We are already almost a third of the way through the 2025 CFF season. With most out-of-conference matchups behind us, we’re finally moving into the portion of this season where we can start drawing better conclusions about where these teams and players stand, as they’ll consistently, in theory, be playing against defenses that are relatively on their competition level. Matchups should be easier to judge, and we can expect most players to be playing a full 60 minutes from here on out.
So where does that leave us when it comes to the waiver wire for CFF? As teams move into conference schedules, we’re going to see teams really want to solidify the guys they’re going to rely on week to week. No more back and forths at QB. No more splitting RB carries and WR snaps to a crazy degree to keep guys fresh. It’s go-time for these teams, and they’ll want their best players on the field full-time. So when guys start to emerge at this point in the season, or unfortunately, show themselves to be unreliable, it is worth paying a lot of attention to.
So what’s on the menu when it comes to the waiver wire today? We’ve got QBs earning their jobs over pre-season starters. At running back, we’ve got a couple of G5 backs starting to show out now that they’re no longer playing well above their level of competition in the non-conference. At wide receiver, the market is finally cooling off after weeks of great pickups. Now, we have a lot of guys who feel like good pickups, but nobody who strikes you as a “must pick up.” That may not be what some of you want to hear, but it’s the truth.
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
Trinidad Chambliss – Ole Miss – Ros: 21%
Some of you might think I’m a week late on this, but as good as Chambliss looked against Arkansas, I simply wasn’t sold that he was set to take the job over Austin Simmons, who was injured. After this week? I’d be surprised if the Rebels don’t stick with Chambliss going forward.
After starting the season with Simmons and his 3 TD-4 INT ratio, Simmons went down, and Chambliss stepped in for the Rebels against Arkansas, where he put up 36.32 fantasy points. Then, we got word that Chambliss would be playing his second start against Tulane, where he managed almost to outdo his first game, putting up 31.48 fantasy points.
In the games combined, Chambliss has put up over 650 yards and three TDs through the air and 174 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. With him under center, the Rebels’ offense seems to flow much better than it did in the first two games with Simmons. The staff and their play-calling seem to be a lot more willing to let Chambliss run the ball. This adds an additional point by which not only fantasy can earn points than they could under Simmons, but defenses have to account for, opening up the rest of the offense.
This has all the makings of a true “wally-pip” situation. If you’re someone hoping Simmons gets his job back soon, you’d better hope Chambliss has a bad game soon. Otherwise, for the rest of you, you have a second chance at getting the Lane Kiffin QB1, which has been a huge source of fantasy production over the years. If you’ve struggled at QB this year, you can’t afford not to take this chance.
Alonza Barnett III – James Madison – Ros: 21%
To those who took their shot at Matthew Sluka leading this Duke’s offense this year, I’m sorry for your loss. For all the Barnett stans out there, your faith is being well-rewarded. With Barnett having a major injury at the end of last season, it was highly questionable that we’d be seeing him start for the Dukes this year.
In fact, with Sluka coming in and having experience in the offense beforehand, it seemed that the plan was for Sluka to run the offense this year and let Barnett have a year to heal. Then, the tune changed greatly over the off-season. Barnett’s health reports were improving steadily, and Sluka’s hold on the job seemed less secure as the months passed.
Finally, the season arrived, and it’s clear that Barnett is the guy for the Dukes. What started as a split QB duty in the first couple of weeks (where Sluka was effectively used as a wildcat QB so Barnett didn’t have to run so much), has quickly turned into Barnett securing his job again.
Barnett’s performance has been inconsistent since his return. In week one against Weber State, Barnett put up 18.2 fantasy points, with Sluka splitting plenty of reps along the way. Against Louisville, Barnett understandably struggled. However, this past week against Liberty, we are starting to see the old Barnett come forth again.
Barnett had his best game this year when it came to passing the ball, with 213 yards and a TD for 8.5 yards per attempt. He also ran the ball five times for 30 yards and a pair of TDs on the ground. The most amazing part? Matthew Sluka recorded no rush or pass attempts. This is fully Barnett’s job again, and the last time we saw Barnett healthy, he was putting up a top 15 QB performance for CFF 2024. If Barnett can get back to even close to that, he’s more than worth a pickup in leagues.
Brendon Lewis – Memphis – Ros: 24%
Sometimes we overthink things in the CFF world. The marriage of Brendon Lewis and Ryan Silverfield at Memphis seems to be the latest in that long list. Since Silverfield took over as the head coach of Memphis in 2020, we have seen two quarterbacks under center for the Tigers: Brady White and Seth Henigan, two players known for their passing ability and limited rushing upside.
So naturally, when Lewis announced his transfer to Memphis, the CFF world wondered if Silverfield and staff would make this work. After all, Lewis is known much more for his legs than his arm. It would be a stark change from nearly a half-decade of knowing what to expect from the tigers. However, three games in, it’s clear Memphis knows how they’ll be using Lewis, and they certainly aren’t trying to turn him into something he is not. He’s every bit the rushing threat he has been at other stops, and for that, we CFF faithful are thankful. Maybe not so thankful with regard to his receivers, but that is another story.
Lewis has been solid in every game so far for CFF, outside of a run-in with a surprisingly stingy Troy defense. He’s been remarkably consistent, finishing between 196 and 213 passing yards in every game so far. For a guy who is known to be a limited passer, that’s a solid mark to be hitting in every game.
What makes it even better is that Lewis seems to have a near guaranteed rushing floor. He’s seen 40+ rush yards in all four contests, with his high coming this past week with 103 yards and 2 TDs against Arkansas. Speaking of that Arkansas game, that showed what kind of ceiling you can expect from Lewis and this offense any given week. Yes, Arkansas is on the lower end of the SEC, but if Memphis can do that against them, they’ll be more than fine as they enter American play. With dates against Zach Kittley’s FAU and Tulsa in the next few weeks, Lewis could be an immediate plug-and-play for teams who need help during Weeks 5 and 6, navigating byes.
Honorable Mentions
- Kyron Drones, Virginia Tech – 28%
- Nick Minicucci, Delaware – 14%
- Jacob Clark, Missouri State – 7%
- Anthony Colandrea, UNLV – 25%
- Amari Odom, Kennesaw State – 0%
Running Backs
Braylon McReynolds – UL Monroe – Ros: 8%
I’m not usually a huge schedule analysis person when it comes to CFF, mostly because I believe so much changes during the season that it’s impossible to predict who will have a good or bad schedule, especially in the latter half of the season. Case in point, Haynes King vs. Georgia last year. However, something I will keep in mind next year is teams whose early schedules are set up to answer very few questions early on. I’m sure I’ll come up with some clever name for it later, but to me, there’s no better example than UL Monroe this year.
Let’s go through UL Monroe’s early schedule. Week 1, they face an FCS team where they blow them out, and it’s hard to get a read on how target and carry share will be divided, because why tip your hand or risk injury to your best player when you know you’ll blow out your opponent? Week 2, they faced Alabama, a team where they’re so overmatched that there’s no way you can get a good look at what the offense will actually look like. Week 3, they have a bye.
So it’s not until Week 4 that we’re finally getting some answers, and the season is a quarter of the way over, and you’ve been holding these guys on your bench the whole way. All that to say, UL Monroe got their first G5vG5 matchup this weekend, and it looks like we’re finally able to confirm who will be toting the rock for Bryant Vincent’s system: Braylon McReynolds.
To say there was a lot of discussion of this backfield during the off-season would be an understatement. Bryant Vincent’s RB1s, like Ahmad Hardy, Jacory Crosky-Merritt, and Dewayne McBride, have been CFF mainstays, and nailing his RB1 in the draft could be huge dividends. However, we were all bamboozled, whether you were a Zach Palmer-Smith fan or a D’Shaun Ford fan. McReynolds was hardly considered outside of the period immediately following his transfer announcement early in the off-season. Then, all signs pointed to one of those other two being the guy, and McReynolds was assumed to be a depth-piece or a third-down back, as he was at South Alabama, especially with his 5’7″ 190-lb. frame.
However, once the pads came on, McReynolds led UL Monroe in carries in week 1. Now, it was only 11 carries, so nowhere near the volume we are used to from a Vincent RB1, but his production was solid with 133 total yards and a touchdown. However, this was difficult to validate because it was against an FCS opponent. Given how much Vincent had gone out of his way to hide things in the pre-season, who was to say the carry split in the Week 1 game wasn’t another deception.
Well, this past week against UTEP, McReynolds was the clear top back, with 19 total touches, 121 yards, and a touchdown. The next closest RB in terms of touches was Zach Palmer-Smith with six. Even if things shift once again in this backfield, you can’t not take the chance someone else in your league locks up Bryant Vincent’s RB1. Once he gets through the Northwestern game in Week 6, you’re likely looking at a weekly starter, just based on the system alone.
Qua Ashley – Ball State – Ros: 9%
It was hard to tell what to expect from Mike Uremovich coming into Ball State. Looking at his history at Bryant, there wasn’t much you could point to that made you excited to draft Cardinals this year. No bell-cow back. No clear WR1. However, it seems that Uremovich has quickly adopted the strategy that most MAC head coaches adopt once they enter this sometimes chaotic league: just get your best players the ball and let the dice fall where they may. As of right now, this Ball State offense runs through two players: QB Kiael Kelly and Kennesaw State transfer RB Qua Ashley.
Ashley has been impressive to start the 2025 campaign. Despite two games against Power 4 competition, Ashley is averaging 5.7 yards per carry. He clears the next running back in terms of carry share by about 27.5%, showing that he is the clear lead back in this offense. He currently has about 41.7% of the rushing share for the team, so he’s not quite fully a workhorse back. However, he is trending in the right direction, as he saw 48.6% of the rush attempts against UConn, which should be indicative of what we can expect against similar levels of competition.
None of this even touches Ashley’s receiving work, where he is currently second on the squad in targets with 11. It’s not elite volume by any stretch, and his 4.7 yards per catch is certainly lackluster, but it is further proof of how involved in the game plan Ashley is. As long as he continues to build up this volume as they get ready for MAC play, Ashley could end up being a mid-week favorite among CFF players sooner rather than later. The only major concern is that Ball State is likely poor even by MAC standards, so scoring opportunities might be limited. However, putting up 25 against UConn this past weekend does alleviate some of those concerns.
Leshon Williams – Kansas – 6%
Don’t worry, Power 4-only people, I’ve got something for you, too. Remember how I mentioned at the start of the article that teams are trying to figure out who they can rely on going into conference play? There’s no better example of that than the Kansas backfield. Coming into the year, Daniel Hishaw was expected to lead this backfield, and through the first couple of games, we have that right, at least in terms of raw numbers. However, Hishaw has shown to be quite prone to being banged up these last two matches against Missouri and West Virginia. Meanwhile, Leshon Williams, despite missing a game in Week 1 due to injury in Week 0, is showing himself to be the more reliable option between the two of them.
In addition to being more available than Hishaw currently, Williams has a lot of statistics to support the idea that Kansas should be getting him the ball more anyway. Despite playing one game less, Williams has out-produced Hishaw on the ground, 197 yards to 171 yards. Williams is better on almost every efficiency metric. He has 6.8 yards per carry compared to Hishaw’s 5.0. Williams has a fantastic 5.14 yards after contact per carry. His breakaway percentage so far this year is 51.8% compared to Hishaw’s 24.0%. Hishaw went down early in the game against West Virginia, allowing us to see what a game with Williams as the lead back would look like.
Let me tell you, it looked salivating. Williams finished the day with 168 total yards and 2 TDs on 20 touches. This suggests that Williams is being prepared to receive the full Lance Leipold RB1 treatment, and given how well Williams has performed to this point, I’m not so sure he will give Hishaw the job back once he’s healthy. This is a tremendous opportunity to get an RB in a proven CFF-producing system this far into the season. I wouldn’t want to miss that chance.
Honorable Mentions
- Dontae McMillian, EMU – 6%
- Jo’Nathan Silver, Delaware – 23%
- Michael Allen, Marshall – 1%
- Dominic Richardson, Tulsa – 22%
- OJ Arnold, Georgia Southern – 18%
Wide Receivers
Brady Boyd – Utah State – Ros: 6%
Many wondered what Bronco Mendenhall would look like without Jason Beck or Robert Anae to run his offense. Many others and I made the bet that Mendenhall had found a formula that worked on offense, and despite being a defensive coach in the past, the offense we’ve seen under Mendenhall, which has produced plenty for CFF, wasn’t going anywhere. That bet has paid off immensely for Bryson Barnes, but it is also starting to pay off for the receivers as well. Two have emerged for the Aggies in Texas Tech transfer Brady Boyd and UCLA transfer Braden Pegan. Today, we’re focusing on Boyd, but Pegan is also worth a look in leagues.
Mendenhall has been known to feed his slot receivers in recent years, usually to the tune of about 100 targets on the year. Last year, it was Luke Wysong. This year, Brady Boyd is taking up that mantle. Boyd has 30 targets on the year so far and is on pace to finish with 90 in 12 games, a very respectable volume. However, what really stands out about Boyd is that, for a slot receiver, he is very efficient. Typically, slot WRs tend to have lower ADOTs and not be as efficient as their outside counterparts.
That isn’t the case at all for Boyd. RBs Davis and Jacobs look like they’re taking those shorter routes, allowing Boyd to push downfield more. Boyd’s average depth of target (ADOT) is 14.6 yards, which is crazy high for a slot receiver. This is part of what allows him to see 16.1 yards per catch so far this year. With Boyd, you’re getting a great combination of high volume and high-value targets. The only thing he needs to clean up is his reception percentage. He currently only brings in 56.7% of his targets and has a drop rate of 10.5%. If he’s able to clean that up, Boyd will be an absolute force in Mountain West play. He only has two touchdowns so far, but if he continues to be the leading receiver for the Aggies, expect that to remedy itself soon.
It should be noted that he plays Vanderbilt this week, and given what Vandy did to Georgia State last week, it’s probably best to hold him on the bench for a week and then let him loose after that.
Reggie Virgil – Texas Tech – Ros: 24%
When it comes to college fantasy, sometimes we need not be afraid to look at an offense and say, “Hey, they’re scoring a lot of points, who is their leading receiver?” and just go from there. That’s exactly the mindset I’m taking with Reggie Virgil out of Texas Tech. There is a part of me that tells me not to ignore the fact that he averages only 6.75 targets per game. There’s a part of me that says he hasn’t been efficient enough with his 12.2 yards per catch, especially for a guy who is supposed to be a deep threat. However, I don’t think anything surpasses the fact that Texas Tech is top 10 in the country on the offensive side of the ball. Among all receiving options, whether it’s Behren Morton or Will Hammond, whoever is healthy that week, Virgil is the player they turn to the most.
Virgil was rumored to be paid $700k to come to Texas Tech, and it seems like they plan on getting their money’s worth. It is impressive how Virgil has come in and not only translated as a G5-to-Power 4 transfer, but he is currently out-targetting program veterans like Caleb Douglas and Coy Eakin, by a good margin too. He is tied with Terrance Carter when it comes to touchdowns in the passing game, and that seems like a trend that isn’t going to stop anytime soon.
Virgil is the perfect play to throw into your lineup every week, where you know the volume isn’t always going to be there. Still, you can be confident in him getting a slice of the weekly scoring pie the Red Raiders are putting together each week, especially now that they are in conference play and dusted potentially the hardest defense they’ll have to play in Utah.
KJ Duff – Rutgers – Ros: 13%
What’s better than Ian Strong? How about a second Ian Strong? One that is a bigger and taller Ian Strong. If you like that, you like KJ Duff. One can only imagine the absolute cheat code Duff would be if he had been allowed to keep his TE eligibility going into the season.
Through four games, it is Duff, not Strong, who leads the Scarlet Knights in targets, and their production is very similar, with Duff at 336 yards and 2 TDS and Strong at 367 yards and 2 TDs. As of now, both Duff and Strong are on pace for 1,000 yards on the season. I make all these comparisons to basically say if you’re sad you missed out on getting more shares of Ian Strong this off-season, you have your second chance in Duff.
In the last three games for Rutgers, Duff hasn’t seen fewer than eight targets or six receptions and has seen at least 71 yards in each game. If you’re talking about a PPR league, there is simply no chance you can let this pass you up. As we enter Big Ten play, there’s an obvious concern that Rutgers’ scoring will slow down, as they face more physical teams and the weather gets colder. While this is a valid concern, the concern that Rutgers should have is their defense. They gave up 31 points to Ohio and, most recently, 38 points to Iowa. As for me and the rest of CFF, we’re hoping Rutgers continues to have some defensive issues, as that’ll force more passing opportunities that will benefit Duff and Strong.
Honorable Mentions
- Trell Harris, Virginia – 8%
- Gabriel Benyard, Kennesaw State – 12%
- Cortez Braham, Memphis – 1%
- Jacquon Gibson, UMass – 19% (PPR Leagues ONLY)
- Brenen Thompson/Anthony Evans, Mississippi State – 28%/16%
Tight Ends
Dallan Bentley – Utah – Ros: 13%
In last week’s episode of Chasing the Natty, I discussed Hunter Andrews, the TE/RB hybrid out of Utah as a potential cheat code down the line. Well, it’s about time we discussed the actual, traditional TE on Utah’s roster who is also putting up solid production each week.
Dallan Bentley has been quiet in the scoring department for the Utes, having only scored one TD so far this season. However, he has been heavily involved each week. Over the last three games, he has seen 20 targets and racked up 156 yards in that stretch. While Jason Beck didn’t use tight ends to a great degree while he was at New Mexico for a year, his time with Syracuse showed he can use them when he has a dude at the position. See: Oronde Gadsden.
It seems like Bentley, so far, qualifies as a dude. He’s currently second on the team in targets with 23 and posts an excellent yards per reception at TE with 11 yards per catch on the season. He also posts 1.99 yards per route run, which is great for a tight end, and his ADOT provides some high-value targets at 10.2. All in all, this is another one to target if you’re still struggling at tight end, especially once you take into consideration the history of Kyle Whittingham tight ends like Brant Kuithe and Dalton Kincaid.
Honorable Mentions
- Hunter Andrews, Utah – 19%
- Izayah Cummings, App State – 3%
- Jeremiah Franklin, Boston College – 25%
