The Weekly Devy Notebook Vol. 1

Welcome to the first edition of The Weekly Devy Notebook. I like to sit on my couch each week and watch as many college football games as possible while monitoring the latest football odds. I’ve always been a guy who prefers my information live rather than on film if I can. With so many games to watch and players to monitor, I find it difficult to keep track of all the Devy and C2C assets in my rankings. For self-organization, I like to make notes while I’m watching the games of important college players. The idea behind this weekly article series is to provide a window into my player notes (hence the name) and give readers something that is both comprehensive and easy to digest. Anyone can look at the box scores of these college games, but I am here to shed some light on what I am seeing in real time. At the end of each article, I will also compile a list of players I will be keying in on in the following week of college football so you know which games to turn your attention to. 

Without further ado, let’s get to my notes from Week 0 and Week 1. Naturally, the first weeks’ notes will be longer as we learn what players we should continue to pay attention to and which players we should start to ignore. The notes are in no particular order. Enjoy!

• DJU is exactly who we thought he was. He has an absolute howitzer for an arm, but can’t read the field and doesn’t trust his eyes. The film is littered with check-downs because they’re easier than pushing the ball downfield If you own him in Devy, sell for anything you can get.

• There was no sign of Darius Taylor for the Minnesota offense. Marcus Major may do enough to keep Taylor from being a stud even after Taylor is back from injury. Taylor has also been injured in back-to-back years. I worry about his durability, and I worry that on a generally bad team, this will be rough for both CFF and Devy value alike.

• Kevin Concepcion is going to be a target hog. Primarily a gadget player whom you just need to get the ball in his hands. Let us see it against higher-level competition and not when needed against a poor Western Carolina team that frankly cannot tackle. NC State was -32.5 heading into this game and played badly enough to warrant force-feeding Concepcion. If they play this poorly against better competition, it is unlikely Concepcion is allowed to put up video game numbers outside of garbage time. In other words, we should let a few games play out before we get too excited. As a slight side note, I also believe Noah Rogers is the better NFL bet between the two NC State wide receivers. 

• Shedeur Sanders is showing signs of life in the pocket, but still not great spatial awareness. WRs made him look better than he was against a poor NDSU secondary. He is going to see an absurd amount of hype in the national media. Ignore the hype and let’s watch the film play out this season. If he can clean up some of the flaws we saw last season he could see a meteoric rise.

• Travis Hunter is as advertised. He is not the cleanest route runner and this is what the NFL looks for now in their receiving prospects. We will need to watch throughout the year if he can improve, otherwise, he’s an athletic, natural-hands guy which is very hit-or-miss. Terrell Owens mentoring him is a huge positive and his name value will only help him to be drafted highly in the NFL.

• Kyle Monangai showed well in game one, totaling 165 yards and 1 touchdown. This came against poor competition but continuing to do this against what looks to be a soft schedule could propel him up draft boards. There is no reason that he is a worse Rutgers prospect than Isaiah Pacheco. He is a middle-of-the-pack running back that I will be watching more games of this year to determine which direction I want to send him.

• Pump the brakes on Eric Singleton for devy. He was really fun last season when he was more of an unknown talent. As a primary receiver, he likely isn’t going to be a game-changer for fantasy. The Georgia Tech offense is going to be a run-first offense, and I worry that Haynes King’s play style won’t be good for Singleton’s consistency. For CFF I don’t hate it going into conference play but it’s a pass from me for the NFL. 

• Harold Fannin is going to be the primary target at Bowling Green this year. Terion Stewart likely takes the highlights but Fannin at 6’4” and 230 lbs. has the makings of a very efficient NFL tight end. He should easily be a top 5 college tight end this season and it likely comes down to athletic testing as to his fantasy relevancy at the next level.

• Jordan Waters was an early candidate for the Doak Walker Award. This NC State team is not nearly good enough to prop him up. A darling of mine going into the year is unlikely to develop into anything of note for the NFL. Ignore the stat line, a TON of the yardage came in garbage time. Send him to the back burner and come back around if he makes any news at the combine.

• Taylen Green looked quite good as a dual-threat QB against Arkansas Pine-bluff, but don’t smash the trade button too soon. We’ve seen him come crashing back to earth quite hard over the past few years. We should wait and see what he does against SEC competition before we crown him the next big thing.

• Kaden Feagin is a big man who runs fast. The size is a bit much for me but he just looks like an NFL back. Some weird stuff in the game like the coaching staff was holding his touches back, but he will be a guy to watch without a doubt. More to come…

• Omarian Hampton is the entire UNC offense. He rushed 30 times for 129 yards and caught 5 passes for 17 yards. Will it wear him out? Probably. His efficiency numbers were okay against Minnesota and the offensive line wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Hampton has a shot to maintain his spot in my top 5 backs for the upcoming class despite a poor supporting cast. 

• Assuming health, Brant Kuithe is going to follow in the footsteps of Dalton Kincaid as the next great Utah graduate in the NFL. He tallied three touchdowns in week 1 and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up with 20+ this season. 

• Taylor Tatum on the field in game 1 as a true freshman is something you just love to see. Yes, it was against Temple and in a complete blowout, but you don’t always see true freshmen on the field this early. He made the most of his touches too, rushing for 69 yards and a touchdown. Look for him to keep up the involvement as the season moves along. 

• Another Oklahoma RB wasn’t so lucky this weekend. Gavin Sawchuk can officially be placed on the “freak out” list. Six carries for 15 yards in a landslide victory is not what we expected coming into the season. It feels like an overreaction to judge a player off of one game, but this is very worrisome. He is the only player who saw a true change in his stock through the first week of the college football season.

• Jordan Moore appears to be the main target for Duke after a massive exodus of offensive talent from 2023. The 6’0” 195 lb. wide receiver has good size and I’m a particular fan of his route running. He’s no alpha but is a guy I will be monitoring closely this season as a potential NFL riser. In week, 1 he totalled 7 catches for 112 yards.

• Drew Allar was allowed to throw the ball down the field against West Virginia. He had three completions for 20+ yards in the first half alone in this game. Last season Penn State was 124th in college football in downfield passing. This could mean everything for his NFL stock. He was a highly touted recruit that I have felt has been limited by James Franklin in the Penn State system. Allar and Nussmeier are the two QBs that I will be closely monitoring this season with the hope of moving them up my draft board.

• If you have any remaining hope for Cade Klubnik, I advise that you just pack it in at this point. I know it was a vaunted Georgia defense that he was trying to put up points against, but he struggled with even the simplest of throws. He will still show flashes of good football (see 36-yard pass to Antonio Williams in the first quarter), but I am here to tell you not to take the bait.

• Carson Beck should be locked in as your QB1 for 2025. The Clemson defense is going to be a stellar unit all year and Beck looked surgical this weekend. Sure, they didn’t put up a ton of points, but his processing, footwork, decision-making, and ball placement all have him looking like an NFL quarterback.

• Phil Mafah is going to be a committee back in the NFL, and I say that as a good thing. He is a powerful between-the-tackles runner who finishes through contact and picks up extra yards. Some NFL team is going to be very happy to have him as a complementary back. He is also decent in pass protection which will only add to his draft stock.

• Nate Frazier was on the field as a true freshman in a ranked matchup vs. Clemson. Granted there are a couple of injuries in the UGA running back room that allowed this to happen, but he looked confident in his decision-making and managed to score a touchdown in the game. They even looked to use him out of the backfield as a pass catcher too, which is something we always are looking for for Devy potential. Keep an eye on him once the other backs for Georgia are healthy. If he can keep a role throughout his freshman season, he will be a top 5 RB for Devy as soon as next season.

• Jeremiah Smith is going to rewrite some of the record books for an Ohio State freshman. He looked phenomenal in his first start for the Buckeyes and caught their first touchdown of the season. He will likely make his way into the Devy notebook a couple of times this season.

• Jaydon Blue looked good in his first game as the Longhorns starter at running back. With CJ Baxter out for the year, we can expect Blue to be called upon to lead the team in rushing this year. In all likelihood, he will eclipse 1,000 yards as a rusher. He has a chance to follow in the mold of Jonathon Brooks and climb draft boards. He will test better than Brooks did at the combine, so don’t be surprised when you see him in several analysts’ top 5 RBs in the 2025 class.

• Dylan Raiola looked poised for a true freshman starting quarterback, albeit against UTEP. Not too many notes on him at this point. He did exactly what we wanted him to do in his first start against poor competition. His true evaluation will begin for me next week against Colorado. Get your popcorn ready.

• Caden Prieskorn is one of my favorite tight ends going into this season. He looks to be one of the favorites to see targets in the Ole Miss offense in 2024. His production profile will set up nicely for a jump to the next level. He is an athletic tight end with good hands, size, and speed. A very intriguing prospect at the position. He tallied 3 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown in week 1. 

• Jalen Milroe showed some of his capabilities as a dual-threat option against Western Kentucky. He has always been a better runner than a thrower, but if he can develop his passing game under new head coach Kalen DeBoer he could easily find himself in first-round NFL draft conversations. The ascension would be akin to what we saw from Jayden Daniels last year.

• Ashtyn Jeanty ran for an astounding and eye-popping 267 yards and 6 touchdowns in week 1. This was one of the more memorable performances that I can remember from a running back. He possesses a unique combination of size, speed, and strength that the NFL is looking for. His competition is likely going to be his biggest knock during the draft process, but the production profile will speak for itself. He is still just outside my top 5 for the 2025 class, but I expect him to put himself in the top 3 conversations at the position before the season’s end.

• Donovan Edwards has a lot of fans. I can assure you that I am not and will not be one of them. He has poor vision, poor efficiency, and lacks in pass protection. The Michigan offense doesn’t appear like it will have a passing game this season which will lead to stacked boxes for Edwards to face. Unfortunately, he does not possess the natural abilities to produce when defenses are gearing up to stop the run. Be careful with your Edwards shares and don’t get caught holding the bag. I will not be surprised if Kalel Mullings steals both touches and touchdowns throughout the year.

• Tez Johnson opened up his 2024 campaign with 11 catches for 73 yards and two touchdowns. I still expect Evan Stewart to be the top dog in the Oregon offense, but Tez has a chance to be highly productive this year regardless of what Stewart does. The size is ultra concerning at a mere 5’ 10” and 165 lbs. I get that he will be one of the top statistical receivers in college football this year, but the size is going to make him a very hard pass for me. Sell at the highest value you can get.

• Jeremiah Love had some rough sledding throughout the game against Texas A&M, But man did he look great with the ball in his hands. He was decisive, explosive, and powerful and finished with a 21-yard touchdown to help close out the game. Assuming he takes the lead RB slot in the Notre Dame backfield, he could be a huge riser.

• Tet McMillain is, was, and always has been WR1 in the class. He hauled in 10 catches for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns in week 1. There may have been some injury scares during fall camp, but that seems to be in the past. He is my early favorite for the 1.01 in all formats.

What I am looking forward to in Week 2

• Ashton Jeanty faces the Oregon Ducks. Time to officially plant his flag as a top back in the 2025 class.

• Quinn Ewers, Isaiah Bond, and Jaydon Blue vs. Michigan on the road. Another game for big-time players to plant their flags.

• Will Evan Stewart get more involved with the Oregon offense? Oregon only threw the ball 8 times outside the numbers in game 1, I expect that to change.

• Ollie Gordon plays an SEC defense. Granted it is Arkansas, but I like seeing featurebacks play good competition.

• Can Rocco Becht put up any type of numbers against the Iowa defense? Would be a huge feather in his cap.

• Devin Neal vs Kaden Feagin in Champaign. Kansas will be on upset alert and both running backs should be featured heavily.

• A massive WR battle between NC State and Tennessee. I’m very excited to see Nico, Squirrel, Brazzell, Concepcion, and Rogers in this one.

• My favorite game of the week will be Colorado and Nebraska. The lights will not shine brighter this season on Dylan Raiola than they will next week with Colorado coming to town. A road test for Shedeur and Hunter in a Big Ten environment is needed after facing an FCS team.

Thank you for reading the first edition of The Devy Notebook. If you have any thoughts or questions regarding any of the players mentioned, or if you would like my opinions on a player who is not mentioned in this article, you can reach out to me on Twitter @Evan_Kerr_. #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding #AlwaysBeScouting #Devy #C2C