John Laub and Justin Heisey join forces to identify the top additions for the Week 6 College Fantasy Football Waiver Wire.
Week 7 College Fantasy Football Waiver Wire
Quarterbacks
Donald Hammond III, Air Force
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 3%
Anyone who listens to the CFF: On Campus podcast knows that I’m not fond of triple-option quarterbacks when it comes to fantasy upside. I’m usually especially wary of those quarterbacks that split time with another player. But Donald Hammond III has made the most of his opportunities and proven that he can get the job one on the ground or through the air.
As it stands right now, Hammond is on pace for 540 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns on the season. He calls his own number near the goal line more often than not, giving him a 23- fantasy point per game average. Although Hammond is relatively touchdown-dependent, he has monster games against Hawaii, New Mexico, Colorado State, and Wyoming still on the schedule. Capitalize now while he’s still an underrated commodity. — Justin
Patrick O’Brien, Colorado State
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 3%
Collin Hill began the season behind center for the Rams. Unfortunately, an injury derailed his campaign after three games. Coach Mike Bobo inserted Patrick O’Brien as the starter for Colorado State, and he has been inconsistent throwing the football.
Over the last three years, Bobo’s offensive scheme has been very kind to college fantasy footballers, and this season, Colorado State ranks among the Top 25 offensive units in the nation, averaging 469 yards and 29.6 points per game. The offense is loaded at the skill positions: RB Marvin Kinsey, Jr., WR Dante Wright, WR Warren Jackson, and WR Nate Craig-Myers. O’Brien just has to get the ball out of his hands and allow his game-breakers to make plays.
On Saturday, O’Brien produced an attention-grabbing stat line: He passed for 420 yards and three touchdowns on the road against New Mexico. “Guys are making plays and running down the field scoring touchdowns. It’s a big day for me but it’s just nice to see our hard work paying off and guys making plays when we need them. When you get a one-on-one matchup with a guy (Jackson) like that; he’s 6-6. Not many (defensive backs) are that tall. You just give him a chance. He’ll go out there and make a play,” O’Brien stated after the 35-21 victory on bradenton.com by Glen Rosales.
At 6-foot-5 and 244 pounds, the Nebraska transfer has the perfect complement of skill position players to become a bye-week starter down the stretch of the CFF regular season. After a week off, the Rams travel to Fresno State and host UNLV in three weeks. — John
Twitterverse on Fire!
Identify the most impressive under-the-radar quarterback owned on less than 15% of CFF rosters in Week 6
- Josh Love, San Jose State: 21%
- Jack Plummer, Purdue: 26%
- John Rhys Plumlee, Mississippi: 38%
- Patrick O’Brien, Colorado State: 15%
John’s Vote: Josh Love
“Patrick O’Brien, mainly due to the weapons he has around him. But he has some nice matchups in the Mountain West, remaining on the Rams’ schedule too.” @JustinNottingh6
Running Backs
Tre Harbison, Northern Illinois
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 13%
When Northern Illinois brought in Thomas Hammock, I was interested in who the featured back would be given Hammock’s background as the running backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens. It appears that Hammock finally has his guy in Tre Harbison.
Harbison has gotten 20-plus carries in each of the last two games for Northern Illinois, and he’s topped 100 yards and found the end zone multiple times in both contests. His three touchdowns last week are especially eye-opening as he’s cemented himself as the go-to man on the goal line.
The Huskies have favorable matchups against Miami OH, Central Michigan, Toledo, and a home game against Western Michigan’s awful road defense. Harbison is just the play you need to sneak you into the playoffs without anyone being the wiser. — Justin
Jordan Cronkrite, South Florida
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 23%
Why did Coach Charlie Strong wait so long to rely on Jordan Cronkrite to run the football? Only Strong knows the answer. Luckily, he finally came to his senses, and in the past two weeks, the decision paid off as the USF star dominated UConn and BYU.
Against the Huskies and Cougars, the Senior ball carrier earned 46 carries, gained 306 yards and logged two touchdowns. The Bulls won both games, and Cronkrite has become the locomotive that drives the train down the tracks. “He’s (Cronkrite) an outstanding player. I think the first three games he had like 25 total yards. The last two, he’s really had breakout games… Cronkrite said tonight, ‘Just give me the ball, coach.’ I was just so happy for Jordan because he was able to put together two games back-to-back now,” the Coach stated after the game on gousfbulls.com.
Cronkrite is still wildly available across leagues and should be acquired. South Florida travels to Navy and East Carolina in the next two weeks, and he surely carries the pigskin over 20 times in each contest. — John
Anthony Jones, Florida International
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 4%
As a life-long educator, I always tell my AP scholars that the score of the exam in May is not as important as the journey taken to prepare for the test. I want young adults to engage with the material, hunger to become life-long learners, and never give up acquiring new knowledge. When I heard about Anthony Jones’ football narrative, I immediately thought about my AP scholars and own three children.
A survivor and competitor, Jones is one of the easiest players to root for in college football. He has overcome so much to return to the gridiron and become a weekly fantasy starter. Jones missed the 2017 crusade after a season-ending injury, and remarkably, endured a gun-shot wound to his face on September 6, 2018.
Given a second chance, he has embraced the challenge on-and-off the field. “I felt I needed one more year to help build my game, up my stock [for a shot at pro football]. I want to take it over the edge this year,” Jones stated before the season kicked off in the miamiherald.com by Walter Villa.
Over the past two weeks, the redshirt Senior is the fourth most productive runner in the country. He has rushed for 232 yards, snatched three passes for 26 yards and scored five times. Jones has produced over 20 fantasy points (37.2, 21.6 and 20.9) in three consecutive games. Only a contest against the Miami Hurricanes on November 23 offers a daunting challenge for the Panthers’ ground game. The remaining C-USA schedule appears scrumptious. — John
Caleb Huntley, Ball State
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 34%
Occasionally, CFF owners will draft a player with high hopes and replace him after two weeks when he’s fallen far short of expectations. Although this may be the best move in most cases, players like Caleb Huntley come back around to irritate us to our core after running for 300 yards across a two-game period.
Ball State boasts a top-50 scoring offense right now and has taken advantage of the incredible down year for the MAC Conference by feeding Caleb Huntley whose size is a matchup issue for many undersized linebackers. Huntley topped 150 yards against Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan after finally earning the carry load he’s deserved and doesn’t look to be slowing up against Toledo, who gave up plenty to Bowling Green’s backup runner last week. — Justin
Twitterverse on Fire!
After seven weeks, who is the most surprising running back in college fantasy football?
- Josh Johnson, UL-Monroe: 11%
- Justin Henderson, Louisiana Tech: 13%
- Darius Anderson, TCU: 19%
- Kenneth Gainwell, Memphis: 57%
John’s Vote: Justin Henderson
“It has got to be K. Gainwell. If you were lucky enough to get him off the waiver wire after P. Taylor went down, he has been money.” @JustinNottingh6
“I’m going with D. Anderson. Everyone knew Memphis was going to have a stud running back no matter what, nobody was looking at TCU.” @sportsdatastuff
Wide Receivers
Dez Fitzpatrick, Louisville
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 9%
I mentioned on the CFF: On-Campus podcast that Louisville didn’t have an established No. 1 receiver on their roster, and after further review, I was incorrect. Dez Fitzpatrick came on strong against the undefeated Wake Forest Demon Deacons and helped seal the upset with five receptions, 125 yards, and a pair of scores.
This wasn’t the only occurrence of success; however, as Fitzpatrick has topped 100 yards with a score in each of the last three weeks. Although he’s an obvious sit against Clemson this weekend, he’s a sure start against Syracuse and NC State in the latter end of the season. — Justin
De’Michael Harris, Southern Mississippi
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 6%
Fantasy fanatics cannot ignore the back-to-back performances by De’Michael Harris, who has seized seven passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns. However, his incredible value as a CFF asset came in the ground game. Harris has reaped 25 carries for 165 yards and three touchdowns, scoring 26.2 and 38.7 fantasy points.
He propelled the Golden Eagles to victory over North Texas over the weekend. His 107 rushing yards and three scores established career highs for the dual-threat playmaker. “It was fun. We are not selfish at all so it really does not matter who has the ball. We feel like whoever touches the ball can make a play and take it for six,” Harris said after the game in the vicksburgpost.com.
A JUCO transfer from Hinds Community College, the Senior has cemented his status as a difference maker in the Golden Eagles’ offense along with QB Jack Abraham and WR Quez Watkins. Southern Mississippi battles Louisiana Tech for first place in the West Division of C-USA on Saturday and both clubs will assuredly put points on the scoreboard. — John
David Bell, Purdue
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 8%
Coach Jeff Brohm unquestionably knows how to recruit top-level talent at wide receiver. Last year, Rondale Moore dominated Big 10 opponents as a freshman and earned many accolades after his stupendous campaign. Unfortunately, Moore has missed consecutive games. In his place, David Bell, another freshman, has excelled as the primary weapon in the Boilermakers’ aerial assault.
In the last three games, Bell leads the club in targets (33) and yards (33) and is second in catches (21). He has also crossed the finish line twice. “He’s a big-time player. He’s somebody who has to be a big part of this offense. As we continue to get better around him, I think he can showcase himself some more,” Coach Brohm proclaimed in the indystar.com by David Woods.
A four-star recruit in high school, Bell caught 85 passes for 1,542 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior, earning the Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year. He concluded his prep-school tenure with 240 receptions for 4,467 yards and 55 touchdowns.
At 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, Bell de-committed from Texas and elected to play for Brohm at Purdue. He uses strength and size to dictate against defensive backs. There is no clear cut news in regard to Moore’s return to the gridiron, and the passing game will rely on Bell to advance the pigskin. The Purdue playmaker is a must acquisition this week on the waiver wire. — John
Branden Mack, Temple
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 10%
Branden Mack began the year with a nine reception, 130-yard performance against Bucknell and his ownership skyrocketed. But his production dipped off until week five when he caught one pass for nine yards against an awful Georgia Tech defense.
Since that game, Mack has caught 18 passes for 232 yards and a score with his most dominant performance going against a strong Memphis defensive unit. Going forward, the Owls take on SMU, UCF, South Florida, and Tulane before a tough test against Cincinnati. In championship week, Mack takes on the defensive powerhouse that is the UConn Huskies and is in for a huge performance when you need it most. — Justin
Twitterverse on Fire!
Who are you prioritizing at receiver on the waiver wire in College Fantasy Football this week?
- Whop Philyor, Indiana: 18%
- Brandon Aiyuk, Arizona State: 44%
- David Bell, Purdue: 18%
- Jaelon Darden, North Texas: 16%
John’s Vote: Brandon Aiyuk
“Love Brandon Aiyuk. If you make it to the finals, he plays against Arizona!” @aceholesrule
“I’ve got a man crush on David Bell.” @markrlindquist
“Aiyuk should not be on anybody’s waiver wire.” @JoshDoucet1
Honorable Mention CFF Gemstones
- QB Michael Penix, Indiana
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 17% - RB Tra Barnett Georgia State
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 10% - RB Noah Cain, Penn State
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 7% - RB Roschon Johnson, Texas
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 3% - WR Bailey Gaither, San Jose State
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 1%
WR Emoryie Edwards, Fresno State|
Fantrax Ownership Percentage: 1%
The CFF All-Americans: Week 6
- QB: Nathan Rourke, Ohio: 41.6 points
- QB: Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma: 40.8 points
- RB: Justin Henderson, Louisiana Tech: 41.8 points
- RB: Benny LeMay, Charlotte: 37.4 points
- WR: Sage Surratt, Wake Forest: 43.6 points
- WR: Brandon Aiyuk, Arizona State: 41.1 points
- TE: Brycen Hopkins, Purdue: 19 points
- FLEX: Malcolm Perry, Navy: 40.2 points
Got some more names for the Week 6 College Fantasy Football Waiver Wire? Let John and Justin hear about it in the comments below.
Also, be sure to check out Justin Heisey, The Gridiron Scholar John Laub, and InThisLeague’s Scott Bogman’s podcast CFF: On Campus for weekly College Fantasy Football news and analysis on Apple Podcasts or Spreaker.
Fantrax was one of the fastest-growing fantasy sites of 2018 and we’re not slowing down now! With multi-team trades, designated commissioner/league managers, and drag/drop easy click methods, Fantrax is sure to excite the serious fantasy sports fan – sign up now for a free year at Fantrax.com.