Devy Fantasy Football Rankings: Movers and Shakers

Welcome to Movers and Shakers, an in-season series from DLF. Each week we choose a different ranking category; top 250 (one quarterback and superflex), devy, and IDP. We then review players from that group who may have risen or fallen substantially from the past month’s ranks and alert you to any relevant changes. Let’s get right to it.

QUARTERBACK

Shedeur Sanders, QB Colorado (DLF RANK: Unranked)

It is extremely early in the season, with most teams only playing one game, but Sanders stood out in a big way on Saturday. Many people, myself included, were expecting Colorado to be a woeful organization this season. After sending most of the incumbent starters packing, and bringing in 53 new players via the transfer portal, it was hard to believe that the team would start off hot. Not only did they start off hot, the entire offense was on fire, and it started with Sanders.

Courtesy of Sports Reference.

TCU seemed unable to cover the slew of receiving options Colorado attacked them with, with three wide receivers and a running back breaking 100 yards receiving. Sanders was completing passes at will, while being accurate and safe with the ball. We obviously need to see more than one game to truly catapult Sanders up devy boards, but his 12.0 adjusted yards per attempt, 0% interception rate, and 200.1 passer rating are all very promising.

If I were to nitpick anything from Sanders’ first game in the Pac-12, it would be his fairly low big-time throw rate of 3% and his lack of rushing, ending with negative yardage (sacks count towards rushing totals in college).

Should Move Ahead Of:

Sanders has proven through one game that he deserves to at the very least be ranked by DLF, and I think he should be moving ahead of other unproven QBs like Joe Milton and Jalen Milroe.

RUNNING BACK

Trey Benson, RB FLORIDA STATE (DLF RANK: 19TH OVERALL, RB8)

Benson got on a lot of radars last season when he rushed for almost 1,000 yards, adding nine touchdowns. This off-season, as the hype for the Seminoles grew, so did the hype for Benson. I’ve recently seen posts on Twitter with people saying that Benson was their number one RB in the 2024 rookie class. It seems that the hype has gone a bit too far, especially when you consider that he is in a committee backfield.

In week one, against LSU, Benson only touched the ball a total of 13 times, with 12 rushes and one reception. Those 12 rush attempts added up to only 47 rushing yards and 3.9 yards per carry. Rodney Hill, another running back from the team, had five carries for 29 yards, at 5.8 YPC.

Should Fall Behind:

I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom for Benson, but I do think it’s time to move him down the ranks a bit until we see something more from him. I’m moving him behind Devin Neal and Audric Estime and am willing to hear arguments for others.

WIDE RECEIVER

Keon Coleman, WR FLORIDA STATE (DLF RANK: 37TH OVERALL, WR13)

Courtesy of Sports Reference

Coleman popped up on devy radars after his sophomore season with Michigan State, but his offseason transfer to Florida State is looking to be what can have him skyrocket up the ranks. Against a top-five-ranked opponent, Coleman finished the game with nine receptions for 122 yards, with three touchdowns. It looked like the LSU corners had no answer for Coleman, and every pass heading his way felt like it would end in a big play(most of them did).

When writing about week one, I usually have to caveat things with: “it was a lower level of competition, so we have to hope this will continue”, but going up against such a solid opponent, we have to believe that this is the new norm for Coleman.

Should Move Ahead Of:

Coleman should be moving ahead of more unproven players like Carnell Tate, Zachariah Branch, and Luther Burden.

TIGHT END

Duce Robinson, TE USC (DLF RANK: UNRANKED)

Choosing a TE after only one week was a tough task. I wanted to write about Jaheim Bell, but as a Florida Gator fan, I couldn’t bring myself to talk about three Florida State players in a row. Robinson hasn’t done too much so far in his college career, being a true freshman, but the fact that he’s already a part of such a high-end offense is very promising.

With devy and C2C hit rates being so low, especially at the tight-end position, we want to be hesitant to move players up the ranks too soon, but it can also hurt us to be too patient. With so few proven TE options, I’m willing to move Robinson into at least the top ten of the position.

WRAPPING IT UP

The season has just begun, so nothing is set in stone yet, but we need to utilize every bit of information we get on these players. Like I said in his blurb, I believe in the Keon Coleman spike the most of any of these players listed today, but they all should be moving in some direction in the ranks. We’ll have a devy version of this series coming out at the beginning of each month, so make sure you stay tuned, and good luck in all of your leagues!