OT: Joining a Devy Fantasy League
Joining a devy (developmental) fantasy league, where you can draft players while they're still in college, and looking for advice as we get ready to schedule our draft. I'm taking over for another owner who just left the league, and my cupboard is pretty bare - my lone developmental player was Michael Penix. I'm looking to restock and build through college players, but a lot of the big names have already been claimed (including every eligible OSU skill player).
I'm wondering: who are some under-the-radar players and incoming freshmen NCAA-wide whom I should target for future NFL production, and who at UM would qualify? I've already got my sights set on Colston Loveland (there are like 2 college TEs claimed), and I'm wondering if I should take Mullings and/or Hall (Edwards already claimed). As a freshman, would Jadyn Davis be a good bet to put up fantasy NFL numbers? And so I can avoid being too much of a homer, who else would folks recommend from around the rest of college football?
Thanks in advance for not sending my first post for a South American vacation~
I’ve never heard of a league that projects that far out, that’s pretty wild. Loveland is a good bet but I wouldn’t pick any other UM skill player other than Edwards. We don’t typically produce the kinds of bodies on offense that do PPR numbers in the league. For example, Jadyn Davis probably tops out as an NFL backup in the best case scenario for his career based on our current understanding of his frame and playing style.
For skill players, you should pick a lot of Ohio guys. Just don’t bet on them to win any championships as a team.
Edit: meant to respond to the OP
If you want some free cheat codes here are some solid bets to both end up in the NFL and also produce while they’re there:
- Duce Robinson, TE
- Zachariah Branch, WR
- Arch Manning, QB
- Johntay Cook, WR
- Jeremiyah Love, RB
- Jurrion Dickey, WR
- Dylan Raiola, QB
How deep is this league? Do you hold players until they make the NFL? Forever? How many developmental slots? Is there roster pressure once they get to the NFL? (ie are you just looking for players that are going to contribute immediately when they get to the league?)
It seems like it might be better not to allocate draft capital towards RBs, since they seem to have the shortest NFL careers, some of the widest ranges of colleges attended, and most likely to pile up NFL statistics without having done the same in college.
You can hold players indefinitely and drop whenever you'd like (I'm amazed that someone still has DJU on their roster!). College players count against a roster of 30, and you can have up to 10 of them. There's for sure some risk/reward - if you wait until players make the NFL, odds are another owner will have identified them correctly (there's 14 in this league), but you always run the risk of holding a roster spot for a guy who doesn't work out.
This model is so weird to me, I feel like I would rather use those 10 spots on active NFL players rather than total shots in the dark. Unless you gain some points advantage for say, drafting Marvin Harrison when he was a college freshman, then I don’t get the usefulness of trying to project out that far.
Like what is your incentive to “hit” on a projection? The best (or most accessible) heuristic that anyone has would be recruiting rankings, but those are mostly a measure of directionality and not precision. Like of the top 10 WRs that were just taken in the NFL draft, none of them were 5 star recruits and several were who-dat 3 stars. And that’s at the position that best projects to consistent PPR output! You could throw darts at every top-100 receiver recruit and they may not even make the league, let alone crack the two deep!
Blaze Ingram. He’s got D-I offers and he’s been coined “the fastest kid on the planet”.
Oh, and he’s 12, so you’ll be playing the long game.
My buddy Eric Froton is a multi-time award winning college fantasy and devy writer, currently for NBC. I would take a look at his projections and writing for good guidance.
Don’t choose those UM players except for Edwards and CL. If Luther burden is there, that’s a good option. Upcoming league should get you underwood, Moore, Jeremiah smith, or any osu WRs. Until proven otherwise I’m taking OSU’s wrs