Joe Arpasi
June 3, 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
Missouri: Jamal Roberts
138.4 Fantasy Points In 2025
Roberts has spent his entire college career at Missouri and during his junior 2025 season he emerged as a solid RB2. In the lead back up role he ran the ball 124 times for 753 yards (6.1 yards/carry) and 6 TD’s. This summer starting RB Ahmad Hardy was involved in an incident where he was shot in the leg. Its unknown when he will be cleared to return to football, so in the meantime Roberts is jettisoned into the starting role. New offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey has shown that he will feed his top RB a healthy amount of carries. From 2021-2024 his RB1’s received 200+ carries and scored 200+ fantasy points.
North Dakota State: DJ Scott
92.6 Fantasy Points In 2025 (At FCS Level)
Scott started his career at Kennesaw State in 2024 but after very little production transferred to North Dakota State in 2025. Last season he was the second leading RB on the team with 95 carries for 502 yards and 6 TD’s. Last year’s leading rusher Barika Kpeenu has graduated leaving that job open for Scott to take over. Last season at the FCS level Kpeenu scored 261 fantasy points with 190 carries for 1003 yards and 20 TD’s. Its might be hard for Scott to match 20 rushing TD’s this season but the Mountain West isn’t full of stingy defenses.
Northern Illinois: Telly Johnson
108.7 Fantasy Points In 2025
In his two years at Northern Illinois Johnson has seen his fantasy production increase each season from 73 fantasy points his freshman year to 108.7 fantasy points his sophomore year. Last season he played second fiddle to starting RB Chavon Wright. Wright is now gone and the coaches are making Johnson the center piece of the offense. Tony Petersen comes in from Illinois State to be the team’s new offensive coordinator and last season his RB1 scored 201.3 fantasy points on 278 carries for 1377 yards and 5 TD’s. Johnson may not command that same workload but he looks poised break past that 5 rushing TD mark.
Virginia Tech: Marcellous Hawkins
100.3 Fantasy Points In 2025
As a true freshman last season Hawkins emerged as the RB1 in a split carry backfield at Virginia Tech. He ran the ball 118 times for 749 yards but just 1 TD. Terion Stewart was the only other RB to get more than 50 carries and he’s gone. Hawkins is competing with Louisiana transfer Elijah Davis for carries, but Hawkins didn’t participate in spring camp. New offensive coordinator Ty Howle was the co-OC at Penn State and over the last three seasons that offenses featured two fantasy worthy RB’s. If Hawkins can keep his RB1 status, he could put up 180+ fantasy points like Howle’s RB1’s did.
Washington State: Kirby Vorhees
105.6 Fantasy Points In 2025
Vorhees played his first two seasons of college football at South Dakota State before following his coach to Washington State in 2025. Last season Wazzu rotated backs but Vorhees was the starter and managed 63 carries more than his back up. The same group of RB’s returns for Wazzu in 2026, but the team went through another coaching change and Vorhees has the chance to secure a larger workload. New head coach Kirby Moore comes in with four season of offensive coordinator experience where he loved to feature a workhorse back. In three of those four seasons his RB1 received 250+ carries and scored 260+ fantasy points.
Honorable Mention Flyers
Arkansas: Cam Settles
4.2 Fantasy Points In 2025
Settles is entering his second season at Arkansas and as a freshman he saw action in 11 games but only came away with 6 carries for 16 yards. With a fully healthy RB room practicing in spring camp it was Settles who climbed up the depth chart with his impressive play. New offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey has featured a workhorse RB1 four times since 2018, but things look different heading into fall camp. The talk is that three RB’s will be used. There will be a 1st/2nd down back (Settles), 3rd down back (Sutton Smith), and a short yardage/goal line back (Braylen Russell). If Settles can develop a hot hand he has the opportunity to break this committee approach.
Clemson: Gideon Davidson
40.8 Fantasy Points In 2025
Adam Randal was the RB1 in 2025 and Davidson in his freshman year managed to log 60 carries as the primary back up. Randal is gone and the stage is set for Davidson to earn the starting job. Clemson hired Chad Morris to take over as offensive coordinator with previous OC duties at Texas State and Arkansas. In three seasons he gave his top back 180+ carries twice and 25+ targets three times. Davidson has the skillset to make plays happen on the ground and in the air. He’ll need to find a way to score TD’s regularly as Morris’ RB1’s have failed to score 10 rushing TD’s in a season.
Connecticut: Trey Cornist
52.9 Fantasy Points In 2025
Cornist spent his first two seasons at Tulane but didn’t see action until his second year, playing in six games with 22 carries for 149 yards and 1 TD. He transferred to Central Michigan in 2025 and saw a significant jump in playing time, playing in 13 games with 105 carries for 470 yards and 1 TD. He hit the transfer portal once again and landed at UConn where he appears to be the frontrunner for the starting RB job. New head coach Jason Candle likes his main RB to carry the load and going back to 2018 his RB1 has scored 210+ fantasy points and had 180+ carries four times.
Michigan: Savion Hiter
0.0 Fantasy Points In 2025
Hiter was the talk of Michigan’s spring camp. The true freshman was a five star recruit and ranked second nationally for RB’s. He enrolled early and flashed his playmaking ability to the coaching staff, securing the RB2 job behind starter Jordan Marshall. Jason Beck came from Utah to be the new offensive coordinator and what we saw last season could be how the workload shakes out at Michigan in 2026. The top two RB’s split the carry workload 149/98, which means that Hiter’s fantasy value could be capped. If he’s as good as everyone said from spring camp, don’t be surprised if the coaches increase his workload as the season goes on.
Purdue: Ohifame Ijeboi
73.5 Fantasy Points In 2025
The journey for Ijeboi started with two seasons at Minnesota where he ran the ball 97 times for 441 yards and two TD’s in 2025 as a back up. Looking for immediate playing time he hopped in the portal and landed and Purdue who is replacing their top back from last season. Purdue has had its struggles on offense since offensive coordinator Josh Henson took over in 2025. For Ijaboi to find fantasy value this season he’ll have to be used in a similar way that Henson used Woody Marks at USC in 2024. Marks received a massive workload of 198 carries and 57 targets. Ijeboi has the tools to be successful in the passing game, but it will be a question if the offensive line can open up holes and if the offense can regularly get in the redzone.
South Carolina: Christian Clark
43.5 Fantasy Points In 2025
During the 2025 season at Texas Clark spent his freshman year exchanging back up time with Cedric Baxter. He finished the season as the team’s second leading rusher but when Texas signed two big name RB’s in the transfer portal he left for South Carolina. New offensive coordinator Kendal Briles needs to replace last year’s starting RB, and his history shows that he can lean on a top back or divide carries in a committee. Four times since 2018 he has given his RB1 less than 160 carries, and three times has given his RB1 220+ carries. Clark will need to break away from the rest of the RB room to capture a large workload but he has a very good chancing at doing just that.
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Risers
