Welcome to my first series in about four years! The goal is to spotlight a few players each week I’m watching or adding to my C2C rosters who I think are buried deep in your Fantrax player pools. But first, a little about myself and why I think I’m the perfect person to find those diamonds in the rough.
My name is Joe Memmolo Jr., and I’m a Co-Owner/Director of Technology at Dynasty Football Factory. I’m mostly known for no longer writing articles, but for building the Control Room, which should be exactly the app you’re reading right now! Now you’re asking yourself, why is this guy qualified to write about C2C diamonds in the rough? It’s a great question, and I’ve played C2C for only half a year at this point, so it’s extremely valid. But I bring a mind for data and trend analysis, plus a passion for winning. Everything I’m going to put into these articles is backed by real data and analysis that I’m using to test out a future capability for the Control Room: The Campus Control Center.
This also isn’t the first time I’ve used data analysis to back fantasy sports decision-making. I played fantasy basketball back in 2017-2019 and created macros in Excel to scrape data from ESPN and effectively build teams that became the best in specific category combinations and find the best values in the draft and free agency. To me, college football, even with all its week-to-week chaos, is no different. So with that, let’s talk about some of the players I’ve called out in the past and identify how the Control Room has helped me identify valuable players to this point.
2026 Campus Control Center Callouts
Samuel Brown, RB, Temple Owls (44% rostered)
Brown is in his fifth college season, but his first with Temple. He spent four years at Rutgers, unfortunately seeing season-ending injuries to his foot in 2022 and knee in 2024. After a season with only 16 touches, he chose Temple, only a 30-minute drive from his high school, over Eastern Michigan to try and revive his career. After sitting out the first two games of the season, Brown was immediately thrown into an even split in the backfield, matching carries with the two other backs (15 carries). However, Brown’s explosiveness was clearly a cut above the others, averaging 7.3 ypc for 109 with two touchdowns and a long of 50 yards. The other two backs averaged 3.3 and 4.4.
The Control Room identified Brown as a candidate, and I picked him up, but the next game would tell us what the coaching staff would do with one game of information. It was a dogfight the following week in a rainstorm, where each team only had 8 chances on offense, with Temple only having 3 in the second half. Brown once again dominated, taking 10 carries for 96 yards and catching one pass down the field that he broke for a 76-yard touchdown. I was ecstatic. He was electric. I’d call it a win, but unfortunately, Brown hasn’t played since, and since I’m in a Best Ball league, it’s getting close to me having to make some tough decisions about availability, but I believe the trends were accurate and the talent is there.
D.J. Crowther, RB, USF Bulls (76%)
Crowther is such an interesting case. Is he just a beneficiary of college football rules giving people five years of eligibility? Or was he just not given the real opportunity to blossom in his four years at Dartmouth? He spent his first two years on special teams, averaged over 5 ypc in 2024 in seven games, and then in 2025, he showed he could continue his strong play over a larger workload. He touched the ball 20 times per game over 10 games, averaging 4.86 ypc and 7.5 ypr. That led him to USF to close out his college career, and in the first two games he was only given eight carries each. However, in week two against Delaware St., he took those eight carries for 101 yards and three rushing touchdowns.
The Control Room knows not to chase touchdowns. It even says what is “fool’s gold,” meaning most of someone’s points come from touchdowns, in blowouts, or in games against FCS opponents. But the Control Room picked him out after Week 3 when things quietly changed. Less points than the week prior, but USF made a clear change and gave Crowther 23 carries, and he averaged 6.2 ypc with it. Since then, he’s had over 20 carries in the two following games and at least one touchdown in each of his past three, including a small uptick in targets each game. With a favorable schedule coming up, Crowther is someone I’m excited to keep watching this season.
Umari Hatcher, WR, Syracuse (87%)
Hatcher almost left Syracuse after four seasons, but decided to run it back for his fifth season. His first two years, he only appeared in five games. And the following two years, he had a minimal impact and showed no consistency in production. His best game was six catches for 85 yards back in 2023! He then missed all of 2025 recovering from an injury suffered at the end of 2024, and now he’s casually posting over seven catches per game for 105 yards and over one touchdown per game. He’s 18th in the country in catches, 11th in yards, and seventh in receiving touchdowns in all of college! It’s insanity and truly out of nowhere.
He was immediately picked out by the Control Room as someone to look at based on his 10 targets, eight catches, 147 yards, and two-touchdown performance against New Hampshire. Not the best competition, but he was clearly someone they were getting involved with this year, and they never had before. DFF’s own @DffFrankPanthro also called out Hatcher as someone he believed was the real deal after week one, so I knew I had to come correct with my FAAB bid and luckily won. He rewarded the believers with the stats I posted above, and there are only two bad matchups left on the schedule, so I expect to see Hatcher finish strong barring any injury.
Other Control Center Callouts
In addition to the three above, I’ve also added and kept the following players on my team thanks to insight from the Control Room, some better than others:
Tayven Jackson, QB, North Texas (55%): over 29 points in three of the last four games. This one was part Control Room, part me. He played for Indiana, my alma mater. He played against us in week one, and I saw some accurate balls and a good scramble ability. I kept my eye on him, waiting for the schedule to lighten up, and it sure has, and he’s come through big time.
Damari Alston, RB, Tulsa: saw an uptick to 23 carries but followed it up with the worst performance of the season. His only game under 10 fantasy points and only 11 carries.
Ethan Ervin, RB, FAU (10%): season high 21 carries for 139 and a touchdown in Week 4, but FAU had an extremely weird game in Week 5 against Texas Southern where the defense and special teams had them up 21-0 before the game even started. He had four carries, which was his only game under 13 carries on the season. A slow game at Army looms as we hope to learn more about Ervin’s season-long potential.
Connor Walendzak, RB, Toledo (61%): I really didn’t want to pick up Walendzak. He has only one game over 20 fantasy points despite having double-digit touches in every game besides week one, as well as at least one touchdown in every game this year. But he’s been so consistent at the same time thanks to those touchdowns. Above 5 ypc in every game but one, three targets in three of the past four. It shouldn’t feel as off as it does, but now that he’s on my team, maybe the floor will finally fall out!
Maguire Anderson, WR, FIU (55%): This dude is a baller. He’s perfect for most league styles since he’s put up over 21 points in three out of five games this season, with one lone stinker last week against New Mexico State, where he had a season-low three targets and one catch for 19 yards. Thankfully, last week he commanded double-digit targets for the second time this season and caught eight of them for 133 yards and two touchdowns for 34 fantasy points.
Kainoa Carvalho, WR, Hawaii (5%): This one feels sneaky, because as far as freshmen receivers go, I’m not sure how many of them are able to step on the field in their second game and demand 13 targets. The points may not be amazing right now, but he’s a freshman to keep an eye on as he’s picked up a second double-digit target game last week and is now the fifth-highest freshman WR in targets per game with 7.3.
Howard Kinchen, WR, Troy (12%): Kinchen, a JUCO transfer, committed to Troy and enrolled in January of this year and didn’t get to make his debut until he played Mizzou on September 19. He goes out and immediately demands double-digit targets as Troy stayed in a competitive game, losing 27-17, but the Control Room and I took notice. Five catches for 80 yards and a touchdown is a heck of a start. He followed it up with six catches on seven targets for 58 and a touchdown against Utah State, before falling victim to Troy’s QB and running backs rushing for over 500 yards in the option offense as they put up 55 points in a dominant performance over Southern Miss, the worst-ranked rush defense in the NCAA. So, yes, it’s not domination by any means, but it’s following the trend and identifying a spot where someone came on and showed potential. It will be interesting to watch as Troy battles four of the worst-ranked pass defenses in their next six weeks.
Kelby Valsin, WR, FAU (81%): Valsin was immediately called out by the Control Room after his week one performance against Florida, where he caught 10 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown on an outstanding 16 targets. Was it real, though? Well, it’s easy to see after scoring over 21 points in four of five games this year that he is very real. His worst performance was a six-catch, 56-yard game in Week 3, but he blew up last week with his first-ever three-touchdown performance to go along with seven catches for 126 yards. A slow game against Army this week will be an interesting test, but then the schedule is all green until Weeks 12 and 13.
Reginald Vick, WR, CSU (27%): Vick is by no means blowing anyone away with yardage or targets. And outside a three-touchdown game against Wyoming in week one, he’s only seen the end zone twice, one receiving and one rushing. However, despite that, Vick has been extremely consistent, putting up about 15 points or more in every game except one. The biggest factor in why I continue to believe in Vick is that the CSU defense is consistently allowing 40+ points! In the last three games, CSU has allowed 41, 59, and 56 points. Jackson Harper is second on the team in target share with 15% to Vick’s 18%, but Vick seems to be the more consistent play despite the fact that CSU has had games where three different quarterbacks had to take the field due to injuries.
Isaiah Myers, WR, MoSt(21%): This one is a bummer. Myers was on the Control Room list, and I prioritized another player over him (Joe Himon). This was a mistake. Myers played on October 14 and casually put up seven for 135 and two touchdowns against Kennesaw State. He’s had a touchdown in every game except one, and this is now his third game where he’s accounted for over 135 receiving yards. There are tougher opponents ahead, but they get Delaware next week, and he will be on my claim list.
Jaleel Skinner, TE, Lou (63%): I haven’t quite figured out tight ends in the college football landscape, and I don’t know if anyone has. But the Control Room called out Skinner, noticing his big-play ability at the position and his nose for the end zone. He’s the 14th overall tight end on the year, but the targets are heading in the wrong direction, and they weren’t very high to begin with. Here’s hoping that with no red opponents left on the schedule, we’ll be able to see him utilize the skills and luck he had earlier in the season because I don’t need the Control Room to tell me that one catch for -1 yard on two targets is bad…
Hunter Tipton, TE, Mem (80%): I’m glad that I’m playing best ball (for now) because every week it feels like playing with fire at this position. Luckily, I was able to snag Tipton after his Week 2 performance, where he put up nine catches on 10 targets for 229 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately, he has only seven catches in his other four games combined. Still, he’s the third-ranked tight end of the year thanks to his nose for the end zone, which includes four games with at least one, even last week when he had 0 catches. That’s right, they gave him 3 rush attempts last week, and he found the end zone in one. Seems like a good sign that they’re finding ways to get him the ball in valuable situations.
Campus Control Room Week Ahead Watch
What’s in the past is in the past, and now we need to look to this upcoming weekend!
Dominic Knicely, RB, Coastal Carolina, 16% rostered
Knicely is the player I’m most excited to watch this weekend from everyone on this list. He’s a sophomore running back for Coastal Carolina who seems to be ticking a lot of boxes lately for me. In the first three games of the season, he was limited to single-digit touches per game, but despite the limited ground usage, they were targeting him a few times per game. He’s still trailing QB Deuce Bailey in carries per game, but there was a shift in the past two weeks. Knicely went from five carries to 16 in Week 4 and then went to 25 carries last week in a six-point win against Marshall. Yes, there was a 70-yard rush last week that helped him get to 169 yards, but that will happen when you give players that much opportunity. He also caught all three targets for 42 yards. If the trend solidifies into what we saw last week and Jevon Edwards and Deuce Bailey see their workload lighten, Knicely could be a huge surprise the rest of the season.
Dominic Kelley, RB, Nevada, 25% rostered
Another sophomore running back on this list, Kelley was someone I was surprised to see dropped two weeks ago, but his 25% rostered means it’s more likely he’s on someone’s bench than not. Kelley was an easy claim identified by the Control Room, as he has seen double-digit carries in every game this season, has put up double-digit points in every game this season, and most recently saw a season-high 22 carries last week against UTEP. His YPC has been consistently under five this season, so without touchdowns, don’t expect anything that exciting, but Nevada is running the ball 60% of the time this season, so there should be plenty of opportunities. Fantrax has two top-5 run defenses on the schedule, including second overall NDSU this week, so it will be interesting to see how Kelley performs against non-UTEP teams.
Josiah Freeman, WR, Fresno State, 26% rostered
Freeman has been the clear leader in the Fresno State clubhouse this year, having earned a 28% target share, including back-to-back games with 10 targets. He doesn’t have the best catch rate, and he trails Ezekiel Avit on his team in fantasy points per target (1.41 vs 2.38), so that’s something to certainly keep an eye on as the season progresses and Avit is showing off his big-play ability. However, as of now, Freeman has been consistent. He’s put up double-digit fantasy points in every game this year, never had fewer than seven targets, never had less than 60 yards in a game, and the schedule is green, green, green to end the season. There’s some hesitation here with Avit coming on, but there could be room for both; we’ll just have to wait and see.
Thanks for making it to the end of this novel! I don’t have a Twitter, but if you ever wanna talk shop, catch me in the DFF Discord! All you have to do is be an annual subscriber, and you get access to the Control Room, my articles, and the Data Factory, which enables you to visualize any of the data I called out in the article today! Catch you in the next one!
