The Campus2Canton writing staff will be covering all of the conferences from now until the beginning of the college football season. To view previous conferences, click one of the links below:
- Independents
- Sun Belt – East West
- Mountain West – West
The Mountain West – Mountain division is a conference where some fantasy sleepers can be found for your C2C team and immediate starters for your CFF squad. For this preview, we will take across the entire Mountain division landscape and tell you what players to target and avoid in these categories:
- Fantasy Relevant
- Roster Fillers
- Stashes
- Players to Avoid at Cost
Teams will be listed in alphabetical order.
Air Force Academy
After coming off a 3-3 covid shortened season, head coach Troy Calhoun led Air Force to a 10-3 season and co-champions in the Mountain division. They would qualify as a bowl team and went on to beat Louisville in the bowl game. Air Force thrived on the run and defense last season. All three of their losses last season came by six points or less.
Fantasy Relevant
Brad Roberts, FB/RB- Brad Roberts should be primed for another great CFF season. With three returning offensive line starters the line is mostly intact which should allow one of the most explosive rushing options to repeat. Roberts finished with a 16.43 fantasy points per game average last season. Expect him to do much of the same this year as well.
Roster Filler
Hazziq Daniels, QB- second-leading rusher last year for Air Force with 736 rushing yards. Daniels should continue to be a run threat for the team. His lack of passing (95.5 yards per game last season.) caps his fantasy upside though. He’s worth rostering if he starts passing more or as possibly a bye week filler against a good matchup.
Stashes
DeAndre Hughes, RB- Hughes should be the backup to FB/RB Brad Roberts. If Roberts suffers any injury or misses time, Hughes should be able to step up in some way to help fill that gap until he returns.
Players to Avoid at Cost
All players on Air Force are properly priced based on their upsides in drafts.
Boise State
Boise State finished the 2021 season in third place with a 7-5 record, their lowest since 1998. The Broncos made a bowl game but had to withdraw due to Covid concerns. Heading into the second year for offensive coordinator Tim Plough, expect a bounce back for the Boise State Broncos.
Fantasy Relevant
Stefan Cobbs, WR- Cobbs should be the main beneficiary of the second year offense and departures of Khalil Shakir and Octavious Evans. With Cobbs likely being solidified as the #1 for the offense. He should benefit from being targeted heavily in a high passing offense.
Roster Fillers
Hank Bachmeier, QB- Bachmeier could be poised for a better season as this is the first time he’ll have an offensive coordinator for consecutive seasons in his career. Even with the likely increase in passing, he likely won’t be more than a bench filler. He may have some fantasy-relevant weeks but won’t be a player you can constantly count on.
George Holani, RB- Holani could work his way to an every-week starter but is likely a bench stash/bye-week filler. Having most of his offensive line returning he should be poised to be more productive than last year. Injuries forced him to miss time and finished with just 10.2 points per game last year. If he can stay healthy, he could be much more productive.
Stashes
Ashton Jeanty, RB- is one of the freshman darlings of campus2canton. With his receiving upside (arguably best part of his game.) He could see playing time this year and looks to be the future RB of the Boise State program.
Players to Avoid at Cost
Boise State players seem to be appropriately priced in drafts and shouldn’t be avoided.
Colorado State University
After a disappointing 3-9 season for the Colorado State Rams head coach Steve Addazio moved on and the Rams brought in Nevada head coach Jay Norvell. Norvell is not only familiar with the Mountain West conference but is familiar with some of the roster he brought with him as well. The Colorado State Rams seemed primed for a bounce back season in 2022.
Fantasy Relevant
Clay Millen, QB- Millen followed his head coach Jay Norvell from Nevada to Colorado State. Millen already knows the system and from our own Austin Nace, believes Millen can be a better passer and quarterback than Carson Strong. Strong was a top 24 fantasy asset most weeks in-season. Millen should be able to replicate that success in the same system with two incredible receiving options.
Tory Horton, WR- Another player who followed his head coach from Nevada seems primed to be the top outside receiver for the Rams. Horton could easily take over the “Romeo Doubs” role from last year’s Nevada offense. While Doubs was a bit hit or miss last year he still finished with a good fantasy season. Horton should produce in an effective and high passing offense.
Dante Wright, WR- Wright the only incumbent starter here, had an explosive freshman season but has since struggled to stay on the field. After playing in 12 games and looking like one of the best receivers in CFF, he has played in just 12 games since. If Wright can stay healthy he could be prime target from the slot for Millen. Norvell’s offense has been able to make three receivers at times fantasy viable. Wright is the cheapest of the three and a player I would bet on having a bounce back season.
Melquan Stovall, WR- Was another transfer from Nevada following his head coach. The move makes sense for Stovall, who likely slots in as the second outside receiver paired with Horton. Stovall had his best season as a receiver last year and will look to build upon that year now with the Rams. We’ve seen Norvell’s offense has the ability to produce three fantasy viable receiving options. Stovall knows the offense, the quarterback, and the conference. He’s primed for a likely top 50 receiver season in CFF.
Roster Fillers
As of now there are no players that are roster fillers as all four top Ram players are fantasy viable.
Stashes
All four of the fantasy options are not in the stash range.
Players to Avoid at Cost
All the Colorado State players are worth the cost of their current price in drafts.
New Mexico University
Danny Gonzalez enters his third season as the head coach of New Mexico. Over the past two seasons the Lobos have gone 5-14. The Lobos haven’t had a winning season since 2016 when they went 9-4; that likely won’t change this season, but they seem to be on the way up.
Fantasy Relevant
As of now the Lobos don’t have a player that will likely be fantasy relevant this season.
Roster Fillers
You could make an argument for Nathaniel Jones (RB) or Luke Wysong (WR) who will both likely be the starters and lead producers for the offense. However, this offense finished last in average yards and points per game. That probably doesn’t change this season.
Stashes
None at this time.
Players to Avoid at Cost
While most of these players are not being drafted, I would avoid all of them until we see any improvement from this offense.
Utah State University
Utah State is coming off an 11-win season on top of being the defending Mountain West Champions. While finishing out their season with a bowl win over Oregon State. Head coach Blake Anderson came in last year after a disastrous 2020 season, when the players boycotted the final game of their season. Anderson’s offensive scheme seemed to do wonders for the Aggies in 2021 and looks to continue the success in 2021.
Fantasy Relevant
Logan Bonner, QB- Logan Bonner was a top 30 option last year in CFF leagues and likely should repeat his performance in what will likely be his final college season. While he won’t bring any real NFL value in the future, he’s a great QB to grab late to get high-end college production this year.
Brian Cobbs, WR- Last season Deven Thompkins finished as a top-five receiver in CFF scoring. With Thompkins no longer with the team, it looks like Cobbs will be the player to step up into that production. His transfer from Maryland does require him to learn the new offense but all reports out of spring were he was extremely impressive in camp.
Roster Fillers
none of the other Aggie players look to be roster fillers at this time.
Stashes
Nyny Davis, WR- Davis fits the profile and size of Thompkins better than any of the other receivers on the roster. Davis will cost you nothing currently in drafts as he is typically not being drafted. He’s worth a last round pick and stash to see if he can show any upside in that possible role in this offense.
Players to Avoid at Cost
Calvin Tyler, RB- With the offense being more passed based, Tyler likely continues to take a backseat in this offense. While you’d like to have the starting running back for good offenses, Tyler is a player to avoid for now.
Wyoming
Wyoming bounced back in 2021 to a winning record. After losing many of their top players to the transfer portal, they should continue to have a decent offense under head coach Craig Bohl. Bohl has been relatively consistent in his time with Wyoming and they will look to repeat or improve on their 2021 performance.
Fantasy Relevant
Titus Swen, RB- Swen split time last year with CFF darling Xazavian Valladay. With Valladay now gone and Swen being locked in to the starting role he should have some high-end CFF value. While Swen may not be a running back you can count on every week, when they play conference opponents and weaker teams, he should be a smash start.
Roster Fillers
Josh Cobbs, WR- Wyoming’s passing attack was poor last year to say the least. They have brought in transfer QB Andrew Peasley. At the same time, Peasley may not be an upgrade. He may bring Cobbs some fantasy relevance. Cobbs will be the main target and focal point of the passing attack.
Stashes
There are no players I would stash at this time.
Players to Avoid at Cost
The only player being drafted on the Wyoming offense with any consistency has been Swen. Even with his possible struggles he should be a value.
This concludes the Mountain West- Mountain division preview. Make sure to stay locked in to everything Campus2Canton.com. More conference previews will drop every other day leading up to the season.
