown poise and maturity since subbing in for an injured Grayson McCall. Bailey is calm in the pocket, even while under duress and moving through multiple reads. His 6’6” frame allows him to see the field which may be why Bailey has generally been able to protect the football, throwing only five interceptions on the season.
Whether it’s throwing deep, intermediate or short, or throwing on time as scripted, or improvising, there is not one thing that Bailey has done well. He’s really just done everything well. Furthermore, offensive coordinator Robert Anae has produced some prolific fantasy quarterbacks in recent memory. Sean Tucker and Garrett Shrader were borderline elite fantasy options under Anae.
Particularly interesting was Anae’s development of Schrader, who completed only 52% of his passes before jumping to 64% in his first season under Anae. Anae was also the offensive coordinator at Virginia in 2020-2021, where Brennan Armstrong amassed 6,566 passing yards and 49 touchdowns in those two seasons. Bailey is extremely talented and may have been overshadowed in recruiting by his high school teammate Jeremiah Smith. From this writer’s perspective, there is no player in the country whose acquisition you should prioritize more than Bailey.
