Joe Arpasi
June 4, 2026
After reviewing teams from across the country we have identified players that look will take a leap in their fantasy value for the 2026 College Fantasy Football Season. These players are divided into two groups:
RISERS
These are players that have some form of past statistic production. These players have a high fantasy floor, presenting less risk when drafting them.
FLYERS
These are players that have limited to no past statistical production. These players have a low fantasy floor, presenting more risk when drafting these them.
**This article will be updated as position battles sort themselves out through the summer**
Honorable Mention Risers
Arizona State: Cutter Boley
160.5 Fantasy Points In 2025
After playing sparingly his freshman year at Kentucky, Boley became the starting QB in 2025. That season the offense struggled with Boley scoring 160.5 fantasy points and finishing with 15 passing TD’s and 2 rushing TD’s. He made the decision to transfer to Arizona State after last year’s starting QB Sam Leavitt left for LSU. In 2024 Leavitt had the best season for any QB that played for head coach Kenny Dillingham, scoring 302.55 fantasy points. That has been the only season where a Dillingham QB has scored 260+ fantasy points which means that Boley is going to have to be good in the air and on the ground to surpass that mark in 2026.
California: Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele
239.0 Fantasy Points In 2025
Sagapolutele was a four star recruit and the #5 QB nationally in his class when he signed with Oregon. He enrolled in December of 2024 but entered the transfer portal in January of 2025. Cal signed him and he won the starting job in his true freshman season. His fantasy production wasn’t bad in 2025 but it was artificially boosted from throwing the ball almost 500 times. California underwent a coaching change for 2026 and there’s not much we can tell about the offense from new offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville’s history. He’s spent several season in the NFL and the only college coordinating experience we have in our database is the 2021 season he was at New Mexico. That offense was god awful and I don’t see anyway that those stats could be used as an indicator of what we’ll see in 2026.
Georgia State: Cameran Brown
169.3 Fantasy Points In 2025
Brown’s career started at Texas Tech where he saw mob up duty in six games but only threw the ball nine times. He left for more playing time and landed at Georgia State last season. He split time with T.J. Finley before taking over the full time starting job in mid-October. He ripped off three straight games with 27.2, 36, & 34.7 fantasy points before getting nicked up an undisclosed injury. Those three games surpassed what we’ve seen from a QB that plays in head coach Dell McGee’s offense. Brown was clear to participate in spring camp and looked sharp in the spring game. His dual-threat abilities will shatter the numbers that this Georgia State offense has put up over the last two seasons.
Notre Dame: CJ Carr
242.3 Fantasy Points In 2025
As an early enrollee true freshman Carr showed up to the 2025 spring camp with hopes of winning the starting QB job. Once fall camp began he shot up from third string to securing the QB1 role. Last season the offense leaned on the running game, asking Carr is serve a complimentary role. In 2026 he’ll be asked to lead the offense as it revamps it’s rushing game. Since 2021 offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock’s starting QB’s have scored 300+fantasy points ever season except last year. All of those past QB’s ran the ball 110+ times while Carr only had 41 carries last season. The more Denbrock lets Carr run in 2026, the higher his fantasy value will go.
UCLA: Nico Iamaleava
206.9 Fantasy Points In 2025
Iamaleava spent his first two seasons at Tennessee and in his second year he was the starting QB on a team that made the college football playoffs. At the end of that season he tried to hold the coaches hostage for more NIL money and when that didn’t work he left for UCLA. Last season was an ugly year for the Bruins and a lack of supporting talent held Iamaleava to just two games with 20+ fantasy points scored. The coaching staff was changed for 2026 which brings hope for a turn around year. Over the past two seasons offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy’s QB1 has scored 310+ fantasy points, and run the ball 125+ times. Iamaleava ran for 505 yards and 4 TD’s last season, showing he can be a great fit in Kennedy’s offense.
UNLV: Jackson Arnold
162.5 Fantasy Points In 2025
Coming out of high school Arnold was a five star recruit and ranked #4 nationally for QB’s. He signed with Oklahoma and earned the starting job his sophomore year. In ten games he looked inconsistent and not ready for being a starter. He left Oklahoma for Auburn in 2025 and we saw much of the same with his play despite his dual-threat abilities. This season he takes a step down by transferring to UNLV to play head coach Dan Mullen’s offense. Last season at UNLV Anthony Colandrea threw the ball 417 times and ran it 127 times enroute to scoring 365.8 fantasy points. 2026 should prove to be a redemption season for Arnold.
Virginia: Beau Pribula
187.0 Fantasy Points In 2025
Pribula’s first three seasons were spent at Penn State, serving as a back up for Drew Allar. People expected Allar to leave early for the NFL but decided to come back to school in 2025. That sent Pribula packing as he headed to Missouri. In his first season as a starter he was adequate This offseason he transferred to Virginia to play in head coach Tony Elliott’s offense. Elliot’s offense favors dual-threat QB’s like Pribula, and since 2018 Elliott’s QB’s have had 100+ carries four times. But a word of caution, since 2018 Elliott’s QB’s have failed to score 200 fantasy points four times.
Wake Forest: Giovanni Lopez
148.0 Fantasy Points In 2025
By the end of his freshman season at South Alabama Lopez began to start seeing playing time and going into his sophomore season he was competing for the starting job. He won that competition and in 2024 put up a respectable 274 fantasy points. He chose to seek Power 4 competition and went to North Carolina in 2025 which ended up being a major mistake as his fantasy output dropped to 148 fantasy points. He hit the portal once again but decided to team up with his former South Alabama OC Rob Ezell at Wake Forest. With prior knowledge of this offense Lopez looks to improve on the numbers he put up in 2024.
Honorable Mention Flyers
Colorado: Julian Lewis
41.8 Fantasy Points In 2025
As a true freshman last year Lewis was held out of action until the final four games of the season which preserves his redshirt. He wound up starting the final two games and heads into the 2026 seasons as the main man under center. Brennan Marion was brought in as the new offensive coordinator after taking a year to be the head coach at Sacramento State. In 2024 as the offensive coordinator at UNLV QB Hajj-Malik Williams scored 302.1 fantasy points in his “go-go” offense, and even carried the ball 161 times. Expectations for Lewis in year one of this offense should be lowered but the potential fantasy ceiling is attractive.
Old Dominion: Quinn Henicle
33.6 Fantasy Points In 2025
In his first two seasons at Old Dominion Henicle has seen action 11 games through back up duty. He’s a skilled dual-threat QB that fits this offensive system well and Henicle is the favorite to win the starting job for 2026. Under head coach Ricky Rahne this offense has produced QB’s that scored 280+ fantasy points three times since 2018. The key for Henicle will be finding ways to score in the air as the WR room is going through a revamp year. He’s already proven himself as a competent rusher averaging 6.2 yards/carry over his career.
North Dakota State: Nathan Hayes
47.8 Fantasy Points In 2025 (At FCS Level)
Hayes has spent his entire college career at North Dakota State. Halfway through his third year he became the primary back up QB and held that position through last season. Now that starting QB Cole Payton has graduated the offense will look to Hayes to lead them. Last season at the FCS level Payton scored 359.3 fantasy points with 16 TD’s through the air and 13 TD’s on the ground. Hayes has only carried the ball 14 times in his career but holds a 12.7 yards/carry average. If he can reach 10 rushing TD’s his fantasy value will grab the eyes of fantasy owners.
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Risers
