Fantasy College Football Week 8

by David Kaplen (headChopper) Last Updated 2013-02-22 18:54:59

College Fantasy Football – Week 8

About the Writer: Fantasy Sports has always been a part of headChopper’s life; he began wagering on professional sports in high-school, and for the last 12 years he has been playing high-stakes, season-long fantasy leagues. In 2008 his passion for fantasy sports evolved when Snapdraft introduced him to the world of Daily Fantasy Sports. Since then, headChopper has been dominating the competition! He spent much of 2009 near the top of both FanDuel and SnapDraft’s leaderboards. In addition, he specializes in four different sports and is notorious for his knowledge in Daily Fantasy College Football. headChopper has been ranked as high as #3 in the RotoGrinders Overall Rankings.

College Football Week 8

Here we are 7 weeks in the books for the college season and the fantasy gods still find a way to drop bombs on us. I guess you could label it ironic that I’ve got a massive headache while watching Ryan Mallet and Taylor Potts go down with concussions. Mallet never came back in the game and although Potts stayed in, his stats reflected that he might as well have ridden the pine.

One thing is for sure this season – it has been many years since college football has seen a group of running quarterbacks this good. These guys are absolutely money in fantasy. They rack up stats on the ground like a running back and then do just enough through the air to make them must starts in any format.

The four guys I refer to are Colin Kaepernick, Taylor Martinez, Denard Robinson and Cam Newton. CK was the dominant fantasy running QB last year, but he has company this year. Taylor Martinez is lightning fast with his first step and his great reads with the option are deadly. Denard Robinson has track star speed when he gets into the open field and he gets there often. And Cam Newton, wow! Cam Newton is a beast. Newton is such a powerful runner he makes Tim Tebow look like Richard Simmons. It is not a coincidence that these 4 guys are the top fantasy scorers in all college football right now.

375 Point Cap Game

The Team

• QB- Aaron Murray, 61 cap. Murray has been on fire since AJ Green has returned from suspension. He plays Kentucky this week and they can’t stop anyone. This matchup is really juicy and the price makes him a bargain.

• RB1- Mark Ingram, 47 cap. Ingram has had 2 awful games in a row. I just can’t see a third consecutive bad game, especially not against a Tennessee team that is near the bottom of the SEC in rushing defense. Nice price on Ingram seals the deal.

• RB2- Stepfon Taylor, 41 cap. Taylor is near the bottom of this bracket in cost. That is a steal for the lead back of a team about to face Washington State. There are concerns that Andrew Luck will take all the TD’s, but Stepfon is likely to find paydirt at least once in this game.

• WR1- TJ Moe, 38 cap. There is not a greater disparity between highest salary player and next in line than there is in this group. Blackmon is a whopping 77 points, while the next WR in line is only 50. While I would love to get the nations #1 WR on my team, it just cost too much and will kill the rest of the squad. So I will role the dice with Moe, who happens to be the lead receiver for Missouri going into a prime time national TV game against Oklahoma. Mizzou is a pass happy team and Gabbert is sure to find success against a very average Oklahoma pass defense. Save the money and go with Moe.

• WR2- Jeff Fuller, 44 cap. I have a serious mancrush on Fuller, even though his QB is really playing bad right now. However, I don’t think it is going to affect him much this week against a really bad Kansas team. Fuller is due for a breakout game and the Aggies are in dire need of a win here. Pay the price and get Fuller.

• TE- Lance Kendricks, 29 cap. Tight End position is really shallow this year and Lance is at the top of the heap. There is not a big difference between the highest priced TE and the lowest, so I spent some dinero to grab the Wisconsin TE. Iowa has a very tough defense, but I think that favors Kendricks in this one. If Wisconsin cannot run or find open WR’s, then they have to turn to their All-American Tight End. This is a decent price for a top of the line tight end.

• K- Randy Bullock, 19 cap. Uh yeah, were talking about kickers. I hate spending any more than minimum on this unpredictable position. So Bullock seems healthy, plays behind a good offense and is the cheapest kicker on the board. You had me at hello.

• Flex1- Zach Line, 40 cap. The SMU running back is near the bottom of this group in salary. He also happens to be playing the Houston Cougars. The Coogs are notorious for allowing huge games against the run, and this comes from a lifelong Cougar fan. For a minimum price, you get a good running back in a shootout with a horrible run defense. I like my chances.

• Flex2- Daniel Thomas, 56 cap. With the top guy in this bracket costing just 2 points more, this is the big splurge of the contest for me. But Daniel Thomas is worth it. Baylor has a below average run defense and they will be able to keep this game competitive with their offense. That means a full game for Daniel T to rack up the stats. One way or another, I am going to pay the price for Daniel Thomas.

NCAA All-American

Round 1

• Andrew Luckvs. Washington State
• Robert Griffin vs. Kansas State

My take- Andrew Luck. It is just too tough to pass up on a guy who averages 26.7 fantasy points per game going against maybe the worst defense in the nation. If Washington State can somehow manage to score some points and keep Luck in the game till the end, it could be a huge reward for fantasy owners.

Round 2

• Tyrod Taylor vs. Duke
• Cam Newton vs. LSU

My Take- Tyrod Taylor. This will be one of the only times on the year when I would recommend taking Tyrod over Cam. It’s like the perfect storm. Newton has a tough matchup on paper, and Taylor with a cupcake. Tyrod has picked up his game lately, so I will reluctantly give him the nod. Just like the beer goggle induced, last call pickup of that big girl at the local bar on Saturday night, I will probably regret this on Sunday morning, but let’s roll the dice with Tyrod.

Round 3

• Daniel Thomas vs. Baylor
• DeMarco Murray vs. Missouri

My Take- DeMarco Murray. Look, this decision is about the same as which Olsen twin would make a better girlfriend. One might be ever so slightly better than the other, but it’s hardly worth debating over. Both of these guys are going to rack up points this week, but I will give a slight edge to Murray due to the strength of the Missouri secondary. Oklahoma may be running more than usual since Missouri has the capability of controlling Broyles in the passing game.

Round 4

• Jermaine Kearse vs. Arizona
• Ryan Broyles vs. Missouri

My Take- Ryan Broyles. Ok, Ok, I know. I kind of contradicted myself with the above post, but 365 did not make this contest easy. This is a choice of the lesser of 2 evils. Both have tough matchups against good pass defenses. The difference for me is the lack of weapons on the Huskies might cause Kearse to get too much attention. With so many weapons on Oklahoma, it’s going to be a bit tougher to blanket Broyles. For that reason, give me Broyles in this one.

Round 5

• Stepfon Taylor vs. Washington State
• Shane Vereen vs. Arizona State

My Take- Shane Vereen. While Stepfon has the much better matchup of the two, Vereen is the stud here. It’s tough not to pick a true top 5 running back. Vereen is a great all around back and I think California really leans on him this week to get that awful taste out of their mouth from that USC beat down.

Round 6

• Blaine Gabbert vs. Oklahoma
• Ryan Mallett vs. Mississippi

My Take- Ryan Mallet. I guess I am a fool for punishment. Mallet really left me hanging last weekend by leaving the game after the 1st Quarter with a concussion and never returning. But as of now, it appears like he should be back in there this week. If he is cleared to play, he has a sweet matchup with a bad pass defense. Hopefully the offensive line can keep him from getting hit and he rolls up those stats like he did before the injury.

Round 7

• Daniel Herron vs. Purdue
• Adam Robinson vs. Wisconsin

My Take- Daniel Herron. Not too many times throughout the course of the college season will I take Herron over Robinson, but this is one of them. Wisconsin is a tough matchup, even for Robinson. And Herron is gradually becoming a bigger piece to the Ohio State offense. Herron has 9 TD’s this year in limited time as opposed to 8 TD’s for Robinson, who has more than 30 extra carries to get there. In these games that Ohio State should win easy, I think you will see Ohio State use Herron a little more to take the enormous pressure off of Terrell Pryor.

Round 8

• Bryant Moniz vs. Utah State
• Aaron Murray vs. Kentucky

My Take- Bryant Moniz. While I really like Murray this week, I just cannot select him over one of the nation’s best stat hogging QB’s. Utah State is middle of the pack defense versus the pass and Hawaii is a throw first offense. Murray should do well also, but I can’t go against Moniz here.

Round 9

• Andy Dalton vs. Air Force
• Landry Jones vs. Missouri

My Take- Landry Jones. Well just when I said I didn’t want any part of the Oklahoma passing game this week, 365 does it to me again. I am selecting Jones because he is the far better QB, both statistically and on the field. Combine that with Air Force’s stingy pass defense, and I will be taking Landry Jones in this spot.

Round 10

• Jake Locker vs. Arizona
• Ben Chappell vs. Illinois
• Josh Nesbitt vs. Clemson
• Taylor Potts vs. Colorado
• Jerrod Johnson vs. Kansas
• Kyle Padron vs. Houston

My Take- Kyle Padron. For me, this bracket boils down to Padron or Chappell. Locker has a tough matchup, Nesbitt is too inconsistent, Potts is recovering from a concussion and Jerrod Johnson has been a mess this year. Chappell has a decent matchup and his team just throws the ball a lot. That is always good for fantasy purposes. But I will take Padron due to the fact that I feel a shootout coming in this one.

Well, that should rap it up for me for week 8. Any comments or questions are always welcomed via email or through the forums at rotogrinders.com. Until next week, may your bankroll prosper like Mark Mangino’s waistline.