You guys hear that? That crunching sound? Yeah, that means it is crunch time in college fantasy leagues. For most leagues, you’re looking at either 1 or 2 more weeks until it becomes all-or-nothing, but we still have to make sure you guys get the wins you need to secure a seat at the final table.
As I’ve said multiple times in the last few weeks, waivers are hard at this point in the year. They should be, to be fair, because if they weren’t, we CFF content creators wouldn’t be doing an excellent job now, would we? However, there are still some names out there worth grabbing to restock for guys who might’ve gone cold over the last couple of weeks.
At quarterback, we have some recent QB changes that are opening the door to late-season runs that could prove crucial in the weeks to come. After weeks of barrenness at the running back position, injuries to top backs have allowed some backups to take center stage. Lastly, as great as WRs have been in recent weeks, that good streak seems to have come to an end, although there are some top-end options that most people will be fighting over this week.
With all that being said, let’s look at who you could be grabbing off the waiver wire to enhance your playoff runs! All players mentioned are rostered at a sub-30% rate in Fantrax CFF leagues.
Quarterbacks
Jeff Sims – Arizona State – Ros: 2%
Never thought I’d see the day when I’d actually end up recommending Jeff Sims as a quarterback to be used in CFF, but here we are. With Sam Leavitt shut down for the rest of the season due to injury, Sims was anointed the starting job, mainly to the groans of the CFF world. Let’s face it, Sims has a long history of teasing greatness with his skillset but never putting it all together. This may well be another one of those times, but we can’t ignore what Sims did against Iowa State this past weekend.
Against the Cyclones’ defense, Sims put up passing stats you’d come to expect from him over the years. A completion percentage of 54.2%, sub 200 yards passing, and a singular TD. However, these rushing stats. Just, wow. On 29 carries, Sims tallied 228 yards and 2 TDs. Now, let’s be clear, he probably will not put up stats like that at any point the remainder of his year. But he doesn’t have to become CFF relevant. If he does half that, he’s a startable option.
Worries about this being a one-hit wonder are certainly valid. As I mentioned, we’ve been teased by Sims before. However, this remaining schedule sets up very nicely for Sims. After a bye week this week, Sims and the Sun Devils get West Virginia, Colorado, and Arizona to close out the season. Both the mountaineers and especially the Buffaloes have shown vulnerability versus the run, so that’s very promising. While Sims might be a terrifying thought for Jordyn Tyson managers going forward, Sims himself is a worthy add at the quarterback position, simply for his upside.
Samari Collier – Coastal Carolina – Ros: 1%
What an absolute mess the Coastal Carolina quarterback situation has been this season. Both Tad Hudson and MJ Morris have been just horrific, and Emmett Brown never even had a chance due to injury. While some staffs have tried their younger third option at QB and had a disaster as a result (*cough* Fran Brown *cough*), for Coastal, it may be the thing that saves their season.
Samari Collier wasn’t being discussed at all before the season, but the JuCo transfer has been precisely what this Chanticleers offense has needed. Before he started, Coastal was averaging 13 points per game. Since he got the job, they’re averaging 37.3 points per game.
So much of Collier’s success comes from his legs. He’s the classic dual-threat QB who can’t pass but is excellent for the CFF archetype. In his three starts, Collier has had 74+ rushing yards in each of them and has found the endzone in all of them. He’s averaged 17.83 fpts per game just on his rushing stats alone. That’s a great floor.
You might be worried about his passing, and that is understandable, but he has improved in some areas as the weeks have gone on. He’s raised his passing yardage from 37 yards to 118 yards to 196 yards, and his yards per attempt have gone from 2.5 to 6.2 to 9.8. His accuracy certainly needs help (46.3% completion percentage in his three starts), but his improvement in the other stat categories, to me, shows a QB who is gaining confidence quickly with each week.
His schedule for the next two weeks is absolutely gold. He gets the two Sun Belt schools from Georgia in Georgia State and Georgia Southern. Both of these schools are in the bottom five against the run in all of FBS, each of them giving up 200+ yards rushing each match. Their secondaries aren’t anything to be feared either, so hopefully Collier will continue to improve in that area with these weaker matchups.
As great as all this is, the date with South Carolina in Week 13 is impossible to see one starting him in, and given that it’s semifinals week for our playoffs, that’s a tough pill to swallow. So if you do target Collier, make sure you have your plan for that week ready in advance.
Honorable Mentions
- Walker Eget, QB – San Jose State – 25%
- Cameran Brown, QB – Georgia State – 7%
- Scotty Fox, QB – West Virginia – 1%
- D’Wayne “Lunch” Winfield, QB – ULL – 5%
- Broc Lowry, QB – Western Michigan – 5%
- Cale Hellums, QB – Army
- Nick Minicucci, QB – Delaware – 24%
- Joe Fagnano, QB – UConn – Ros: 7%
Running Backs
Keyjuan Brown – Louisville – Ros: 5%
Sometimes, I overthink things. Yes, it is true: a guy trying to find ways to predict what is going to happen in this wonderful sport overthinks things. I know —crazy. My initial thought when it came to Keyjuan Brown and his great performance against Virginia Tech was that I didn’t trust it.
Obviously, Isaac Brown seems like he’ll be out for some time, which is why we’re even discussing this, but there was an itch in my brain telling me, “What about when Duke Watson comes back?” Thankfully, I have wonderful members of our CFF team here at C2C like Nate Marchese, who, when I mentioned my doubt about Keyjuan, took off his white glove and metaphorically slapped me upside the head, saying, “What are we even doing?”
And he’s right. Watson or no Watson, Keyjuan Brown has been the clear RB2 for Louisville this season. He’s not only out-carried Watson when they’re both healthy, but he’s also outperformed him. Keyjuan may not hit the insane efficiency of Isaac Brown’s 8.6 yards per carry, but I’d say 6.2 yards per carry on the year is still pretty damn good. Any concerns about Keyjuan and Louisville missing a beat without Isaac have been laid to rest. Over the last couple of weeks, Keyjuan has put up 189 yards and 3 TDs on the ground in two games combined. Granted, his volume has only been about 11-13 touches a game the last two weeks, but when you’re hitting 7+ yards a play, volume doesn’t matter as much.
The upcoming schedule for Louisville is both worse and better than it seems. On one hand, this is the ACC, where shootouts are a dime a dozen, so there are consistently scoring opportunities. However, Louisville will hit a stretch here of Cal, Clemson, and SMU.
Cal is a fine matchup, but both Clemson and SMU are top 20 versus the run, giving up just over 100 yards a game on the ground. That sounds bad, but Clemson and SMU have terrible secondaries, with SMU ranking in the bottom three in the country. That’s important because while Brown may not get a ton of yardage in those games because of the respective defensive lines, the scoring opportunities will still be there, as Louisville should still be able to move up and down the field on them. Plus, it is certainly not out of the question for Brown to take a screen pass to the house.
Jordan Marshall – Michigan – Ros: 50%
The theme of the week at running back is backups taking over injured starters, and one could argue that Jordan Marshall of Michigan may be an even more important pickup than Keyjuan Brown. Now, I can hear some of you yelling at me, looking at that “50%” rostership and saying, “Jared, why are we breaking rules here?”
Two reasons: 1. RB waiver wire is shallow this week 2. When I break my 30% rule, it is usually for a guy I think could be a league winner, or at the very least a game changer, down the stretch. Yes, if you’re in a C2C league, a CFF dynasty, or even a keeper league, this man is already rostered, and I’m sorry for those of you in that case. This man should be 100% rostered by the end of the week, and there are many redraft leagues where he will be available.
Marshall has already been ascending, while Haynes has been hit-or-miss with his availability. Without Haynes, Marshall put up games of 133 yards and 185 yards against Washington and Purdue. Even with Haynes back for the Michigan State game, Marshall still put up 110 yards there. Now, this backfield is Marshall’s show for the foreseeable future.
Haynes, it has been announced, will be getting foot surgery and will be out for a time. The hope is he’ll be back at some point this season, but with Haynes getting NFL buzz, I’m not sure we’ll see him again. Meanwhile, the last three weeks have made it very clear that this staff plans to use Marshall in the exact same way as Haynes. Pure, unblemished, workhorse back with multiple TDs upside every single game. What has been a drawback for Marshall in the past has been his efficiency, both last year and during the off-season when we saw him. That has been laid to rest. If Haynes is out the rest of the season, Marshall will be a top-five back—no questions in my mind.
Typically, this is the part where I would deep-dive into Michigan’s remaining schedule and tell you which matchups to worry about and which to be excited about. But let’s be real here. We’ve all watched Michigan football the last several years. They do one thing and one thing only really well, and that’s run the ball. It doesn’t matter what the matchup is, their RBs will be fed. Even Ohio State, I’d be cool starting Marshall because, for some reason, no matter how good their defense is, the Buckeyes have been struggling immensely with Michigan. Just make it past the bye week this week, and you’re golden going forward.
Honorable Mentions
- Caleb Komolafe, RB – Northwestern – 9%
- Jevyon Ducker, RB – Temple – 24%
- Shomari Lawrence, RB – Missouri State – 7%
- Jordan Brunson, RB – Miami, OH – 14%
- Xavier Robinson, RB – Oklahoma – 7%
- Evan Dickens, RB – Liberty – 10%
Wide Receivers
Shelton Sampson – Louisiana – Ros: 12%
Now we get to easily the weakest crop of WR choices we’ve had in several weeks. But have no fear, we still have some late-emerging talent. We’ll start with Shelton Sampson at Louisiana, who has returned from injury to become another boon to this Ragin’ Cajun offense that has found its legs in recent weeks.
There was a lot of “big fish, small pond” (shout out Mitch Hardt) hype coming this off-season for Sampson at Louisiana, and many were afraid that when Sampson’s former teammate and fellow blue-chip recruit, Walker Howard, went down with injury, that might be the end of Sampson’s relevance. Turns out, a good receiver at this level is going to produce, and now that Lunch Winfield has settled the QB room, Sampson’s chemistry with him is building quickly.
Over the last two weeks, Sampson has seen 15 targets, 11 catches, 212 yards, and 3 TDs combined. He picked up right where he left off when we last saw him against Eastern Michigan back in Week 4. We should expect more of this in the coming weeks for Sampson and Louisiana. They have upcoming matchups against Texas State and Arkansas State, both of which are vulnerable against the pass. Texas State has been shoot-out central for most teams they have faced. Arkansas State is 107th against the pass, giving up 250+ yards a game this year. Considering that Sampson has contributed to 50% of Louisiana’s passing production the last two games, I’d expect him to continue to find ways to break 100 yards and find the endzone consistently.
Nik McMillan – Buffalo – Ros: 13%
Sorry, Victor Snow fans, but his window of opportunity is disappearing like his namesake in the sun. Nik McMillan has been that guy for Buffalo over the last three weeks, even if he hasn’t found the endzone quite yet. McMillan has always been a frustrating guy. Lots of hype for three off-seasons straight, but he could never stay healthy. Even this year, McMillan has played in every game, but is reported to have been hobbled in the middle weeks of the season. You can pinpoint precisely when the staff thought he was fully ready to go, look at the last three weeks.
McMillan has, over his last three games, averaged 12.3 targets, 8.7 catches, and 133.7 yards per game. Yeah, he hasn’t found the endzone since Week 3, but a guy getting that level of volume is due to find the endzone. They gotta make it up to him after letting Snow vulture tow TDs last week. Even if he doesn’t find the endzone, in a PPR format, that average statline equates to 22.1 fpts per game. That’s more than playable.
His upcoming schedule isn’t the greatest. He’s got a bye this week and then faces Central Michigan and Miami, OH. That’s two teams that are average against the pass nationally, but solid for MAC teams. However, his putting up numbers against Bowling Green, who is top 50 against the pass, leaves me feeling good that he’ll still produce.
Honorable Mentions
- Kyre Duplessis, WR – Delaware – 23%
- Anthony Evans, WR – Mississippi State – 20%
- Parker Kingston, WR – BYU – 9%
- Jeremiah Koger, WR – USF – 11%
- Kajiya Hollawayne, WR – Temple – 11%
- Iverson Hooks, WR – UAB – Ros: 11%
- CJ Williams, WR – Stanford – 23%
- Amare Thomas, WR – Houston – 20%
- Jordan Hudson, WR – SMU – 12%
- Braden Pegan, WR – Utah State – 16%
Tight Ends
Chamon Metayer – Arizona State – Ros: 29%
After no tight ends on the waiver article last week, I was *this* close to doing it again this week. That is, until I saw Chamon Metayer just clears our 30% threshold. With Jordyn Tyson out for the last two games, Arizona State had to find someone else to become a go-to target in this offense. While Metayer isn’t getting the same insane target concentration that Tyson got, he’s been a clear leader in this passing game since. In the last three games, Metayer has averaged 6.7 targets, 4.7 catches, and 63 yards, and has found the end zone twice.
CFF managers may have to come to terms with the possibility that we may have seen the last of Jordyn Tyson in college football. If that is the case, then it is all the more critical to grab Metayer if you’re still looking for your forever TE in the playoffs, as that’ll solidify his role every week, especially with a passing-challenged QB like Sims. He’s on bye this week, so he’s not an immediate help, but as I mentioned with Sims earlier, Arizona State’s end-of-season schedule sets up nicely for scoring opportunities. You can expect Metayer to be on the receiving end of some of those.
Honorable Mentions
- Brody Foley, TE – Tulsa – 29%
- Boden Groen, TE – Kansas – 13%
- Richie Anderson, TE – Fresno State – 9%
- Peter Clarke, TE – Temple – 20%
- Joshua Long, TE – Eastern Michigan – 6%
- Sam Roush, TE – Stanford – 24%
