This article is part of our Fantasy Elite Football series.
Rules: Live draft, add/drops allowed after draft, two- or three-team leagues, various buy-ins, players cannot be on multiple teams, $105,000 salary cap, roster of nine, broken down as two quarterbacks, two running backs, two wide receivers, three flex.
SATURDAY PRIME TIME 1
Auburn at Mississippi State, Oregon at UCLA, TCU at Baylor, North Carolina at Notre Dame
The quarterback position here leaves you with little choice but to spend. All eight teams have clear starters who all check in at at least $20,161. Baylor's Bryce Petty ($26,370) being the fourth highest priced options seems like a steal. I'm advocating starting there, and working down to save a few thousand dollars. Brett Hundley ($25,114), Everett Golson ($24,538) and Trevon Boykin ($21,835) all look like terrific pairing partners, with Marquise Williams ($20,161) being the last resort due to a tough matchup.
The running back group also looks stacked and lacking bargains. Josh Robinson ($14,998) and Cameron Artis-Payne ($14,336) make terrific sense as top flight selections. Royce Freeman ($10,159) may be worth an early selection and I wouldn't rule Thomas Tyner ($7,089) out if you're in need of some savings. Not that it will really effect the rotations for Oregon, but the team has officially moved Byron Marshall ($12,295) to receiver, hopefully giving Tyner new life this season. Notre Dame's three-headed backfield of Cam McDaniel ($6,923), Tarean Folston ($6,880) and Greg Bryant ($5,000) may be worth stacking simply because the Tar Heel defense is dreadful.
By default, wide receiver is where you're going to have to save some money, and there are some opportunities. Loading up on some Baylor Bears isn't a bad idea. Jay Lee ($6,226) and KD Cannon ($7,952) are the cheaper bets who have been slow of late. North Carolina's Quinshad Davis ($7,691) and Auburn's Duke Williams ($6,592) also like bargains with potential.
SATURDAY PRIME TIME 2
USC at Arizona, Colorado State at Nevada, Air Force at Utah State
As per the obvious, one less game means two less starters at each position. The good news is there isn't a player priced over $27,000 so spending across all positions for a balanced lineup is feasible.
At quarterback, it's hard not to go with the cheapest option in Air Force's Kale Pearson ($14,799). Pairing him with either Colorado State's Garrett Grayson ($22,231) or Arizona's Anu Solomon ($26,694, the highest priced player here) would be my preference. I don't trust USC's Cody Kessler ($18,162) despite the lower price tag.
I'm apparently all in on the Air Force Falcons and the triple option, as running back Jacobi Owens ($9,187) looks safe and like a bargain. He may draw consideration as the top choice for me. I'm not sure why, but ESPN lists most of the Arizona Wildcat receivers as running backs. Usually, it's a fantasy owners dream to have the reverse scenario, but here, Austin Hill ($6,915) gets some consideration due to his price. Hill has been all over the map to date, having a two catch, 17 yard game and a three catch, 12 yard game as bookends to an eight catch, 127 yard, two score game over his last three. And Ole Faithful makes another weekly appearance for me, as Nevada's James Butler checks in again at the low price of $5,000, and is coming off of a career-high 63 yards. He hasn't scored in three weeks, but he has 29 carries in that span, so you know he won't be shut out.
The eligibility of Wildcat receivers at running back really thins out the pass catching options here. Continuing with the all in on Air Force, Garrett Brown ($9,286) has been on fire of late, catching five touchdown passes in his last three games. He's also rushed eight times in that stretch, this providing some additional yardage. On the flip side, USC's Nelson Agholor ($8,810) may be one of the bigger disappointments to date, but can survive in this format based on price and name recognition. He still has 16 more receptions than the next closest Trojan. Finally, Utah State's Devonte Robinson ($5,000) looks like a worthwhile gamble. He entered last Saturday's game with three catches and 27 yards before putting up 98 yards and two touchdowns on BYU.
SATURDAY PM
East Carolina at USF, Ole Miss at Texas A&M, Penn State at Michigan, LSU at Florida
After reviewing the previous slate, where no player checked in over $27,000, the heat is on with the later slate of Saturday games, as East Carolina's Shane Carden ($38,423) and Texas A&M's Kenny Hill ($37,376) will eat up a huge part of your salary if you want sure fire big points.
As a result, I'm gambling on Penn State's Christian Hackenberg ($16,518). I don't see how it's possible for a quarterback to go a fourth straight game without a touchdown pass, especially if he's thrown 40 or more passes in two of the previous three games. The second quarterback slot is tough, as I feel Ole Miss' Bo Wallace ($26,470) and Michigan's Devin Gardner ($24,049) are both overpriced but have to be serious considerations as there is no way I'm entertaining an LSU quarterback after last week's debacle. Maybe you roll the dice with USF's Mike White ($13,686) against an ECU defense that made SMU look like a juggernaut last week. . Yuck…gun to my head, I'll roll with Gardner.
Marlon Mack ($8,956) has earned my trust at running back, and is underpriced. The Bulls should feature him often in hopes of keeping the ECU offense on the sideline. There are only 12 running backs priced above the minimum here, and none are entirely safe. Michigan's De'Veon Smith ($9,880) should see a nice load of carries with Derrick Green sidelined. Otherwise, I may reach in this pool for a few $5,000 priced options like LSU's Kenny Hilliard or Terrence Magee, Florida's Kelvin Taylor or Penn State's Akeel Lynch. Having looked at this group of backs, maybe spending heavily on Carden or Hill under center isn't such a bad idea after all.
The folks at Fantasy Elite may be catching on to the idea of stacking a team's receiving corps instead of paying for the higher priced quarterbacks. It's going to be nearly impossible to afford ECU's Isaiah Jones ($17,339) and Justin Hardy ($16,826). The Pirates' Cam Worthy ($6,874) is due back from a two game suspension, and had six catches for 224 yards in his last outing. Loading up on Aggies isn't as challenging, but picking the right two, three or four is. If Malcome Kennedy plays, he's a terrific bargain at $9,777. Ricky Seals-Jones ($10,906) and Speedy Noil ($10,198) are all around the average price, while scoring machine Josh Reynolds ($13,850) has rightfully seen his price increase thanks to a four game scoring streak where he's found the end zone six times.
This slate of games has me thoroughly confused on the best strategy as the only sure fire picks are incredibly pricey. Time to sign up for a draft and see how it shakes out!
