Travis May discusses devy fantasy football leagues in his weekly series for FantasyPros.
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Welcome back to Week 12 of Devy Weekly!
If you missed the 11th 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 twelve of the college football season!
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Quarterback
- Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama
- Trevor Lawrence, Clemson
- Justin Herbert, Oregon
- Will Grier, West Virginia
- Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State
Running Backs
- D’Andre Swift, Georgia
- Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
- Travis Etienne, Clemson
- David Montgomery, Iowa State
- Eno Benjamin, Arizona State
- Darrell Henderson, Memphis
- A.J. Dillon, Boston College
- Trayveon Williams, Texas A&M
- Damien Harris, Alabama
- J.K. Dobbins, Ohio State
Wide Receivers
- A.J. Brown, Ole Miss
- Bryan Edwards, South Carolina
- N’Keal Harry, Arizona State
- Kelvin Harmon, North Carolina State
- Jerry Jeudy, Alabama
- Laviska Shenault, Colorado
- Dekaylin Metcalf, Ole Miss
- CeeDee Lamb, Oklahoma
- Rondale Moore, Purdue
- Jalen Reagor, TCU
Tight Ends
- Noah Fant, Iowa
- Kaden Smith, Stanford
- Caleb Wilson, UCLA
- Jace Sternberger, Texas A&M
- Albert Okwuegbunam, Missouri
What Changed?
If you’re comparing to last week you may notice a couple new faces that joined or rejoined the lists.
Rondale Moore (WR, Purdue) and Jace Sternberger (TE, Texas A&M) joined the top tier in their positional rankings. Tee Higgins (WR, Clemson) and Irv Smith Jr. (TE, Alabama) dropped out. Let’s talk about the how and why.
It’s time we stop delaying the proclamation of the inevitable. Rondale Moore is a top-10 devy fantasy football wide receiver. Moore has the second-most receptions in the entire country this year as a true freshman. He’s just shy of 2,000 all-purpose yards thanks to his 1,023 yards receiving, 190 rushing, 599 kick return, and 82 via punt returns. Oh yeah, and then he also has 11 total touchdowns to go with all of those yards. The closest true freshman to Moore in receiving yards is Amon-Ra St. Brown for USC with 656 yards.
Today’s NFL is designed to help smaller quick twitch guys like Tyreek Hill and Rondale Moore succeed. I mention those two in the same breath because that’s truly Moore’s ceiling in the pros. Step one: acquire Rondale Moore. Step two: score all the fantasy points.
The 2019 NFL Draft has a real shot at half a dozen tight ends in the first three rounds. That’s how good the tight ends have looked this year. And none have been much more impressive than Jace Sternberger. He’s grabbed 42 receptions for 729 yards and eight touchdowns in his first season with the Texas A&M Aggies. He had a slow start to his collegiate production wasting away on Kansas’ football team for a couple years. But since then Sternberger has put together a couple productive seasons, one playing JUCO, another dominating the SEC. At 6’4, 250 pounds Sternberger uses his size well, but can win with speed and route running too. Get your draft picks ready.
Tee Higgins (like many elite players featured in this series) didn’t really do anything to drop out of the top-10 wide receivers. Rondale Moore is simply too good to ignore. Higgins will most likely reclaim a spot in the top-10 wide receivers after the impressive 2019 class is playing on Sundays. Higgins has the ideal WR1 frame, ridiculous hops, some speed, and decent play strength. He’ll continue to grow with Trevor Lawrence and eventually be an early NFL Draft pick.
Like Higgins, Irv Smith Jr. didn’t really do much to demote himself from the elite tight end tier. He’ll be an early draft pick as well. Sternberger just gets the edge for now. Irv Smith Jr. can still beat some of the top safeties in the country in man-to-man situations. He’s faster than you think and boasts incredible pro-ready awareness. The mental side of the tight end position is one of the most underrated truths of football and Smith seems to have that. Don’t forget this guy even if he isn’t on some self-important fantasy football writer’s list.
Other Notable Happenings from Week 11
Anthony McFarland just about broke college football this past weekend in Maryland’s near victory over Ohio State. With senior teammate Ty Johnson missing time due to injury, McFarland has taken advantage. He dropped 298 rushing yards and two scores on Ohio State, and destroyed Indiana’s defense on 29 carries for 210 yards just the week before. McFarland may be a little small, but don’t let that fool you. The kid can ball.
A.J. Brown added another 212 yards to his career receiving production. Water is still wet. Brown is one of the best route runners and dominating producers in the sport. Look for his name early on next spring’s NFL draft board.
Cam Akers clearly took offense to dropping from the top 10. Akers posted 110 rushing yards for Florida State on just 14 carries in a narrow victory over Boston College. He may creep back into good graces with his devy fantasy football fans here soon.
Even though he’s just outside the top-five tight ends in the article, Jared Pinkney (TE, Vanderbilt), has indicated that he is most likely headed to the NFL Draft. He should be considered a top prospect already, but just grabbed another six receptions for 85 yards last week against Ole Miss. It was his fifth game with at least 85 yards on the season.
I hope you have enjoyed the Devy Weekly series this year! It’s been a blast to write this season. But sadly, all good things must come to an end (for now). This will be the final edition of 2018, but look for more from me in the future! 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 more from me in the future!
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