College Fantasy Football: Get ready for Week 4 with our primer

Week 4 of the college fantasy football season offers us the first extended look into how these Power Four programs stack up against their conference opponents. The gaudy point totals we’ve seen many teams record against lower-level competition are a thing of the past, and it’s time to separate the pretenders from the contenders. Here is the Week 4 College Primer.

Risers

Purdue, or Do Not

The Boilermakers have experienced a massive offensive resurgence, scoring 36+ points in every game this year after failing to average 20 points per game in either of the last two seasons. Second-year OC Joe Henson has relied on QB Ryan Browne to be the primary catalyst and the results have been stunning, with Browne having thrown for 300+ yards each time out with a 7-to-1 TD/INT ratio. He has kept the offense on schedule with a 56% passing success rate (12th) and 9.0 yards per dropback average (17th) while throwing the ball at a top-30 rate on both standard and passing downs. 

While Asaasd Waseem (16 PPG) and Xavier Townsend (16.1 PPG) are undeniably the two most productive wideouts, WRs Chauncey Magwood (82 snaps) and De’Nylon Morrissette (70 snaps) actually lead the team in routes run. Waseem is the top deep threat, with 46% of his routes occurring downfield while Townsend broke out for 6 receptions, 162 yards and 2 touchdowns in Purdue’s last game against UCLA. Further enhancing Purdue’s fantasy appeal is itsdismal defense that ranks 132nd in plays of 20+ yards allowed (9.3%), 135th in down set conversion rate (81.3%) and 128th in success rate allowed (48%). Such futility keeps Purdue’s offense in an aggressive pass script and is a major reason why the Boilermakers are going over their projected game total by an average of 22.2 points per game.

While they are likely to regress offensively this week versus Notre Dame, the main cogs in the Purdue passing game — Browne, Waseem and Townsend — all have streaming value, while Magwood is the likely beneficiary if either of the top two wideouts miss time. 

Getting Grunk’d

New head coach James Franklin has changed the entire Virginia Tech outlook with the kind of speed and efficiency that programs dream about. The offense in particular is showing an efficiency that is uncharacteristic. QB Ethan Grunkemeyer is completing a scorching 78% of his passes (third in FBS) while steering the Hokies offense to a ridiculous 50.7 points per game average that ranks fourth-highest in the nation. He has produced scoring outputs of 24.6 points versus Old Dominion and 33.9 last week against Maryland, throwing for 314+ yards in each while accounting for 7 total touchdowns (two rushing). 

Despite the prodigious passing yardage totals, Grunkemeyer has not been stretching the field vertically, completing just one of eight passes of 20+ air yards while throwing downfield just 6.5% of the time. Conversely, Grunkemeyer has been surgical when distributing in the extended handoff range, completing 63-of-67 (94%) passes of less than nine air yards. Virginia Tech’s accuracy-based passing scheme should work magic against a Boston College secondary that ranks 129th nationally, allowing a 69% completion rate, and 100th in passing success rate allowed (43.5%). 

Yeah, that’s right, Damon Ferguson Jr.

Pitt has a rich, storied tradition of fantasy-relevant rushers, with Desmond Reid, Izzy Abanikanda and James Conner all producing massive seasons in the recent past. Heading into this year, Ja’Kyrian Turner was cemented as the RB1 with a second-round ADP after receiving a 35% rush share and catching 25 passes in relief of an injured Reid. With Turner out the last two games, heralded four-star freshman RB Damon Ferguson Jr. has stepped up and taken control of the running back room, logging 30 carries and five receptions in a pair of victories over UCF and Syracuse.

He busted an impressive 33-yard touchdown run where he broke multiple tackles and changed direction before grinding his way to pay dirt. His strong 4.3 YAC despite a notably low .81 yards before contact average backs up the shiftiness Ferguson displays on tape. For perspective, Turner averaged 2.2 yards before contact, but just 3.1 YAC last season, indicating Ferguson could carve out a prominent role even when Turner returns. Ferguson is an easy start this weekend in a tune-up spot versus FCS Bucknell, since I doubt Turner plays with a Friday Night road trip to Blacksburg looming in Week 5.

Fallers

Coloradon’t trust this offense yet

The Buffs offense averaged just 21 points and 328 yards per game last year and it was clear to anyone with a pulse something needed to change. In response to the futility, Deion Sanders brought in accomplished OC Brennan Marrion to run the Go-Go and thus far, the results are underwhelming. The run game has improved drastically from 126 rush yards to 181, and 3.5 YPC to 4.5, but with the committee rotation it’s been hard to pin down a reliable option. They’ve scored a pitiful 21 total points versus Georgia Tech and Northwestern and are committing 82 yards in penalties per game (eighth-most in FBS).

This is unsustainable for an offense that can’t stay on schedule (100th in success rate) or finish drives efficiently, ranking 109th in points per scoring opportunity. The only player you need to be aware of is WR Joseph Williams, but the entire rest of the offense can be safely jettisoned from our rosters until it shows signs of improving. 

Sooner or … Never?

I’ve been staunchly unimpressed with Oklahoma QB John Mateer and his viability as a fantasy asset since studying his Wazzu tape. I picked up on the fact that he has incredible difficulty operating within structure and displayed poor footwork and pocket command. His special trait, however, was the ability to escape pressure and improvise against lower-level athletic competition. That sort of chaos-based production profile is extremely difficult to replicate against SEC-caliber opponents without major mechanical revisions in Mateer’s pocket acumen.

Unfortunately, that advancement has not materialized, with Mateer allowing an unacceptable 31.3% pressure-to-sack rate and looking lost when asked to make secondary and tertiary reads. Mateer has failed to crack the 25-point mark since he dropped 27.7 points against a borderline-helpless Temple team that OU eviscerated 42-3 on September 13, 2025.

With such little upside involved in starting Mateer in a QB spot where you cannot afford to score less than 20 points, Mateer is on the cut line entering SEC play.

King is in the Waymond

Waymond Jordan had firmly established himself as USC’s RB1, averaging a superb 5.2 yards after contact with 576 yards and five touchdowns before getting injured in Week 7 versus Michigan. His absence allowed King Miller to take hold of the starting job in impressive fashion, which left some questions as to who would be the lead guy this season when Jordan returned. Well, there is no doubt any longer, as Miller has logged 15+ carries in each of USC’s first four contests with 100+ rushing yards and a touchdown in the last two. Jordan has been the odd man out and was held to just eight carries for 26 yards in a 42-35 shootout against an awful Rutgers defense last week (a potential dream spot). Now backup RB Riley Wormley has worked his way into the rotation after accounting for 54 yards with two touchdowns on just four touches.

All signs are pointing down for Jordan’s fantasy utility. He can be safely dropped in standard leagues. 

College Fantasy Football Game of the Week

Morgantown is the center of the universe

The CFFGOTW between Oklahoma State and West Virginia is a proper banger between two offense-first Big-12 teams that feature several roster-worthy players. Oklahoma State QB Drew Mestemaker rebounded from a rough first start against Tulsa to upset Oregon in a classic shootout and has four receivers capable of creating explosive plays. Mestemaker likes to work to the right side of the field, throwing 13 passes of 10+ yards outside the right hash, as opposed to five on the left sideline. He’s doing an excellent job dealing with pressure, as a banged-up OSU line has allowed a 26% pressure rate (123rd) with a surprisingly low 2.3% sack rate that ranks 21st nationally thanks to Mestemaker’s poise and ability to operate under duress. Justin Bowick leads the receiving room with 109 routes and just erupted for 43.2 points. Christopher Barnes (69 routes) missed their Week 3 tuneup against FCS Murray State but is expected to suit up against WVU. 

The Rich Rod Revival is officially underway with the Mountaineers running at the fastest pace in the nation and running the ball an astounding 87% of the time on standard downs (1st). On the rare occasions when QB Michael Hawkins Jr. drops back to pass, the results have been devastating. West Virginia ranks top-three nationally in yards per dropback (11.4), yards per successful dropback (23.4) and 20+ yard completions (35%). Cam Cook and Hawkins lead a downhill rushing attack that just ran up 247 rushing yards on a quality Virginia team, and should be able to exploit an OSU defense that ranks 114th in explosive play rate allowed. With 11 total touchdowns (6 run/5 pass) and multiple uber-athletic highlights from the non-conference schedule, Hawkins is giving off Pat White vibes and is a must-start quarterback who fits Rich Rod’s scheme like a glove. 

Injury Notes

Koby with the turnaround

Penn State was gift-wrapped the most favorable schedule in the Big Ten this year, which is a godsend for new HC Matt Campbell as he remakes the program in his image. So far, the primary beneficiary of PSU’s aggressive 79% throw rate on passing downs (10th in FBS) and 42.3 PPG scoring average has been big-play wideout Koby Howard. Howard has ripped through PSU’s G6 non-conference schedule, securing 7-of-8 targets of 15+ air yards en route to a gaudy 28.7 yards per catch with 4.35 points per touch on just 16 ultra-efficient targets. Penn State has to contend with Wisconsin’s bend-but-don’t-break pass defense that’s holding opponents to 3.5 air yards per target (ninth in FBS), so this will be an important test for the Penn State offense to see if their explosive aerial attack can perform against elevated competition.

Unfortunately, Howard suffered an injury against Temple and is questionable to play against the Badgers this week. WR Chase Sowell and TE Ben Brahmer will be asked to fill the void in his absence.

Premium tight ends on the mend

All four of the consensus elite tight ends — Terrance Carter, Jamari Johnson, DJ Vonnahme and Trey’Dez Green — have missed at least one game through the first three weeks, creating a stampede to the waiver wire for help to fill those starting spots. Green is out multiple weeks, while Vonnahme and Johnson are questionable but could still play if things break right. Carter played last week against Houston, catching two of three targets for 34 yards, but definitely have a backup plan for the other three.

It has been a brutal start of the year for Hero TE drafters who have had to scramble to the waiver wire for emergency starters in the early going.  

Miami South Bench

It was a costly 33-20 victory over Wake Forest, with the Hurricanes suffering several injuries to their offense. Core contributors WR Joshua Moore and RB CharMar Brown are both expected to miss the remainder of the season. Star RB Mark Fletcher and WR Malachi Toney also missed some time and are deemed questionable to play this weekend against Central Michigan. In response, Miami has activated suspended RB Jordan Lyle, who would share work with Girard Pringle Jr and Javian Mallory if Fletcher can’t go.

In similar circumstances last year, HC Mario Cristobal was extremely cautious with Fletcher’s workload to make sure he was ready to handle 20+ carries come CFP Playoff time. I expect Fletcher to either sit or have an extremely limited presence in the offense, leaving the door open for Mallory and Pringle to take the majority of reps against the Chippewas.