The college football season holds many attractions for many different kinds of fans and observers. One particular way to appreciate – and get excited about – the coming fall is to wonder which players will be the dominant fantasy monsters, the players who will stuff the stat sheet in ways others simply won’t be able to match. Here are five players to strongly consider for your college football fantasy team in 2017:
1) Lamar Jackson, Louisville Cardinals
There was no bigger stat monster in 2016 than Jackson, who ran for a ton of yards and passed for a lot more. He was a touchdown-producing machine, one way or another, and it’s that versatility which makes him such a recommended fantasy play. So what if Louisville chooses to run near the goal line instead of passing the ball? For a number of quarterbacks, that decision matters in a context of fantasy football, but not for Jackson, who can simply run the ball into the end zone if the Cardinals and head coach Bobby Petrino don’t opt for a passing play. There is also the simple fact that even if Louisville wants to throw the ball, Jackson can tuck the ball under his arms and make an improvised run if the passing options are taken away. Jackson offers more options – and therefore more solutions – to fantasy players than just about anyone in college football today.
2) Quinton Flowers, South Florida Bulls
The dynamics which are in play for Jackson at Louisville are also very much in evidence for Flowers at South Florida, This is a dual-threat stud who has the same ability to score running touchdowns when passing opportunities get taken away from him. Flowers shows such complete command of the South Florida offense that he will find a way to score. The details of how he scores are peripheral when considering his vast skills and resources. South Florida made other defenses in the American Athletic Conference look really bad last season. There is no need to think that won’t continue. AAC defenses are not generally strong, so they figure to be one step behind Flowers for most of the season. He should pile up all the right numbers again for the Bulls.
3) Saquon Barkley, Penn State Nittany Lions
The running back plays in a much tougher conference than Flowers does, but he is so talented that it might not matter. Anyone who saw Barkley’s winding, twisting, turning touchdown run against USC in the Rose Bowl knows how special Barkley is. Whether as a setback or as a wide receiver, Barkley can operate at various positions on the field and score from each of them. He might get contained by Michigan and Ohio State this year, but he should dominate every other opposing defense he plays in 2017.
4) Nick Fitzgerald, Mississippi State Bulldogs
The trend continues with quarterbacks. The best fantasy options are not the dropback passers, but the dual-threat dynamos who can score and gain yards in various ways. Fitzgerald fits that bill, and since he has Dan Mullen – a respected and accomplished quarterback tutor – guiding him at Mississippi State, Fitzgerald is in position to deliver a season which will be numerically impressive, even though Mississippi State will have a hard time finishing in the upper half of the standings in a brutal SEC West. MSU might lose to Auburn by a score of 41-31 – the Bulldogs won’t get the win as a team, but Fitzgerald will make a significant college football fantasy impact.
5) Richie James, Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
This is a star receiver in a league (Conference USA) where very little defense is played. Louisiana Tech and Western Kentucky have produced receivers who loaded up on the stat sheet, and this year, Middle Tennessee is the program which might outperform all others in C-USA. James is the player who stands to benefit the most.
He’s not a name that many people know in the mainstream but college football fantasy owners realize just how valuable he’s going to be. Nobody plays any defense in Conference USA.
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