Throughout the month of August and early September, nearly 25 million people will sit down in front of their computers, sign into draft lobbies on Yahoo!, ESPN or some other website and select between 170 and 190 players from NFL teams. Then over the next 15-17 weeks, they will watch players from teams they have never cared about or watched before.
Instead of tuning into the Packers game and tuning out for the rest of the Sunday (and Monday) games, people sit on their couch and flip between every game that may have some obscure player that is on their team to cheer for. The St. Louis Rams become relevant in Bakersfield, California because someone has St. Louis RB Steven Jackson on their squad. The Oakland Raiders are watched in Kohler, Wisconsin because Darren McFadden may or may not play for their opponent that week.
The decision of the game doesn’t matter much, but people tune in for each play of each blowout to see if their #2 Wide Receiver catches that garbage time Touch Down.
With the increase in popularity, these die hard fans have spread to playing Eliminator Challenges, Salary Cap games, and even College Football variations.
In Fantasy College Football, players can pick from a slew of BCS schools throughout the country or a given conference, selecting the players they think will have the best stats that week. Everything else stands equal to standard NFL fantasy football.
Here are a few players to keep an eye out for in the event you find yourself with a few prominent Kentucky Football players on your team:
Maxwell Smith QB: Gone are the arcade days of Andre Woodson and Tim Couch putting up Maddenesque statistics. This weekend Kentucky will see Maxwell Smith behind center. Smith should improve his sophomore season but facing an improved Louisville Defense in his first action of the new year could be a harsh way to shake off some cobwebs. Expect to see Smith throw from behind which will increase his stats, but could also increase his INT total if they defense keys to the pass late and brings the rush and a rainy day won’t help much.
Prediction: 175 yards 48% passing 1 TD 2 INTs. 9 points
CoShik Williams RB: The 5’9″ Williams only clocks in at 178lbs but his speed can be allusive, but this is Kentucky and Joker Phillips might as well be Mike Shanahan when it comes to running back by committees. Williams will split snaps with Raymond Sanders and Dyshawn Mobley, but the grinding run game could see an increase in his numbers.
Prediction: 48 yards on 13 carries 0 TD: 4 points
La’Rod King WR: King is a senior leader that looks to improve on in his up and down junior campaign. After starting hot with 4 TDs in the first four games, King finished with only 1 TD in the last 5. The game against Louisville was game #3 though last year and King will look to improve on that 7 catch 84 yard 1 TD performance against the Cardinals, but the expected bad weather could put a damper on that thought.
Prediction: 6 receptions 61 yards 1 TD 11 points
BONUS: Mister Cobble Individual Defensive Player This game looks to have the makings of a control the clock, run the ball down the other teams throats, pounding style game. Who better to reap the benefits of that but Mister Cobble. Cobble is coming off a year of being ineligible and the 6’1″ Defensive Tackle will be amped to lay a few opponents out. Louisville will likely avoid his side, but Cobble’s speed should see a few tackles come along
Prediction: 7 tackles 1 tackle for loss .5 sacks