Devy Players of the Week

SAM HOWELL, QB UNC, 2022 ELIGIBLE

After a disappointing individual performance in a Week 1 loss to Virginia Tech, the Junior 6’1″ 220 lbs. QB bounced back in a big way against the clearly outmatched Georgia State Panthers. In Week 2 Howell completed 72.4% of his passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns and zero interceptions, a stark improvement from his 53.1% completion percentage and one touchdown with three interceptions. However, what got Sam Howell on the list today was he rushing in Week 2. Howell gashed Georgia State for 104 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. You can see the most impressive of the bunch below:

Sam Howell is no Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, or Jalen Hurts, but he is a serviceable rusher if called upon and has the athleticism to avoid and scramble for chunk plays. In 2020, Howell rushed for only 146 yards but made his way into the endzone five times as a runner. Through two games in 2021, Howell already has 139 rushing yards and two TDs. UNC’s Junior QB is a respected Devy Prospect due to his passing ability. As a true freshman, Sam Howell let the ACC on fire with an impressive 3,641-yard campaign, with 38 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He then followed it up with a solid sophomore year, passing for 3,586 yards, 30 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. If Howell can flirt with 4,000 passing yards as a Junior and also continues to do damage on the ground, we could see his stock skyrocket.

Our Devy Rankers here at Dynasty Football Factory had Sam Howell as the Devy QB4 heading into the season, I don’t believe he has done anything worthy of moving him into the top 2, but I think he may be deserving of the Devy QB3 behind Spencer Rattler and Bryce Young. I am curious to see how D.J. Uiagalelei is ranked in the coming weeks after a very poor start to the season for him.

C.J. Verdell, RB OREGON, 2022 ELIGIBLE

Headed into the 2020 College Football season, C.J. Verdell was a well-respected Devy Prospect. He had posted back-to-back seasons with over 1,300 scrimmage yards and was looking to boost his draft stock with a strong junior season. However, things didn’t go as planned for Verdell is an abbreviated 2020 season. After dominating in 2018 and 2019, in the five games, the Oregon Ducks played he was outproduced by teammate Travis Dye, with Dye’s 682 all-purpose yards dwarfing Verdell’s 381. With a disappointing junior season, Verdell chose to come back and play his senior season at Oregon, and as of now, it looks to be paying off.

In two games so far in 2021 C.J. already has 271 all-purpose yards, just 110 less than his total in 2020. Most of those yards came in the Duck’s upset win over the Ohio State Buckeyes in Week 2, where he racked up 161 rushing yards and 34 receiving yards for three total touchdowns. In the 3rd quarter on Saturday, Verdell started to put the Buckeyes away with an explosive 77-yard scamper:

This big performance on a national stage is sure to start the resurrection of both his Devy value and draft stock. In addition to his breakout game, he also looks to have retaken the top RB spot on the team. Through two weeks Verdell has more than doubled Dye’s production who did nearly the same to him last season. Things are looking up for the Senior RB in Eugene Oregon.

Verdell was the Devy RB36 going into the season, but I am sure this is likely to change after he tore apart the #3 team in the nation. The 2022 RB is not particularly strong, so I will not be surprised in the least if Verdell is one of the first five RBs selected in this year’s draft. I see Verdell as a true riser throughout the season and into the combine and pro days. Verdell has a desirable compact frame, standing at 5’8″ and weighing 211 lbs. (32.1 BMI) and he is a very capable athlete. I predict a 4.42-4.48 40 time and an impressive vertical to go along with it. If Verdell continues to perform well this season, he could be a hot commodity in dynasty leagues after the NFL Draft.

DAVID BELL, WR PURDUE, 2022 ELIGIBLE

Since arriving at Purdue in 2019, all David Bell has done is produce. He broke out as a true freshman with 1,035 and seven touchdowns. He then followed that up with a sophomore season in which he had a ridiculous 43.5% (88th percentile) dominator rating. Two weeks into the college football season and Bell is continuing his earth-shattering production. In Week 2 against UConn, Bell has a spectacular first half:

After gashing the Huskies in the first half, Bell sat the rest of the game as the Boilermakers had already secured victory.

Despite playing only six quarters of football this year, David Bell still has a stunning dominator rating of 37.3%. On paper, David Bell is the clear WR1 in the 2022 class. No one in the class will be remotely close to him when it comes to age-adjusted production. Bell also possesses alpha size to pair with his production. However, when it comes to draft capital, Bell could fall behind flasher more athletic WRs like Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, and Treylon Burks. I will likely have Bell in my top 2 2022 WRs, but I will not be surprised to see him ranked much lower by those who favor athleticism and WR who “separate” more than Bell. Our Devy rankers have David Bell as the Devy WR3 Overall and WR2 in the 2022 class behind Garrett Wilson, which I think is fair for the time being.

Thanks for tuning in for the second installment of “Devy Players of the Week”. Make sure to check back in next week to see who makes their mark in Week 3! You can follow me on Twitter @RookieWhisper for more content.