Devy rankings by nature are volatile, the most volatile of any rankings within fantasy football. Which games in this upcoming season will players gain the most value and where will some players lose the most value? In this article, we will look at the pivotal games for these players’ draft stock, as well as give devy owners a road map of which games to circle on their calendar in order to keep the pulse of the devy scene.
Each season we get a very limited first week of college football. While it may not have much to offer in terms of high-profile players, what players could make a splash and shoot up devy rankings?
Week 0 – 8/29/2020
California vs UNLV
The Cal Bears will have their top rusher and receiver back from their 2019 sophomore campaigns. Three-star running back Christopher Brown Jr. led the Bears with 914 yards and eight TDs on the ground, along with 22 receptions for 166 yards and four TDs. Brown has prototypical size, listed at 6’1 and 230 lbs. Brown’s spectacular stat is that in his 245 collegiate carries and 27 receptions, he has never fumbled. The Bears leading receiver, four-star Nikko Remigio will also be returning for his junior campaign. Remigio led the Bears in 2019 with 38 catches for 513 yards and three TDs. The young duo will be facing a UNLV defense that allowed 443 yards to opponents last season, Brown and Remigio could have big games and boost their devy stock in a limited week of football.
Come September we will get the full return of college football. With no NFL games on the slate for this weekend, college football will rule the airways. Many teams will schedule a “cupcake game” against FCS competition. While many view this as a game just for a power five team to get a chance to beat up on a team, it also has a significant financial impact on these smaller schools and goes a long way in keeping their program alive. For week one we take a look at the most impactful game of each day.
Week 1 – September 3, 2020
Oregon State vs Oklahoma State
Chubba Hubbard’s return to Mike Gundy’s offense for his senior season begins! Oklahoma State will also have dynamic wide receiver Tylan Wallace back after suffering a torn ACL last October. Hubbard finished eighth in Heisman voting last season, ran for 2,098 yards and 21 TDs to go with 23 receptions for 198 yards. In his injury-shortened season, Wallace averaged over 100 yards per game and almost a TD per game. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Spencer Sanders will look to improve upon his 2019 campaign in which the dual purpose Sanders threw for over 2,000-yards and rushed for over 600-yards.
Week 1 – September 4, 2020
North Carolina vs UCF
The 17th ranked Tarheels will face the 20th ranked Knights in a battle of the sophomore quarterbacks. North Carolina’s Sam Howell is already highly ranked among the devy consensus and is coming off a spectacular freshman season throwing for 3,641 yards and 38 TDs. Dillon Gabriel had is less well known, but if he outduels Howell, he could skyrocket in rankings. Gabriel had a respectable 3,653 yards and 29 TDs while leading his UCF Knights to a 10-3 record. This is going to be a fun one to watch.
Week 1 – September 5, 2020
Alabama vs USC in AT&T Stadium
The meat and gravy game of the week, powerhouses Alabama and USC face off in Jerry’s house. USC is coming into the season unranked and Alabama comes into the season as the third-ranked team in the nation. Will this be the debut of freshman sensation Bryce Young, or will we be seeing Mac Jones throwing to the electric Jaylen Waddle and Devonta Smith? What will sophomore stud Kedon Slovis be able to do against a top SEC defense? There are also three top wide receivers to be featured in this contest with Waddle, Smith, and Amon-Ra St. Brown. This is sure to be a great game to cap off an exciting Week 1.
From here on we will take a look at the one can’t-miss game of the weekend in order to optimize your knowledge of all high-profile players. While doing just this would give viewers enough insight to keep up with overall devy rankings, it will give you insights on why analysts are higher or lower on certain players.
Week 2 – September 12, 2020
Ohio State vs Oregon
A rematch of the 2014 inaugural College Football Playoffs Championship game where Ohio State dismantled Marcus Mariota’s ducks by 22. In this version, the high pedigree quarterback will be on the Buckeye’s sideline. This is going to be an amazing matchup between Justin Fields and Ryan Days’s offense versus Kayvon Thibodeaux and the young Ducks’ defense. While Oregon may not have the offensive firepower to keep pace with Ohio State, all eyes will be on the screen when Fields takes on the best defense of the PAC-12.
Week 3 – September 19, 2020
Georgia vs Alabama
The SEC matchup that we look forward to each and every year comes to us Week 3 of the college football season. Already having touched upon Alabama, it is still notable that we may not yet have seen Bryce Young but the hype will be rising around him in Tuscaloosa. On the Dogs’ side of the ball, we will see Jamie Newman in his first true test as the Dogs play-caller. George Pickens skyrocketed up the devy ranks following his 175-yard Sugar Bowl game. Will Pickens prove to be a top tier devy asset? That Sugar Bowl game accounted for 21% of Pickens’s overall production last season, 24% of his receptions and yardage as well as 13% of his TDs. This will be a big test for Newman and his young receiver.
Week 4 – September 26, 2020
Wisconsin vs Michigan
We go to the BIG10 for a big week four matchup between the 15th and 16th ranked teams going into the season. Will Jim Harbaugh be able to make the leap to a great coach in the college football ranks or will he remain behind rivals Wisconsin and Ohio State? Will we see a new great running back behind the big Wisconsin offensive line? This game does not have a ton of relevance in terms of high-end devy assets, but there could be some diamonds in the rough to get an early jump on.
Week 5 – October 3, 2020
Texas A&M vs Mississippi State
Will we see the return of the “Big Gulp Left” for Mississippi State? Mike Leach is arguably the greatest offensive mind in football, which will lead K.J. Costello and Kylin Hill to an air raid philosophy. Expect Hill to have a great season, coming off a 1,350-yard season in 2019 Hill should see a big uptick in passing volume. On the other side of the ball, Kellen Mond will lead the Aggie attack featuring sophomore Isaiah Spiller and senior receiver Jhamon Ausborn. We will also see some electric flashes from incoming freshman sensation Demond Demas, who is one of the freakiest athletes in recent memory to take the field. Demas alongside Ausborn and tight end Jalen Wydermyer should be one of the most exciting offenses in the nation.
Week 6 – October 10, 2020
LSU vs Florida
It’s almost shameful that were more than a month into the season before bringing up the reigning champion LSU. This will be the most interesting game of the early season for the Tigers as they finally face a worthy opponent in Florida. LSU’s offensive mastermind Joe Brady is now the Carolina Panthers OC, and Heisman winner Joe Burrow along with Justin Jefferson, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and many more have moved on to the NFL. Still in Baton Rouge is the current top devy asset Ja’Marr Chase and there’s nowhere for him to go but down. We will learn in this game if Myles Brennan can fill the shoes left by Burrow and has the arm to keep Chase atop the devy rankings. On the other side of the ball, Kyle Trask may be the most hyped quarterback coming into the season. Coming off a 2,954 yard and 29 TD sophomore campaign we will see if Trask is worthy of the hype against the Tigers. Also, we will be keeping a close eye on Kyle Pitts, the extremely athletic Gator tight end. The trash talk between these SEC rivals has already gotten fans’ boots shaking.
Texas vs Oklahoma
The Red River Rivalry will feature two fresh faces, Spencer Rattler will represent the Sooners and Bijan Robinson will represent the Longhorns. Receivers Theo Wease and Trejan Bridges represent the two top-rated Texas prospects who chose to cross the Red River and play for Oklahoma. Sam Ehlinger is returning to make good on his statement that “Texas is back” from the 2018 Sugar Bowl. Bijan Robinson is one of the top running back prospects in recent memory, and if he can beat out Keontay Ingram for the starting job, he will take aim at Jonathan Taylor’s NCAA career rushing record among three-year players.
Week 7 – October 17, 2020
Oklahoma vs Iowa State
Should Spencer Rattler be the starting quarterback for Lincoln Riley in his sophomore season, this will be his first true test against a strong BIG10 defense. Rattler was the top quarterback prospect in his 2019 class but took a backseat to Jalen Hurts last year. This year he should be at the reigns and the Cyclones Brock Purdy will be vying for the first round in the upcoming NFL Draft. Last season these teams had a gut-wrenching finish amid Purdy’s five TD passes and Breece Hall’s 143 scrimmage yards. Down by 21 points in the fourth quarter, Purdy led three unanswered TD drives, the last coming with only 24 seconds remaining, but a failed two-point conversion left the Cyclones just short of the upset win.
Week 8 – October 24, 2020
Ohio State vs Penn State
We turn again to Justin Fields and the Buckeyes, now against the Nittany Lions of Penn State. Ohio State was the second-best defense and Penn State was eleventh last year according to Football Outsiders. This will be one of the biggest challenges for Fields and we will see who will emerge as Fields go-to guy between Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, and highly rated incoming freshmen Julian Fleming, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. On Penn State’s side of the ball, we will see if Journey Brown will continue the cycle of top tier running backs in the program and if Pat Freiermuth can evolve from his nickname “Baby Gronk” to “Adolescent Gronk” against the always great Buckeye defense.
Week 9 – October 31, 2020
Minnesota vs Michigan State
The Golden Gophers have not defeated the Spartans since 2009 but only lost by three in their most recent matchup in 2017. In this game, LJ Scott led the Spartans to victory with 194 yards and two TDs. Tyler Johnson willed the Golden Gophers back with 106 yards and three fourth-quarter scores. Elijah Collins will be handling the groundwork for Michigan State, coming off a redshirt freshman campaign of just 12 yards short of the 1,000-yard mark. Rashod Bateman is an even better prospect than Tyler Johnson was and will look to lead Minnesota to victory and Tanner Morgan will look to move up draft boards with his pinpoint accuracy.
Florida vs Georgia
“The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” will be coming on Halloween this season, which is surely the makings for something great. Kyle Trask and Jamie Newman may be the two most hyped quarterbacks in college football and they square off. It will be very interesting as both teams enter the season with top nine rankings. Will we get to relive some of the magic of the 2007-2008 “Gator Stomp” and “Gator Stop”?
Week 10 – November 7, 2020
Clemson vs Notre Dame
Clemson and Notre Dame will be bringing their presumptive undefeated records to the first real test of their respective seasons. Trevor Lawrence will be feeling pressure from Justin Fields for the first overall pick in the NFL draft and Travis Etienne will be attempting to dethrone Chuba Hubbard as the class’s RB1. Justyn Ross will be out for the season due to his congenital fusion that he has recently had a successful surgery. Amari Rodgers and Joseph Ngata will have the opportunity to showcase their talents in lieu of Ross. We will also get to see the Ian Book led Notre Dame offense against a very strong Clemson defense. Book will be back for his final year of eligibility after leading the Irish to an impressive 33-6 career record.
Week 11 – November 14, 2020
TCU vs Texas
How amazing would it be if we got a shoot-out between the two 2020 five-star running back prospects Zachary Evans and Bijan Robinson? Evans will look to fill the playmaker role that Jalen Reagor left in the Horned Frogs offense. Bijan Robinson will attempt to bring back the Longhorns running back to the likes of Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams, Cedric Benson, and Jamaal Charles. These two running backs may be vying over the next three years for not just best back in Texas, but the best back in college football.
Week 12 – November 21, 2020
Iowa vs Purdue
Iowa quietly went 10-3 last season but does not currently have any players on the devy radar. Iowa did, however, have the seventh-best defense in the nation last year according to Football Outsiders, and they will be tested by the likes of Purdue’s Rondale Moore and David Bell. Moore and Bell may just be the best wide receiver duo in college football, as both were able to top the 1,000-yard mark in their respective freshman seasons. Moore has been slowly slipping through devy ranks after an injury-plagued sophomore season. Can the junior show the flash that he did in his freshman season to get back atop the devy rankings? Will David Bell continue to show that he’s worthy of a true alpha receiver role or was he just a product of Moore being missing?
Week 13 – November 28, 2020
Auburn vs Alabama
The Iron Bowl
Another freshman sensation quarterback will be premiered as Bo Nix takes on the Crimson Tide. Bo Nix defeated the Tua-less Tide last season and will look to make it 2-0 against Saban in 2020. Nix showed flashes in 2019 but left many aspects of his game that could use improvement, namely his accuracy. Completing only 57% of his passes as a true freshman, can Nix improve and show why he was a top recruit in the 2019 class? We touched on it Week 3, but if Mac Jones is the starter, can he hold off Bryce Young for the whole season? Coming off the highest-scoring Iron Bowl in the history of the rivalry, will we get the same this year? This game will feature three top devy wide receivers in Waddle, Smith, and Seth Williams. Auburn’s leading rusher JaTarvious Whitlow entered the transfer portal in February but looks to be staying put for now. Could this be an indication that we see incoming freshman Tank Bigsby taking over a big portion of the rushing attack? We will have a lot of answers on these SEC powerhouses come Week 13.
Ohio State vs Michigan
Famously known as “The Game,” Jim Harbaugh will give another attempt to dethrone the mighty Buckeyes. Justin Fields will be pushing to close out another undefeated regular season and Master Teague will be healthy after his offseason Achilles injury. Will Teague overtake transfer Trey Sermon by now, or will Sermon have won the backfield and recoup his draft stock from before being replaced by Kennedy Brooks in Oklahoma? Ohio State has taken the last eight matchups, but Michigan still has the historical advantage at 58-51-6. Michigan has only won three games against Ohio State since the turn of the millennium, and until Harbaugh beats Ohio State, we will question whether he is a great college coach.
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