Week nine has officially passed us by in the NFL, and that means the tenth week of college football has also. It’s fantasy football time, and today we are going to be talking about weekly strategies, player insights, rankings, and projections. The main premise here is that you should be taking into account all of your player analysis and combining it with insights, rankings, and projections. You never want to leave out information in favor of another, just take it all in and make the best educated decisions you can make on each roster choice. Let’s get right into it by starting with something that many fantasy managers use these days, rankings, and not just generic rankings, but rankings for the season opener.
Weekly Rankings
Weekly rankings are awfully important to figure out the correct rosters to play each week in fantasy football, especially a Campus to Canton league.
College And NFL Rankings
College:
- Ashton Jeanty – Running Back
- Nick Nash– Wide Receiver
- Cam Ward – Quarterback
- Harold Fannin – Tight End
NFL:
- Lamar Jackson – Quarterback
- Derrick Henry – Running Back
- Justin Jefferson – Wide Receiver
- George Kittle – Tight End
For the second week in a row, Ashton Jeanty looked human. However, it wasn’t enough to knock him further down the list, he’s just on a different level still. Last weekend, on a down week for his standards, he had 31 rushes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. On the season, the Boise State standout has scored 20 touchdowns, rushed for 1,525 yards, and taken 190 carries in just eight games. There simply isn’t any other running back in college football putting up these types of numbers in fantasy for you.
Derrick Henry, like Jeanty, will be at the top of the rankings again. Henry is wildly consistent at the running back position. Last week, he had 23 rushes for 106 yards and two touchdowns. He scored a touchdown in every single game, totaling 11 in the season in just nine games. He has also gone over 100 rushing yards in five of those games. Saquon Barkley feels like a close second on this running back tier list, but I can’t move Henry until he slows down in any way, and he just hasn’t.
Next, we’re going to keep Nick Nash here, but this is going to be a bit of a split section. Brashard Smith could have a genuine argument for this spot, averaging 21 fantasy points per game. For the time being though, Nash likely holds an edge with his averaging of 23 fantasy points per game. Nash and San Jose State are coming off a bye week, and you can guarantee that action will be coming his way. He’s seen at least 12 targets in each of his last five games, bringing in at least five receptions in each of them. Nash has high volume, and high production, and has scored 12 touchdowns on the year.
I wanted to put Ja’Marr Chase as the top receiver on the list this week, but this weekend didn’t go well for him. Joe Burrow threw five touchdowns, Chase didn’t haul in one of them on a day when Tee Higgins didn’t play, and he only had 43 receiving yards on top of that. So, with that being said, Justin Jefferson will hold onto the top spot. He had seven receptions on nine targets for 137 scoreless yards last weekend against the Indianapolis Colts. Jefferson has had at least four receptions in every game, and at least six receptions in six of his eight contests. Consistency is a testament to his talent.
At quarterback, I’m going to change the top rankings and give Cam Ward some shine. There’s an argument to be made that this should have happened weeks ago, but we’re doing it now. Ward has scored the most fantasy points by a quarterback this season, though I was hesistataant last week because he had only 14 points. I’ve changed my mind now, as Ward just threw 400 yards and five touchdowns compared to one interception on Saturday against Duke. Ward averages 32 fantasy points per game for the Miami Hurricanes and could genuinely win the Heisman by the end of the season.
Remember what I said earlier about consistency? That’s a big deal in fantasy, especially at the tight end position, which is why Harold Fannin will stay at the top here. Fannin just had nine targets, bringing in seven of them for 86 scoreless yards. In the last five games, he’s had at least nine targets and has gone over 74 receiving yards in four of those games. His most recent outing puts him over 1,000 receiving yards on the season with six touchdowns.
For the NFL, George Kittle is still the best tight end despite coming off a bye week. To reiterate, he’s had at least four receptions and gone over 40 receiving yards in each game, while also scoring a touchdown in all but two contests. However, I want to give a special mention to Travis Kelce and Cade Otton also. Kelce, in the last two games, has brought in 24 receptions for 190 yards and a touchdown. Otton on the other hand has 17 receptions for 158 yards and three touchdowns in the last two games. Both of these guys can easily pass Kittle this weekend.
Lamar Jackson is just ridiculous. The Baltimore Ravens quarterback continues his MVP run, dominating a very good Denver Broncos defense this weekend. He completed 16 of his 19 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. He also just got Diontae Johnson added into the mix for the rest of the season, so I expect his numbers to get even better as the season progresses.
Jersey And Bench (Start/Sit)
You all know the drill here, each week there will be players that you want to start, and players that you want to sit. Below are a couple of options and some background information on why you should do either of the following.
Jersey/Bench Picks
Jersey:
- Caden Veltkamp
- Sam Darnold
- Tyrone Tracy
- George Pickens
- Kelley Joiner
Bench:
- Luke Grimm
- Tank Bigsby
- Jaylen Waddle
- Micah Bernard
- Cole Kmet
Let’s start with the jersey picks and begin with Caden Veltkamp. Veltkamp has averaged over 25 fantasy points per game this season and is only being started in 32 percent of leagues at the moment. Last weekend, he dropped 25 points and three touchdowns for the third straight week. With a strong matchup ahead of him over the weekend, it feels like a serious possibility that Veltkamp performs up to his expectations once again. This job is his in Western Kentucky.
Next is Sam Darnold. Darnold has held up despite a couple of great tests so far this season, and I don’t anticipate this to change against the Jacksonville Jaguars over the weekend. Darnold has only had two games under 18 fantasy points, and the Jaguars have given up the second-most passing yards and the MOST passing touchdowns per game to quarterbacks. This feels like a must-start here.
Tyrone Tracy is worth a start this weekend again. It seems certain that he has completely overtaken Devin Singletary on the depth chart for the New York Giants, and he’s got a wonderful matchup this week against the Carolina Panthers. Tracy has picked up just about 40 touches in the last two games alone, and given this plus matchup, he’s going to receive a ton of volume.
George Pickens has been great with Russell Wilson under center. In the last two weeks, Pickens has averaged over 90 receiving yards and 16 fantasy points per game. This week, he gets a vulnerable Washington Commanders secondary that hasn’t been good at stopping the pass. However, they did just add Marshon Lattimore via trade, so that could impact this game. Given that he might not know the playbook or get fully acclimated to the team, I don’t expect him to shadow Pickens, opening the door for a good day.
And the last of the jersey picks is Kelley Joiner. Joiner is listed in fantasy as both a running back and a receiver, so this could depend upon the rules that you have set in your league. Regardless, Joiner has scored over 24 fantasy points in each of the last two games, scoring three touchdowns in that span as well. He is anticipated to split touches with both Nay’Quan Wright and Ta’Ron Keith, but that might not matter if he continues to be explosive in the backfield when he does receive touches.
Flipping over to the bench picks now, we have Luke Grimm. Grimm is coming off a four-reception game where he had 66 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately, the Kansas Jayhawks receiver has a very tough matchup against a stout Iowa State defense. Grimm had just four receptions for 46 yards and zero touchdowns in the two games before this recent showing, and the matchup could limit his upside here.
Next, is Tank Bigsby. The Bigsby phase might be over for the time being. Travis Etienne returned in Week 9, pushing Bigsby to play just 50 percent of the snaps and getting a team-high eight carries. If he only gets eight touches against a stout Minnesota Vikings defense, then there is a good opportunity that he won’t be fantasy relevant. Etienne seems like he might take too much away from Bigsby to make him worth a start.
Jaylen Waddle should be on the bench right now, though it does certainly feel like a breakout game is on the way. Waddle has not been able to take in over 50 receiving yards in a single game since Week 1, nor has he broken 10 fantasy points. Even with Tua Tagovailoa coming back to the lineup in the last two games, Waddle has been a non-factor. The matchup looks nice for him, but I simply can’t trust him until he starts to show SOME signs of life.
Micah Bernard feels better left on the bench this weekend. The Utah Utes running back just had 14 rushes for 51 yards and a touchdown in his last game, but despite solid volume being anticipated, I don’t like the matchup. They are about to play a really tough BYU school this weekend that doesn’t get beaten often by opposing running backs. Bernard should get a ton of touches, which might make a start worth it for some people, but the matchup could severely limit the upside and potential for a standout game.
Finally, we have Cole Kmet. I was a believer in Cole Kmet early on, but these last two weeks have diminished my hope. Kmet had ZERO targets last weekend, and only had one catch the week before (not including a two-point conversion reception). The Chicago Bears offense looks pitiful at the moment when they try to pass the football and Kmet isn’t even a top option when they finally start to get it moving in that department. I wouldn’t touch Kmet until he catches two passes in a game again.
Projections
Projections are numbers that estimate how many fantasy points a specific player might get in a given week. They can vary depending on the situation or matchup and need to be monitored weekly to get a good understanding of what experts think of them.
Weekly Projections
College:
- QB – Bryson Daily – 42.25 points
- RB – Dylan Sampson – 25.64 points
- WR – Emeka Egbuka – 16.70 points
- TE – Harold Fannin – 14.51 points
NFL:
- QB – Josh Allen – 25.75 points
- RB – Derrick Henry – 17.12 points
- WR – Justin Jefferson – 12.21 points
- TE – George Kittle – 10.00 points
These are the players who are projected to garner the most fantasy points at their position in both college and the NFL. These numbers are calculated by basically estimating the stats that a player might have given their track record and upcoming matchup. If they have an easier matchup and are historically good against that specific team, the projections will be a little higher. If it might be a blowout, the projection might be even higher than that. The reason why it is important to understand these projections is that if you’re ever stuck wondering what to do, they could give you an idea of how a player might perform. Let’s say you can’t decide who to start between two wide receivers, but one is estimated to be 10 points more than the other. That number alone can indicate that the higher projected receiver could be in line for a significantly better day, and you can feel comfortable starting them over your other option. They aren’t guaranteed to be accurate every week, and they do change quite often, because, at the end of the day, they are simply projections, but it’s a good place to start making lineup decisions.
With all of that being said, it is critical to stay on top of your weekly strategies and pay close attention to rankings, and player insights. You never know when you might be caught up between two players and need to figure out how to break the tie in your mind. That is exactly where rankings and projected points play a factor, in helping lay all of the information out for you in an easy-to-read format. Each week is going to be an exciting time for everybody, so before we get ahead of ourselves, just remember to double-check your starting lineups and make sure that you’re happy with the players you have locked in at the moment. I heavily recommend you take some of our listed rankings into consideration, and also for you to check out other projections and rankings as well to get a clear vision of how each week might play out in both college and the NFL.