WEEK 10
A bit of a shorter post this week after a few longer ones recently. All feedback can be sent to u/cjfreel on Reddit, @FFBForReal on X/Twitter, or to my email cjfreelfantasy@gmail.com.
Included on the show this week:
NFL Injury Notes, Buy/Sells, RB Pass Catching Updates, and more Reactions
2025, 2026, and 2027 Risers/Fallers
Consistent Positional Risers + Fallers
The 2023 Season / 2024 NFL Draft cycle was my first doing the written version of these risers, and this season is my first season doing the audio version. During the 2023 Season, there were many times where around this time of year, it started to feel as if all of the positional notes were repeating themselves. The 2024 Draft Cycle was all about WR Risers, RB Fallers, and some late pushes from some QB Risers as well. This repetition made me nervous that I may be entering a bit of an echo loop.
That is something I am constantly going to be afraid of, but ultimately that ended up being one of the most accurate aspects of that risers series: the constant praise for WRs and concern for RBs aligned with the results of that class at the NFL level. The WR class featured 3 WRs in the top 9 picks and 10 WRs in the top 37 picks, arguably the most draft capital spent on the position all-time. At RB, we had the fewest RBs go in the top two-rounds in NFL history, and while RBs have been drafted later and later, it is hard to make the argument it is purely that factor when Bijan and Gibbs went so highly the year before.
So all of this is to lead up to saying that as someone who follows his own rankings, perhaps I have entered the echo chamber this year, but if this is anything like last season, the constant praise of the 2025 RB Class alongside the constant displeasure with the 2025 QB Class are signs that, as we do already suspect, this will be a very good RB Class, and a very suspect QB class.
2025 RB Risers
Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ohio State ; Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina ; Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, RB, South Carolina ; Damien Martinez, RB, Miami (FL)
There are a lot of aspects of the mental side of specifically college football that do not exist in the NFL because of recruitment which creates different coach+player dynamics, and perhaps there is a hidden injury situation as well, but setting aside things we cannot necessarily predict or understand, Ohio State’s preference for Quinshon Judkins in a massive game against Penn State speaks volumes towards how they see these two RBs. Because Henderson has been with the program for four years and is a senior without remaining eligibility while Judkins has been with the OSU program for just a single year and is a junior with remaining eligibility, my basic assumption was that Henderson would be the “starter” and even if Judkins ended up getting more touches, there would be an honorific that also slid towards Henderson. Maybe that is just not how HC Ryan Day does things, but the fact that it seems in at least one capacity that Judkins has surpassed Henderson while being only on the team a short time creates a frankly powerful confidence booster for the NFL level. What makes the NFL and CFB different? One factor is that you have to earn your job over a vastly higher level of opposition or competition. Judkins is doing that, at least on paper, in a way against TreVeyon Henderson that I did not expect, and he deserves commended for that. In this most recent game, while he did not catch the majority of his targets, Judkins had 14 Carries and 5 Targets compared to Henderson’s 10 Carries and 1 Target. Maybe this shifts back a bit, but I’m going to find a way to separate these two RBs a bit in my next Mock.
For the rest of the group here, there was a lot of intrigue this week. Hampton has now caught 20 passes on 21 targets in his last 6 games, which would be an incredible receiving profile overall. While I still have my doubts, there are certain players where the amount of boxes they check overwhelms any doubts I may have. Hampton is becoming one of those players. “Rocket” Sanders was featured in a riser earlier in the season, but immediately afterward was injured against Akron. Injuries and inconsistencies have plagued Sanders, but his 20 Carries, 144 Yards, 2 TDs, alongside 5 Receptions for 92 Yards was reminiscent of the dominant 2022 player that was the RB1/2 on many pre-season lists last year. For Damien Martinez, it is clearly a mixed bag when your streak begins with you being essentially demoted, but since Mark Fletcher (2026) started taking the first reps for Miami, Martinez has looked like a man possessed and the RB we had hoped for going into the season. In the past 3 Games, Martinez has 38 Carries, 303 Yards, and 3 TDs. It is also notable that Martinez has been a horrifically graded pass protector in his first two years, but has grown significantly in that role as well as having his career high in Receptions and Receiving Yards. While Martinez’s 2024 has been a mixed bag, those career highs signal a potential for unlocked upside.
Other 2025 Riser
Denzel Boston, WR, Washington
Boston is going to score horrifically in early production, but it is also fair to say that he was not just behind one or two top NFL WRs, but three NFL WRs who were selected in the top 2 Days of the NFL Draft. Boston’s depth chart last year included 9th OVR Rome Odunze, 37th OVR Ja’Lynn Polk, and late-3rd Jalen McMillan. While it is only one season of production, Boston is beginning to hit many of the thresholds I look for in prospects for performance. Over the last 6 games he is over 30% of his team’s receiving yards, and over the course of the season he has 60% of his team’s receiving TDs. Overall, those TDs in particular suggest that Boston will have a very solid peak Dominator, even if he does not have great early production statistics.
2026 Riser of the Week
Nico Iamaleava, QB, Tennessee
There has been a lot of discussion on this show recently about how Iamaleava has not quite hit the upper-level expectations that some previous high-end QB Prospects have. While this may still be largely true at least thus far, the past two games in particular for Iamaleava have represented a step forward. This past game was his first in a while with strong volume, and there were plays missed around the field by his supporting cast. There are still misses on the lay-ups for Iamaleava, but overall he is starting to showcase the progression that would suggest he may very well be a potential 1.01 candidate for the NFL Draft in 2026.
Honorable Mention: Zachariah Branch, WR, USC
The last time the show/substack did Risers/Fallers, Branch appeared in the Fallers list. It is too soon to put him as a “Riser of the Week” just yet, but Branch is now coming off his first 100 yard game. I don’t want to be too arbitrary here as he did have a 98-yd game earlier in the season, and the most important thing won’t be the single game, but if he can string this performance together and have a few more of that caliber. In-between his 98 and 102-yd games, Branch has played in 5 Gs with 15 Receptions, 129 Yards, as well as 17 Rushing Yards, for only 29.2 Total YPG over those 5 Games.
2027 Riser of the Week
Nick Marsh, WR, Michigan State
Marsh has made this list as a secondary or as a player who is a bit underrated, but Marsh truly does deserve to be a player who gets this section to himself. There are 3 freshman WRs with over 500 Receiving Yards (or 360 for that matter): phenom Jeremiah Smith, phenom Ryan Williams, and Nick Marsh. I do not believe he is a phenom or in the category of the other two, but Marsh has portrayed excellent abilities as a pass catcher that go alongside his 6’ 3” frame. Marsh was not a player I considered within my top 5 Devy WRs from the 2027 class, but honestly that may have been a mistake. It is hard to say because this 2027 WR Class seems so loaded, but Marsh has been highly impressive this season in a way that should not be overlooked.
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Once again, thank you everyone for the support. Today’s post is a bit shorter than normal, but I’ll be including a bit of a write-up with the two-round mock draft for Thursday, so expect a more-complete write-up with the two-round mock and the normal CFB Schedule write-up on Thursday.
Thanks,
C.J.
(#61) Big Review Show #9: Is it time to sell Joe Mixon, Updated RB Pass Catching, 2025 Positional Trends & more