Hi, I'm Marcus Lattimore, you can read about me at the end of the article. (Icon SMI)

Look, I hate to write about expansion as much as anyone. I don’t think I have a choice, though; with Texas A&M openly courting the SEC and the rest of the Big XII bolting for the doors, it’s time for me to think bigger. With that in mind, I’m going to take this week to preview what next year’s SEC teams are doing this week.

Kentucky v. Central Michigan

This time around, we’re just going to put the games to skip up top. Kentucky is, to put it eloquently, a dumpster fire on offense. Avoid.

Vanderbilt v. Connecticut

Vanderbilt scored 45 points against Elon last week. In that game, nobody passed for more than 150 yards, rushed for more than 40 yards, or had more than 60 yards receiving. Against a real team, this just sounds like danger.

Ole Miss v. Southern Illinois

Yeah, it doesn’t say much when your best fantasy asset is your Defense. Let’s just go ahead and start the Ole Miss D/ST and hope it ends up being worth it in the end.

Read the rest of this entry →

Will UT QB Tyler Bray be able to move from sleeper to stud? (Icon SMI)

After a relatively quiet opening week, the SEC looks to regroup going into Week 2. Wait, what’s that you say? Auburn should’ve lost against Utah State? Georgia is already starting to unravel? Um, well then. Alabama at least dominated an overmatched opponent, right? Good.

Top Players:

Tyler Bray, QB, Tennessee (17-24, 293 yds, 3 TD; 6 rush, -38 yds)

I feel compelled to note that Vince and Drew decided to rank Tyler Bray as the 79^th-best QB in FBS – behind two guys he had better weeks than who are also appearing below.  Sure, it was Montana, but Tennessee is running a very vertical passing game this season with two quality receivers; why shouldn’t these numbers continue? Read the rest of this entry →

Yep, RB Vick Ballard is going to be a beast against Memphis. (Icon SMI)

I’d be lying if I said I was excited about the majority of the games this week. On the other hand, it’s football, you know? The headline games are as big as they get – why hello, Oregon – but aside from a couple of games along those lines, it’s all just guesswork and covering your eyes. I mean, do you want to watch Vanderbilt-Elon?

Mississippi State v. Memphis

This is a Thursday game, so heads up. Also, Memphis is awful, so heads up. That makes Vick Ballard an easy start, and even tongue-in-cheek darkhorse Heisman candidate Chris Reif might even be worth a start in a pinch. Chad Bumphis is barely worth considering save for deep leagues. Beyond that, it’s all carnage, all the time. Read the rest of this entry →

Before we get started with the rest of the SEC units – namely, the TE/D-ST/K conundrum of replaceability – a quick note; Knile Davis’ broken ankle knocks him out for the season. Nobody in the Arkansas backfield has shown much of anything aside from Davis, and even 2009 Jovorski Lane impersonator extraordinaire Broderick Green (443 yards, 11 TDs) is out for the season. That leaves Ronnie Wingo and Dennis Johnson as the two primary RBs there, and neither has shown much of anything so far. Wingo’s more likely to excel based on what’s happened so far in their respective college careers, but they’re both in the “avoid until they show something” category.

The only silver lining here is an entirely personal one; the timing of Davis’ injury (which, let’s be honest, sucks for Arkansas, sucks for fantasy, and sucks for fans of wildly competitive divisions and conference cannibalism) means that I don’t have to preface any of the TE, D/ST units, or K in the SEC, which are all about as interesting as lead paint. Prepare accordingly.

SEC Tight Ends (or, the other dude)

1. Brandon Barden, Vanderbilt

Yeah, that’s how quick the tight end positions thins out this year. Barden had the unfortunate distinction of being Vanderbilt’s leading receiver last year, which …well, if you could sum up a season in a sentence, that would describe the Vanderbilt 2010 campaign. 500 yards and 5 TDs seem possible, but again, it’s Vanderbilt. Read the rest of this entry →

I'm here to declare myself the #1 fantasy WR in the SEC (Icon SMI)

I don’t want to mince words, so let’s just have it out: the SEC’s wide receivers kind of suck as a fantasy unit. There’s a steep dropoff from the top to the mid-tier right now; some of this will shake out over the course of the season, but it’s equally likely that it’ll just be slow chaos all around. It doesn’t help matters that so many of the top WRs from last year – AJ Green, Julio Jones, Denarius Moore – have bolted for the NFL. That leaves question marks all around.

First Tier: As Good As It Gets Here – Draft-Worthy

Yes, it’s gotten so bad here that we have to call out the guys that are actually worth drafting. I’m just glad there’s enough rain that there won’t be clouds of dust.

1. Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina Read the rest of this entry →