Fantasy Cup College Lineup Edge

October 28, 2009 9:05am CDT

Every Wednesday, we'll release this article aimed at helping you start your best lineup for the week in the Fantasy Cup Challenge.

Byes

Alabama
Arizona
Army
BYU
Bowling Green
Buffalo
Maryland
Pitt
Rice
Stanford
Washington


Significant Suspensions and Injuries

Sam Bradford (QB, Oklahoma) has decided to have surgery on his throwing shoulder and will be out the rest of the season. Drop him immediately.

Austen Arnaud (QB, Iowa State) missed Saturday's win over Nebraska even though it had been reported that he was ready to go. Given the uncertainty, go another direction for now.

Taylor Potts (QB, Texas Tech) was replaced in the third quarter of Saturday's game by backup Seth Doege. Head coach Mike Leach has said that the starter for this week's game will be a game-time decision. This has quickly turned into a high-risk play; there are other options so go start those.

Jake Sharp (RB, Kansas) has played the last two games but had limited carries. According to head coach Mark Mangino, Sharp is not playing at full speed. It looks like it's best to avoid Sharp until you see that he has resumed a normal workload.

Kendall Hunter (RB, Oklahoma State) was medically cleared to play last Saturday but did not get on the field. At this point, it would be wise to sit Hunter until he actually gets on the field since it seems it's up to the coach now.

Eric Decker (WR, Minnesota) is out for the year with a sprained arch in his left foot. Switch to Golden Tate for now.

T.Y. Hilton (WR, Florida International) played Saturday against Arkansas State and hauled in three catches for 24 yards. Until you see his numbers return to his early-season form, it'll be best to look elsewhere.


Early Games

It's important to make sure you have your lineups submitted before these games if you have players who play in them.

* North Carolina at Virginia Tech (Thursday)
* West Virginia at South Florida (Friday)


Stock Review

Buy

Dan Lefevour, QB, Central Michigan - It's hard to bet against Case Keenum but Lefevour has come on lately and is averaging 65 points per game over the last five weeks. I'll be switching Keenum out for Lefevour on my team.

Ryan Mathews, RB, Fresno State - Mathews is averaging 48 points over his last five games. Climb on board this train while it's going strong.

Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Oregon State - This tier is turning into the hardest one to pick. This week, go with Rodgers over Best and Devine as his matchup with UCLA is likely the easiest to run against.

James Rodgers, WR, Oregon State - Quizz' big brother James is starting to take over his tier. It's a tier full of talented players but Rodgers has been the most consistent.

Hold

Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama - As much as I like Ingram, he does go against a Tennessee squad that is in the top third of run defense. You can go with Helu's easier matchup against Iowa State if you choose to skip Ingram this week.

Aldrick Robinson/Emmanuel Sanders, WRs, SMU - The Mustangs' starting quarterback, Bo Levi Mitchell, is out with a dislocated shoulder. Be wary of these two until you see how the backup performs.

Dexter McCluster, WR, Ole Miss - We'll list McCluster here to acknowledge his 58-point week. Now consider that he hadn't scored 58 points in the last five weeks combined and you'll see that while we need to keep an eye on him, it's not time to pull the trigger yet.

Sell

Taylor Potts, QB, Texas Tech - With his job up in the air, it's time to let Potts go and start Clausen.

Victor Anderson, RB, Louisville - I was a big believer in Anderson early but it looks like everything Louisville is toxic right now. Go ahead and look at Helu for this week.


Review of my teams in Fanball's Fantasy Cup

The Frozen Draft team seems to have settled around an average of 350th as it plunged again this week. With Potts close to losing his starting job, I may have to make a move late in the week and if Decker doesn't get back up to speed quickly, we'll fall even further. The team is now in 380th place (down 32) and is comprised of:

QB: Case Keenum - Houston
QB: Taylor Potts - Texas Tech
RB: Jahvid Best - Cal
RB: Toby Gerhart - Stanford
RB: Damion Fletcher - Southern Miss
RB: Mark Ingram - Alabama
WR: Eric Decker - Minnesota
WR: Tyron Carrier - Houston
WR: Kris Adams - UTEP
WR: Bryan Anderson - Central Michigan
K: Philip Welch - Wisconsin
K: Dan Bailey - Oklahoma State

The other team is one where I'm free to make as many transactions as I want, and really should be the way everyone should expect to play Fantasy Cup. With a top-100 finish for the week, this team moved up to 241st place, up 45 spots.

QB: Case Keenum - Houston
QB: Max Hall - BYU
RB: Jacquizz Rodgers - Oregon State
RB: Toby Gerhart - Stanford
RB: Ryan Mathews - Fresno State
RB: Mark Ingram - Alabama
WR: Eric Decker - Minnesota
WR: Naaman Roosevelt - Buffalo
WR: Stephen Williams - Toledo
WR: Mike Williams - Syracuse
K: Philip Welch - Wisconsin
K: Hunter Lawrence - Texas

I'm going to keep most of the team intact but need to make two bye-week moves and one hunch:

1. Swap Case Keenum out for no other reason than Dan Lefevour is hot right now.

2. Put Jimmy Clausen in for Max Hall since he's on a bye.

3. Time to put Chris Brown in as his tier has players with three bye weeks and a couple of other tough matchups.

4. It's tough to find a good bye-week replacement for Mark Ingram but I'll go with Roy Helu who is in a bit of a slump.

5. Try Jacoby Ford since Mike Williams disappeared from last week's game. Ford goes against Coastal Carolina so the potential is there for a big game.

6. Substitute Philip Welch back in for Tiffin who was a good bye week replacement.