In response to a few e-mails I've gotten this week about fantasy drafts, this week's list is about the best college football fantasy picks. I must admit, I am not an avid fantasy player. The last leagues I played in with any real conviction was back when I worked in Bristol, Conn., about 10 years ago, when my office had a baseball league and a very cool fantasy PGA league (you were only allowed to use a player just once over the course of the season). It was fun, but to me it felt like having an additional job, especially since I'd be traveling a lot toward the end of the week and needed to remind myself to always update my teams.
In putting this list together I consulted a few folks who do take fantasy very seriously. The obvious but important point about college football fantasy is that this game is radically different than NFL fantasy, where your top picks are almost always the best players. Here, that's not quite the case. For instance, I wouldn't pick Darren McFadden over some other backs because: 1) He plays with another great back, Felix Jones, who will get a big chunk of the carries; 2) With star WR Marcus Monk hobbled for the start of the season, opponents will stack the line even more to contain McFadden; and 3) While he's likely to give you a boost in TD passes, he's not like an Ian Johnson or a Ray Rice who is expected to go for 20 or even 30 rushing TDs.
I also would be high on New Mexico State QB Chase Holbrook who plays in a fantasy-happy style system and is on a team with a really bad defense, so he's a virtual lock to play in a bunch of 58-45 games where he's firing right till the final snap, unlike a Chad Henne or a Matt Ryan, who play in much more balanced attacks.
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Bruce Feldman
