Travis May discusses devy fantasy football leagues in his weekly Devy Weekly series for FantasyPros.
This piece is part of our article program that features quality content from experts exclusively at FantasyPros. For more insight from Travis head to Dynasty League Football.
Welcome back to Week Three of Devy Weekly!
If you missed the first installment check it out HERE so you can get up to speed! Essentially, I’ll be taking a close look at the top (future NFL) playmakers in college football every week to help you stay one step ahead of your league mates. Whether you play in “devy” dynasty leagues or you simply love to learn about the next generation of NFL studs this article series is for you!
So without further ado, let’s dive into my updated positional rankings as we head into week two of the college football season!
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Quarterback
- Justin Herbert, Oregon
- Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama
- Drew Lock, Missouri
- Will Grier, West Virginia
- Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State
Running Backs
- D’Andre Swift, Georgia
- Cam Akers, Florida State
- Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
- David Montgomery, Iowa State
- Bryce Love, Stanford
- JK Dobbins, Ohio State
- Damien Harris, Alabama
- Rodney Anderson, Oklahoma
- Stephen Carr, USC
- A.J. Dillon, Boston College
Wide Receivers
- AJ Brown, Ole Miss
- Bryan Edwards, South Carolina
- Kelvin Harmon, North Carolina State
- N’Keal Harry, Arizona State
- Dekaylin Metcalf, Ole Miss
- Jhamon Ausbon, Texas A&M
- CeeDee Lamb, Oklahoma
- Ahmmon Richards, Miami
- Jalen Reagor, TCU
- Tyler Vaughns, USC
Tight Ends
- Noah Fant, Iowa
- Caleb Wilson, UCLA
- Albert Okwuegbunam, Missouri
- Kaden Smith, Stanford
- Jared Pinkney, Vanderbilt
What Changed?
If you’re comparing to last week you may notice a few new faces that joined or rejoined the lists.
Dwayne Haskins (QB, Ohio State), A.J. Dillon (RB, Boston College), Tyler Vaughns (WR, USC), and Jared Pinkney (TE, Vanderbilt) joined the top ranks at their positions. However, Jarrett Stidham (QB, Auburn), Justice Hill (RB, Oklahoma State), Collin Johnson (WR, Texas), and Hunter Bryant (TE, Washington) fell out. Let’s talk about the how and why.
Dwayne Haskins was already supposed to be the next big thing at quarterback for Ohio State, but he’s defied even those already somewhat bold expectations. He’s racked up 546 yards and nine touchdowns through the air in just two games. Haskins looks poised to make a Heisman run if he stays anywhere this efficient throughout the season.
A.J. Dillon has completely transformed his body into a weapon in the ground attack for Boston College. As a true freshman, he was already strong, sturdy, and punishing on inside runs. But this year he just looks different. Dillon is 6’0″, 240 pounds of muscle, but he’s actually gained speed and wiggle over the past year. His contact balance is absurd. He’s an absolute nightmare for defenses this season. This past week he crushed the competition on six carries for 149 yards and three scores. The week before that he beat UMass into the ground over 20 carries. Dillon is an absolute monster and will likely continue to rise.
Tyler Vaughns made the list in Week 1 due to his strong finish to the 2017 season. He put together another strong showing in USC’s loss to Stanford last week. He was the only Trojan wide receiver that could consistently separate and win in close quarters when he had to. Vaughns is going to be asked to be the Trojans’ true number one wide receiver this year. If he shows he’s up to the task with a true freshman quarterback at the helm he’ll be drafted early.
Jared Pinkney is a name that more people need to know. He is a thick 6’4″, 255 pounds, but he can still stretch the field with his excellent combination of speed, size, and hands. He disappeared to end the 2017 season, but so did the entire Vanderbilt roster. If he shows more consistency he could be a tight end sleeper to rise to the mid rounds of the NFL Draft.
As for the players that dropped out, it’s not like they’re bad at football. The back end of the elite at each position is going to see a lot of movement until NFL Draft Day arrives.
Jarrett Stidham is still one of the top quarterbacks who is eligible for the 2019 NFL Draft, he just simply hasn’t been asked to do much this season yet. If he learns to throw a few more routes and wins in some big moments this year on the strength of his arm Stidham could be an early first-round draft pick.
Justice Hill posted a somewhat inefficient outing against a bad South Alabama team, but he’s still fantastic. His knock will always be about his size. If Hill adds five or 10 pounds he’ll a high draft pick.
Collin Johnson is a huge person trying to play wide receiver that does so extremely well at times. However, he may stay just outside the top 10 all season unless he can string together some every-down consistency. Johnson caught four balls for 37 yards against Tulsa. That’s okay. He needs to come up bigger and destroy teams like that given his size and athleticism.
Lastly, Hunter Bryant was a Freshman All-American last year, but he’s still out with a knee injury. Hopefully, he can return to form soon and improve his NFL Draft stock. This a couple knee injuries in the past year, though. Keep an eye on his health.
Other Notable Happenings from Week 2
Kylin Hill (RB, Mississippi State), Laviska Shenault (WR, Colorado), Emanuel Hall (WR, Missouri), and Eno Benjamin (RB, Arizona State) have all moved into my top fifty rankings due to amazing starts to the 2018 season. All four could feature in the top 10 at their position by year’s end.
Bryce Love looked back to normal in Stanford’s thrashing of USC. He’s out with a minor injury this coming week, but we should still expect tons of production from him.
Jonathan Taylor dropped over 200 yards and three scores this past week against New Mexico and looks to be a prime Heisman candidate at running back. He could possibly be the number one running back next spring if he can add some receptions.
I hope you enjoyed this installment of Devy Weekly! Again, feel free to reach out to me @FF_TravisM on Twitter to chat more about college or the NFL! Good luck in all of your leagues and expect to hear from me again here soon!
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