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My Fantasy (College) Football Team

This time of year is really second to none. Leaves are turning colors, the weather is starting to cool down, and every week I pretend to coach a team of the NFL’sĀ best in hopes of gaining self-esteem. Oh yeah, it’s football season.

My fantasy team this year has been performing…sub-par to put it nicely, but nevertheless I still check the match-ups, and waiver wire every week before I set my lineup. And though I enjoy playing fantasy football, and enjoy bragging when I win (which is not often, so I take what I can get), I enjoy college football so much more than the NFL. But there is no such thing as Fantasy NCAA Football unfortunately, unless someone wants to do it all manually and keep up with numbers. But who has time for that? I want a computer to tell me my score, so I don’t have to deal with the math.

So for this reason I have decided to put together my ideal fantasy college football lineup for fun and see if maybe this will catch on someday. Would some people consider this article a waste of time? Probably. But it was Mark Duplass‘ character Pete on the FXX show The League who said:

“God bless fantasy football. There are many things a man can do with his time. This… is better than those things.”

This lineup is for a traditional league like the one I am in, one quarterback, three wide receivers, two running backs, one tight end, a flex, defense, and a kicker.

Quarterback:

Connor Halliday (photo credit: http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com)

Connor Halliday – Washington State

The Wazzou senior has over 3000 yards passing through only six games with 26 touchdowns. This includes a six touchdown, 734 yard game last week against Cal. That performance alone would have gotten me over 50 points from him. We can expect more numbers like that as he averages around 62 pass attempts per game.

Running Backs:

Ameer Abdullah – Nebraska

Arguably the best running back in the nation right now. Abdullah is leading the NCAA with 878 rushing yards, and has combined that with 10 touchdowns. Tack on 130 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and it is clear to see why this man would be a top draft pick.

James Conner – PittsburghI am going with Conner on this one assuming that I could not get Abdullah and Georgia RB Todd Gurley

James Conner (photo credit: http://www.goerieblogs.com)

on the same team, so the Pitt sophomore would be a good pick. So far he has 874 yards and nine touchdowns on 156 attempts. The Panthers feed him the rock every game in their run-first offense, meaning big-time numbers for fantasy owners.

Wide Receivers:

Sterling Shepard – Oklahoma

Considering Bama’s Amari Cooper probably would have been the first wide receiver to go in the draft, I would take Shepard. Right now he is sixth in the nation in receiving yards with 651 and has three touchdowns. But looking at his stats, he would be good for at least 10 points a game.

Cayleb Jones – Arizona

As Anu Solomon’s go-to receiver in Arizona’s air-it-out offense, Jones would be a perfect fantasy receiver. He has 535 yards through five games along with seven touchdowns, and with that offense his numbers are sure to rise.

Nelson Spruce – Colorado

This guy would have been a waiver pickup as no one would have taken any player from Colorado, but his numbers do not lie. The junior is third in the nation in receiving yards with 732, and first in touchdowns at 10. He is another example of when people want play-makers, turn to the Pac 12.

Tight End:

Clive Walford – Miami (FL)

As far as tight ends go this year, none really stand out. Just because I’m a Notre Dame fan I probably would have taken Ben Koyack, but dropped him for Walford. The Senior from The “U” has 266 receiving yards and three touchdowns so far this year, not quite Jimmy Graham numbers, but not bad either. In fact, he is the second best receiver for the Hurricanes.

Flex:

Jay Ajayi – Boise State

Not one of the more well-known backs in the country, but the Boise junior has 709 rushing yards and eight touchdowns and is a beacon of light on an otherwise unexciting Broncos team.

Stanford Defense against USC (photo credit: sfgate.com)

Defense:

Stanford

Though the CardinalĀ have two losses on their resume this year, they were both low-scoring games. Stanford is first in the nation in points against, only giving up an average of 8.6 points per game. They also have the third best pass defense in the country having only given up 537 on the year.