Welcome to “I Got 5 On It”, each week I’ll be picking five news-worthy subjects based around college football to cover. Ranging from views on Devy prospects, general college football talk, interesting stats, and a little bit of hip-hop music mixed in now and then.
1. D’Wayne Eskridge
I touched on Eskridge a few months back when he got off to an impressive start. Well, that hot start never stopped. Eskridge finished the season with a 45% dominator rating and 45.6% share of WMU’s passing yards. Over his five years at WMU, Eskridge amassed over 2,200 yards on 18 yards per reception.
2016: 17-121-1
2017: 30-506-3
2018: 38-776-3
2019: 3-73-0
2020: 33-768-8
Prior to the start of the 2019 season, Eskridge was moved over to defensive back. He was limited to just four games prior to a collarbone injury ending his season. For the 2020 season, he was moved back to the offensive side of the ball. Where he averaged over 23 yards per reception and lit up MAC secondary’s. Eskridge led the nation in yards per team passing attempt at a 5.00. Heisman winner DeVonta Smith came in second at 4.32 yards per team passing attempt. While Smith did it in 12 games, Eskridge only played in 6 due to COVID shortened MAC schedule. He also led the nation in yards per route ran (min 100 routes ran). His 14.4 yards after catch per reception was third in 2020.
Undersized at 5’9” and 180lbs, Eskridge is as explosive as any receiver in the country. He made some unreal plays in 2020 due to his speed and explosion (as seen below). Eskridge is a very intriguing option for NFL teams and fantasy drafts. If invited to the NFL Combine (I don’t know why he wouldn’t be), Eskridge should have a field day. He would be in contention for fastest receiver at the Combine. I would also expect Eskridge to test very well in the agility and leaping drills. Eskridge would project as a team’s third best option in the passing game. He’s a big play threat that will need to overcome his size restraints. His ability to return kicks and the possible swing over to defense if needed gives him a great deal of versatility for an NFL franchise.
Don’t underestimate the man tossing Eskridge the ball. I’ll have more on Kaleb Elebly next week…
2. Cam Wiley
While Mohamed Ibrahim got all the pub in 2020, rightfully so. Ibrahim punished the Big Ten in their abbreviated 6-game season. His backup Cam Wiley wasn’t a slouch in his limited 33 touches in 2020. Ibrahim accounted for 76% of the Gophers rushing attempts by a running back this past season. If that number can get closer to a 60-40 split in 2021, Wiley will make his name known. In 2019, Minnesota had about a 65-35 split between it’s top two backs. So not out of the question for Wiley to get a bigger share in 2021. Many people are going to say that Ky Thomas is the back to own behind Ibrahim, but I don’t think that’s the case. Wiley did more than enough to secure that RB2 role for Minnesota in 2021.
Wiley is a big-bodied back, listed at 6’2″ and 210lbs. As a rFR in 2020, Wiley only had 29 rushing attempts for 179 yards and a single TD. A big chunk of Wiley’s yards (126) came after contact. His 4.34 yards per attempt after contact was top 30 in the nation. Wiley wasn’t a big factor in the passing game (4-26-1), but he wasn’t bad compared to Ibrahim. Ibrahim hauled in eight passes on the year but played 320 more snaps than Wiley did in 2020.
Wiley caught my eye as I was doing my Minnesota evaluations for the 2021 Devy Watch Guide. While 2021 won’t be his year unless something happens to Ibrahim, 2022 can be his year to shine. Wiley is a great deep stash in C2C leagues. The lead back for Minnesota has traditionally been good College Fantasy producers. A good fantasy producer with NFL upside is well worth a C2C deep stash.
3. Transfer Portal Madness
The regular season ended barely a month ago and the Transfer Portal has been utter madness. So who are some potential impact transfers that have landed to this point. I’ll talk QBs and RBs this week and hit upon the WRs and TEs next week.
QB:
McKenzie Milton, UCF to Florida State: Milton hasn’t played a snap in two plus years following a horrific knee injury. Milton has the potential to steer the FSU offensive ship into the right direction, but I still question what kind of player he is following his serious leg injury.
Grant Gunnell, Arizona to Memphis: Gunnell should be an instant starter for the Tigers. Gunnell has seen action in 12 games for the Wildcats and had good success. Memphis has had a good run of QBs for the last eight years or so. Gunnell has a higher ceiling than the previous Tiger QBs.
Garrett Shrader, Miss State to Syracuse: I don’t think Shrader moves the needle for Devy or the NFL, but he’ll be a fine option for C2C or just College Fantasy Football in general. No reason he can’t have a Eric Dungey type of impact on that offense. His rushing abilities give him a good floor for College Fantasy.
Tanner Mordecai, Oklahoma to SMU: Mordecai has seen limited reps over his tenure as an Oklahoma Sooner. This past season, Mordecai completed 80% of his 40 passing attempts in relief of Spencer Rattler. Despite the lack of experience, Mordecai has the potential to step right in and take off where Shane Buechele left off.
Keeping my eye on: Ja’Quinden Jackon to Utah potential 2022 starter with a high fantasy upside…Hendon Hooker to Tennessee, Pruitt keeps looking for any reason not to play Harrison Bailey….Chandler Morris to TCU, if Max Duggan doesn’t improve the Horned Frogs might have a QB battle on their hands…Anthony Russo to Michigan State. The Spartans have some legit receiver prospects and they finally get a slight upgrade in QB talent…Jack Abraham and Chance Lovertich to Mississippi State, one will be a good fantasy option in 2021 if they can beat out Will Rogers.
4. Transfer Portal Madness
The regular season ended barely a month ago and the Transfer Portal has been utter madness. So who are some potential impact transfers that have landed to this point. I’ll talk QBs and RBs this week and hit upon the WRs and TEs next week.
RB:
Ty Chandler, Tennessee to North Carolina: The Tar Heels are losing an uber amount of rushing production from 2020. Mack Brown adds a back with four years of experience and 2,000 rushing yards and 400 receiving yards under his belt. Can’t imagine another back on the roster taking away the starting spot from Chandler. If he’s able to play half as good as the 2020 backs in the UNC offense, Chandler can be a highly thought of fantasy option with NFL upside.
DJ Williams, Auburn to Florida State: I was really high on Williams coming into 2020. Expected he’d be Auburn’s top back in 2020 but then Tank Bigsby done blew up. Williams still has a lot of talent and will compete with JaShaun Corbin to be FSU’s RB1 in 2021.
Kenneth Walker, Wake Forest to Michigan State: In seven games in 2020, Walker rushed for 579 yards and 13 TDs. The MSU landing spot seems to be an odd one. Wouldn’t have connected the dots to get Walker to East Lansing, especially with Harold Joiner already being a transfer commit. MSU loved to pound the rock in 2020 even as it was one of the most ineffective rushing attacks in the nation. MSU has a lot of names in its backfield but Walker should be the most talented. Potential RB1 for MSU in 2021 with CFF and NFL upside. If Mel Tucker forces the run as much as he did in 2020, Walker can be highly productive given some improvements in the OL play.
Keeping my eye on: Markese Stepp to Nebraska. The ‘Huskers don’t have a legit RB option coming back in 2021. Stepp might have the chance to start… Jaylen Warren to Oklahoma State. Warren had good success in 2019 for Utah State. Potential to battle for the starting RB gig… La’Damian Webb to Troy. Webb is a former Seminole who had decent success in 2020. Should be able to have success at the G5 level. Potential to have good fantasy upside… Chase Hayden to Illinois. Hayden has had a bit of previous success playing for Bielema at Arkansas. Hopefully he doesn’t have too much success in 2021 and derails my hopes for a Chase Brown 2021 breakout…Harold Joiner to Michigan State, the Spartans have now brought in two RB transfers this cycle. I’m more of a Kenneth Walker fan but Joiner is a former highly regarded 4-star with some upside still to be tabbed into.
5. Freshman Spotlight
Moving forward until next fall, when we have some game action again, I’ll be highlighting an incoming freshman each week in the 5 spot. This week I’ll be talking about Irish signee, Lorenzo Styles Jr.
The Irish nabbed the signature of a top 20 receiver prospect in Styles Jr. A position of great need for Notre Dame. Especially receivers with some speed and big play potential. Styles is a versatile athlete. He’s capable of influencing a ball game as a rusher, receiver, and in the return game. Styles stats in high school weren’t very eye-popping due to the offensive scheme that he played in. He played in a run-heavy offensive approach that would ignore Styles for a long period of time. Styles caught 619 YDs and 5 TDs. He had over 800 YDs and 4 TDs as a return man in 2020.
Styles is a tad on the smaller side, listed at 6’1” and 185lbs. Wouldn’t surprise me if he was a hair under six-foot. Styles plays with great acceleration. He’s able to go from a complete stop to top-speed in a short amount of time. His feet move quickly. He just glides across the field. Styles has great change of direction and quickness. To go along with his quickness, Styles possesses good speed and can break about any play. Ran a reported 4.47 40-yard dash. It’s hard to determine how good Styles’ hands and route running abilities are. He was used in a very gimmicky fashion in high school, in a very run-heavy offense. Styles saw a lot of handoffs, jet sweeps, and short passes. There’s just very little film of Styles running any intermediate to deep routes in high school due to his school’s offense. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him as the leading returner for the Irish as a freshman. Unfortunately for Styles, freshman receivers just don’t see the field for the Irish during Brian Kelly’s tenure. The odds of him having a big role in 2021 are very slim more than likely. But Styles has the skillset to make a big play or two on offense and special teams as a freshman. He projects to be a slot receiver.
