Each year in the world of college fantasy football the challenge of finding the most impactful freshman can be key to the success of your team. A new wave of collegiate talent lands at each college campus around the country, and some of those young men fresh out of high school arrive ready to make an immediate impact.
As part of a wider series, today we are looking at two of the quarterbacks who are going into their freshman season this year. We’ll cover their opportunity to play, where they might feature in college fantasy football rankings, and attribute focus to their college careers as we follow them on their journey throughout the series.
Myles Jackson – Quarterback, Stanford
Myles Jackson enrolled at Stanford having been recruited out of Long Beach, California. He played at Millikan High School, and in the 2022 season threw 47 touchdowns and seven interceptions while throwing for over 3,600 passing yards.
He’s a three star recruit and the 30th ranked quarterback according to 247 Sports, who received offers from the likes of Auburn, BYU and Stanford.
Jackson is an early enrollment who prepared in anticipation of the moment he got an offer from his dream school, and when Stanford extended the offer to him he jumped at the chance without hesitation. Despite the coaching changes, Jackson has remained loyal to his decision, noting that the academics at Stanford played a major role in his decision.
His high school head coach Romeo Pellum described him as having the best arm talent in the state of California, and he’ll now get to compete for the starting job at Stanford.
Jaden Rashada – Quarterback, Arizona State
Jaden Rashada eventually landed with Arizona State after originally looking set to head to the Florida Gators. He flipped from Miami to Florida where he was allegedly promised a high value NIL deal, and when that fell through things got complicated and he was eventually released from his letter of intent.
He then committed to ASU, his fathers Alma Mater, where he will compete with multiple transfer portal quarterbacks under head coach Kenny Dillingham, who was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oregon last year.
Rashada was a highly recruited four star prospect, considered to be the 6th best quarterback in the class. He had a tonne of offers from Miami, Ole Miss, LSU, Florida and many more.
The talented QB threw for over 3,000 yards and 32 passing touchdowns in 2022, showing great poise in the pocket and the ability to make all the throws downfield.
2023-24 CFB Season Opportunity
Myles Jackson
The Stanford Cardinal starting quarterback for the past two seasons, Tanner McKee, declared for the NFL draft and moved on during the offseason. Stanford will have a new starting quarterback this year, and with a new head coach in Troy Taylor, the job is up for grabs.
Jackson’s competition comes in the form of two sophomore QBs, Ari Patu who is a redshirt, and Ashton Daniels. Neither had any real playing time last season, throwing a combined 15 passes. Patu did throw two touchdowns in six completed passes, and might currently be the slight favorite to win the starting job, but Jackson’s arm talent and intelligence could get him on the field early.
Jaden Rashada
The 2022 season started out with former Florida quarterback Emory Jones under center, but after he was benched the Sun Devils turned to Trenton Bourguet, who ended the year with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Head coach Kenny Dillingham announced Bourguet as the starter, but it feels like the consensus wants to see Jaden Rashada sooner rather than later. That said, the freshmans path to the starting job is a little complicated, with the Sun Devils currently having six QBs on the roster.
Rashada will have to compete with transfers Drew Pyne from Notre Dame and Jacob Conover from BYU, then there’s redshirt freshmen Bennett Meredith and Max Clark.
Pro’s and Con’s for playing time
Myles Jackson
Myles Jackson is six foot two and 190 pounds, and it’s his arm talent that peaked the interest of college programs like BYU, Auburn and Boston College. Stanford was his dream and he’s a smart kid with strong academics, so the program is a great fit for him.
Troy Taylor runs a pass heavy system, so he’s going to pass a talented quarterback who sees the field well and can make a wide range of throws. Jackson has proven that in two seasons of high school football, and despite reclassifying from the class of 2024 and competing in what should be his senior year of high school, he could see plenty of playing time this year.
Stanford elected not to bring in a transfer quarterback, so the job is going to be won from within the program. My guess would be that Patu gets the start early on, and Jackson could come in as the season unfolds.
The only drawback to seeing Jackson this year is his age. As mentioned, he reclassified, and is technically a high school senior. Taylor might not want to throw him into the mix too early, but if he shows up and shows out in practice there’s no reason to hold him back on Saturdays.
Jaden Rashada
While Jaden Rashada might be one of the more talented freshman quarterbacks this season, he is fighting his way through quite the QB battle. If he emerges as the starter it could be fireworks, but his path to get there is far from a smooth one.
The young prospect should in theory be the program’s long term vision at the position, and talent wise he can compete and exceed the potential of the other quarterbacks around him.
Rashada can make all the throws and his touch on putting the football in the perfect spot against tight coverage shows his maturity from a football standpoint.
He did however throw 13 interceptions this past season, so he will need to show that he can eradicate those mental mistakes in practice before he sees playing time at the college level.
Similarly to Myles Jackson, it’s a new group with a relatively new staff, so the game time is up for grabs.
Why draft him in CFB Fantasy Leagues?
Myles Jackson
Troy Taylor will look to shake things up with the Stanford football program this season. He comes with an impressive resume having led Sacramento State to a 12-1 record last season, while being the only FCS program to average over 240 passing and rushing yards per game.
Stanford’s offense struggled last season, but this year Taylor is going to air the ball out and find out who his playmakers are. Receivers Elijah Higgins, Brycen Tremayne and Michael Wilson all headed for the NFL, leaving senior John Humphreys as the only wideout on the roster who had more than 100 yards last season.
In Taylors’ offense, nothing is guaranteed this season for anybody. Those who perform the best in the preseason and in training will earn playing time, which is what makes Jackson an intriguing prospect.
Jaden Rashada
I’d be drafting Rashada if you already have strong depth in your college football fantasy drafts because of his upside. I don’t believe many will value him too highly this year because of the complexity of the quarterback room at ASU, and there is a risk that he doesn’t feature much if at all.
That said, for a guy who was expecting a hefty NIL deal from Florida, I can’t see the Sun Devils having multiple years to be patient with Rashada. He expects to play and earn off of his talents, and being buried on the depth chart at Arizona State won’t support that ambition.
I expect him to play, and if he plays to his potential he’s great value in fantasy leagues when he eventually steps into the starting role.
Stock Radar as an NFL prospect
Myles Jackson 1%
Currently the radar for a player who is still effectively a high school senior is very low. Jackson is a great talent with a strong arm and even stronger academics, and if he starts to play over the next couple of seasons the anticipation around his stock for the NFL draft will begin to rise.
Jackson has time on his side, he can earn a lot of playing time at Stanford and in a pass heavy system we could see him excel over the course of his college career.
Jaden Rashada 6%
Rashada is one of the hottest freshman prospects at the position, and his trajectory should lead to some NFL draft buzz if all goes to plan.
His current stock level is going to be fairly quiet, but once he breaks into the lineup I can see his name hit the radar in a hurry.