Devy Fantasy Football Rankings & Analysis: Week 3

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 3 of Devy Weekly! If you missed the second 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 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
Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
Cam Akers, Florida State
David Montgomery, Iowa State
Bryce Love, Stanford
J.K. Dobbins, Ohio State
Damien Harris, Alabama
A.J. Dillon, Boston College
Travis Etienne, Clemson
Rodney Anderson, Oklahoma

Wide Receivers

A.J. Brown, Ole Miss
Bryan Edwards, South Carolina
Kelvin Harmon, North Carolina State
N’Keal Harry, Arizona State
Dekaylin Metcalf, Ole Miss
CeeDee Lamb, Oklahoma
Jhamon Ausbon, Texas A&M
Jalen Reagor, TCU
Jerry Jeudy, Alabama
Ahmmon Richards, Miami

Tight Ends

Noah Fant, Iowa
Albert Okwuegbunam, Missouri
Kaden Smith, Stanford
Caleb Wilson, UCLA
Jared Pinkney, Vanderbilt

What Changed?

If you’re comparing to last week, you may notice a couple new faces that joined or rejoined the lists. Travis Etienne (RB, Clemson) and Jerry Jeudy (WR, Alabama) joined the top ranks at their position. But that also means a couple players had to drop out of the top tier. This week two USC players were both demoted. Stephen Carr and Tyler Vaughns both struggled this past week and are going to watch other playmakers pass them by if they aren’t careful. Let’s talk about the how and why.

Travis Etienne has already been among many analysts’ top-10 devy (college) running backs since his mid-season explosion in 2017. I was a little more apprehensive at first, but there’s no denying his speed and overall athleticism any longer. Plus, the running backs ranked in front of him didn’t do much this past weekend. Etienne dropped 162 yards on the ground this past weekend is averaging 7.7 yards per carry to start the season. He isn’t draft eligible until 2020, but Etienne should be one of the first running backs off the board when he does enter the NFL Draft.

Jerry Jeudy has begun to separate himself from the impressive stable of wide receivers in Alabama. Last season it was the “Calvin Ridley Show” as he dominated the receiving game. No other wide receiver saw more than 14 receptions on the season. Jeudy probably won’t dominate the offense the way Ridley did, but he’s off to a ridiculous start and looks to have a special chemistry with Tua Tagovailoa. Jeudy has six touchdowns through three games on just 11 receptions thus far. His explosion off the line, defensive back stacking, and strength throughout his routes are going to be a lot of fun to watch over the next two seasons. Jeudy is also not draft eligible until 2020, but that leaves him plenty of time to continue rising through the devy ranks.

As I always mention, just because these next two players dropped out of the top 10 doesn’t mean they aren’t incredible and will both most definitely get drafted one day.

Stephen Carr has been a disappointment to kick off 2018. He looked better than Ronald Jones II at times in 2017, and it was assumed he would steal the show this year out of the backfield for USC. Sadly, the coaches at USC want to feed the ball to the uninspiring Aca’Cedric Ware or Vava Malepeai some too. USC as a whole has been incredibly inconsistent to start the season, but that may have something to do with their freshman quarterback J.T. Daniels still figuring things out. Carr has a feature build, excellent receiving ability, and explosion to hit a home run at any time. He’ll continue to develop his craft, but for now, Carr’s going to take a back seat in the devy rankings to some players doing a bit more with their touches.

Tyler Vaughns has been a popular name in this weekly piece so far. He’s been hot and cold. Again, as I stated earlier, USC’s freshman quarterback is still finding his rhythm. That will undoubtedly contribute to Vaughns’ consistency this season.

However, Vaughns himself needs to show that he can carry that offense and continue developing his underneath routes. He’s a fantastic wide receiver winning down the sidelines, but there’s more to the position than just that. If he continues to show that he can create separation in the intermediate game and over the middle, Vaughns could find himself back in the top-10 wide receivers here soon.

Other Notable Happenings from Week 2

Several of the top tight ends continue to solidify their status as elite options at the position. Noah Fant grabbed another five passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. Okwuegbunam (Aquaman) logged five more receptions and a touchdown against Purdue. Kaden Smith continues to function as the lead receiving option for Stanford. And Jared Pinkney dropped 111 yards and a score on Notre Dame. This top five may pull away from the crowd.

Several wide receivers are making a push to enter the top-10 at the position. Hakeem Butler bullied his way to 174 yards and two touchdowns against fifth-ranked Oklahoma this past weekend. Amon-Ra St. Brown put together another impressive performance with 167 receiving yards in USC’s loss to Texas. Plus Laviska Shenault (Colorado), J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (Stanford), Denzel Mims (Baylor), and a few others are definitely putting in work too.

The top running backs had a pretty quiet week overall, but that allowed Darrell Henderson (Memphis), Darius Anderson (TCU), and Ty Chandler (Tennessee) to creep up the ranks. Expect at least one of these guys to possibly creep into the top 10 by season’s end.

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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