(Ralph) This is dark chocolate. It comes all the way from Switzerland, Europe. That’s near France, see. They call it ‘bittersweet.’ Melts in your mouth.
You tried it?
(Ralph) No.
How do you know it melts in your mouth?
– Boss Spearman, Open Range (2003)
It is officially sicko sleeper season— no, not for the NFL draft, but rather, for the upcoming College Fantasy Football season. These are not the NFL-style sleepers where actually everybody is already familiar with the said player (except for the dirty casuals—yuck!). No, these players are legitimately unknown—like, less than 1,700 followers on Twitter (X.. whatever) unknown.
Now, you might be wondering how exactly I am going weave the above-quoted conversation into a CFF article… “Fucking VP keeps putting all this other crap in his articles when all I want is straight CFF analysis” has probably been said internally (or out loud) hundreds of times by now.
Well, one, I am eating dark chocolate while I write this article, which reminded me of the above scene, and two, the movie Open Range is set in Montana, which I basically count as Idaho.
Three, and more importantly, I’m going to advocate for you today that a player (who you’ve probably never heard of) is one that you should consider this offseason for your squads, to which you might reply, “You watched him last year?” to which I might reply “No,” and finally, you would then reply “How do you know he’s good then?”.
I’m not here to pretend that I watched a lot of Idaho Vandals football in 2023, OK? Let’s get that out of the way. However, for the purposes of today’s discussion, I actually don’t think that is necessary.
I will also point out that I have a Vandals T-shirt, which I purchased in 2023. I also happen to have a Montana Grizzlies T-shirt for good measure. Why? Because I’m a five-star gangster, that’s why.
Gevani McCoy’s Past
McCoy transferred to Oregon State this offseason after spending the previous three at Idaho in the FCS. While with the Vandals, McCoy’s best season came in 2022, when he passed for 2,735 yards, 27 TDs to 7 INTs. He also ran for an additional 98 yards and three scores on 75 carries over 11 games. If we were to average that out into a CFF score, those numbers would be approximately 21 PPG in four-point passing TD formats. Of note, he passed for three TDs against FBS opponent Indiana during that season. He was also named freshman of the year at the FCS level.
However, overall, those numbers are not really that impressive from a CFF standpoint. But that is more due to McCoy’s inconsistency as a player rather than his potency. He had multiple four TD games during that year, it’s just that he also had multiple one TD games to balance it out.
In 2023, McCoy’s numbers were similar but not quite as efficient. He attempted many more passes (354 to 297) but only passed for a hundred or so more yards with 2,919. He scored a total of 17 TDs to 8 INTs. Not great, Bob.
But, he must be a talent, otherwise Oregon State probably wouldn’t have pursued the 6’0”, 170 pound signal caller out of California this offseason.
Here is my take: I like the upside with a player like this, and — acknowledging his inconsistency — I think he’s a player worth taking a shot on in best-ball formats. Especially given that Oregon State is going to be playing most Group Of Five (G5) opponents in 2024.
Coaching/System + Final Thought
Now that Jonathan Smith has moved on, who is calling plays for Oregon State anyway?
Good question. Oregon St. DC Trent Bray has taken over lead duties for the Beavers. His newly appointed OC— Ryan Gunderson, comes in by way of UCLA, where he served as the QBs coach from 2021-2023.
During his time in Southern Cali, Gunderson would have mentored Dorian Thompson Robinson (DTR) in 2021 and 2022. DTR averaged 25.75 and 27 PPG in those years, respectively.
The skillsets (judging by the numbers and the few seconds long clips I’ve seen) are similar between the two QBs, and Gunderson should be able to get some big performances from McCoy in 2024.
I wouldn’t invest in McCoy in a standard format unless it was like the last pick of the draft or something, but even then, there are probably better profiles available. But I like the possibilities here in best-ball formats.
Here’s a highlight video of Idaho vs. Nevada this past season where you can get a glimpse of some highlights from McCoy.
Like this type of content? I’ve got good news for you; there’s an ungodly amount of it over here: VolumePigs.
You can also find me occasionally tweeting about CFF and CFB over here.
