NO RISERS next week. Instead, we’ll be doing our first 2025 in-season ranking. There will be a detailed write-up either this long or potentially a bit longer, but the next Risers post in two weeks will be the Week 5-6 Risers.
WEEK 4 CFB RISERS + UPDATES
When I first struggle to find who I’m writing about in a week, I end up writing about far too many players. The top two players here in Travis Hunter and Cade Klubnik as well as the TE I’ve been neglecting, Harold Fannin Jr., were the only obvious players this week. So, I went a bit deeper into areas like the Group of 5 Conferences this week to try to identify a few more sleeper candidates to keep an eye on.
SUPERSTAR SPOTLIGHT
Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado
Whether or not Travis Hunter is primarily a WR or not, Hunter is one of the most spectacular football players in the game right now. An elite player playing a full-time role on both sides of the ball, I’m increasingly starting to believe that Travis Hunter may actually play two positions on Sundays. He is that special. Taking out the game he left due to injury, Hunter has played and finished 12 FBS games (and one against North Dakota State) as a member of Colorado. He has compiled 97 Receptions, 1,172 Yards, and 10 TDs. I used to believe we would have to judge Hunter on a curve because he played defense so often, but no curve is necessary for numbers this good. When you combine the skills we’ve seen displayed in the open field and with Hunter’s rare ball skills, he is a player who deserves to be considered as highly as anyone in this fantasy class. If he truly is listed as a Cornerback, there’s no way he’ll be a top 5 pick in fantasy leagues (aside from IDP, which I do not cover personally), but I see Travis Hunter currently as a top 3 player in this class, and as a full-time WR, Hunter is as likely as anyone to be my 1.01.
Hunter Routes in 2024 (by game): 39, 48, 42, 50 || Total Routes = 179 ; 2nd in FBS (180 most)
Hunter Defense Snaps in 2024 (by game): 72, 66, 64, 63 || Total Def Snaps = 265 ; T43rd in FBS (315 most)
RISER OF THE WEEK
Cade Klubnik, QB, Clemson
On last Thursday’s Fantasy for Real podcast, we discussed how most breakout QBs (Kyler Murray, Joe Burrow, Zach Wilson, Jayden Daniels, and J.J. McCarthy) all showed significant signs of having a breakout season within the first three games of their breakout season. With this in mind, we discussed which QBs could still breakout, who had hit certain criteria, and who was already eliminated. I almost dismissed him entirely, but I did mention that the game against Appalachian State for Cade Klubnik hit certain thresholds that I look for in breakouts. Despite mentioning this, I suggested that I was not really taking it seriously yet.
I’m regretting not taking it more seriously after this weekend.
Cade Klubnik played a nearly flawless game against N.C. State. Not all of the surface numbers will back that up because his completion% was only in the mid-60s, and he only had a hair over 200 passing yards, but Klubnik was superb. 3 Big Time Throws (BTT), 0 Turnover Worthy Plays (TWP), 0 Sacks, and getting the ball out in under 2.2 Seconds despite having an Average Depth of Target of over 9 yards is extremely impressive. N.C. State has gotten lit up a few times this year, but that doesn’t matter for what we’re talking about. Cade Klubnik played plenty of Appalachian States and N.C. States last year. He never surpassed a 72.2 PFF Passing Grade. He had 3 BTTs only once, and it came with 3 TWPs. In each of the last two games, Klubnik has 3 BTTs and 0 TWPs. In total for the 2023 season, Klubnik had 11 BTTs in 13 Games in 2023. Through 3 games of this season, Klubnik has 7 BTTs in 3 Games. His ratio of BTT:TWPs has gone from 0.6:1 (11:19) to 7:1.
I’ve been mentioning Cam Ward in the context of potentially being this year’s Jayden Daniels with some similarities between them being 5th Year Seniors, Transfers, and Late Risers. That isn’t to say that he will become this year’s Jayden Daniels, but he most resembles it early on in the season. Cade Klubnik though is resembling another riser from 2023 quite clearly at this point: J.J. McCarthy. After the drubbing against Georgia, I doubt Clemson wins the National Title, but they could win the ACC, and we very well may be heading towards at least a Cam Ward versus Cade Klubnik ACC Title game, and if these two QBs continue to play as they have so far this season, that will be one to watch for sure.
TIGHT END RISERS
Mason Taylor, LSU ; Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green
If you follow the promotional material, you may have seen Harold Fannin Jr. get slipped into the Reddit promotional last week, and that is because Fannin has been a glaring omission for this segment since the Penn State game in Week 2, and I needed to rectify that as best as I could. Fannin actually came onto my radar at the end of last season when I was reviewing general grades and numbers and found this true sophomore TE who had shockingly good numbers down the stretch of the season and who also happened to play in the MAC, but I neglected to follow up on Fannin well enough. Now in 2024, the Bowling Green TE has 137 Yards against Penn State and 145 Yards against Texas A&M in consecutive games. In his last 8 Games, Harold Fannin Jr. has 67 Targets, 52 Receptions, 771 Yards, and 8 TDs with over 3 Yards per Route Run. Considering he has put up huge games against teams with massive talent advantages, Fannin Jr. should be on every Fantasy TE list at this point. It looks like he is about to be a cheat code at the MAC level.
Mason Taylor is a player that I’ve discussed on these Risers before in Week 1, but Taylor continues to showcase consistency in 2024 that he was not able to display as a true sophomore behind Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. While most of the off-season buzz focused on Kyren Lacy, it seems it is actually Mason Taylor who is the most consistent and reliable pass catcher for this Garrett Nussmeier LSU offense.
I’m not confident in my ordering at this stage of the season, but it seems clear to me that I have an early top 3 at the TE position: Colston Loveland (Michigan), Mason Taylor, and Harold Fannin Jr.
LATE CAREER POSITION CHANGES
Nick Nash, WR (former QB), San Jose State ; Kalel Mullings, RB (former LB), Michigan
After playing QB over the first four years of his career, Nick Nash flashed as a WR in 2023 and opted to enter the portal before choosing to return to San Jose State for the 2024 season. Nash was graded by 24/7 as a 4-Star transfer, suggesting some NFL traits, which we also see from his 6’ 3” frame. Nash is playing as more of a power slot (92.2% Slot%), but his production this year is absurd with 50 Receptions, 637 Yards, and 8 TDs in 4 Games.
For Michigan, while this was supposed to be the year of Donovan Edwards, we have instead witnessed the emergence of Kalel Mullings. A former LB who similarly to Nash switched positions full-time in 2023, Mullings is a player who will have some profile negatives particularly at RB given his relative age as a 5th year player. Still, Mullings has excellent size listed at 6’ 2” 233 lbs, and he seems to move well enough to create some buzz at the NFL level.
Nash and Mullings are probably both players that you would like to see attend events like the Senior Bowl this off-season.
BEST PERFORMERS SO FAR IN 2024
Tai Felton, WR, Maryland & Jack Bech, WR, TCU
Felton did it again. The Maryland WR had 15 Targets for his 3rd Consecutive Game, and turned those targets into another 158 Yards and a TD. Tai Felton has surpassed 117 Yards and has had at least 1 TD in every game. Most absurd is his broken tackle ability, as Felton forced 3 more missed tackles bringing his season total to 13 in 4 Games. To put that in some perspective, out of the 130 FBS programs, only 59 WRs had 13 MTF in the entire 2023 Season. Felton’s pace of 39 in a 12 Game season would have easily led the league in 2023. While production is not everything, WR is a position more than others that leans to production being important, and Felton is doing things that are just outright impossible to ignore.
Unlike Tai Felton, Jack Bech does have one bad game, but it came against an FCS opponent which means for my personal lists, it won’t even appear in his stats. Outside of that, Bech is right with Tai Felton. In 3 Games, Jack Bech has 31 Targets, 23 Receptions, 502 Yards, and 4 TDs, with at least 139 Receiving Yards and 1 TD in every game. Bech spent his first two years as a member of LSU, meaning he did get stuck behind some of the best and most talented WRs in College FB. In his first year with TCU in 2023, Bech dealt with injury, so while Bech is a fourth year player, he at least has some excuses for how we got to this point without more production. As of right now, Bech is a name I will be continuing to monitor as a potential riser for the 2024 class.
DEEP RISER (2027)
Fluff Bothwell, RB, South Alabama (2027)
I haven’t gotten enough eyes on the South Alabama Jaguars yet this season, but it is important to note that Fluff Bothwell is up here for reasons beyond being one of the best names in College Football. After this weekend’s game, Bothwell is now the highest graded Running Back according to PFF on the season in terms of PFF Rushing Grade. On the surface, Bothwell has carried the ball 36 times for 357 yards and 6 TDs. A good amount of his damage was done against the FCS, but he was excellent this past weekend against Appalachian State as well. As a true freshman in the first third of his first season, Bothwell deserves to at least be paid attention to over the next few years of College Football.
QB CHECK-IN
Cam Ward, Miami (FL) via Washington State ; Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado ; Miller Moss, USC ; Drew Allar, Penn State ; Garrett Nussmeier, LSU ; Dylan Raiola, Nebraska (2027)
Cam Ward’s accuracy was a bit shaky, and he tried to start the game by reverting to old Cam Ward and throwing a pass that almost got returned for 6. However, from 14:57 in the 1st Q throughout the remainder of the game, Ward played like the QB we’ve seen so far this season, and his actual interception later in the game was a perfect pass volleyed by his receiver to a defensive back. Shedeur Sanders is a very complicated evaluation, even if we just focus on-field. Sanders scores about as highly as anyone in this class when it comes to positive areas for QB prospects. Sanders also scores potentially the worst in negative areas for QBs to avoid. This past weekend was more of the same: 4 BTTs and 0 TWPs were both excellent, but a 3.50 time to throw and a high Pressure-to-Sack% (32%) are causes for concern. Miller Moss did not look terrible by any means against Michigan, but when you’re a one-year starter without high-end tools, you need to be pretty lights-out. Moss was superb in Week 1 against LSU, but at this stage I don’t see much likelihood of a legitimate high-end NFL push. Drew Allar graded better in Week 3, but had only 1 BTT bringing his total up to 2 BTTs in 3 Games this season. Once again, it is not about the numbers but matching those numbers with the eye, and I just have not been very impressed yet with Allar this season. He still feels firmly like a QB who is a season away and may be a part of the 2026 class. Garrett Nussmeier on the other hand seems to do a better job in my estimation of proving subtle NFL translatable abilities that make me think he can be a top 20 to top 50 NFL draft pick. Finally, Dylan Raiola did not win in primetime, and there were mistakes from the young QB, but it seems like any chance that Raiola was going to crash and burn like some other freshman have recently has gone out the window at this point. The Nebraska starting QB may be a top NFL prospect, he may not be, but he’s definitely going to be a Nebraska QB for as long as he wants to be and has eligibility. Dylan Raiola is here to stay and put up tape for the next three years.
MISCELLANEOUS
Nicholas Singleton, RB, Penn State ; Devin Neal, RB, Kansas ; Dane Key, WR, Kentucky ; Luther Burden, WR, Missouri ; Kyle Monangai, RB, Rutgers ; Luke Altmyer, QB, Illinois
Nicholas Singleton has already made two of three risers pieces, but not only does Singleton continue to put up excellent statistics, but despite a mild workload, he is now getting more carries, running more routes, and catching more passes than teammate Kaytron Allen. While Devin Neal is not nearly as efficient so far in 2023, he is getting a substantial workload which helps prove other elements of his potential, including excellent feel for the game. Dane Key was very disappointing in his sophomore season of 2023, but had a massive 145 Yard performance on only 17 routes this past weekend; Key is more of a possession receiver, but he has enough size and trait to be a 3rd/4th Round NFL pick or better should he emerge. Luther Burden’s overall output continues to disappoint, though it is hard to be too negative of a player who had roughly a third of his team’s passing yardage output and 100% of their 2 TDs; Burden continues to be able to supply a big play when Missouri needs it. The Rutgers RB Kyle Monangai was decently productive in his first real test of 2024, but was not very efficient; as discussed on the show Thursday, Monangai is a player who has some good skill, but likely lacks the trait ceiling an NFL team looks for in the top 75-100 picks. Luke Altmyer doesn’t quite have the performance this season of a true breakout, but he is playing some solid football, and at the very least might serve as a nice measuring stick this upcoming weekend opposite Drew Allar.
FALLERS
Jackson Arnold, QB, Oklahoma (2026) ; Ollie Gordon II, RB, Oklahoma St. ; Luke Hasz, TE, Arkansas (2026)
Coming into the season, there was a very high assessment by many people on Jackson Arnold. While these assessments were largely based on not having seen him play live reps, the confidence of Oklahoma to not try and retain Dillon Gabriel but rather prefer to move on to the younger starting QB seemed to be pretty substantial. The reality at this point seems to be that Oklahoma– even if just in terms of what he is capable of doing now– badly misevaluated where they were at with Jackson Arnold. And if this sounds harsh after one game from a true Sophomore, he was replaced in the game by a player who plays well notoriously in practice and outperformed him in the game. OU fans seem done with Arnold. Maybe that’s an instant reaction and he’ll both maintain as the starting QB and improve, but Arnold’s entire reputation at this point was built on high school hype and the trust and faith of the OU coaching staff. If that faith is wavering and Arnold may not even be a firm starter anymore, then all we really have is hype and hope at this point. Arnold does have plenty of tools, talent, and mobility to turn it around, but even if he is the starter still, he does not have the same leash he seemed to coming into the season.
Ollie Gordon II is going to be the big feature faller for everyone last week and this week. I mentioned last week that I didn’t want to call him a “Faller” necessarily before Utah and Kansas State because he would either dig his way out of the hole or we would have better information for this discussion. I’m still mostly in that place, but as low as I was compared to the consensus on Ollie Gordon, I really didn’t imagine we’d be sitting here heading into Week 5 and Gordon would have under 3 YPC against the FBS (South Dakota State is an FCS team). I’m still considering him the secondary faller because Kansas State is a big road game, but if he struggles again next week, he’ll almost certainly be the featured faller, as at this point you have to ask yourself if he is even going to enter the NFL or if he might be the next Raheim “Rocket” Sanders who chooses to stay for another year and try to reclaim some of that Sophomore glory.
Luke Hasz is a Tight End I have probably discussed more than any TE in a future class, but at this point we need to stop talking about him unless he gets involved in the offense again. Hasz was very involved right away as a true freshman before suffering an injury, and that involvement in the passing game was very impressive. In his first 3 games against the FBS as a true freshman, Hasz had 14 Targets, 13 Receptions, 220 Yards, and 3 TDs. In his first 3 games against the FBS as a true sophomore (this year), Hasz has 6 Targets, 3 Receptions, 49 Yards, and 1 TD.
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2025 MOCK DRAFT (ROUND 1)
This is a bit of a teaser for next week, and some of these rankings are fluid and could change by next week, but the Mock Draft is briefly discussed in the middle of the show this week. We’ll be discussing all these players next week in more detail.
Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
Luther Burden III*, WR, Missouri
Nicholas Singleton, RB, Penn State
Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
TreVeyon Henderson, RB, Ohio State
Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ohio State via Ole Miss
Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
Isaiah Bond, WR, Texas via Alabama
Evan Stewart, WR, Oregon via Texas A&M
Cam Ward, QB, Miami (FL) via Washington State
Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU
Will potentially be including another teaser round for Thursday.
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Thursday’s show should have pre-game questions for the NFL, some thoughts on the TE position, and a schedule look ahead to Week 5 of the College Football season which includes a top 5 ranked matchup, Alabama against Georgia.
Thanks all,
C.J.
(#49) Big Review Show #3: Travis Hunter is Amazing, Buying J Reed + Roschon, and Respect to Cade Klubnik