Week 1 College Fantasy Football Sleepers
Excited for the first year of Yahoo’s College Fantasy Football? It’s not too late to sign up if you haven’t already.
With the 2018 college football season kicking officially kicking off this weekend, you may be wondering who you should play this week outside of the stars on your team. We’ve got you covered. Below are a few players outside the top of the list at their positions who we think could have big days.
Quarterbacks
TCU QB Shawn Robinson (vs. Southern): Robinson takes over as TCU’s starting quarterback and could have a field day against Southern. He did well replacing Kenny Hill last year when needed and could be a dynamic threat in the mold of Trevone Boykin. Robinson can do damage with his legs and he’ll also have receivers Jalen Reagor and KaVontae Turpin to throw to.
Mississippi State QB Keytaon Thompson (vs. Stephen F. Austin): Thompson is a one-start-and-done QB, especially if you’re a player who has Nick Fitzgerald on your team (Fitzgerald is suspended for the season opener). Thompson showed promise in Mississippi State’s bowl game in 2017 after Fitzgerald was injured against Ole Miss. Thompson had six rushing scores in just 75 carries last year.
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Running backs
Arkansas RB Devwah Whaley (vs. Eastern Illinois): Arkansas’ top running back in a new offense vs. an FCS team seems like a good matchup, doesn’t it? Whaley is outside the top 40 in our rankings, but he should be good for a start if you’re in need of a running back. The Hogs are running new coach Chad Morris’ offense for the first time and could run the ball a lot, especially if they take an early lead.
USC RB Stephen Carr (vs. UNLV): Carr is ranked No. 22 on the running backs list. He takes over as USC’s primary back for Ronald Jones and could have a field day against UNLV. The Rebels allowed 5.4 yards per carry in 2017.
Wide receivers
LSU WR Jonathan Giles (vs. Texas Tech): Giles is a transfer from Texas Tech who had a really big year in 2016 for the Red Raiders with 1,158 yards and 13 scores. He’s outside of the top 50 on the wide receiver rankings because of LSU’s style of offense but he could make a big splash if the passing game improves with new QB Joe Burrow.
Alabama WRs Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III (vs. Louisville): If you want to take a flier this week you can do far worse than either of the ‘Bama wide receivers. Someone has to replace the production lost with Calvin Ridley’s departure to the NFL and Jeudy and Ruggs are the top two candidates to step up.
Defenses
Any defense playing an FCS opponent: This one is pretty straightforward. If you have a defense that’s playing an FBS team, you should sit it this week in favor of a better matchup. There are plenty of teams to choose from. Guess right and you could have a blowout and a defensive touchdown or two.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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