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As part of our 2015 College Football DFS preview, we are going conference by conference to provide you a look at who the DFS targets are for this upcoming season.
Baylor Bears
Quarterbacks
Seth Russell will be the Baylor quarterback in 2015. Russell has seen a relatively large share of playing time for a back-up the last two seasons, dazzling against lesser competition. His running ability is what, from a fantasy perspective, could really set him apart from recent Baylor quarterbacks. Unlike when Bryce Petty was at the helm, Baylor will be calling designed quarterback runs for Russell, looking to utilize his serious athleticism. We believe he has as much upside as any quarterback in the country, and rank him as our number four overall quarterback, and it’s entirely possible that Russell will put up better statistics than Petty did in either of his two years.
Running Backs
The offensive line returns 106 starts, fourth most in the FBS, and supports a team that ran for the 29th most yards in 2014, despite a prolific passing attack. Shock Linwood saw a ton of carries last season, heading a committee that once again projects to be very effective. Coming off of a season that resulted in 1252 yards and 16 rushing scores, we expect Linwood to see less than the 251 carries he received last year, but he should still operate as the unquestioned starter. What prevents Linwood from being a truly elite fantasy back is the combination of the team utilizing multiple running backs and the complete lack of usage that running backs receive in the Baylor passing game (the three running backs only combined to catch 11 passes in 2014). Devin Chafin and Johnny Jefferson are likely to split back-up duties, rendering each other unplayable initially. However, if even one of Chafin or Jefferson goes down, the other would likely be a factor as a cheap punt play, even in a back-up role. The Baylor running game is that effective.
Wide Receivers
Corey Coleman returns as one of the top receivers in all of college football this season. After missing the first three games of 2014, he went on to finish with over 1,100 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s going to see a ton of targets, and we’re projecting him for 76 grabs and close to 1,300 yards this season. KD Cannon has truly game breaking speed and doesn’t need to see many passes in order to put up huge lines. He was third in line for targets for much of the season in 2014, yet Cannon still had over 1,000 yards receiving, despite only having four 100 yard receiving games. While Cannon was utilized largely as a deep threat last year, it will be interesting to see if he offers more weekly consistency in 2015, or if he continues to mix in huge games with underwhelming performances. We’re betting on him making a leap this year and have him twelfth in our receiver rankings. Jay Lee is in going to be the team’s third receiving option initially, and if either Coleman or Cannon were lost due to injury he would become a weekly DFS factor.
Tight Ends
LaQuan McGowan is getting a ton of media coverage due to his size, but he doesn’t even start at tight end for Baylor. Tre’Von Armstead will occupy the starting role, which only amounted to five catches and one score in 2014. Neither of these guys project as playable in DFS and they will likely just steal a touchdown or two from Baylor’s receivers over the course of the season.
Defense
What sometimes gets lost on us is that even though Baylor has plenty of defensive talent, they frequently find themselves on the field as a result of the offense’s propensity for quick scoring drives (number 2 in our Tempo Rankings), making the Baylor defense one that can be targeted. While this statistic is far from perfect, consider that even though Baylor finished 41st in yards allowed last season, if we take out cupcakes SMU and Northwestern State, the Bear defense would have placed 83rd in that category. I’ll be viewing them as a favorable matchup in 2015, with an eye on starting cheaper opposing quarterbacks against them when the opportunity arises.
TCU Horned Frogs
Quarterbacks
Trevone Boykin is arguably the top fantasy quarterback nationwide and we currently him ranked 2nd overall in our quarterback projections. His arm talent should not be in question after throwing for 3,900 yards and 33 touchdowns in 2014. TCU’s top three receivers return as well, including favorite target Josh Doctson. He should not have to worry too much about opposing pressure, as the offensive line returns four starters. At times, against better defenses, Boykin struggled in the passing game, but his ample rushing ability often allowed him to put up salvageable fantasy numbers, and on the year he ran for 707 yards and 8 touchdowns. Undoubtedly, if Boykin stays healthy he is going to have a fantastic year and we’re excited to see how he performs with the bar set so high heading into 2015.
Running Backs
2014 began with BJ Catalon and Aaron Green splitting carries for the season’s first eight games. Then, against West Virginia on November 1st, Catalon went down with a season ending injury, allowing Green to step into a full time role. Upon taking over the starting spot, Green ran for 544 yards and six scores in the final five games. Though Green enters 2015 with an “OR” designation next to his name on the depth chart, it’s very apparent that he is the favorite for carries, the only question is: will he receive enough touches to put up productive numbers? Our answer is that he doesn’t have to receive 20-25 touches in order to be a fantasy force. Though Green never once received 20 rushing attempts in 2014, running behind an offensive line returning 98 career starts, in a spread offense that won’t allow defenders to stack the line against him, Green will have no problem producing in 2015. We’re projecting Green to average 6.8 yards per carry, pile up over 1,300 yards on the ground, and score fifteen touchdowns.
Wide Receivers
Though Trevone Boykin will spread the ball around to many of the team’s wide outs, Josh Doctson is clearly the number one threat, leading the team in catches, yards, and touchdowns in 2014. Last season, Boykin looked for him particularly in jump ball situations, allowing Doctson to utilize his 6’3” frame – a trend that I expect to continue this year. We feel that he’s a strong bet to repeat last season’s performance and should produce at least 1,000 yards and double digit scores. Kolby Listenbee is getting rightfully hyped going into 2015, as a track star that has already proven himself as a competent football player. He managed 753 yards on only 41 catches in 2014, while being hobbled with an ankle injury in the latter half of the season. We feel that Listenbee offers the upside of a top 40 receiver, as someone who can turn every catch into a big play, and should have plenty of opportunity in this dynamic offense.
Tight Ends
Move along, we won’t even be looking at a punt play from this crew.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Quarterbacks
Though the quarterback battle has yet to be officially decided, Patrick Mahomes has to be the guy. Davis Webb began 2014 as the starter, but he showed too much of a propensity for giving games away and eventually had his season ended by injury. Mahomes played incredibly well late in the year, specifically in shootouts against Iowa State and Baylor, throwing for a combined 926 yards and 10 touchdowns in those two games alone. If Mahomes can stay healthy for a full season, he will put up huge numbers in one of the most fantasy friendly systems in all of the FBS. The Red Raider defense will likely be very bad once again, forcing Mahomes to throw early and often. The Texas Tech offensive line returns four starters and three of the team’s top four receiving targets are back. We currently have Mahomes slotted as our number 10 quarterback and it’s not outrageous to think that he could be the top fantasy quarterback nationwide in 2015.
Running Backs
Last season DeAndre Washington produced the first 1,000 yard rushing season for a Texas Tech running back since 1998. Working in his favor in 2015 is that he will be running behind a very experienced offensive line that has 99 career starts returning collectively. While Washington’s four 100 yard games in 2014 all came in close games, which were a rarity, there is optimism that the defense will be improved this year thanks to the hiring of former Houston defensive coordinator, David Gibbs. If Gibbs can improve the defense, and Texas Tech can remain competitive deeper into games, Washington will have a good chance at once again crossing the 1,000 yard threshold. A statistic of significance concerning Washington is his paltry total of two rushing touchdowns from last season. This is not so much a knock on Washington as it is a function of an offense that throws the ball even when they are deep in the red zone. Obviously, this limits the running back’s opportunities for easy rushing touchdowns.
Wide Receivers
The top Red Raider wide receiver for 2015 is pint sized Jakeem Grant. The 5’7” target came into 2014 with high expectations and was well on his way to a great campaign, averaging 7 catches and 90 yards per game in the team’s first seven contests. However, in Texas Tech’s final five games, Grant only caught a total of 17 balls for 309 yards. What changed? On October 20th, Grant was shot, hospitalized, and received stitches to his “chin area” after being injured in a shootout following a party early that morning. Expect the 2015 version to look more like Grant did prior to being shot. Because Texas Tech throws so often, fourth most pass attempts in the FBS in 2014, their other, lesser known, pass catching options warrant discussion as well. Dylan Cantrell has a chance to start at one outside receiver spot this season. Cantrell is a big target in the mold of former Texas Tech star Jace Amaro, and has an established connection with Mahomes going back to their time in high school as teammates. Devin Lauderdale specialized as a deep threat last season, averaging 51 yards per touchdown catch in 2014, and hauled in 20 of his 31 catches in the final five games. He seems like a sure bet to begin the season with a starting job, and has great upside as a GPP play.
Tight Ends
Unless Coach Kingsbury lists Cantrell as a tight end – extremely unlikely – then we won’t be seeing a tight end catching passes in Lubbock this fall.
Defense
The Texas Tech defense was one of the worst in the FBS last season, on a per game basis allowing: the 3rd most points, 4th most total yards, and 5th most rushing yards. Across last year’s 12 game season, the Red Raider defense allowed 12 100 yard rushing performances. Even with David Gibbs coming in as new defensive coordinator, this will be a defense to target, especially at the running back position.
West Virginia Mountaineers
Quarterbacks
Skylar Howard filled in admirably for the now retired Clint Trickett at the end of 2014, and was named the starting quarterback for 2015 coming out of the spring. If a couple of receivers step up, we believe that Howard can be a weekly DFS option, and currently project him as our number 16 quarterback. Howard has already demonstrated that he has running ability, rushing for a combined 102 yards in his two starts last season. West Virginia will be in plenty of shootouts this season and Howard should push for 4,000 total yards, as the triggerman for what was the seventh fastest team according to our 2014 Tempo Rankings. While he’s not treated as a top tier option in most circles, we feel Howard will be amongst the top scorers at the quarterback position many weeks, while not being priced as such, offering opportunity for him to exceed value.
Running Backs
The West Virginia backfield has largely been a nightmare for fantasy players the last couple of years, largely being handled by a committee of backs. Fortunately, at least at the outset, 2015’s rotation looks significantly more clear-cut than previous seasons, with only Rushel Shell and Wendell Smallwood fighting for carries. Expectations were high for Shell in 2014 and while he did not meet them, averaging 4.5 yards per carry, amassing 788 yards and seven touchdowns, we feel a 1,000 yard season could very well be in the cards this year. If we remove a four game stretch in the middle of the season in which Shell battled foot problems, he averaged a shade under 18 carries per game, with Smallwood receciving only 8.5 carries per game in that same span. We should expect a similar distribution in 2015, with Smallwood seeing more of the passing game work and Shell getting the majority of red zone carries. Shell should be considered as more of a guy to take advantage of in weak matchups than someone to consider every Saturday, though his floor is fairly high in most instances due to his projected volume of carries.
Wide Receivers
This position group has warranted more research than any other section of this preview –the reason being that the upside here is extraordinary, considering the system and history, but very little is set in stone going into 2015. Kevin White and Mario Alfred depart, taking 58% of the team’s receiving production with them and creating massive opportunity for the team’s returning, inexperienced receiving corps. Daikiel Shorts has been playing both inside and outside receiver this summer, giving him more ways to get on the field come game day, and giving him the highest floor of any of the team’s wide receivers. He is also the only receiver on the latest depth chart to have a starting job completely to himself, as all of the other starting receivers have “OR” designations. We’ve aggressively ranked Shorts as our number 13 overall receiver. Shelton Gibson certainly has a lot going for him coming into 2015, even though his actual on field production has been minimal. Coach Dana Holgorson recently called Gibson “the fastest player I’ve ever coached.” Additionally, Gibson has worked out with Skylar Howard the last two summers in Howard’s hometown. Gibson has been plagued by drops and has been a victim of a stacked depth chart in his first two years on campus, but the largely positive reviews he’s received this summer, combined with his relationship with the starting quarterback, and physical tools, makes him extremely interesting. Ka’Raun White, Kevin White’s younger brother, transferred into the program this year and coaches have said he looks better than Kevin did at the same point in his career. He’s got a physically imposing frame like Kevin, and if he continues to draw rave reviews and breaks camp with the starters, we’ll need to really consider him. Lastly, but certainly not least, four star recruit, true freshman, Jovon Durante has impressed to the point that Holgorson has already gone on record saying Durante will not be redshirted this season, so we’ll need to monitor him as well as we get closer to the season opener.
Tight Ends
There’s nothing really to see here. Cody Clay is the probable starter but had no more than two catches in a game in 2015 (and only hit that mark on one occasion.) It’s really pushing it to even mention him as a desperation play.
Oklahoma Sooners
Quarterbacks
2014 starter Trevor Knight and Baker Mayfield, who spent all of 2014 redshirting and running the scout team, are in a dog fight for the starting quarterback spot. With the hire of new Offensive Coordinator Lincoln Riley from East Carolina, whoever wins the job will likely be asked to throw the ball significantly more than the school has in recent seasons. For comparison, in 2014, East Carolina attempted the second most passes in the FBS (637) while Oklahoma only threw the ball 386 times – a difference of over 19 passes per game. While this battle may not be decided until closer to the season opener, we are fully expecting that Mayfield to be named starter. He has experience in a true Air-Raid offense from his time at Texas Tech and though he hasn’t seen game action since 2013, we feel more confident in Mayfield’s passing ability than Knight’s. We’re expecting Mayfield to surpass 3,000 yards through the air and throw for over 30 touchdowns, and currently have him ranked as 27 amongst quarterbacks.
Running Backs
Samaje Perine was an absolute mauler for much of 2014 and we don’t really see much cause for concern going into 2015, regardless of the system change. We’ve seen plenty of bigger backs succeed in spread attacks, with Royce Freeman being a perfect example just this past year. Slight regression from his 2014 per game averages should be expected, with the loss of three starting linemen and the anticipated increased emphasis on the passing game, but we still feel confident projecting Perine to receive over 20 carries a game, and accumulate in excess of 1,500 rushing yards with over 20 touchdowns.
Wide Receivers
Sterling Shepard is clearly the star of the show here, and should only benefit from an offense that will now emphasize the passing game far more than in 2014. Though his overall season stats may not say it, as he barely played the final five games of 2014, Shepard is elite nationally, and you can lock him in as a top fifteen receiver overall. There’s a ton of hype surrounding JUCO recruit Dede Westbrook. He put up monster numbers at Blinn College in 2014, averaging 185 receiving yards per game, and is expected to claim one of the starting receiver spots. There should be plenty of balls to go around with only Shepard’s target allotment truly spoken for, and we comfortably project Westbrook to see the second most throws, ahead of Micaiah Quick and Durron Neal, both of whom should also contribute.
Tight Ends
With last year’s starter Blake Bell now in the NFL, Mark Andrews is his likely successor and, much like Bell, has serious size at 6’6”. Fortunately, Andrews should be used primarily in a receiving role, with some preseason reports even mentioning him amongst the wide receivers. For comparison, in 2013 and 2014, new Oklahoma Offensive Coordinator Lincoln Riley’s last two years at East Carolina, similarly built Bryce Williams posted over 450 yards and 9 touchdowns. Our projections definitely see the potential for Andrews to post stellar numbers in 2015, slotting him number 20 in our tight end rankings. If he shows that he has a role in this offense early, he’ll be a weekly DFS factor.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Quarterbacks
With three games remaining in the 2014 season, Oklahoma State decided to burn the redshirt of highly touted true freshman Mason Rudolph. He quickly validated the hype, endearing himself to the Cowboy faithful with wins against the school’s biggest rival, Oklahoma, and Washington, in the school’s bowl game. While Rudolph certainly has a bright future, we see his value being not necessarily as high as other quarterbacks in the conference. Rudolph will bring zero running ability, having rushed for negative yardage in each of his three games last season. Rudolph’s back-up however, J.W. Walsh, will almost certainly see red-zone snaps because of his running prowess, vulturing potential touchdown opportunities from Rudolph. Additionally, 2014 was the first season since Gundy’s maiden campaign as Oklahoma State coach in 2005 that the team failed to rush for 2,000 yards. The Cowboys should be expected to be far more successful and committed running the ball this year. The offensive line is more experienced, the running back options are more talented, and Gundy will certainly not want to put too much pressure on his burgeoning quarterback. Rudolph will be playable in soft matchups this season, but we believe that he will put up his share of average efforts as well.
Running Backs
Rennie Childs returns as the most experienced member of the backfield, but to this point in his career he has been decidedly ordinary as a runner, averaging only 3.8 yards per carry average in 2014. In a competition for the starting spot, Childs is battling Chris Carson, a highly rated JUCO recruit. Carson has already been voted the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year and possesses intimidating size at 6’2” 202 pounds. If Carson were to be crowned starter, he’d certainly warrant attention, but going into the season, the touches will likely be split fairly evenly.
Wide Receivers
Over the past couple of seasons, Oklahoma State has proved to be an offense that likes to spread the ball around to their receivers, but we think the two guys that warrant the most mention are James Washington and Brandon Shepard. While Washington excelled as a deep ball threat as a freshman, that was essentially his only path to contribution. Granted, that’s a very valuable skill, and he should develop in his second year, but inconsistency should be expected. Sheperd, however, looked to be Rudolph’s primary target down the stretch in 2014, and we expect that momentum to carry over into 2015. Sheperd caught long touchdowns in each of the team’s final two games, accounted for 12 catches 254 yards in those games, and averaged 19 yards a catch on the season. We expect him to be the team’s most valuable receiver in 2015 and could come at a discounted rate early on in the season.
Tight Ends
Jeremy Seaton had 13 catches last year, including seven in the last two games, and he could provide value as a punt play.
Kansas State Wildcats
Quarterbacks
Going into August, there was full-blown four way competition between Joe Hubener, Jesse Ertz, Jonathan Banks, and Alex Delton for the right to succeed to Jake Waters as starting quarterback. As of now though, Ertz is getting the majority of the first team reps and looks most likely to be named the starter. Unfortunately, given the program’s history, it would not be surprising if Coach Bill Snyder eventually settles on playing two quarterbacks, with either Delton or Banks serving as short yardage and red zone options. The ideal scenario for fantasy purposes though is that one of these four quarterbacks takes the reins and also shows enough running ability to prevent Snyder from using a second, option quarterback in the red zone.
Running Backs
Last year, while the two-headed monster of Charles Jones and DeMarcus Robinson combined for a whopping 18 touchdowns, they only amassed a total of 977 rush yards on the ground combined. Though Robinson has departed, Jones, who had 14 total scores in 2014, returns for another year. The problem with Jones’ usage in 2014 was that he never once broke 100 yards on the ground and was heavily dependent on the Wildcat formation in the red zone for his touchdowns. If Kansas State’s starting quarterback does in fact turn out to be a better runner than Jake Waters, then Jones’s value really plummets. Currently, Jones is in a three way battle for the starting job, with 2014 three-star recruit Dalvin Warmack and Justin Silmon. Considering the lack of established weapons at wide receiver, and uncertainty at quarterback, if one running back can emerge, he would certainly be on our radar for DFS consideration.
Wide Receivers
Tyler Lockett and Curry Sexton are gone, taking over 2,500 yards from 2014 with them. Early thinking is that regardless of who emerges out wide this season, the aerial attack will be scaled back significantly with Jake Waters gone. We currently don’t project a single receiver to break the 1,000 yard threshold, and this will definitely be a wait-and-see situation at the season’s outset.
Tight Ends
The tight end spot in this offense has historically seen no more than a few targets per game, making a touchdown almost a necessity in order to hit value in a given week. Cody Small is projected to start this year, and initially we will view him as nothing more than a desperation play.
Iowa State Cyclones
Quarterbacks
We see a lot of reasons for optimism when it comes to starting quarterback Sam Richardson’s outlook for this season – in brevity:
- Iowa State has as talented a trio of wide receivers that you’ll find nationwide
- Richardson does in fact bring that running aspect that we all desire from our fantasy quarterbacks – having run for just under 1,000 yards so far in his three years
- The tailback position for the Cyclones is extremely suspect, leading Coach Paul Rhodes to wonder if perhaps Richardson could be the team’s leading rusher
Our projections currently have Richardson totaling a shade under 3,500 total yards, and 24 touchdowns, and I believe that he can easily exceed these numbers with good health and growth from his receivers. The schedule has plenty of soft matchups, and Richardson should establish himself as far more than just a cheap punt play this season.
Running Backs
In 2014, we saw the Cyclones’ leading rusher total less than 700 yards. The Cyclones will almost certainly be intent on emphasizing the passing game just as much, if not more this season, especially when considering the inexperience at running back, and the studs out wide. According to the first depth chart released this summer, Tyler Brown, he of 109 career collegiate rushing yards, is the starter. This will be a situation to avoid, at least early on.
Wide Receivers
Coming into 2015, Iowa State starts a trio of very talented receivers. Unfortunately, as a result of that, we don’t think this will be a situation where one guy establishes himself as an absolute target hog, and all three should be heavily involved in the offense. Quenton Bundrage is the senior leader and is coming off of a wasted 2014 in which he tore his ACL in the season opener. He has been practicing all summer and won’t have any injury related restrictions coming into the season. D’Vario Montgomery really established himself in the second half of 2014, and at 6’6” 213 pounds, should easily be able to exceed his paltry two touchdown total of last year. Allen Lazard though, is our pick to lead the school in receiving and fantasy output in 2015. He was very impressive as a true freshman considering the plan to initially bring him along slowly went up in smoke with Bundrage’s ACL. Though Lazard was inconsistent week to week, we should view 2014 as a successful building block from someone who, unlike his fellow wide receivers, is far from a finished product.
Tight Ends
E.J. Bibbs was a weekly DFS consideration throughout his two years in Ames, but he is now off to the NFL. While as of now, no one looks to be really stepping up and standing out as a potential Bibbs replacement - Ben Boesen is most likely to start - we think that early on in the season this situation will be worth monitoring, as the school has a history of utilizing tight ends.
Defense
The Cyclones finished 118th in points against in 2014 and allowed the most yards per game of any team in the entire FBS. They return six defensive starters, but lose their only defensive player who was even named an Honorable Mention for All-Big 12 honors. We consider this a defense to target against going into 2015, as any improvement should be marginal.
Texas Longhorns
Quarterbacks
2014 starter Tyrone Swoopes put up very nice DFS lines against Oklahoma, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State last season, however he looked completely incompetent in the final two contests against TCU and Arkansas, likely making it easier for Coach Charlie Strong to adamantly declare his desire to play two quarterbacks in the season opener. That decision might also partially stem from the staff’s eagerness to incorporate, or perhaps eventually hand the reigns to, redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard. What is very apparent about Heard is that he possesses the kind of running ability that we drool over as DFS players. Of course, if he didn’t come with questions about his arm, this wouldn’t be a quarterback competition at all. Early in the season, it might be tough to play either Swoopes or Heard considering the anticipated incorporation of both, though it would not be surprising if Heard is getting all of the snaps by mid-season.
Running Backs
Jonathan Gray is the clear cut starter going into 2015, and Charlie Strong has even suggested that Gray could see close to thirty carries a game. In reality though, this is very unlikely as Texas probably be playing from behind in most contests. Working in Gray’s favor is that he is the only experienced running back on a team that returns four starters on the offensive line. Overall, we have more faith in Gray than we do in the team as a whole, especially the quarterback situation, and forecast him to push for close to 1,000 yards on the ground and double digit touchdowns.
Wide Receivers
John Harris and Jaxon Shipley depart and take over 1,600 yards of production with them. Marcus Johnson probably enters camp as the default number one given that he caught 27 balls last year, but it’s tough to just expect him to step in as a true go to receiver based on that. Daje Johnson is incredibly dynamic with the ball in hands, but it’s been exceedingly difficult to confidently play him in a given week, simply because so much of his value is derived of explosive plays, and his quantity of touches has been fairly limited. That being said, the wide receiver position at Texas is so undecided that it would make a lot of sense for the team to find more ways to get Daje the football.
Tight Ends
Let’s put it this way: the most landmark accomplishment a Texas tight end has made the past ten years was wide receiver John Harris qualifying at tight end on some DFS sites early on in 2014. This position has generally amounted to nothing year in and year out and that is likely to continue in 2015.
Kansas Jayhawks
Quarterbacks
Montell Cozart sits atop of the depth chart, but has not officially locked up the job. Cozart actually started multiple games in 2013 and 2014 – with mostly poor results. He is very athletic, and though he has shown less than ideal passing skills in the past, he definitely has ample rushing talent. That being said, Kansas is implementing an Air Raid system, so this offense as a whole has significantly more potential than in years past, when a pro style approach was utilized. Rolling with Cozart in anything other than a contrarian GPP effort initially will be extremely risky.
Running Back
The guy that may end up leading the backfield in 2015 is JUCO transfer Ke’Aun Kinner, winner of the 2014 National Junior College Athletic Association Offensive Player of the Year award. Kinner ran for close to 1,700 yards and 22 touchdowns in 2014 at the JUCO level, and has been described as “lightning quick” and a “special player” by teammates. Kinner certainly has the background and opportunity to be fantasy relevant, but we’ll probably want to see how functional the offense is as a whole before buying into the Kansas ground attack.
Wide Receiver
With Kansas transitioning to the Air Raid, even though the starting spots are mostly undecided, this situation becomes far more intriguing than it had been in prior years. The most interesting news concerning this group was when Joshua Stanford, a graduate of Virginia Tech, announced in early August that he will be transferring to Kansas. Stanford caught 40 balls for 640 yards in 2013, but was largely irrelevant in 2014, due to injuries and the large influx of talent that the Hokies experienced at the skill positions. He possesses solid size (6’1” 200 lbs) and is already drawing rave reviews from his new coaching staff. Stanford is definitely the guy I’m most intrigued about for 2015 at the receiver position in Lawrence.
Tight End
Ben Johnson only caught 8 passes in 2014, but appears to have a secure role in the offense. While it is the norm to largely ignore tight ends in Air Raid offenses, for Johnson we should make an exception. Johnson will unquestionably qualify as a tight end in all fantasy formats this year, but the expectation is that he will do little to no blocking, acting primarily as just another receiving option. This is great news for us and I expect him to be a primary receiving target for the Jayhawks.
Defense
The Jayhawks were exceedingly generous with their run defense in 2014, allowing the eighth most rush yards per game amongst teams from Power Five conferences. Samaje Perine running for an FBS record 427 yards against Kansas is what everyone will remember, but they also gave up 245 yards to Duke freshman Shaun Wilson on only 12 carries, as well as numerous other 100 yard efforts over the span of the season. Our expectation is that the Kansas run defense will continue to be one to pick on this year.