Developing Assets: Off-Season Devy Rankings

I’d say we’re long overdue for a detailed set of devy rankings!

As I’ve studied the current crop of college players (including the incoming freshmen), I’ve realized the true depth of talent that currently inhabits college campuses and the Saturday gridiron. While I love watching these players with an eye toward their potential future to play on Sundays, I remembered the old saying that two heads are better than one.  With that in mind, I asked one of the most respected minds in the devy and dynasty community, Scott Fish, to join me in putting together this week’s devy rankings.

For those of you who might not be familiar with Scott, let me tell you a little more about him. In addition to starting and running FFOasis.com, Scott was one of the original devy players in all of fantasy football around fifteen years ago. FFOasis is also one of the top resources for devy content, not to mention sporting some terrific dynasty coverage.

As I’ve said recently in other articles, I’ve really started to notice devy leagues experiencing a rapid growth in popularity. I am consistently approached with questions and discussions related to college players and I love to see and hear about all of the dynasty players who are branching out to give devy leagues a shot.

As I mentioned, I want to give you a collection of deep rankings today, broken down in every way possible, so here we go!

*Note: All grade listings are as of the beginning of the 2014 college football season.

Overall Devy Rankings

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

 Tight Ends

Now that we’ve covered the top ten from each position, let’s move on to breaking these players down by grades. One thing to remember is that some of the sophomores could actually be draft eligible in 2015 if they have already had a redshirt season.

Seniors

Juniors

Sophomores

 Freshmen

I’ve seen some rough clips of many of the incoming freshmen and I’ve looked at some of the same rankings on ESPN, Rivals and other recruiting sites just like many of you, but I don’t feel like I have a good grasp on many of these players. Luckily, I consider my friend Scott an expert on these incoming freshmen, so I’ll defer to him for the top ten. He even offered some commentary to help us all learn a little bit more about the new big men on campus.

1.) Leonard Fournette, RB LSU

I drafted this guy as a junior in high school in one league. I’m clearly biased, but I have been watching high school players entering college for nearly a decade and a half and he might be the best I’ve watched. Adrian Peterson didn’t show Fournette’s catching ability (he wasn’t asked to). Fournette isn’t quite as ferocious as Peterson, but it’s close. He has such high upside that he is routinely taken in the first round of developmental drafts that include all college players. If he is not your #1 in this class; you either hate running backs, LSU, or winning.

2.) Malachi Dupre, WR LSU

The LSU Tigers are going to be fun to watch! I absolutely love watching Dupre play. His play style is so similar to AJ Green it’s scary. A few years back, I had ranked Julio Jones above Green coming out of high school and may have gotten that wrong, but there is no one in this class that comes close to Dupre for me. His biggest downfall? He decided to go to LSU, who has had a long track record of fantasy skill position failures at the NFL level. In the last fifteen to twenty years there has been who? Dwayne Bowe and Joseph Addai and that’s it? Hopefully Rueben Randle, Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham Jr., and now Malachi Dupre are the changing of that guard.

3.) Bo Scarbrough, RB Alabama

Much like Derrick Henry, Alabama continues to load up at running back. This time it’s another player who’s 6’2″ and weighs over 230 lbs. He is also rumored to run in the 4.5 range in the 40. I don’t put much stock into rumored high school 40 times, but he doesn’t look slow. He is quick between the tackles and more elusive than you would expect for his size. Naturally his size makes him tough to take down. Say what you will about Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson or even TJ Yeldon, but these guys can play at the pro level. At bare minimum, if you are drafting a freshman, there is some safety in drafting an Alabama 5 star recruit. You can almost pencil in that he will be drafted and be somewhat fantasy relevant.

4.) Racean Thomas, RB Auburn

Now I don’t expect him to take over Tre Mason’s spot immediately, but man this kid looks good on tape. He has excellent vision and change of direction. There are plays where he runs like he is the greased up deaf guy from “Family Guy.” He is not easy to bring down and it’s because of his agility more than his physicality – this could lead to a longer career given his ability to avoid hits. I highly considered moving him above Scarbrough. Don’t be surprised if I do later this year. Maybe even later this week if I watch more of him.

5.) Ermon Lane, WR FSU

Most people have Speedy Noil as their #2 wide receiver, so imagine my excitement when I noticed my partner in Devy at FFOasis also had Ermon Lane as his second rated wide receiver. He’s going to fill in nicely in a Florida State offense that just lost Kelvin Benjamin and added Dalvin Cook. He’s your prototypical #1 wide receiver. He is currently in the 6’3″, 197 lbs. mold and can gain a bit more muscle to his frame. He won’t go down to arm tackles and reminds me a lot of Sidney Rice. Yes, I know what you are thinking, let’s all hope for good health and the 2009 Sidney Rice. When I make player comps, it’s generally on style, not skill level.

6.) Josh Malone, WR TEN

To pull back the curtains, I had this guy two spots lower while writing up these rankings. I fell in love watching him awhile back, but conversations with people I respect fueled the flames of the two guys that follow Malone on these rankings. I decided to go with my gut and move him here on what I’ve seen. He is 6’3″, 195 lbs., but plays like he’s 6’3″, 220. I see Demaryius Thomas in his game, however I swear some of his highlights are basically shot for shot remakes of Keenan Allen in his junior year at California. He is much faster than you might expect for his size, is a long strider and catches passes all over the field. He’s always a threat to take it to the house.

7.) Davante “Speedy” Noil, WR Texas A&M

You have no idea how much I considered ranking him lower. When you have scouted incoming freshman as long as I have, for every Percy Harvin, there are ten guys like Davonte’ Neal and Andre Debose. He is incredibly explosive and like a game-changer. His highlight reels are something to watch. I am sure between him, Kyle Allen (incoming 5 star recruit and top ranked quarterback in the country), and others that Texas A&M will be fun to watch on Saturdays. If Speedy can pack on 15 pounds of muscle to his 6 foot frame, maybe I’d like him more. Players like De’Anthony Thomas came out of high school with great potential and then put on almost no weight despite rumors they had.

8.) Dalvin Cook, RB FSU

So now we have our second Florida State Seminole in this top ten. What I love most about Dalvin Cook isn’t his breakaway speed or change of direction, which he has. What I love most about him is how he makes up his mind immediately and hits the hole or makes the cut. Too many running backs hesitate, Cook appears to just run on instinct and it allows him to get by defenders and hit holes much quicker. He’s a great pass catcher, which is basically mandatory in the NFL now.

9.) Elijah Hood, RB UNC

I can’t believe the balance this kid has. I worry that his vision might be lacking after watching years of James Wilder Jr. show extreme balance with no vision, but I’ll try to give this kid the benefit of the doubt. I have seen the 5’11” 221 lbs. back have a rumored 40 time in the 4.55 range. I actually wouldn’t doubt if it’s a bit faster. He looks every bit of 221 and his game speed looks fast. When you take his compact, but larger build and pair it with incredible balance; you get a running back I’m excited to see in UNC Blue.

 10.) Jeff Jones, RB Minnesota

Maybe this is a homer pick. I might be too far into the forest to see the trees or whatever the idiom is. The Gophers are a run first team in a run oriented conference. Many people discount Big Ten running backs (admittedly they should to a degree), but Jeff Jones was easily the best back at the Under Armour All-American Game and was so good all week that several colleges gave him offers afterwards, including Florida. He is probably the best pass catching back in this class. Twice in that game he made adjustments on balls that excellent wide receivers would have trouble with. One he didn’t catch, but had no business getting close, the other he caught.

Honorable Mentions and other notes: Where is Joe Mixon? My Devy Partner Rob Leath had him as his ninth ranked running back – I had him as my fourth. Any time people I respect have far different views on a player than mine, I go back to the tape. That paired with Ryan asking me to be part of this article prompted me to do a lot of tape watching over the last day or so. I came away thinking he is a legit top prospect, but I liked a bunch of guys more. I also came away liking, but not loving Sony Michel (Georgia running back) and Joesph Yearby (Miami running back).

Thanks again to Scott for his awesome contribution to this article, as well as his contribution to devy leagues as a whole.

Follow @RyanMc23 and @ScottFish24 on Twitter

• Author
• Recent Posts

Ryan McDowell

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

In addition to his senior leadership role here at DLF, Ryan is also a husband, father of three and PE teacher. Ryan is the commissioner of multiple dynasty leagues, most notably the Kitchen Sink Dynasty Leagues. Here at DLF, Ryan’s focus is on identifying, monitoring and analyzing player value.

Latest posts by Ryan McDowell (see all)

• Monday Mocks: 2024 Landing Spots - April 15, 2024
• Five Landing Spots That Would Tank Rookie WR Value - April 13, 2024
• Monday Mocks: 2024 Backup Quarterbacks - April 8, 2024