Dateline summer 2010:

Boise State RB Doug "Muscle Hamster" Martin will tear up the MWC just like he did the WAC (Icon SMI)

San Diego State: Hey, did ya hear the big news?
Air Force: what?!?!
San Diego State: Utah is joining the Pac-10! They are OUTTA HERE!!!
Colorado State: And I hear BYU is leaving too!
COLLECTIVELY: {GIDDY} yea! now we have a shot at 2nd place!
ENTER BOISE STATE {STAGE LEFT}: Hey guys, I’m the new kid.
COLLECTIVELY: {DEPRESSED} damn……..

Yes, the MWC is different in that perennial powers Utah and BYU have moved on, but really more of the same with the addition of Boise State into the fold as it is still a conference with a glass ceiling: No matter what, 1 and 2 will be some permutation of TCU and Boise, the rest are fighing for 3rd place. (I suppose technically there are two glass ceilings, ’cause the winner of the BSU/TCU game will likely be 12-0 and on the outside of the National Title game yet again).

The Horned Frogs and Broncos are once again BCS calilber, but there are some subtle moves up and down in the hodgepodge that follows them of interest to the fantasy crowd: Read the rest of this entry →

Might be the "other" WR from the state of Oklahoma.

Who's the real #1 WR in fantasy college football?

What is the old saying?  Smoke em if you got em?   Well if you are looking for a sure-fire, no doubt, #1, stud wide receiver that you can depend on week in and week out…this year there are a grand total of….2.

Unlike last year, which saw plenty of talent that was sure to score boatloads of points every week, this year I can firmly say there are two tiers.  Blackmon/Broyles and everyone else.   While there is not a skill position with less star power then at wideout, there sure is depth with plenty of guys capable of putting up double digits every week.  It is your job to read summer reports and pounce on those top free agents once the season starts.

1. Justin Blackmon (pictured right, courtesy of Icon SMI), Oklahoma State

1A. Ryan Broyles (also pictured right), Oklahoma

3. Lance Lewis, East Carolina (check academic record before draft day)

4. Cody Wilson, Central Michigan

5. Patrick Edwards, Houston Read the rest of this entry →

QB Jake Locker - mobility skills, athletic skills, but does he have the NFL arm? (Icon SMI)

Your FCB Road Warriors ended up arriving to the North Practice a bit late (too much BBQ – ed.), so I was unable to see the individual drills, but I was able to catch the good stuff: 7 v 7 and 11 v 11 drills.

came into the practice with an idea of some things to watch for, mainly hitches and flaws that some prominent NFL Draft wannabes have carried over from their college careers into this bright spotlight of a casting call stage.

Notes by position after the jump. Read the rest of this entry →

Same variables as the defense rankings, but flipped over to the offense. So we want low yards per point (YPPT) to rank higher as it takes fewer yards to score. And high PPG for obvious reasons. Darned if a lot of the same teams are on this list too.

Fantasy College Blitz Offense Rank 04Dec2010

Kellen Moore and Boise started strong on offense, and finished strong on offense as the regular season leader in BLITZIndex Offense (Icon SMI)

1    Boise St.
2    Wisconsin
2    Oregon
4    TCU
4    Auburn
6    Oklahoma St.
7    Ohio St.
8    Stanford
9    Hawaii
10    Northern Ill.
11    Nevada
12    Utah
13    Virginia Tech
14    Georgia
15    Alabama
16    Tulsa
16    Arkansas
18    East Carolina
19    UCF
19    Houston
21    San Diego St.
22    Kansas St.
23    Nebraska
24    Southern Miss.
25    South Carolina

Full Rankings here as you prepare for bowl season.BLITZIndex Offense 2010

After three years and three consecutive national championships, the SEC has one heck of a resume to hang their hat on.  However, all that bling serves as a shield toward a pretty awkward couple of issues: the league only runs two deep at the top right now and fantasy players tail off in a hurry down south of the Mason Dixon.  Attrition caused its own mess, so …now what?  Now we have a couple of guys who are impact players, a few guys who could be, and then a heck of a lot of hope.

Big arm, big body, big-time coach - yes, Arkansas' Ryan Mallett looks like the real fantasy deal (Icon SMI)

At least we have trophies…

QUARTERBACK
1.  Ryan Mallett, Arkansas
2.  Cam Newton, Auburn
3.  John Brantley, Florida
4.  Jeremiah Masoli, Ole Miss

Let’s start with the obvious: Ryan Mallett is as close to a fantasy QB beast the SEC is likely to get for the near future.  He has a system designed to maximize his talents, he has a quality crop of WRs, and he’ll get the opportunities.  After that …. yikes.  Sure, Stephen Garcia is still floating around, and Greg McElroy is a great real-life QB, but they have systemic issues – McElroy isn’t in an offense that lets him pass enough, and Garcia is going to be yanked out of at least 3-4 games (plus is still playing behind a swinging gate of an offensive line).

Instead, we’re left with what systems are likely to produce.  Newton, Brantley, and Masoli are all untested in SEC play, excepting Newton’s garbage time as a Gator his freshman year.  However, they’re all in systems that can maximize their talents (and to be brutally frank, I flipped their order a few times writing this).  For now, I trust Newton more than either of the two guys ranked below him.  Brantley has all the tools, but after what happened to Florida’s offense under Steve Addazio last year, I’m a bit gunshy.  Masoli by all rights should be going to an offense that will let him run – Matt Jones in 2004 as a good example of Masoli’s potential – but there’s the simple matter of, well, not trusting that Houston Nutt has any idea how to coach QBs.  At all.  Couple that with Ole Miss breaking in three new guys on the line and there are some red flags here, even with Masoli’s production last season.

Don’t get me wrong – Newton, Brantley, and Masoli all have a chance to be the best fantasy QB in the SEC.  But in the absence of any history, we’re left to fall back on what we’ve seen guys like them do, and the production potential of those three guys doesn’t outweigh what we already know about Mallett.

On to the feature backs… Read the rest of this entry →