College Fantasy
@PaulRyan15 compiles all of DFF’s Week 4 content in this edition of The Assembly Line, your Dynasty Fantasy Football newsletter.
The Assembly Line, Vol. 8: Dynasty Football Factory Newsletter Read More »
We are nearing the halfway point of the college football season (I can’t believe I am already saying this), which means that it is time to decide whether or not a player’s ascension or descent is real. In other words, are the in-game results from the past few weeks believable? The most difficult thing about devy player evaluation is that it is easy to buy in heavily to a player without accepting the possibility that the ceiling could fall out at any point. Conversely, it is equally as easy to give up on a player that is struggling to make headlines when we really should be holding onto them for the long haul. We talk often at DFF about the volatility of college players’ value and why it is important to maintain a level head without being too emotional about your devy rosters one way or the other. It is my hope that this series can provide actionable information and advice on what to do with these players moving forward. That being said, it’s time to strap in for the latest edition of The Devy Notebook.
Mason Heintschel unfortunately suffered a torn ACL this weekend. This puts him out for the remainder of the 2026 college football season, but shouldn’t change anything about his overall stock. He has shown us plenty in the form of his natural arm talent to be able to feel good about where he stands. I also expect that he could find himself in the transfer portal on the move to a big-name college football program. This likely provides ample opportunity in C2C leagues to buy him from contending teams who will be frantically searching for a serviceable replacement.
The sky is officially falling on Bryce Underwood, and I would be shocked if he is still a Wolverine heading into next season. After a loss to Minnesota this weekend, it feels like a foregone conclusion that they will lose 6+ games this season. This will provide the new coaching staff ample opportunity to test what they have in freshman quarterback, Tommy Carr. Underwood was 10/21 for a measly 101 yards and 2 interceptions this weekend. It’s time to cut bait and move him for whatever we can. I would be interested in trying to move off of Underwood for a fringe-devy QB that has shown some promise, such as Austin Simmons or Jayden Maiava
Equally as concerning in the Michigan offense is Savion Hiter. The offense has been pathetic, and I never expect freshmen to take college football by storm (if they do, great), but what I am looking for is the occasional special play; something that reminds me why I was so bought into the player in the first place. Hiter has carried the ball 46 times this season, and his longest carry is 15 yards. He is averaging 3.2 yards per carry this season, and it’s hard to imagine that number improving. There has been almost nothing on tape that can be flagged as special to this point. This doesn’t mean that I am petitioning to drop him in my rankings. In fact, I still have him as the second running back in my freshman rankings and a top 5 back in all formats. Selling him now would be asinine, but my antenna is up.
Anthony Evans is not being talked about enough as a 2027 wide receiver prospect. He has seen elite usage this season and has a documented 10.27 100-yard dash speed. He makes big plays every single week and is always open at every level of the field. He finished this game with 12 catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns.
The Devy Notebook 2026: Volume 6 Read More »
By Week 6, we have enough numbers to start trusting what these players are showing us. I am keeping this week simple and letting the production help make the decisions.
Quarterbacks
Starts
Ashton Daniels, Florida State at Louisville
Daniels has 1,111 passing yards and 6 passing touchdowns, but the biggest number for our lineups is what he has done on the ground. He has 278 rushing yards and 9 rushing touchdowns through 5 games, including 136 yards and 5 touchdowns last week. That rushing production is too valuable for me to sit.
Aidan Chiles, Northwestern vs. Ball State
Chiles has thrown for 900 yards and 6 touchdowns without an interception while adding 5 rushing touchdowns. Ball State is allowing 37.8 points per game, so this is a spot where I am comfortable staying with a quarterback who has already given us 11 total touchdowns in 4 games.
Sits
Anthony Colandrea, Nebraska vs. Indiana
Colandrea has been productive with 1,142 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns, 249 rushing yards, and 2 more touchdowns on the ground. The problem this week is Indiana, which is allowing only 173.4 passing yards, 64.4 rushing yards, and 10.8 points per game. Those numbers are enough for me to look somewhere else if I have another option.
George MacIntyre, Tennessee at Arkansas
MacIntyre completed 8 of 10 passes for 86 yards after coming into the Auburn game last week. I want to see a full game and if he is truly the starter before putting him into my lineup.
C2C Start/Sit: Week 6 Read More »
@DffFrankPanthro covers the top waiver options in C2C following Week 3 of college football. Find out where to place your FAAB in this FREE article!
C2C Waiver Report: Post Week 5 Read More »
Week 5 gave us a little bit of everything. Some players helped their C2C value, some took a step back, and a few box scores needed a closer look before we overreacted.
For me, the goal stays the same. What can this player give us on the campus side now, and did anything happen that should change how we value him long term?
Week 5 Highlights
Jesse Legree Keeps Dominating
Legree caught 5 passes for 156 yards and 3 touchdowns in Oregon State’s 56 to 26 win over Colorado State. He scored from 50, 28, and 52 yards and now has five straight 100-yard games with 9 touchdowns this season.
Braden Atkinson Was Nearly Perfect
Atkinson completed 30 of 34 passes for 413 yards, 5 touchdowns, and no interceptions. He has exceeded 300 yards in all five games and deserves much more C2C attention.
Harlem Berry Finally Gets His Opportunity
Berry carried 15 times for 125 yards and 1 touchdown against McNeese. His 46-yard run helped the total, but without it he still had 14 carries for 79 yards. It was his first career 100-yard game and strengthened his case to be LSU’s RB2.
Dilin Jones was not injured. He finished with 16 carries for 79 yards and 1 touchdown plus 2 receptions for 5 yards.
Corey Barber Jr. Introduces Himself
The LSU true freshman caught 7 passes for 83 yards and his first 2 career touchdowns.
Keelon Russell Shines
Russell completed 16 of 22 passes for 285 yards and 3 touchdowns while adding 16 rushing yards and another touchdown.
Kamario Taylor Takes a Step Back
Taylor threw for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns, but he also committed 3 turnovers, took 5 sacks, and left injured.
Bryce Underwood Hits Another Wall
Underwood completed 10 of 21 passes for 101 yards with 2 interceptions and lost a fumble against Minnesota. The long-term talent remains, but his campus value and confidence are falling.
DeSean Bishop Takes Over
Bishop carried 34 times for 220 yards and 3 touchdowns against Auburn. Even without his 44-yard touchdown, he produced 176 yards on 33 carries.
Faizon Brandon Struggles
Brandon completed 3 of 8 passes for zero yards with an interception before being replaced. Ouch!
Week 5 College Football Highlights and Injury Report Read More »
Welcome back for another edition of Devy Players of the Week! As we inch closer to the midway point of the regular season, we’re getting a clearer picture of who will hit our dynasty rosters and who lacks the tools to hack it on Sundays. Let’s take a look at which prospects stood out in Week 5.
Quarterback
Austin Simmons (QB – Missouri)
23-30, 340 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs
3 attempts, 3 yards
Several other quarterbacks had better box scores this weekend, but I’d be remiss to leave out Austin Simmons in this week’s edition after the upset he just pulled off. Despite being 5.5-point dogs to the 8th-ranked Florida Gators, Simmons led his Tigers to a dominant 45-17 win and played some truly polished football.
Simmons showed off his arm talent in this matchup, zipping tight spirals with pinpoint accuracy all afternoon. He’s playing some of the best football in the country and hasn’t thrown a single interception in five games. Simmons is up to my devy QB22 overall. If he keeps this up, he may just declare in 2027 and go in Round 1 of the NFL Draft. The one downside is that Simmons lacks any rushing upside.
CJ Carr (QB – Notre Dame)
21-29, 234 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs
5 attempts, 14 yards, 1 TD
CJ Carr continues to silence the doubters (including myself), playing mistake-free football and leading the Irish with confidence every week. I maintain the stance that Carr doesn’t have a very strong arm, but he’s highly accurate and has some of the best touch in the country. His superpower is his processing ability, both pre-snap and post-snap. Being able to diagnose a defense quickly is arguably more important than any physical tools when finding success as an NFL quarterback.
Carr put together another excellent stat line in Notre Dame’s win over UNC, throwing for four touchdowns and rushing for one. He’s another guy who won’t get you much fantasy production on the ground, so his ceiling is relatively capped.
Running Back
DeSean Bishop (RB – Tennessee)
34 attempts, 220 yards, 3 TDs
Bishop accounted for all of Tennessee’s touchdowns in their 24-14 win over Auburn this weekend, improving to 4-1 on the season. Bishop’s competence as a rusher has been integral in taking some pressure off the passing game, which has been up and down all year. The Vols benched their true freshman quarterback, Faizon Brandon, midgame, relying solely on the run game to get them the dub.
Bishop saw 34 attempts this weekend, rushing for 220 yards and three touchdowns. Despite the excellent numbers, I do have some hesitation investing in any Tennessee players from a devy perspective. It tends to be an offensive system that produces plenty of college fantasy points, but doesn’t necessarily develop its players for the next level.
Devy Players of the Week: Week 5 Read More »
Check out all the recent DFF content from the past week in this edition of The Assembly Line, your go-to dynasty newsletter.
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By Week 5, I feel like we finally have enough information to stop guessing so much. We have an idea of who is producing on a week-to-week basis and who is giving us a big game here and there. If you have been following my waiver pickups, this is the hard part. Now we have to figure out how to plug those productive players into our roster spots based on our league settings and matchups. This is where I can help with some of those tougher decisions.
Some players have earned enough trust that I am not sitting them just because the matchup gets tougher. Other players are going to depend much more on their role, opportunity, and who they are facing that week. That is what we are looking at in Week 5. As always, every C2C league is different. Your scoring, lineup requirements, and roster can change a close decision.
Let’s get into it.
Quarterbacks
Starts
Gio Lopez, Wake Forest vs. Stanford
I am not letting 1 bad week scare me away from Lopez. Through 4 games, he has thrown for 1,112 yards, 8 touchdowns, and only 1 interception. He is also averaging 9 yards per attempt, so he has not needed a crazy amount of passes every week to give us production.
Last week was his worst game of the season, and I know that can make us second-guess putting him back into our lineup. I am going the other way. Stanford has allowed at least 27 points in every game, and I trust what Lopez has shown us through 4 games more than I am worried about 1 bad Saturday.
Keelon Russell, Alabama at Mississippi State
Keelon Russell is starting to look like someone I can’t leave out of my lineup each week. He has thrown for 1,129 yards and 8 touchdowns while adding 168 rushing yards and 3 more touchdowns on the ground. What I like most is that he is not dependent on one part of the offense. If the passing production slows down, he can still get us points with his legs.
We are also starting to see him do it against better competition. That matters because we do not want to fall into the trap of trusting numbers that only came against easier opponents. Mississippi State also has enough offense to keep Alabama from shutting things down too early, which could help keep Russell involved and build up our points.
Sits
Byrum Brown, Auburn at Tennessee
Brown is always going to make this decision difficult because of what he can do with his legs. That rushing ability gives him a way to save a fantasy day even when the passing production is not there. The problem is the passing game has been too inconsistent for me.
Brown threw 3 interceptions against Baylor and has thrown 2 more since. He also finished with only 140 passing yards against Vanderbilt. Now he has to go on the road to Tennessee. The rushing upside is what makes me think about it, but I do not trust the passing side enough this week. Sometimes the rushing floor is not enough to make up for everything else we are worried about.
Isaac Wilson, Colorado vs. Texas Tech
Colorado is expected to turn to Wilson over Julian Lewis at quarterback. That makes Wilson interesting. It does not automatically make him someone we need to put into our lineup. We still have to see what this offense looks like with Wilson running it.
How much will Colorado use his legs? How aggressive will they let him be throwing the ball? Does the quarterback change actually make the offense better? Those are all questions we do not have answers to yet. I would rather watch Wilson’s first start and learn from it than put him into my lineup and hope we guessed correctly.
C2C Start/Sit: Week 5 Read More »
The first four weeks of the season in college football typically give us a glimpse into which freshmen are earning meaningful playing time. This week marked the beginning of conference play, which means we get to see if the players who have been crushing it to begin the year can continue their success against more difficult competition. Without further ado, dive into Volume 5 of The Devy Notebook.
A sleeper tight end made his mark against the reigning national champions. Luke Dehnicke transferred up from the G6 to Northwestern for his sophomore season and was arguably the best player on the field for either team this weekend. He is 6 ‘6 ” 240 lb. tight end with a strong athletic profile. He had 7 grabs for 140 yards in this one after registering 1,119 yards and 14 touchdowns for Minnesota Duluth last year. If he can string together more solid starts against similarly tough Big Ten defenses, his stock could soar.
I am starting to believe that Wake Forest wide receiver Carlos Hernandez could find himself getting drafted in the 2027 class. Every season there is a player who has an extremely strong production profile, and Hernandez is making the case to be this year’s version. He caught 9 balls for 194 yards and one touchdown in a win over a ranked Louisville team to crush their playoff aspirations. Coming into this week, he was tied with Jeremiah Smith for the most explosive plays in college football. He is tough and twitchy with the ball in his hands, forcing 12 missed tackles this year (first in the ACC). He also has an outstanding 4.34 YPRR.
We better hear some news soon that Isaac Brown has a nagging injury. He has very clearly been the second-best running back for Louisville this season and has not shown any of the explosiveness that we’ve seen in prior seasons. He rushed for only 3.7 ypc again this week. As it stands, I would strongly consider drafting Keyjuan Brown over Isaac Brown if faced with the decision.
We have seen nothing to inspire any level of confidence in Quinten Joyner through four games. His poor performances were capped off this weekend with 8 carries for 12 yards (1.5 yards per carry). He is still technically returning from a lower limb injury that kept him out of the 2025 season, and I suspect he will need next season to rehab his stock as well.
JJ Buchanan continued his consistent start to the 2026 season, totaling 130 yards and 2 touchdowns in a one-point loss to Iowa this weekend. He began his career as a tight end with Utah, but has already matched his production from last year in only four games. I would be surprised if his 6’4” frame transitions well at the position in the NFL, but I question if he wouldn’t consider a change back to tight end to be a matchup nightmare for an NFL offense. He also finds himself in the top 5 in all of college football for receiving yards per team pass attempt, which is one of the more predictive metrics for future fantasy success.
The Devy Notebook 2026: Volume 5 Read More »
Week 4 gave us exactly what I want when I am working the C2C waiver wire. We have changing workloads, players starting to separate themselves, and a few situations where we have a chance to get there before everybody else does. At this point in the season, I am not interested in chasing somebody because he had one big Saturday. I want to know what changed. Did the touches increase? Is the player earning a bigger role? Are we seeing multiple weeks of production instead of one big play?
That is where we can find value before the rest of our league catches up. The approach stays the same every week. Win the campus side first. Then I am looking at C2C appreciation, youth, and ceiling.
Every recommendation assumes a $100 C2C FAAB budget.
Overall Waiver Order
Lee Beebe Jr., RB, Indiana: Add at 22 to 30 percent
Jeffrey Overton Jr., RB, Virginia Tech: Add at 16 to 22 percent
Cole Tabb, RB, Cincinnati: Add at 14 to 20 percent
Cayden Lee, WR, Missouri: Add at 12 to 18 percent
Ty Clark III, RB, Wake Forest: Add at 10 to 15 percent
Caden High, WR, Stanford: Add at 7 to 11 percent
Jacob Harris, TE, Wisconsin: Add at 5 to 9 percent
Luke Dehnicke, TE, Northwestern: Add at 4 to 8 percent
Quarterbacks
No quarterback makes my waiver list again this week. There are quarterbacks who can help in traditional CFF formats, but I am not going to force somebody into this article just because we need a quarterback section. None of the available options gave me enough of a combination of immediate campus production and C2C upside to put him ahead of the players on this week’s board.
That is part of Always Be Scouting too. Sometimes identifying what not to chase is just as important as finding the next waiver addition. We have already covered quarterbacks who fit what we are trying to do, and I am not going to recycle names just because they had another productive Saturday.
Running Backs
Lee Beebe Jr., Indiana
Beebe is my Final Lock this week. Luigi talked about him on our Devy Degens podcast this week. Turbo Richard left Indiana’s game against Northwestern after nine carries for 68 yards, and Beebe took advantage of the increased opportunity by finishing with 24 carries for 203 yards and 1 touchdown. The 203 yards are going to get everyone’s attention, but the 24 carries are what really got mine. We are not talking about a player who received a few touches and broke one long run. Indiana put the ball in Beebe’s hands 24 times, and he showed what he could do with the opportunity.
The Richard injury obviously matters, especially because Indiana was already dealing with Khobie Martin being unavailable. I am not going to pretend we know exactly how long Richard will be out, and I am not calling Beebe Indiana’s locked-in workhorse for the rest of the season. I also do not need Richard to be ruled out for the next month to want Beebe. We just saw what the workload can look like when the opportunity opens up, and I want Beebe on my roster while we find out what happens next. Nice shoutout, Luigi.
My call: Spend 22 to 30 percent. Beebe is my No. 1 waiver claim and Final Lock this week.
C2C Waiver Report: Post Week 4 Read More »
Week 4 gave us a little bit of everything. We had a former five-star quarterback come off the bench and remind everybody why he was such a big recruiting name. We had a young SEC quarterback continue to force his way onto the radar. We had running backs handle massive workloads, veteran transfers make explosive plays and a pair of highly valued quarterbacks survive games where their offensive lines did them very few favors.
But this article is not about chasing box scores. Every week I want to figure out what actually matters for C2C. Did a player’s value change? Did his role change? Was the production sustainable, or did one huge play make the final stat line look better than the performance really was? Then, as always, we will finish with the injuries we need to monitor going into next week.
Oregon vs. USC
Dylan Raiola, QB, Oregon
Dylan Raiola came off the bench after Dante Moore left the game and completed 19 of 25 passes for 289 yards, 11.6 yards per attempt, two passing touchdowns and no interceptions. He was not sacked, did not record a rushing attempt or fumble, and led Oregon to a 41 to 27 win after Moore left the game.
Raiola’s 62-yard completion to Dierre Hill Jr. came early in the third quarter with Oregon leading 13 to 10. His 34-yard completion to Jamari Johnson came later with Oregon ahead 20 to 17. Those two plays supplied 96 yards, or 33.2 percent of Raiola’s production. Remove them, and he was still 17 of 23 for 193 yards, 8.4 yards per attempt, with both touchdowns.
That was legit. The former five-star recruit entered with 4,819 career passing yards and 31 touchdowns from his two seasons at Nebraska, so we are not pretending this came from nowhere. What changed is the landing spot and the possibility that Oregon can keep its offense alive without Moore. I’m moving Raiola back onto the active C2C board, but the immediate value depends heavily on Moore’s health and Oregon’s quarterback decision.
Dante Moore, QB, Oregon
Moore completed 8 of 10 passes for 77 yards, 7.7 yards per attempt, with no touchdowns or interceptions before leaving. He was not sacked, added one carry for 10 yards, and did not fumble. His 37-yard completion supplied 48.1 percent of his passing yards. Without it, he was 7 of 9 for 40 yards and 4.4 yards per attempt.
The injury is the story here, not the box score, and this is a hold until we know more. There is no reason to make a C2C valuation move based on an incomplete game and an unresolved injury, especially when we still do not know how long Moore could be out or what Oregon plans to do at quarterback.
C2C takeaway: Raiola is back on the active board. Moore is a hold until we have more information.
Mississippi State vs. Missouri
Kamario Taylor, QB, Mississippi State
Kamario Taylor completed 27 of 38 passes for 360 yards, 9.5 yards per attempt, three passing touchdowns and one interception in Mississippi State’s 31 to 24 win. He took four sacks and added 10 carries for 7 yards with no rushing touchdowns or fumbles.
His 43-yard touchdown to Sanfrisco Magee came in a scoreless first quarter. The 48-yard completion to Anthony Evans III came with 4:54 remaining and the game tied at 24, setting up the winning touchdown. Those plays supplied 91 yards. Without them, Taylor was still 25 of 36 for 269 yards, 7.5 yards per attempt, and two touchdowns.
This kid is forcing us to pay attention. Taylor is a 6-foot-4, 230-pound sophomore who threw only 77 passes last season. Now he has delivered a 360-yard performance and a fourth-quarter answer against an SEC defense. That combination of youth, frame, and production was enough for me to move Taylor all the way to QB1 in my C2C rankings this week.
The failure condition is still pressure. Four sacks and the interception remind us that he is developing, but this was more than empty production. At this point, I’m not just watching Kamario Taylor anymore. I’m treating him like one of the most valuable quarterbacks on the campus side.
Fluff Bothwell, RB, Mississippi State
Fluff Bothwell carried 25 times for 122 yards, 4.9 yards per carry, with a long of 18 and one rushing touchdown. He caught 6 of 7 targets for 55 yards and another touchdown. That gave him 31 touches, 177 scrimmage yards, two total touchdowns, and no fumbles.
There was no 50-yard run inflating this line. Bothwell earned everything across a massive workload. He already had consecutive productive seasons entering this year, but seven targets are the important development. If that receiving work sticks, he becomes more than a campus hammer and his C2C profile becomes more interesting because that gives us another avenue for production. I’m moving him up modestly and buying before everybody decides one Saturday made him a guaranteed NFL feature back.
C2C takeaway: Taylor made the biggest move of the week for me and is now my QB1 in C2C. Bothwell gets a bump, especially if the receiving work continues.
Week 4 College Football Highlights and Injury Report Read More »
Week 4 of college football is officially in the books! Hopefully your rostered devy players have been moving up DFF’s consensus Big Boards and not down. There’s a lot of movement in these early weeks of the season, as players firmly establish roles in their offense and begin to stand out among the rest. With that, let’s take a look at this week’s top performances!
Quarterback
Keelon Russell (QB – Alabama)
21-27, 365 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs
6 attempts, 46 yards, 1 TD
Could Alabama make a run at the National Championship this year? With Keelon Russell under center, I wouldn’t count them out. Russell lands on my DPTOW list for the second consecutive week as the Crimson Tide DISMANTLED this South Carolina Gamecock defense, winning 49-18.
Russell accounted for over 400 yards of offense and five total touchdowns in this one, once again looking calm and polished in the pocket throughout. Russell has moved up to my devy QB1 overall, but he has some difficult challenges ahead, to say the least. Bama’s next four games: Mississippi State, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and LSU. If he can make it through this stretch unscathed, we may be looking at the 1.01 in 2028 dynasty rookie drafts.
Julian Sayin (QB – Ohio State)
27-36, 367 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs
9 attempts, 27 yards, 1 TD
Julian Sayin and the Buckeyes took care of business against the Illini this weekend, winning by a score of 42-19. Sayin put up an identical stat line to Russell, posting nearly 400 yards of offense and five touchdowns of his own. Through four games this year, Sayin has racked up over 1,200 yards and 12 total touchdowns with just one interception.
Resident Buckeye fan and DFF analyst @Evan_Kerr_ has pointed out that Sayin may not have an NFL arm, frequently underthrowing his receivers deep. Luckily, he has arguably the best receiver in college football history on his team, so he gets bailed out frequently. I’m not sold on Sayin as a dynasty asset yet, but as with any quarterback, we’ll have to see what kind of draft capital and landing spot he gets. Even if he gets a starting job, his fantasy ceiling is capped with his lack of rushing upside.
Devy Players of the Week – Week 4 Read More »
The 2027 NFL Draft class is shaping up to be an excellent, albeit unconventional, group of prospects, headlined by a couple of zero-star recruits, a three-star, an elite legacy, and a Midwest blue-chipper.
As college football enters week 4, I am planting my flag with my current top five signal-callers – with the clear understanding that this board remains fluid and several rising prospects are still within striking distance.
Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss – “The Magician”
Operating with the elusive agility of an escape artist, this former zero-star recruit routinely pulls highlight-reel plays out of thin air. Reminiscent of Caleb Williams, Chambliss’ elite ability to manipulate defensive spacing and orchestrate out-of-structure chaos has made him the most lethal drive-and-dish point guard in college football. The beautiful thing? He can operate on time and in rhythm too. This combination and elite belief in himself make him the most dangerous quarterback in the country when the game hangs in the balance; to say he’s capable of last-minute magic is an understatement.
However, while he possesses tremendous physical gifts, a shorter physical build right at the 6-foot threshold will give traditional front offices pause. Furthermore, because he fought for a sixth year of eligibility, Chambliss will be 25 years old in week 1 of the 2027 NFL season, forcing NFL decision-makers to evaluate him as an older prospect.
Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State – “The Gun-Slinger”
Another phenomenal zero-star walk-on story, Mestemaker defies developmental trajectories, relying instead on a talented, quick-trigger arm that stylistically conjures images of Phillip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers. He plays with a fearless bravado, constantly attacking tight intermediate windows and driving the ball deep downfield with supreme confidence.
Mestemaker’s biggest flaw is a lack of historical reps and playing in a purely collegiate system. The quarterback famously rarely played in high school and had to walk on to the North Texas program just to earn a chance to play college football. Furthermore, the Cowboys’ prolific air-raid system, led by head coach Eric Morris, is viewed as a college-specific scheme whose passing philosophies are only utilized in snippets at the professional level.
Rewriting the Devy QB Board: Unconventional Stars Lead the 2027 Class Read More »
Catch up on all the latest fantasy football news and analysis at Dynasty Football Factory with this week’s edition of The Assembly Line!
The Assembly Line, Vol. 6: Dynasty Football Factory Newsletter Read More »
Welcome back to the fourth edition of the Devy Notebook 2026. We are inching closer to conference play, which will be the true test for most devy players that we care about, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t some notes from this weekend’s games. Let’s see who made an impression this week.
Darian Mensah’s accuracy was truly on display this week. He completed 30/34 passes for 220 yards and 3 touchdowns. He will be one of the most difficult evaluations this season because only one defense will truly test Miami before the playoffs, and it won’t happen until November 7th against Notre Dame. If you have been following along with the Devy Notebook since its inception, you know that we have been on Darian Mensah since his time at Duke. It seems more and more likely that our deep shot from a couple of years ago becomes a first-round pick next spring.
The world was touting Jalen Lott. The devy community has been waiting for Gatlin Bair. But absolutely no one was expecting Oregon freshman Messiah Hampton to be a budding star. He caught 6 balls for 71 yards and two touchdowns this weekend against Portland State, which was 3 more catches and 46 more yards than Lott and Bair combined. It’s hard to make any recommendations off of one game against lower competition, but any freshman getting this type of playing time for a top-tier team should be stashed.
Darius Taylor did not play this week, and yet again he finds himself frequently on the injury report. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: if your body cannot hold up against college competition, how can we ever expect it to hold up against the athletes in the NFL? If you own any Taylor shares, my best advice is to get out while you still can.
We saw glimpses of the old Justice Haynes this weekend against Mercer as he rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Two average showings against Colorado and Tennessee in prior weeks left us underwhelmed and prevented him from getting his name in the recent first-round mock draft from DFF. We need to see more against better competition as conference play begins.
Many predicted a breakout season for Clemson running back Gideon Davidson this season. He had his best game of the year against UNC this past weekend, rushing for 105 yards and 1 touchdown. If you’re box score scouting, this line is encouraging. But we aren’t here for the box score. There were multiple runs that showed poor vision, slow feet, and poor lateral cutting ability. He is the type of runner that instills confidence in his opponents, not the other way around.
The Devy Notebook 2026: Volume 4 Read More »
Week 4 is where I really want to start separating the player from the weekly situation. We have enough games now to know who is earning touches, who is losing them, and which early-season breakouts might actually be real. That does not mean we blindly follow the box score.
A player can still be someone I like long term and belong on the bench this week. On the other side, an emerging player does not need to be a household name yet if the role tells us it is time to trust him. That is what we are looking for this week.
As always, every C2C league is different. Your scoring, lineup requirements, and roster can change a close decision.
Let’s get into it.
Quarterbacks
Starts
Ryan Browne, Purdue at Notre Dame
This is exactly the type of Start I want for this article. Browne has thrown for at least 300 yards in each of Purdue’s first 3 games and enters Week 4 with 1,024 passing yards, 7 touchdowns and only 1 interception. Now we get the real test.
Notre Dame has been legitimately good defensively, so I am not calling this an easy matchup. What I am betting on is Purdue’s passing game. They are averaging 366.7 passing yards per game, and Browne has completed 73.3 percent of his passes through 3 weeks.
Purdue’s defense has also helped create game scripts where Browne has to keep throwing. So I am not sitting him just because Notre Dame is on the other side. Purdue has shown me enough through 3 games to trust the volume until somebody proves we should not.
Ethan Grunkemeyer, Virginia Tech at Boston College
Grunkemeyer is starting to become one of those players where the role is getting more interesting before everybody completely catches up. Virginia Tech has put a lot on his plate in James Franklin’s offense, and I like that for C2C.
Boston College gives us enough resistance that this is not some automatic matchup call, but I am not running away from the volume either. This is where I want to get ahead of the point where Grunkemeyer becomes an obvious weekly option.
Sits
Hauss Hejny, Colorado State at UTSA
The production says Start. The hamstring says Sit. Hejny has completed 64.4 percent of his passes for 619 yards, 10 touchdowns and only 1 interception while adding 128 rushing yards and another touchdown.
That is exactly the type of production we want from our campus quarterback. The problem is that he is now a game time decision with a hamstring injury.
His mobility is part of what makes him valuable, so even if he is active, I do not want to find out after kickoff that Colorado State is protecting him or limiting what he can do with his legs. This one hurts because I like the player and the production. I just do not like the risk this week.
Tait Reynolds, Clemson at California
Tait Reynolds is still Clemson’s starting quarterback. Christopher Vizzina being probable does not change that.
What it does change is how comfortable I am with the weekly floor. Clemson’s offense has not been consistent enough for me to completely ignore the possibility that Vizzina gets involved if things are not going well Friday night.
Reynolds still has the long-term talent I like, but this is a weekly campus decision. I need more stability before I trust him in the lineup.
C2C Start/Sit: Week 4 Read More »
Week 3 gave us something I really like when I am working the C2C waiver wire: roles starting to change.
At this point, I am not just looking for somebody who had one big Saturday. I want to know why it happened. Did the workload change? Are the targets becoming consistent? Is a young player starting to take over a bigger role?
That is where we can get ahead of the rest of our league. The approach stays the same. Win the campus side first. Then I am looking at C2C appreciation, youth, and ceiling.
Every recommendation assumes a $100 C2C FAAB budget.
Overall Waiver Order
Nolan James Jr., RB, Notre Dame: Add at 18 to 25 percent
Keyjuan Brown, RB, Louisville: Add at 15 to 22 percent
Chris Durr Jr., WR, Maryland: Add at 12 to 18 percent
Aiden Flora, RB, Iowa State: Add at 10 to 16 percent
Kari Ashley, TE, TCU: Add at 8 to 13 percent
Junior Sherrill, WR, Vanderbilt: Add at 8 to 12 percent
Justin Bowick, WR, Oklahoma State: Add at 6 to 10 percent
CJ Baxter Jr., RB, Kentucky: Add at 5 to 9 percent
Micah Gilbert, WR, Notre Dame: Add at 4 to 8 percent
Kenny Johnson, WR, Texas Tech: Add at 3 to 6 percent
Elija Lofton, TE, Miami: Stash at 2 to 5 percent
Quarterbacks
No quarterback makes my waiver list this week. There are quarterbacks worth talking about, but we have already covered the ones who fit what we are trying to do here. I am not going to recycle a name just because he had another good week.
That is part of Always Be Scouting too. We want to find these players before everyone else catches up.
Running Backs
Nolan James Jr., Notre Dame
James is my Final Lock this week. He carried the ball 26 times for 121 yards and 1 touchdown against Michigan State. The 121 yards are nice. The 26 carries are what really got my attention.
That is not a player getting a few touches and breaking one long run. Notre Dame gave James a legitimate workload, and the latest reporting has him moving ahead of Aneyas Williams in the backfield. Now we have something I want to attack.
James can help us win the campus side right now, and if this workload sticks, his C2C value should have room to grow with it. I am not dropping Williams because of one week. That would be an overreaction. But I am absolutely adding James because 26 carries and an expanding role are exactly what we are looking for.
My call: Spend 18 to 25 percent. James is my No. 1 waiver claim this week.
C2C Waiver Report: Post Week 3 Read More »
How is Week 3 of college football already in the books? Time flies when you’re watching the greatest sport on planet Earth. Anyway, you guys know the drill by now. I’m bringing you the top two performances from each fantasy position this week, focusing solely on future NFL prospects. Let’s see who made the cut.
Quarterback
Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele (QB – Cal)
27-33, 448 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs
The Hawaiian southpaw had his best game of the season yesterday, granted it was against an FCS opponent in Wagner. He threw for 448 yards and three touchdowns in just 2.5 quarters, scoring on seven of eight drives. JKS was nearly perfect under center this weekend, but we expected as much against this level of competition.
I want to see him take another step forward in P4 play; against Syracuse and UCLA this year, he’s sitting with just a 60% completion rate and 6.0 yards per attempt. He’ll need to be more efficient as a passer to solidify his spot as the devy QB1, given he provides nothing on the ground. Realistically, we’ll need him to become a Joe Burrow-level passer to be a first-round startup pick in dynasty formats (which I believe is in his range of outcomes).
Keelon Russell (QB – Alabama)
23-30, 320 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs
5 attempts, 62 yards, 1 TD
Keelon legacy game! What a performance from the sophomore in a shootout win against Florida State. He accounted for nearly 400 yards of offense and four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing), not even turning the ball over once.
This was the kind of stat line we were waiting for after two underwhelming box scores to start the season. Russell looked confident as ever in the pocket this weekend, with polished mechanics and a lightning-quick release. He’s a pass-first quarterback with the mobility and burst to tuck it and run at any time. This 2028 quarterback class is shaping up to be incredible, with JKS, Keelon, and Kamario Taylor leading the charge.
Devy Players of the Week – Week 3 Read More »
I’ve been working through this 2027 class for a while now, and the more I dig into it, the more I like what we have. I’ve already talked about a lot of these names with Luigi and Papi on Devy Degens, including several players we grabbed during our 2027 prospect draft. Now that I’ve had more time to work through the class, I wanted to put my own top 15 together and show where I’m at today. I’ll also be getting into this class again soon on Always Be Scouting with Griddy and Cuse.
If you’ve followed my scouting work before, you already know how I approach this. I’m not taking somebody else’s rankings, moving a few names around, and calling it scouting. I want to know what a player actually does well, whether those traits are going to translate when everybody on the field gets bigger and faster, and what still needs to develop before I’m comfortable projecting him forward.
For me, it always comes back to traits over hype, translation over production, and tape first. Production matters, size matters, and testing matters, but those things are there to support what I’m seeing on the field, not tell me what I’m supposed to think.
One thing to understand with the grades is that they are not always going to match the exact order of the board. The grade is my evaluation of the overall prospect today. The ranking is where I personally want that player on my board. Sometimes preference, fantasy translation, or what I think the player can become is going to move somebody ahead of a player with a slightly higher grade.
My S tier is my own five-star grading tier, and that starts at 9.0. I’m not handing that out just because somebody is a great high school player. If I’m putting five stars next to a prospect, I want to feel like there are very few major translation questions left. Nobody is there yet, but two players are getting pretty damn close.
1. Kemon Spell (RB – Georgia)
Grade: 8.9/9
Spell is still my No. 1 player in this class, and the more I watch him, the easier it is for me to keep him there. At 5’10” and around 205 pounds, he already has almost exactly the kind of build I want at running back. He’s compact, thick, and low to the ground, but what really separates him for me is that he actually knows how to play the position.
He sees the hole, stays square, lets blocks develop, and gets north without wasting movement. He isn’t bouncing everything outside looking for a highlight because he knows he can outrun most of the defense. He rushed for 1,755 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2025 despite missing five games, but the numbers just confirm what I already see.
The vision is high-level, the feet are really good, and he has the burst and contact balance to create more than what is blocked for him. I also think he has enough natural receiving ability to eventually get a real three-down role. I still want to see more route development and better pass protection, but those are developmental questions, not reasons for me to move him down.
Spell is the closest player on this board to my five-star tier. If the rest of the game develops the way I think it can, I’m looking at a three-down NFL starter with early-round upside.
2. Trae Taylor (QB – Nebraska)
Grade: 8.9//9
Taylor is still my QB1 because he already does the quarterback things I care about most. Accuracy comes first for me, then ball placement, processing, pocket awareness, and the ability to deliver the football on time. He checks those boxes better than anybody else in this quarterback group right now.
He threw for 3,571 yards, 38 touchdowns, and only three interceptions in 2025 while adding 633 rushing yards and another 12 touchdowns. The production is impressive, but I’m more interested in how he gets there. He anticipates throws, understands where the window is going to be, and doesn’t need every receiver to be completely uncovered before letting the football go.
Taylor also moves well enough inside the pocket without immediately turning every broken play into backyard football. At around 6’3” and 200 pounds, I still want another 15 to 20 pounds on him, and his reported 9.25-inch hands come in a little below the 9.5-inch mark I prefer.
Those are things I’m tracking, but they aren’t enough to move him off QB1. Taylor already plays quarterback instead of just showing quarterback tools, and there is a big difference between the two.
My Top 15 2027 Freshmen Prospects Read More »
Every college football season, an unexpected quarterback prospect seems to emerge from the shadows, step into the national spotlight, and enter the conversation as a potential first-round pick.
In 2019, it was former Ohio State backup, Joe Burrow. In 2025, it was former Cal starter and Indiana Hoosier transfer, Fernando Mendoza.
2026? Early returns suggest the University of Missouri southpaw gunslinger, Austin Simmons.
The 247 four-star transfer portal signee arrives at Columbia by way of the Ole Miss Rebels and has the Tigers off and running with a 2-0 record.
So who is Austin Simmons, and why does there seem to be a groundswell of hype building behind him?
Let’s begin with what makes him truly one-of-a-kind. Simmons is currently in his fourth year of college, 20 years old, and working on his master’s. A true academic prodigy, he graduated high school in two years and skipped his junior and senior years to jump into the SEC and play at Ole Miss. Originally a class of 2025 quarterback, he reclassified to 2023 to get an early start on his tutelage from Lane Kiffin.
Drawn to Ole Miss specifically because of Kiffin’s offensive prowess and ability to develop elite quarterbacks, the high school two-sport phenom was also swayed by the promise of being able to play football and baseball in Oxford.
In the summer of 2023, Simmons flipped his commitment from the Florida Gators to Ole Miss and spent the fall 2023 season taking a redshirt year to adapt to the speed of college athletics. Simmons joined the Mississippi baseball team as a left-handed relief pitcher. He made 13 bullpen appearances, putting up a stellar 3.21 ERA and a 2-0 record before a minor elbow sprain ended his baseball season. After the injury, Simmons stepped away from baseball to focus on football, his first love.
In the fall of 2024, Simmons was back on the gridiron as the primary backup to future first-round pick Jaxson Dart. He appeared in nine games, flashing high-end upside.
After Dart’s departure, Simmons beat out the competition in fall camp and was named the undisputed starter for the 2025 season. In week 1, he exploded for 341 yards and 3 touchdowns against Georgia State. However, in week 2 against Kentucky, he suffered a pivotal left ankle injury. While Simmons healed, little-known backup, former Division II star and potential 2026 first-round pick, Trinidad Chambliss took over, and the offense caught fire, leading the Rebels to a College Football Playoff berth and leaving Simmons relegated to the bench.
Recognizing the writing was on the wall, Simmons entered the transfer portal on January 2, 2026. Four days later, he joined the Tigers of Missouri.
Austin Simmons: Who the Hell is This Kid? Read More »
