The Watch List: Week 3
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Welcome to The Watch List, a resource to help RSO owners identify the storylines, players and matchups from the college game that deserve your attention. To view my weekly picks, follow me on Twitter @robertfcowper. Check back throughout the season as The Watch List will continue to update you on who is fantasy relevant and worth your draft capital next year.
Storylines to Watch
- Heisman Update: After two strong games to start the season, Josh Rosen will be climbing up ballots. More on Rosen below. Lamar Jackson, the reigning winner, will have to move up my personal ballot even though I am not a fan. Through two games he has 771 passing yards, 5 TDs and zero INTs; plus 239 yards rushing and 3 TDs. I can’t knock Jackson for his opponents either: both of those big games came against Power 5 teams in Purdue and North Carolina. Darnold redeemed his Heisman hopes with a solid Week 2 outing against Stanford (316 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs) after a disappointing opener against Western Michigan (289-0-2).
- Brian Kelly on the Hot Seat: The Irish kept it close against Georgia (20-19 final score) but the final score belies the situation. Georgia was forced to start a true freshman at quarterback (Jake Fromm in for injured Jacob Eason) and should have taken advantage. The more damning thing for Kelly might be the photos of the sea of red clad fans that peppered social media. Georgia showed up en masse. SB Nation tried to play it down but I think it will be tough for the administration to ignore the fact that fans may be turned off and staying home, whether or not it’s Kelly’s fault. Landing on Deadspin with stories about his handling of the media won’t endear himself to university decision makers either. I believe Kelly must win the next four games, and compete against USC in the fifth, in order to keep his job. The opponents in that stretch are: Boston College, Michigan State, Miami of Ohio and North Carolina. None of those teams should scare Notre Dame so a bad loss could mean Kelly doesn’t make it out of October.
- Matt Rhule on a Hotter Seat: It’s odd to write that somebody is on the hot seat after coaching just two games but that must be the case for Rhule. Baylor lost in Week 1 to Liberty of the FCS. And to answer your question, no they are not some FCS powerhouse. Liberty was 6-5 last year and was ranked 28th in the FCS heading into 2017. After the win over Baylor they are just 19th in the FCS poll. Baylor couldn’t possibly follow up that loss with a worse game, could they? The Bears put up just 274 total yards in Week 2 against UTSA. UTSA was 55th in total defense last year by yards, allowing 392 per game. Between the two games Baylor also had 17 penalties. So, not only are they losing but they are also undisciplined. If Baylor doesn’t look better this week against Duke, I fear that Rhule might not even make it out of September (up after Duke in September are #2 Oklahoma and #18 Kansas State).
Players to Watch
- Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA: There has been a lot to love so far about Rosen. By now everybody has seen highlights of, and heard all about, the miraculous Week 1 comeback over Texas A&M. If you were paying attention, you would have seen that Rosen followed that up with a 5 TD game against Hawaii. Through two weeks, Rosen’s totals are eye popping: 820 yards, 9 TDs, 0 INTs and a 67.9% completion percentage. I am most impressed with the improvement of his TD:INT ratio (just better than 2:1 in his career) and his completion percentage (60% in 2015, 59.3% in 2016). It’s not all rainbows though as I did take note of some concerning things during that miracle against the Aggies. Two of Rosen’s late touchdown tosses were bad throws that should have been intercepted. If either was picked off it likely would have spelled the end of the comeback attempt. There were also three penalties down the stretch that were costly, but not killer. One was a delay of game and the other two were false starts because he called for the snap before the team was set. These negatives make me question his awareness and will hopefully be corrected with experience. If he limits mental mistakes, keeps his completion percentage north of 63% and his TD:INT ratio above 3:1, Rosen will be the top pick come the NFL Draft.
- Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon: Staying within the Pac-12, let’s take a look at Freeman thus far… He started off strong with 150 yards and 4 TDs against FCS squad Southern Utah. Freeman kept it up against Nebraska last week with 153 yards and 2 TDs. He’s a workhorse that had 23 and 29 carries in the two games respectively. If you happen to be in a devy league, Freeman should be on your radar right now because his stock is bound to skyrocket over the next two months due to the weak rush defenses he will be facing. The next time he faces a team that is currently ranked 70th or better is October 28 against Utah. Up next are: Wyoming (83rd so far in rushing yards allowed per game), Arizona State (108th), Cal (96th), Washington State (71st), Stanford (114th), USC (110th) and UCLA (128th). The Stanford and USC rankings are thrown off a bit by their matchup against each other but still, the schedule is very favorable. Freeman is a big back who runs upright and looks like he’s running downhill. He doesn’t show much wiggle but he doesn’t need it. I’m looking forward to watching a ton of film of his in the offseason.
- Rashaad Penny, RB/KR, San Diego State: In the preaseason, I predicted that the Aztecs would steal a Power 5 win because of their special teams play. In addition to kicker John Baron going a perfect 3/3 on field goals against Arizona State, Penny contributed with a kick-off return touchdown to start the second quarter when the game was tied 7-7. Penny has also been a huge factor on offense with 451 combined rushing and receiving yards and 4 combined TDs. He’s a multi-dimensional player that is fun to watch. SDSU is a contender for a New Year’s Six bowl berth and a win against #19 Stanford this week should get them into the Top 25 and cement those chances. If Penny keeps it up he’ll follow former Aztec Donnel Pumphrey to the NFL (a 4th round pick by the Eagles, although he was much more accomplished as the NCAA all-time leading rusher).
- Michael Gallup, WR, Colorado State: Gallup is leading the NCAA in receptions with 26 (he played an extra game than most) but he has just 304 yards and a single score. Gallup will need to step it up over the next few weeks to keep his draft prospects high. In Week 3 he will go up against the stout Alabama secondary which is full of future NFL talent, so let’s see how he does.
Games to Watch
- Illinois @ #22 South Florida, Friday 7:00pm on ESPN: USF is currently the only Group of 5 team ranked in the Top 25. Their non-conference schedule is laughably weak, with Illinois as the only Power 5 team. Phil Steele had their strength of schedule ranked 110 out of 130 teams heading into the season. Regardless, an undefeated campaign would likely land the Bulls in a New Year’s Six bowl game so there is some cash on the line this Friday night.
- #23 Tennessee @ #24 Florida, Saturday 3:30pm on CBS: The Gators are off to a rough start. The team suspended a number of players, including their leading rusher (Jordan Scarlett) and receiver (Antonio Callaway) from 2016 for the opener. Subsequently, their offense was horrible with both Feleipe Franks and Malik Zaire versus Michigan. Last week’s game against Northern Colorado, which would have been a good “get right” game was cancelled due to Hurricane Irma. To make things even worse, word is that the suspensions may be extended and force Scarlett and Callaway to miss this matchup as well. I’m not sold on either Franks or Zaire after seeing them against Michigan so I fear this may already be a lost season for Florida. Tennessee’s offense is lead by RB John Kelly who started strong with 208 yards and 4 TDs; he also has added 10 receptions in two games.
- #18 Kansas State @ Vanderbilt, Saturday 7:30pm on ESPNU: In my SEC preview, I predicted that Vandy would win 8 games this year. They are off to a 2-0 headstart with convincing wins over Middle Tennessee State and Alabama A&M. In order to hit my 8 win mark, the Commodores will likely need to steal a game against a ranked opponent. Kansas State will be an easier get than #1 Alabama and #13 Georgia who they have coming up over the next three weeks.
- #3 Clemson @ #14 Louisville, Saturday 8:00pm on ABC: The quarterback matchup here will be an interesting contrast. Lamar Jackson’s numbers are about as good as they can be (see above) while Kelly Bryant’s have been nowhere near those of the departed Deshaun Watson. Bryant did show his toughness last week when he came back from injury to lead the team to a W. Bryant has just one passing touchdown but does lead the team in rushing with 136 yards and 3 TDs. If any defense can slow down, notice I didn’t say stop, Lamar Jackson, it will be Clemson’s. The Tigers have 16 tackles for loss through two games and 11 sacks. DE Austin Bryant outshined Christian Watkins and Dexter Lawrence last week with 7 tackles and 4 sacks.
- Texas @ #3 USC, Saturday 8:30pm on FOX: Texas is in turmoil at quarterback. Sophomore Shane Buechel was supposed to be the starter after a decent freshman season but he bruised his shoulder during the upset to Maryland. Apparently, head coach Tom Herman is now saying that even if he is healthy, there is no guarantee that Buechel starts over freshman Sam Ehlinger. It might just be coach speak but it’s a mess already and not a good way to head into the biggest game of the young season. Texas isn’t doing great on defense either where they are 79th against the run and are facing a Trojans team averaging 269.5 rushing yards a game so far. Ronald Jones and Stephen Carr have caught my eye, specifically against Stanford, and have combined for 463 rushing yards and 7 TDs thus far. They will continue to roll against the Longhorns. Of course you should also keep an eye on Sam Darnold.
- #19 Stanford @ San Diego State, Saturday 10:30pm on CBSSN: Not sure that I’m willing to call the straight-up upset here but I will definitely be taking SDSU with the points, especially since they are at home. Rashaad Penny is quickly becoming one of my favorite players and I am looking forward to seeing him against another Power 5 team this week.
Note: When watching film for a player in the offseason, I typically pick two games at random to watch. If game film is not available I will search for highlight reels, but keep in mind these are the best plays that player had all season so they really need to jump off the screen. I do not necessarily want to watch games where they did very well or very poorly as that may not be a great illustration of their true ability. If possible, when comparing players at the same position I also like to watch film against common opponents. Full disclosure, I am not watching film of every single game any player plays, instead I am looking for a representative sample. When researching college players I use a number of resources, I would recommend bookmarking the below sites…
- Stats: espn.com, sports-reference.com, cfbstats.com
- Film: draftbreakdown.com, youtube.com (but be wary of highlight only reels)
- Draft info and mocks: draftcountdown.com, nfldraftscout.com, walterfootball.com, mattwaldmanrsp.com, draftek.com
- Draft history: drafthistory.com
- Combine info: pro-football-reference.com, espn.com, nflcombineresults.com
- Season preview magazines: Phil Steele, Lindy’s, Street and Smith’s
- Podcasts: ESPN’s First Draft, Strong as Steele with Phil Steele, The Audible by Football Guys (specifically episodes w/ Matt Waldman), UTH Dynasty
Robert F. Cowper is a freelance writer who lives in New Jersey. Robert works as a recreation professional, specializing in youth sports, when he isn’t acting as commissioner for his many fantasy sports leagues.
