2008 Big Board

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow may have been the cream of the crop among fantasy quarterbacks last season, but Texas Tech gunslinger Graham Harrell wasn’t far behind. Harrell and Tebow should be considered the top two fantasy prospects in 2008, but some owners may choose to select Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree with the first overall pick. Although it may seem risky to take a receiver with the first pick of the draft, the sophomore receiver grabbed 17 touchdowns in his first six games – ending the year with 22. Crabtree averaged ten catches per game in 2007 and barring injury, we expect him to post similar numbers in 2008.

Trailing Harrell and Tebow by a slight margin is Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour. LeFevour not only led the Chippewa offense in passing yards last season, but totaled a team-high 1,122 yards on the ground. If either of the top two quarterbacks suffer a dip in production, LeFevour could easily slide up the boards into the top fantasy quarterback – especially with the MAC Conference boasting a plethora of weak defenses.

Quarterbacks are always at a premium in fantasy football, but if you miss out on LeFevour, Tebow and Harrell, West Virginia’s Pat White or Missouri’s Chase Daniel would be a solid week-to-week option. After the first five quarterbacks, there is a drop-off to Ball State’s Nate Davis and New Mexico State’s Chase Holbrook. One advantage college fantasy football has over NFL fantasy leagues is the depth at a position. With 120 starting quarterbacks, owners should have no trouble finding a starter in the middle rounds of the draft.

Owners familiar with NFL fantasy leagues know running backs are valued heavily, but you can win a college fantasy league by successfully drafting backs in the middle rounds. Ohio State’s Chris Wells is the top rated option, while Boise State’s Ian Johnson and Southern Mississippi’s Damion Fletcher aren’t far behind. If you miss out on a running back in the early rounds of your fantasy draft, don’t hesitate to take a gamble on Georgia Tech’s Jonathan Dwyer or find a sturdy player like Justin Anderson of Northern Illinois.

Fantasy owners that miss out on Tim Tebow or Graham Harrell as your starting fantasy quarterback – don’t hit the panic button. Thanks to the depth of the quarterback position in college fantasy football, two Pac-10 players – Jake Locker (Washington) and Willie Tuitama (Arizona) – would be a very productive mid-round pick for any lineup. Tuitama and Locker should be in several shootouts this season, as both teams are expected to struggle on the defensive end. Another quarterback that should draw significant interest on draft day is Rice’s Chase Clement. The Owl offense struggled in the early parts of the 2007 season, as the team adjusted to a new offensive coordinator. However, Clement closed out last season as one of the hottest quarterbacks in college football, which included an eight touchdown performance against UTEP.

Tight ends will usually come off the board after round five and Ball State’s Darius Hill is our top option at this position. Hill caught 11 touchdowns, while falling just short of reaching 1,000 receiving yards. With Nate Davis back under center for the Cardinals, expect Hill to equal or top last season’s numbers. Although Martin Rucker moved onto the NFL, Missouri is set at tight end with the return of Chase Coffman. Coffman should be the second option in the Tiger passing game, giving him the nod as our No. 2 ranked tight end.

No defenses were ranked among our top 100 fantasy players for 2008, but target them just outside of this range. Additionally, fantasy owners may be tempted to play the waiver wire game with this position – especially if you can find defenses with a couple of cupcake match-ups in the middle of the season.

1. Graham Harrell, QB, Texas Tech
2. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
3. Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech
4. Dan LeFevour, QB, Central Michigan
5. Chase Daniel, QB, Missouri
6. Chris Wells, RB, Ohio State
7. Ian Johnson, RB, Boise State
8. Pat White, QB, West Virginia
9. Chris Williams, WR, New Mexico State
10. Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri
11. Damion Fletcher, RB, Southern Mississippi
12. Rodney Ferguson, RB, New Mexico
13. Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia
14. Percy Harvin, WR, Florida
15. Harvey Unga, RB, BYU
16. Eugene Jarvis, RB, Kent State
17. Marlon Lucky, RB, Nebraska
18. Jarett Dillard, WR, Rice
19. LeSean McCoy, RB, Pitt
20. DeMarco Murray, RB, Oklahoma
21. Arian Foster, RB, Tennessee
22. Javon Ringer, RB, Michigan State
23. P.J. Hill, RB, Wisconsin
24. Dante Love, WR, Ball State
25. Noel Devine, RB, West Virginia
26. Nate Davis, QB, Ball State
27. Chase Holbrook, QB, New Mexico State
28. Mike Thomas, WR, Arizona
29. Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
30. Tyrell Sutton, RB, Northwestern
31. Casey Fitzgerald, WR, North Texas
32. Jonathan Dwyer, RB, Georgia Tech
33. Aaron Kelly, WR, Clemson
34. Bryan Anderson, WR, Central Michigan
35. Luke Lippincott, RB, Nevada
36. Curtis Painter, QB, Purdue
37. Justin Anderson, RB, Northern Illinois
38. Zac Robinson, QB, Oklahoma State
39. Eric Morris, WR, Texas Tech
40. Darrell Mack, RB, Utah
41. Anthony Dixon, RB, Mississippi State
42. Todd Reesing, QB, Kansas
43. Ryan Mathews, RB, Fresno State
44. Jeff Moturi, WR, UTEP
45. Rusty Smith, QB, Florida Atlantic
46. Josh Adams, RB, Wake Forest
47. C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson
48. Juaquin Iglesias, WR, Oklahoma
49. Max Hall, QB, BYU
50. Kellen Lewis, QB, Indiana
51. Brandon Gibson, WR, Washington State
52. Eric Decker, WR, Minnesota   
53. Brian Robiskie, WR, Ohio State
54. James Starks, RB, Buffalo
55. James Davis, RB, Clemson
56. Darius Hill, TE, Ball State
57. Chase Coffman, TE, Missouri
58. Marcus Barnett, WR, Cincinnati
59. Jahvid Best, RB, California
60. Jake Sharp, RB, Kansas
61. Travis Beckum, TE, Wisconsin
62. Emmanuel Sanders, WR, SMU
63. Trae Johnson, WR, Tulsa
64. Arrelious Benn, WR, Illinois
65. Kenny Britt, WR, Rutgers
66. Greg Orton, WR, Purdue
67. Tiquan Underwood, WR, Rutgers
68. Darrell Scott, RB, Colorado
69. Vondrell McGee, RB, Texas
70. Evan Royster, RB, Penn State
71. James Casey, TE, Rice
72. Brennan Marion, WR, Tulsa
73. Austin Collie, WR, BYU
74. Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma State
75. Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma
76. Chase Clement, QB, Rice
77. Jake Locker, QB, Washington
78. Dezmon Briscoe, WR, Kansas
79. Jorvorskie Lane, RB, Texas A&M
80. Mike Ford, RB, South Florida
81. Willie Tuitama, QB, Arizona
82. Antonio Brown, WR, Central Michigan
83. Jeremiah Johnson, RB, Oregon
84. Aaron Brown, RB, TCU
85. Keegan Herring, RB, Arizona State
86. Jeremy Childs, WR, Boise State
87. Cortez Gent, WR, Florida Atlantic
88. Rob Gronkowski, TE, Arizona
89. Tyrell Fenroy, RB, Louisiana-Lafayette
90. Kevin Jurovich, WR, San Jose State
91. Joe McKnight, RB, USC
92. Mike Goodson, RB, Texas A&M
93. Dominick Goodman, WR, Cincinnati
94. Dennis Pitta, TE, BYU
95. Aaron Crawford, RB, Texas Tech
96. Kenny McKinley, WR, South Carolina
97. Kory Sheets, RB, Purdue
98. Cornelius Ingram, TE, Florida
99. Edward Britton, WR, Texas Tech
100. Matt Grothe, QB, South Florida

Del.icio.us | Digg it | Athlon Sports RSS Feeds