Developing Assets: Week 14

Ray Garvin Posted On November 30, 2019

Dynasty is a game of chess, not checkers. Whether you are tracking players for your devy leagues or are looking ahead to the 2020 class in a more traditional dynasty format, the goal is still the same. As an owner, you want to put your team in the best position for short and long-term success. Following the weekly world of college football can pay dividends for fantasy players who follow this advice.

Each week this season, I’ll focus on a trio of games throughout the day, along with some key future pros you might want to focus on as you watch.

For the prospects to watch section I will be excluding the players who are currently ranked inside DLF’s top five devy positional rankings.

WAKE UP AND WATCH: Ohio state AT MICHIGAN (11:00 ct, fox)

Justin Fields, Chase Young, JK Dobbins, Chris Olave, and Master Teague lead the newly-crowned number-one ranked Buckeyes into The Big House to face a surging Michigan team led by Shea Patterson, Zach Charbonnet and a wealth of receiving talent.

I don’t have to tell you about the players to watch on the Ohio State side of the ball – we talk about them every Saturday and twice on Sunday; pay attention to the usual stud suspects. Instead, let’s focus on a couple of Wolverines that have shown worthy of our devy attention.

Junior wide receiver Nico Collins had a monster week 13 performance, catching six passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns last week versus Indiana. He is a tantalizing prospect at 6’4” 222lbs and speed to burn. He has an impressive 649 yards and seven touchdowns on 31 catches this season, while averaging 20.9 yard per reception.

Running back Hassan Haskins is a sleeper devy prospect. He’s the second running back on the depth chart behind true freshman stud Charbonnet, but Haskins has looked impressive when given the opportunity. He has 483 rushing yards on 91 carries this season. He has looked impressive in every contest he receives carries. He’s a name you’ll be able to snatch in the last round of devy drafts next summer.

Talked about this on the @DestinationDevy Pod – I believe of all the highly rated high school RB prospects -Zach Charbonnet has the clearest path to opportunity this fall.

At 6’2 220 he’s got quick feet very good speed. In #devy mocks he’s consistently gone RD3-4. Take Note 📝 pic.twitter.com/iO1jmHnQ57

— Ray G (@RayGQue) June 13, 2019

Other teams in early action include:

Clemson at South Carolina (11:00 CT, ESPN) Prospect to Watch: WR, Bryan Edwards

Georgia at Georgia Tech (11:00 CT ABC) Prospect to Watch: WR, George Pickens

Louisville at Kentucky (11:00 CT SECN) Prospect to Watch: WR, Lynn Bowden Jr.

MIDDAY Marquee: ALABAMA at AUBURN (2:30 CT, CBS)

Last Saturday the Tua Tagovailoa-less Alabama Crimson Tide had an impressive win over wait for it, Western Carolina. The Nick Saban led team is looking for yet another college football playoff berth. Backup quarterback turned starter; Mac Jones didn’t have to do much last week from a passing standpoint. He completed 10 of12 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns and the majority of the passing damage was done by his receivers after the catch.

Auburn presents a more difficult task for the Alabama offense, which will be carried, literally, by stud running back Najee Harris. Harris has been amazing on the ground and through the air this season. Flashback to the 2015 Iron Bowl, former Bama running back Derrick Henry had 46 carries for 271 yards, I doubt we see that level of volume for Najee but a 30-touch performance might be what they need in order to secure the victory.

Najee Harris has exceeded all my expectations so far this season. He’s playing with patience, power, speed & versatility

Week 8 vs Tennessee may have been his most complete/impressive game

Plays 1 & 2 – Receiving Ability
Plays 3-5 – Patience, Vision, Burst

Stock Up 📈 #Devy pic.twitter.com/7LxcvgLYut

— Ray G (@RayGQue) October 23, 2019

Bo Nix and Seth Williams will lead the Auburn offense against a defense that is very beatable. Both Nix and Williams are viewed as top devy assets at their respective positions and draft class.

Other teams in mid-day action include:

Wisconsin at Minnesota (2:30 CT, ABC) Prospect to Watch: WR, Tyler Johnson

Notre Dame at Stanford (3:00 CT, FOX) Prospect to Watch: WR, Chase Claypool

Oregon State at Oregon (3:00 CT, PAC12) Prospect to Watch: WR, Isaiah Hodgins

PRIMETIME PLAY: OKLAHOMA AT OKLAHOMA STATE (7:00 CT, FOX)

There will be tons of scoring in this regular-season finale. This should be a game that is great for all devy-relevant players. Chuba Hubbard is only 168 rushing yards away from 2,000 on the season! He leads the FBS in rushing yards (1,832), rushing yards per game (166.5), rushing touchdowns (20), rushing yards after contact (1,152), all-purpose yards (2,044) and all-purpose yards per game (185.8.) I doubt there will be much Oklahoma can do to stop Chuba in this one.

However, Oklahoma State likely won’t have an answer for Jalen Hurts, CeeDee Lamb and company. Hurts has been a monster this season on the ground and through the air. When Hurts is drafted high in the 2020 NFL Draft, he can send a major thank you to Baltimore Ravens superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson. His play this season has kicked the door down for true dual-threat signal-callers like Hurts.

Lamb was named a Biletnikoff award finalist this week. This is the award that is given to the nation’s top receiver. He has a staggering 999 yards and 14 touchdowns on only 46 receptions. The only bummer is we won’t get Tylan Wallace or Trey Sermon, who were both lost to season-ending injuries.

Wherever you have CeeDee Lamb ranked, I assure you it’s far too low.

Bonafide stud. His catch radius, body control, hands are all outstanding. Playmaker and offers punt return flexibility. #devy pic.twitter.com/MnjF5re9C5

— Ray G (@RayGQue) August 4, 2019

Other teams with evening games include:

Colorado at Utah (6:30 CT, ABC) Prospect to Watch: RB, Zack Moss

Florida State at Florida (6:30 CT, SECN) Prospect to Watch: TE, Kyle Pitts

Texas A&M at LSU (6:00 CT, ESPN) Prospect to Watch: RB, Clyde Edwards-Helaire

2020 NFL MOCK DRAFT

As the NFL Draft has grown in popularity, that means it has become a year-round business and we no longer have to wait until the end of the football season to see where the top players project to land. Multiple sites and writers are nor regularly producing mock draft months out from the actual event and I’ll now be including those in these weekly updates.

Here’s the latest projection from Luke Easterling of Draftwire: