With Week 13 of the college football season in the books, our weekly devy stock report reviews the previous week’s action to determine which CFB prospects are on the rise and whose stock took a dip.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels outplayed Justin Herbert in Arizona State’s upset victory over Oregon while fellow Pac 12 quarterback Kedon Slovis had one of the best passing performances in USC’s storied football history.
After failing to live up to the five-star expectations, Penn State wide receiver Justin Shorter leads our stock down list along with Texas A&M running back Isaiah Spiller after Week 13 of the college football season.
Without further ado, I give you my review of Week 13’s best and worst CFB performances. Be sure to check back later in the week for my preview of the best fantasy football matchups to watch in Week 14.
Stock Up
Standout players that saw their devy stock increase from the previous week include:
Jayden Daniels
Facing an Oregon team quarterbacked by likely 2020 first-rounder Justin Herbert, no one would blame Arizona State freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels for struggling on the big stage. Instead, Daniels embraced the spotlight while out-dueling Herbert in the Sun Devils 31-28 upset victory over the Ducks.
While Herbert was throwing picks in the desert, Daniels was throwing darts to wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Frank Darby all night long. The freshman Daniels finished with 408 passing yards and three touchdown passes, including an 81-yard backbreaker to Aiyuk that sealed the game for the Sun Devils.
The Daniels to Aiyuk connection in Tempe has been one of my favorite duos to watch all season, and it profoundly saddens the football fan in me that we’ll only get one season of these two together. Even with Aiyuk leaving for the 2020 NFL Draft as a senior, the sky truly is the limit for the freshman Daniels.
Even when Daniels made an appearance in my “Stock Down” devy report in Week 8, I made a note that the Arizona State quarterback was one of my favorite sleepers to watch in college football. Well, no one is sleeping on Daniels now after his performance against Oregon. Daniels went toe-to-toe with Herbert and showed he belonged in the same conversation as the future first-rounder.
Kedon Slovis
After hitting rock-bottom with three interceptions in USC’s 56-24 defeat to Oregon in Week 10, freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis responded with outstanding play down the stretch of the season. Slovis led the Trojans to three consecutive Pac 12 victories, including Saturday’s 52-35 drubbing of rival UCLA.
The former three-star quarterback had an up-and-down true freshman campaign, but Slovis finished his regular season off in style with 515 passing yards, and four touchdown passes against UCLA. Slovis became the first quarterback in USC football history to throw for over 500 yards while the Trojans also had four separate players go over the 100-yard receiving mark. Slovis broke Matt Barkley’s previous high of 493-yards while sprinkling the ball around to 100-yard receivers Drake London, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tyler Vaughns, and Michael Pittman Jr.
As a former three-star recruit, Slovis is the type of devy prospect that usually goes unnoticed until they make their mark in college football. Just because Slovis was a late-bloomer that wasn’t a known devy commodity to begin the season doesn’t mean we should ignore or dismiss what he’s been able to do at USC. While Slovis probably isn’t worth a devy pick yet, he’s someone worth keeping an eye on at the very least.
Stock Down
Disappointing players that saw their devy stock decrease in the previous week:
Justin Shorter
As a former consensus five-star recruit, Penn State wide receiver Justin Shorter is the type of devy prospect that we drool over for years. With these kids so talented they have offers from everyone, we have a habit of assuming these elite prospects are going to come in and dominate immediately. It doesn’t always work like that in college football. Sometimes they end up on the “Stock Down” list in the Week 13 CFB review due to unfair expectations set by their lofty high school ranking.
Shorter used his size and tremendous balls skills to dominate at the high school level, but so far, it hasn’t translated on the next level. After redshirting last season, Shorter only has 137 receiving yards and zero touchdown receptions during his freshman season.
While Shorter’s lack of production is a concern, there’s still plenty of time for the wide receiver to improve his stock. With leading receivers K.J. Hamler and Pat Freiermuth destined to enter the 2020 NFL Draft, Penn State will give Shorter every opportunity to soak up those targets next season. With the wide receiver’s devy stock likely increasing again next season, the window to draft Shorter at a discount is decreasing by the day.
Isaiah Spiller
After averaging over 128 rushing yards per game in his previous four contests, Texas A&M freshman running back Isaiah Spiller had the opportunity of a lifetime in Week 13’s showdown with Georgia. If Spiller could continue his rushing success against Georgia’s vaunted defense, the freshman’s devy stock was sure to rise to enormous heights.
Welp. Instead of propelling himself into stardom, Spiller stumbled back down to reality with only seven rushing yards on 11 attempts. Georgia’s defense swarmed the Aggies offensive line and running back all game as they held Spiller to his lowest rushing yardage output since late September.
Even with Spiller’s struggles against Georgia in mind, you should still consider the freshman a potential dynasty star in the making. While there’s still a lot of football to be played before then, Spiller certainly looks like one of the best running back prospects for the 2022 NFL Draft.
Jordan Woodson is a writer for the Pro Football Network covering Devy and Dynasty Fantasy Football. You can follow him @Jordan_Woodson on Twitter.