“Expect the unexpected in the kingdom of Madness” – Macho Man Randy Savage
5 Players under 5% Owned
The Kingdom of Madness is a great way to describe the start of the 2026 college fantasy football season. It’s only week 5, and Lincoln Kienholz is QB3 in fantasy points per game, UMass is undefeated, and goalposts have been tossed in the river. Players like the ones listed below are unexpected additions who have been playing above expectations.
Most of these players were at or below 5% rostered at the time of writing and should be considered deeper additions or players you can plug in to take advantage of their favorable matchups. Add them as you see fit for your teams and get in on the ground level.
WR • Rodshaun Dorsey • Georgia State Panthers
Rostered 4% • 13.8FP/PG • N/A vs Projection
2026 Stats • 24 Targets 16 Receptions 234 Receiving Yards 4 Touchdowns
2026 Pace • 72 Targets 48 Receptions 702 Receiving Yards 12 Touchdowns
Ted Hurst twice, Robert Lewis, and Jamari Thrash are three Georgia State Panthers WRs who have seen over 90 targets come their way over the last four seasons. Ted Hurst has back-to-back 100-target seasons. Jamari Thrash in 2022 brought in over 1,100 receiving yards, and Robert Lewis averaged a cool 16.64 fantasy points in 2023.
What did all three of these WR’s have in common? They were the primary boundary wideout for Georgia State in each of those seasons. Guess where Rodshaun Dorsey is primarily lined up? If you guessed “out wide,” give yourself a good ol’ Barry Horowitz and pat yourself on the back. After a slow start, Dorsey has emerged as the top target on a team that averages 38 points per game and is top 30 in the nation in points scored and top 50 in pass attempts. Definitely a spot you want to chase.
His first two games were mediocre; he averaged 6 fantasy points, 4.5 targets, and 44 yards per game without finding the end zone. His last two games have been completely different, with averages of 21.55 fantasy points, 7.5 targets, and 73 receiving yards per game. In those last two games, he’s also been involved in the scoring with four receiving touchdowns.
With his 93 routes run and 29.9% of the WR target share, he sits atop the WR room in nearly every advanced metric for the Panthers. He’s not overly successful vs. man coverage, averaging one yard per route run; however, he finds a ton of success vs. zone defenses. 206 of his 234 receiving yards have come against zone defenses, and his yards per route run jumps from 1 to 3.43, a healthy leap against a defensive scheme that is highly used in college football.
Georgia State’s next few outings against Old Dominion, James Madison and Arkansas State don’t shake out as prime fantasy-producing matchups, but the dude is the WR1 for his team, a team like I mentioned that feeds their main guy the football. No WR has hit the 100-yard mark against the Monarchs; boundary wideouts are averaging single-digit points against the Dukes, and Arkansas State has been surprisingly stout, although they haven’t been overly tested.
After those three shaky matchups, it opens up with a stretch of games against Coastal Carolina, App State, Georgia Southern, and Marshall. I don’t see any of those four projected under 55 points.
RB • AJ Newberry • Oregon State Beavers
Rostered 5% • 13.4FP/PG • +5.2/wk vs Projection
2026 Stats • 30 Attempts 181 Yards 2 Touchdowns 16 Targets 12 Receptions 133 Yards
2026 Pace • 90 Attempts 543 Yards 6 Touchdowns 48 Targets 36 Receptions 399 Yards
Newberry’s projected attempts and overall production don’t look great on paper at first glance, but they lack depth. He’s not a high-volume rusher, averaging around seven carries per outing, but you want to attach yourself to his receiving role in this high-volume Beaver pass attack. If that rushing role increases a bit, just a little bit, the combination of that plus his receiving floor is 2025 Jekail Middlebrook-esque. He’s a worthwhile add depending on your scoring format
The concern is the volume and Oregon State’s lack of a schemed rush attack. Starting Newberry carries week-to-week risk. He out-snaps the next RB 45% to 24%, is the most efficient back in the room, and carries a receiving role, seeing 78% of the team’s HB receptions. He’s shown he can be productive when given the chance; 126 of 168 rush yards come after contact, averaging 4.34YAC and 5.8 yards per attempt.
Newberry is doing as much as he can with the limited opportunity he gets. He paces the room in rushes over 10 yards and, with his limited role, has already accumulated 314 all-purpose yards; the potential is there, and he has put up double-digit outings in every game. I just don’t see a shift big enough in the play calling to take advantage of it.
It’s a shame because Oregon State’s schedule is great at letting opposing RBs put up points. Colorado State, who they play in Week 5, allow an astonishing 25.25FP/PG to opposing RB’s. Floyd Chalk, remember him? Yeah, he’s in the FCS now, and he ran for 144 yards and 2 touchdowns. LJ Martin had his best day against the Rams, scoring 37 points, rushing for 176 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 15 carries.
It’s a great spot; unfortunately, it’s tough to project Oregon State taking advantage of that shaky run defense. San Diego State after that, another cake matchup, Wazzu a bye week and their back end of the schedule gets a little tighter outside of Texas State in the quarters. The role for Newberry is tempting, but it’s a buyer beware situation.
WR • Caden High • Stanford Cardinals
Rostered 8%* • 15.9FP/PG • +10.3/wk vs Projection
2026 Stats • 23 Targets 15 Receptions 226 Receiving Yards 3 Touchdowns
2026 Pace • 92 Targets 60 Receptions 904 Receiving Yards 12 Touchdowns
*Disclaimer: Caden High has surpassed the 5% mark since the writing of this post. His current rostership is 8%.
It’s not often you’ll find a wide receiver on the wire on pace for 12 scores and nearly 100 targets who is this under-rostered, but here we are. It’s about time we all get High…on our rosters. Caden High, who was productive against Miami, a scorer against Duke, and the owner of his first 100+ yard game against Georgia Tech, operates as Stanford’s top-producing wide receiver despite playing one fewer game than everyone else.
High dominates out of the slot with an 80.2% slot role for the Cardinals. He’s shown he isn’t just a matchup play, with some of his bigger outputs coming against stiffer opponents. If 15 fantasy points per game is his floor, the bigger productive days are coming as the schedule lightens up a bit. He’s not as dominant against zone coverage schemes: 4 YPR, 1.93 yards per route run, and only five targets, which isn’t great considering college football defenses run a high percentage of that defensive style.
High takes names when it’s mano a mano, though: 15 YPR, 5.19 YPRR, two scores, and 23 targets. The cat separates, and his QB pays him off when he does. High is in control of the team target share amongst all wideouts at 26.1%, of all player targets it drops to 16.8% and High sits behind tight end Ben Blackburn.
Stanford takes on Wake Forest in Week 5, a positive-outlook game for High, who should build on the 23.1 fantasy points he dropped in Week 4 against Georgia Tech. Wake Forest allows 257.2 passing yards per game, the 17th-worst team in the league. Slot WR’s have been ok against Wake Forest, averaging just over 12 points per game.
Braylon Johnson, the main slot defender, has allowed 16 receptions on 17 targets for 205 receiving yards, a weak point in the Demon Deacon defense. Outside of Notre Dame and maybe SMU, a stretch of games against Elon (FCS), North Carolina State, and Louisville line up as weak points in his schedule.
QB • Jayden Mandal • Fresno State Bulldogs
Rostered 2% • 17.8FP/PG • +5.6/wk vs Projection
2026 Stats • 104 Pass Attempts 67 Completions 789 Passing Yards 6 Passing TDs 26 Rush Attempts 92 Rush Yards 1 Rushing Touchdown
2026 Pace • 312 Pass Attempts 201 Completions 2,367 Passing Yards 18 Passing TDs 78 Rush Attempts 276 Rush Yards 3 Rushing Touchdowns
Jayden Mandal against USC was terrible; against teams where Fresno State can be a bit more competitive, he’s pretty dang decent, averaging 24.06 FP/PG in those games. He’s put up two games with multiple passing touchdowns, and he’s finished with 316 passing yards against Sacramento State. Remove the USC game and his pace jumps to 355 pass attempts, 240 completions, 2,847 passing yards, and 24 passing touchdowns. His rushing numbers increase as well, not as much as the passing output but enough to make that part of his game relevant.
Mandal is an interesting one; he’s an efficient check-down passer with 41% of his pass attempts under 10 yards. Nearly 60% of his pass attempts are either under 10 yards or behind the line of scrimmage, and 60% of his passing yardage comes from yards after the catch. Luckily for him, his top target, Josiah Freeman, excels there. Looking deeper into his profile, Mandal uses his legs to complement his arm, finding the end zone three times toting the rock. With five red zone attempts in four games, it’s safe to say that the game plan is to include Mandal’s bottom half when the Bulldogs get in scoring position.
The Fresno State schedule down the stretch here, like most of the players in this write-up, is very exploitable. Week five has Mandal heading to Washington State to play the Cougars, a defense that allows opposing FBS quarterbacks an average of 28.72 FP/PG. Not a typo; that defense is bad. Week 6 is a matchup against Boise State, which doesn’t line up as a plus matchup on paper, but the Broncos have allowed the sixth-most passing yards against this season.
The rest of the season schedule is just so soft: Texas State in the semis, a team that ranks last against the pass; Utah State in the quarters, another team susceptible to opposing passers. Oregon State and San Diego State follow Boise in two potential big point games that have Mandal scripted to be involved.
WR • Justin Stevenson • North Texas Mean Green
Rostered 3% • 10.9FP/PG • +2.8/wk vs Projection
2026 Stats • 24 Targets 19 Receptions 281 Receiving Yards 1 Touchdown
2026 Pace • 72 Targets 57 Receptions 843 Receiving Yards 3 Touchdowns
Justin Stevenson pops out to me because outside of Week 1 against the Hoosiers, he’s been at the top of the list in pass snaps for the Mean Green. He’s almost dead even with Corri Milliner in targets and yards, and his ceiling is capped with Jaheim White also taking targets from the backfield. Stevenson is a useful WR3 in PPR leagues because of his volume and efficiency. He does carry some red flags; his biggest game came on a day that North Texas threw the ball over 55 times, but the volume doesn’t drop off a cliff; the Mean Green average 35 pass attempts per game. With his role in the offense, we just need the touchdowns to follow.
Stevenson has put up 15.4 and 17.2 fantasy points over his last two games and spends 98% of his snaps as the starting X receiver but, surprisingly, 54% of his targets and receptions come in the middle of the field below the sticks. He isn’t just a serious threat; he wins at all three levels. His lone touchdown came from a reception over 20 yards, and 29% of his target share has been in the intermediate parts of the field (10-19 yards).
Tayven Jackson a top 30 QB in pass attempts has been efficient as the starting quarterback completing 74% of his passes, a highly efficient quarterback in a pass friendly offense married to the top end target, the touchdowns are going to come.
The upcoming schedule for North Texas is a great spot for those touchdowns to start showing up in Stevenson’s box score. Seven of their next eight matchups are against defenses that average 223 passing yards against on the season. In their week five matchup against Tulsa, Chris Marshall, the Razorback WR and primarily an X-WR, had a great outing with 30 FP.
Outside wideouts in FBS matchups are averaging 18.8 FP per game against Tulsa through three games. Charlotte comes into DATCU in another plus game, and after their bye, I can’t identify a spot where Stevenson shouldn’t be considered a potential weekly starter.
