Devy Stock Market
The Devy Stock Market continues with another crazy week of college football in 2021, breaking down the highs and lows of the week in college football and how it impacts the value of players in devy dynasty leagues.
Horned Up – Zach Evans RB and Quentin Johnston WR, TCU
This TCU duo includes two of my favorite devy targets the last two off-seasons, Evans in 2020 and Johnston in 2021.
Evans had a slow start to 2021 with only five carries for 27 yards and a touchdown in game one, but he made up for lost time in game two with 190 yards and a touchdown with 8.6 yards per carry against California. Evans continues to look like a top-three running back in the 2023 class as he contends with the likes of Bijan Robinson and Tank Bigsby for the top running back. If you are looking to consolidate assets into a higher end devy asset, I think Evans is a good bet to invest in with his five-star Rivals rating and early career production, averaging 96 rushing yards per game and five touchdowns in his last five games.
Johnston jumped onto my radar this off-season. Looking at his 22.1 yards per catch in 2020, one critique may have been that he only scored two touchdowns that season, but Johnston matched that in one game with two touchdowns against California, including five catches for 95 receiving yards. Johnston is proving to be one of the best big wide receivers in college football – he is 6’4” and 193 pounds.
C-Rod Ramping Up – Chris Rodriguez Jr, RB Kentucky
Redshirt junior Rodriguez is second in FBS in rushing with 331 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns in the first two games of the season. He showed some promise in 2020, averaging 87 yards per game and 6.6 yards per carry in nine games, while scoring 11 touchdowns.
Rodriguez continues to make big plays in 2021, leading the FBS in rushing in week two with 206 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns against Missouri. He is likely unrostered in most devy leagues, which will make him an interesting option for rookie drafts in devy leagues. Devy players often undervalue players who stay in school longer than three seasons and that is likely to be the case again with redshirt junior Rodriguez.
Thomas Takes Top Spot – Brandon Thomas, RB Memphis
Memphis quietly continues to produce NFL talent at the running back position and it looks like that could be the case once again. Through two games, Thomas leads FBS in rushing 338 rushing yards and three touchdowns, including 191 rushing yards on 10.6 yards per carry against Arkansas State.
At 5’11” 200 pounds, Thomas has NFL size and will be one of the more attractive non-Power Five devy options next off-season. Memphis has shown they will give their running backs opportunities to make big plays, and Thomas is taking advantage of those opportunities 9.9 yards per carry in the first two games of the season.
Ring the “Bell” – David Bell, WR Purdue
Bell was an incredibly productive wideout in his first two collegiate seasons, averaging 92 receiving yards per game with 16 total touchdowns in 18 games. One critique may have been his low yards per catch, as he averaged 11.8 and 12 yards per catch in the last two seasons respectively. Through two games in 2021, the critique has been nullified.
Bell has made big plays against a pair of Power Five opponents, averaging 18.2 yards per catch with 255 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. He was already valued as one of the top devy assets – he is currently ranked as the 13th overall devy by DLF consensus rankings – but his season thus far at Purdue puts him squarely in the possibility of being an NFL first-round pick, rather than the second-rounder that his former teammate Rondale Moore was. Bell also has the size advantage on Moore as he is listed at 6’2” 200 pounds.
Big Man on Campus – Anthony Richardson, QB Florida
Richardson is quickly becoming one of the most intriguing quarterbacks in devy fantasy football. He was a four-star quarterback via Rivals as the sixth-ranked dual-threat quarterback and early on he is showing why the recruiting circuit was a bit low on him. At 6’4” 235 pounds, Richardson has a size and mobility combination that isn’t often seen at the quarterback position and he has amazing arm strength that he has used to make huge plays early in his collegiate career.
In two games this season, Richardson has 192 passing yards with a 21.1 average yards per attempt and two touchdowns. He has also been a big mobile threat as the Gators’ QB2, rushing for 275 yards and two touchdowns thus far this season. The one negative for Richardson as of now from a devy perspective is that he is the QB2 on the depth chart behind Emory Jones.
At minimum, Richardson will continue to get spell work with the opportunity to impress as he has thus far, but I do think that as he continues to prove he is a better quarterback than Jones, Richardson will take more of a lion’s share of the work toward the latter half of the season. Richardson will be a top target of mine next off-season as I think he will have cemented the starting job by then, and if he is already rostered, it is very much still a “buy before it’s too late” before he is named the Florida starter.
- Dynasty Commish Calendar: August - August 5, 2023
- Dynasty Commish Calendar: June - June 9, 2023
- Dynasty Commish Calendar: May - May 3, 2023
