CFF Keep Or Cut? – Week 8
The first order of business each week of the College Fantasy Football season is to evaluate the players on your roster and decide if there are players that could be cut to make room for new talent. Purple Reign has reviewed last week’s action and identified several players that fantasy owners may be considering the “Keep Or Cut?” question for.
QUARTERBACKS: Keep
Jaxson Dart (Miss)
Fantrax Ownership 100%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 18.93 PPG
Season Stats: 215 Att, 151 Comp, 2384 P-Yds, 14 P-TD, 3 INT, 59 Ru-Att, 183 Ru-Yds, 3 Ru-TD
Dart has failed to score 20 fantasy points in any of his last three games. Is it time to panic? Two of those games were against Kentucky and South Carolina who have pass defenses that rank in the top 20 for fantasy points allowed. Last week had Dart face off against an LSU pass defense that is middle of the pack, ranking #67 in fantasy points allowed. Dart gets a bye week to work out the issues with his game and for his teammates to get healthy. Over weeks 9-10 Ole Miss faces Oklahoma and Arkansas who’s pass defenses are ranked #65 and #61 in fantasy points allowed. Use these games to evaluate if Dart should remain on your roster.
Thomas Castellanos (BC)
Fantrax Ownership 84%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 13.8 PPG
Season Stats: 100 Att, 67 Comp, 983 P-Yds, 12 P-TD, 4 INT, 53 Ru-Att, 103 Ru-Yds, 1 Ru-TD
Castellanos has not had a 20 fantasy point game since September 14th. There’s issues to monitor moving forward. His pass attempt volume has been up and down this year, averaging just 20 pass attempts/game. He is getting good rushing volume but hasn’t been productive, averaging 1.9 yards/carry. This is a sign of not having designated run plays called for him. I do like his passing TD production and he has improved his TD/INT ratio. I love his schedule from Weeks 11-14 and he “could” be a major player in the playoffs. If you have enough depth on your roster to leave Castellanos on the bench until then I would recommend you do so.
Previous Entries
Seth Henigan (Mem)
Fantrax Ownership 96%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 15.88 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Coaches are favoring the running game in the red zone, WR core isn’t making enough plays to score on long passes, wait until the games in Weeks 7-8 before making a decision to cut him.
QUARTERBACKS: Cut
Nico Iamaleava (Tenn)
Fantrax Ownership 99%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 7.08 PPG
Season Stats: 143 Att, 94 Comp, 1208 P-Yds, 7 P-TD, 3 INT, 44 Ru-Att, 135 Ru-Yds, 1 Ru-TD
Like a boxing referee, “I’m calling it, it's over!” Unless you are in a dynasty/keeper/C2C league you need to take a hard look in the mirror and realize that it’s time to cut Nico. Here’s the hard facts: Nico has scored 20+ fantasy points in a game once, scored 15+ fantasy points in a game twice, and has not had a 12 fantasy point game or thrown a passing TD since September 21st. This is all due to the coaches putting the emphasis of the offense on the running game. Alabama looks to be the one upcoming match-up where he should be needed to push the passing game to win. The other good fantasy match-ups left on the schedule are teams that the Tennessee rushing game will be able to dominate the scoring opportunities.
Quinn Ewers (Tex)
Fantrax Ownership 87%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 18.25 PPG
Season Stats: 108 Att, 178 Comp, 890 P-Yds, 9 P-TD, 3 INT, 10 Ru-Att, 4 Ru-Yds, 1 Ru-TD
Ewers returned from injury last week and had a mediocre performance against Oklahoma with 18 fantasy points. Ewers has yet to have a game where he scored 25 fantasy points, and has only thrown for 30+ pass attempts once. He is not providing rushing production to make up for the lack of passing volume. If you are in a very large league or a Power 4 only league Ewers could serve as an okay spot-starter. In a classic redraft league he doesn’t provide enough volume to be worth holding onto when there are other QBs on the waiver wire that hold more fantasy value.
Taylen Green (Ark)
Fantrax Ownership 72%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 12.68 PPG
Season Stats: 189 Att, 107 Comp, 1502 P-Yds, 5 P-TD, 5 INT, 81 Ru-Att, 326 Ru-Yds, 4 Ru-TD
Green has been exposed as a RB is QB’s clothing. He is throwing the ball 31.5 times a game but struggling to be productive from a fantasy standpoint. He has thrown as many passing TDs as INTs, and run for one less TD than he has thrown for. He has scored less than 16 fantasy points in his last three games and the upcoming schedule doesn’t look very friendly. There are good match-ups with Mississippi State and Louisiana Tech, but that’s it.
Previous Entries
KJ Jefferson (UCF)
Fantrax Ownership 96%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 17.12 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Benched in Week 7, had moderate rushing production, has an awful TD/INT ratio.
Brady Cook (Mizzou)
Fantrax Ownership 83%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 17.48 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Struggling to score passing TDs, rushing production is holding up fantasy value, schedule will get tougher and harder for rushing production to stay at same level.
Noah Fifita (Ariz)
Fantrax Ownership 83%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 13.48 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Getting a decent passing attempt workload, failing to score TDs and throwing too many INTs, has failed to produce in good fantasy match-ups.
RUNNING BACKS: Keep
Jalen White (GaSo)
Fantrax Ownership 94%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 13.35 PPG
Season Stats: 67 Att, 253 Ru-Yds, 7 Ru-TD, 12 Tgt, 12 Rec, 31 Rc-Yds, 0 Rc-TD
White’s rushing workload has been a rollercoaster ride this season. He’ll get double digit carries one week, then seven carries the next week. When White does get double digit carries he scores 2 TDs and when he gets single digit carries he doesn’t score. What is frustrating is that every opponent he has faced from Week 2 onward has been ranked #92 or worse in rush defense for fantasy points allowed. White owners have gotten frustrated with this up and down production during good fantasy match-ups and it should be understood that this will continue through the rest of the season. The reason for keeping White is that once you get to Week 9 all of his match-ups feature rush defenses that rank #82 or worse in fantasy points allowed. Grab some Pepto Bismol and hang on for the rollercoaster ride.
Corey Kiner (Cin)
Fantrax Ownership 75%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 5.55 PPG
Season Stats: 84 Att, 496 Ru-Yds, 2 Ru-TD, 7 Tgt, 5 Rec, 46 Rc-Yds, 0 Rc-TD
Kiner has been banged up lately with an undisclosed injury. Over the last two weeks he has failed to score 11 fantasy points in a game. Before that time he was highly productive and took advantage of good fantasy match-ups. He still has several good fantasy match-ups left on the schedule with Colorado in Week 9, West Virginia in Week 11, and TCU in Week 14. Those are likely the only playable weeks left for Kiner so keep your expectations grounded moving forward.
Previous Entries
Damien Martinez (MiaFL)
Fantrax Ownership 100%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 14.35 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: No games with 15 rushing attempts, match-ups get tougher moving forward, I would only drop him if there is a good waiver wire option that is getting 17+ carries/game.
Ollie Gordon (OkSt)
Fantrax Ownership 100%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 10.7 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Still has not had a 100-yard game this season and only scored 1 rushing TD, doesn’t have a good match-up again until TCU in Week 11, I would only drop him if there is a good waiver wire option that is getting 17+ carries/game.
RUNNING BACKS: Cut
Previous Entries
Gavin Sawchuk (Okla)
Fantrax Ownership 99%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 1.3 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: The QB position is syphoning too many rushing opportunities, Sawchuk is running second string and averaging a paltry 3.3 carries/game.
Abu Sama (IaSt)
Fantrax Ownership 98%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 6.13 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: The coaches are spreading the rushing opportunities out too much, Sama just isn’t getting a reliable workload, just ignore what happened in Week 5 and move on.
Tomarion Harden (UCLA)
Fantrax Ownership 90%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 10.13 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Has only had double digit carries in two games, has not rushed for 55 yards in a single game, game script will work against Harden as UCLA will be playing from behind.
Justice Haynes (Bama)
Fantrax Ownership 83%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 8.4 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Has become the solid RB2, has only reached 100 yards once, has only had double digit carries once, workload won’t generate a fantasy worthy running back.
Kaden Feagin (Ill)
Fantrax Ownership 76%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 9.6 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Has only broken 100 yards against an FCS school, the offense is throwing the ball in the red zone, and is averaging 11.67 carries/game, now that the Purdue game has passed you’re free to cut him.
Jacquez Stuart (Toledo)
Fantrax Ownership 71%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 5.4 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Toledo is using too many rushers and Stuart is only averaging 7.4 carries/game.
WIDE RECEIVERS: Keep
Kevin Concepcion (NCSt)
Fantrax Ownership 100%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 8.8 PPG
Season Stats: 62 Tgt, 39 Rec, 4 Rc-Yds, 4 Rc-TD, 9 Ru-Att, 11 Ru-Yds, 0 Ru-TD
This has been an ugly season for Concepcion and the lack of stable QB play has impacted his fantasy value. The ugly parts of this season is the lack of rushing attempts compared to 2023, the fact he has not had 50 yards receiving in one game this season, and has only scored 1 receiving TD. What I do like is that he has averaged 9.5 targets/game if you remove the Syracuse game. Since he is getting a good workload but not being productive with that workload makes me hold out hope for him in some of the good match-ups that remain on the schedule. He faces Stanford in Week 10, Georgia Tech in Week 13, and North Carolina in Week 14 and all those pass defense rank #98 or worse in fantasy points allowed.
Previous Entries
Jordan Moore (Duke)
Fantrax Ownership 87%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 8.15 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: His slump goes hand-in-hand with the slump of the QB play, the Weeks 8-9 games with Florida State and SMU will be good match-ups for Moore to bounce back.
WIDE RECEIVERS: Cut
Previous Entries
Noah Smith (SamHu)
Fantrax Ownership 95%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 7.15 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Smith is lacking the heavy workload he that produced his 2023 fantasy value, is averaging 3.8 targets/game, and has yet to score a TD this season.
Rashod Owens (OkSt)
Fantrax Ownership 90%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 8.55 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Is the WR3 of the Cowboys’ offense, has only had one game with 10+ targets, has not had a game with 65 receiving yards, and has scored 10+ fantasy points in two games.
Dalvin Smith (W Ky)
Fantrax Ownership 84%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 8.95 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Smith has never had more than 5 targets, or 4 receptions, or 39 yards in a single game and is not being featured in this offense.
Zachariah Branch (USC)
Fantrax Ownership 73%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 4.9 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Outside of the Michigan game he is averaging 6 targets and 4 receptions, 45.4 yards and 0 TDs per game. The only reason to hang onto Branch at this point is if you are in a keeper or dynasty league as he is only a sophomore and has time to grow in this offense.
TIGHT ENDS: Keep
None
TIGHT ENDS: Cut
Previous Entries
Luke Lachey (Iowa)
Fantrax Ownership 93%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 6.45 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: I stated the Ohio State game would determine if Lachey should be kept. He had 5 receptions for 39 yards and no TDs. The QB play is awful and there aren’t good match-ups on the schedule.
Caden Prieskorn (Miss)
Fantrax Ownership 86%
Fantasy Scoring Over Last 3 Weeks: 3.13 PPG
Summary of previous write-ups: Offense is spreading the ball around too much, he is averaging 2.2 targets and 0.14 TDs per game which shows that he is an afterthought in this offense.