I take a look at some key stats & fantasy takeaways that stood out for most FBS teams that played last weekend. The “Stat to Know” is bolded, as well as players who are mentioned.
(Teams listed in alphabetical order)
Appalachian State – After 2 games WR Thomas Hennigan has pulled in 10/208-1, with the next closest receiver Malik Williams having 8/82. With Corey Sutton having opted out, Hennigan has emerged.
Boston College – New QB Phil Jurkovec was effective and efficient, with 17/23-300-2, but the standout to me was WR Zay Flowers who caught 5/162-1. Flowers is a must add/play to me right now, especially with Kobay White being out, potentially long-term.
Duke – QB Chase Brice now has two games under his belt this season, and in each game he has completed 54% of his passes. While the volume of attempts is solid (37 & 42), 54% isn’t going to get it done long-term.
Georgia State – The big takeaway here was RB Destin Coates putting up 34/150-1. Coates is the only FBS player so far this season to have 30+ rushing attempts in a game.
Georgia Tech – QB Jeff Sims is averaging 260.5 yards passing and 73 yards rushing over his first 2 games. While it’s still early, he is looking like a true dual-threat (rather than a run-first type).
Liberty – QB Malik Willis shined with 21/168-3 on the ground, and 13/21-133-0 in the air. That Willis called his own number for 3 rushing TDs reduced the value of RB Joshua Mack a bit, who had 100 yards rushing but 0 TDs.
Louisiana-Monroe – RB Josh Johnson ran for 1298-11 in 2019, but hasn’t gotten on track so far this year. His 2 games have been 12/38 & 17/51, a 3.1 average. I’m not ready to give up on him, but I also wouldn’t want him in my lineup right now.
Louisville – I was intrigued by WR Braden Smith after his 4/110 in game 1, but he came back to earth with 1/36 on only one target in game 2.
Miami – QB D’Eriq King led Miami to a strong 47-34 win over Louisville, and while he passed for 325-3, he only rushed 8 times for 9 yards. Expectations from the game 1 highlight reel have been tempered from a hoped-for dual-threat stat explosion.
Middle Tennessee State – QB Asher O’Hara can’t seem to get it going this season. He’s now averaging 77.5 yards passing and 31.5 yards passing over 2 games. One possible culprit is the team’s rushing attack, the next highest rusher on the season has 40 yards. We have seen O’Hara be great, this isn’t it.
Navy – While QB Xavier Arline got the start, he was replaced by QB Dalen Morris who won his job back with a solid performance. Most surprising to me was the passing, Morris was 6/11-139-1, while only rushing for 13/23. Unfortunately a Navy QB who isn’t putting up big rushing numbers isn’t fantasy-worthy.
North Carolina State – they came into the game with a bunch of ORs at RB, and there isn’t much clarity after their season-opener. Ricky Person had 14/99-2, while Zonovan Knight had 11/97-1 & Jordan Houston rushed for 12/54. All 3 had at least 2 receptions as well. This is still a wait-and-see for me.
North Texas – RB Oscar Adaway again impressed, with 20/104 this week. Coming into the season the RB position was assumed to be a share between DeAndre Torrey and Tre Siggers, but Adaway is the team’s leading rusher, while Siggers is dealing with an injury.
Notre Dame – The RB who jumped out this week was C’Bo Flemister who rushed for 13/127-1. With Notre Dame blowing out South Florida 52-0 a lot of backs got work, and RB Kyren Williams was solid again after his first game breakout with 10/62 this week.
Oklahoma State – RB Chuba Hubbard ran for 27/93-1 – while the yards per carry isn’t outstanding from a fantasy perspective the 27 carries is good news. 27 is the 5th highest rushing attempts total of his career, but the bad news is it is his lowest rushing yard total for any game where he has had at least 18 carries.
Pitt – WR Jordan Addison continues to impress, receiving 7/57-1 last game. Addison has twice as many receptions as any other Pitt receiver on the season (14 to 7).
SMU – RB Ulysses Bentley was the best RB in FBS last weekend, rushing for 19/227-3. Over 2 games he now has 30/276, a 9.2 average. When you think SMU, start thinking RBs too.
Southern Miss – WR Tim Jones had a monster game with 8/160-2, He is one of only 3 players with 2 100+ receiving yard games on the season – Jacob Cowing (UTEP), Rashee Rice (SMU). Jones did miss the end of the game with a soft-tissue injury, so that should be monitored.
Syracuse – RB Jawhar Jordan has now rushed for 27/66-0 on the season, a 2.4 average. And he is their leading rusher. I wouldn’t even glance at Syracuse RBs until/unless something changes here.
Tulane – RB Tyjae Spears has rushed for 105 and 119 yards his last two games, one of only 3 FBS players to have 2 100+ rushing yards games this season – Cam’Ron Harris (Miami), Oscar Adaway (North Texas).
Tulsa – With the news that RB Shamari Brooks was out with a torn ACL and RB Corey Taylor still slowly returning from quarantine, RB Deneric Prince was the leading rusher putting up 13/82-0. I’m not ready to jump on Prince just yet but he does have my attention, I more want to see what a 100% Taylor can do.
UCF – WR Marlon Williams pulled in 10/154-2 on 13 targets in UCF’s first game of the season. With Tre Nixon appearing out with an injury, and Dillon Gabriel slinging it, I’m high on Williams right now.
UTEP – WR Jacob Cowing over 3 games this season has totaled 19/275-0. He’s twice gone over 100+ yards and is averaging 6.3 catches and 91.7 yards a game. The 0 TDs so far is discouraging though.
UTSA – QB Frank Harris could be emerging as one of the top dual-threat QBs in the nation as after 2 games he has passed for 438-2 and rushed for 161-5. I would start/grab him without hesitation until we see otherwise.
Wake Forest – So what to think of RB Kenneth Walker exploding for 27/131-3 against NC State? It was his 3rd 100+ yard game over two seasons, and 10 more carries than he’d ever gotten before. He has a 5.6 average over 131 attempts for his career, so he’s on my radar.
Western Kentucky – WR Jahcour Pearson was tied for the team lead in receptions this season with 9, but he announced Monday he was entering the transfer portal. WR Mitchell Tinsley is 9/107-2 on the season, and while I’m personally not big on QB Tyrrell Pigrome‘s passing game, Tinsley might be the go-to receiver now. On the RB side of things, Gaej Walker has not only rushed for 20/53-1 over 2 games, a 2.7 average, not good at all.
