We are officially at the midway point of the 2026 college football regular season, with several players improving their stock and multiple others losing value. With conference play now in full swing, here are some important storylines to be aware of heading into Week 7.
Risers
Hall of Fame
Few players have experienced the kind of ascension that we’ve seen from Purdue RB Fame Ijeboi, as the Minnesota transfer ranks 11th among P4 rushers with 549 rushing yards and is scoring a touchdown every 13 touches. He shined in a revenge spot last week versus his old team, erupting for a career-high 195 yards and three touchdowns on a workhorse-like 31 carries, with 131 of those yards coming before halftime in the lopsided 41-13 affair. Ijeboi’s 38.1 points led all P4 rushers in Week 6 with the Boilermakers accounting for a staggering 299 rushing yards as a team against the Gophers’ previously stingy run defense that entered the game ranked fourth in the B10 in rushing YPG allowed.
He earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors for his standout performance and is a big reason why Purdue has won two straight conference games against @Illinois and Minnesota. He sort of fell off the radar after a pair of sub 10-point performances prior to Minnesota, but Ijeboi had recorded three-straight games of 17+ points to kick off the 2026 campaign and should have another fine outing this weekend against a Washington D that ranks 105th in yards after contact (105th) and 95th in yards per successful rush allowed (87th).
The Bad Man Punted Baxter Jr.
After a Week 3 injury derailed his 2025 season at Texas, and the Longhorns brought in Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown, CJ Baxter Jr. has rebuilt his career at Kentucky. Last week Baxter Jr. was a major catalyst for Kentucky’s 35-34 upset over LSU, ripping off a 77-yard run on UK’s first play from scrimmage against LSU’s fourth-ranked rush defense. He has been the engine of Kentucky’s offense and a potent CFF asset, scoring 14+ points in five of six games while averaging 17.7 PPG on the year.
HC Willie Stein has been a miracle worker for this UK offense, churning out a superb 54% rushing success rate (5th in FBS) and 3.3 yards before contact (9th) with Kentucky sporting an excellent 5-1 record thus far. They have a tough matchup against Oklahoma and its eighth-ranked SP+ defense this week, but after torching LSU I’m not afraid of starting Baxter Jr. despite OU upsetting Texas in the Red River Rivalry game last weekend.
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“Chuck” LaNorris
The SEC is not for the faint of heart, and nobody knows that better than South Carolina HC Shane Beamer and QB LaNorris Sellers after the Gamecocks dumped their first three SEC contests. However, they rose to the occasion last weekend in a commanding 38-19 victory over a Florida team that was being compared to 2019 LSU by well known national media personalities just two weeks prior. Sellers has taken a lot of flack for his ill-timed interceptions, and deservedly so, but that doesn’t matter for fantasy purposes. South Carolina ranks 18th nationally in pace of play and are running the hell out of the ball to the tune of 6.4 YPC (8th) and 3.5 yards after contact (6th). Sellers is an important component in the run game, ranking third in FBS with 277 scramble yards while clearing 50+ rushing yards in four of his last five contests.
South Carolina’s soft defense has been an asset for fantasy purposes, causing the offense to be more aggressive than they’d like to be since the D is allowing 7.3% of plays to go for 20+ yards (109th) with 5.1 points per scoring opportunity (121st). As a result, Sellers has eclipsed 22 points in five-of-six games while posting 31.7 points against Kentucky and 35.1 against Florida last weekend in a game that may have saved Beamer’s job. The SC fanbase have backed off demands for LaNorris to be replaced for the time being and CFF managers will have a tough start/sit call to make when South Carolina returns from bye against Tennessee in Week 8.
Fallers
Over the Hill
Astute CFF drafters exercised caution with Alabama’s plodding “starting” RB Daniel Hill this preseason, with the stocky rusher being drafted after the 15th round in most formats. However, Hill looked like a potential All-SEC performer after averaging 20.1 points over his first two games. That feel-good start is now a distant memory, as Hill hasn’t cleared the 10-point mark since Week 2. He is averaging a meager 6.7 carries and 17.1 rushing yards per game over his last three contests, and has punched in just one TD over his last four.
Complicating matters is Alabama freshman phenom RB Trae’shawn Brown, who has scored 9.5+ points in four-of-five games against P4 opponents and has wrested control of the RB1 role in the process. He provides an explosive element to his game that Hill sorely lacks, as Brown accrued 90 yards on just nine carries against Georgia’s vaunted defense last week. I expect Brown to receive close to the 15+ touches he received against Mississippi State two weeks ago, making him a solid waiver acquisition while Hill is certifiably unrosterable at this point in time.
The Duce is anything but loose
These are grim times in Tallahassee, as the fanbase has turned against HC Mike Norvell following a humiliating 44-20 defeat to Louisville, with the Cardinals rolling up a ridiculous 397 rushing yards on 9.2 YPC on the dismal FSU front seven. Despite the heavy pass script with Duce Robinson receiving nine targets, he was able to secure just two balls for 14 yards with solo-threat QB Ashton Daniels, who has a run-first profile and produced 10 rushing touchdowns.
Robinson carries a true boom-or-bust profile, ranking last among all FSU receivers with a 49% catch rate despite a conservative 8.4 ADOT that is comfortably behind both Jayvan Boggs (10.7 ADOT) and Micahi Danzy (11.3). While Robinson leads the team with 35 targets, he has been irrelevant against Power Four opponents, recording two receptions for 25 yards or less with zero touchdowns in three of four contests against comparable competition. With FSU running the ball at a top-25 rate on standard downs, and accuracy-challenged Daniels throwing to running backs 28% of the time (7th in FBS), you simply cannot afford to start Robinson against a stifling Miami D that ranks top-10 in 20+ yard completions allowed (8.9%) and fourth in yards per successful dropback allowed (12.1).
Oregon’s woes
It is not hyperbole to say Oregon backup QB Dylan Raiola posted one of the worst quarterback performances of the last decade, completing a paltry 6-of-19 passes for 43 yards with two interceptions and a fumble for -2.98 points before mercifully being pulled in favor of third-stringer Brock Thomas. Even more troubling was Thomas’ very commendable performance in relief, completing 11-of-15 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown in the 17-15 upset loss to UCLA. I cannot imagine Raiola getting the starting nod if injured QB Dante Moore cannot suit up against a Nebraska defense that held Indiana to 65 rushing yards and a pitiful 10% third down conversion rate. With Oregon’s split-backfield resulting in unpredictable usage rates and fantasy performance between RB1 Jordon Davison and RB1B Dierre Hill, it’s hard to trust either of them if Moore is not available to balance out the run/pass dynamic. Raiola is imminently droppable in all seasonal leagues, and his long term dynasty value has essentially cratered.
Eric Froton's Week 7 College Fantasy Football Rankings
Injuries
Demond Williams, QB, Washington
Williams was a consensus top-10 QB heading into the year, but he has disappointed fantasy managers with inconsistency and a surprising lack of rushing potency. He has scored under 16 points in three-of-six games this season, and has been hampered by an inability to handle the rush with a 32% pressure-to-sack rate and 19 sacks taken over his last five games. He took a vicious hit to the ribs last week against Iowa which knocked him out of the game after 11 pass attempts, and clouds his availability in one of his most favorable fantasy matchups of the year versus a Purdue D that ranks 120th in yards per successful pass allowed and 132nd in QBR. It’s hard to trust Demond this week considering the beating he has taken through the first half and him being one hit away from exiting early for a second-straight week.
Nate Frazier, RB, Georgia
Frazier sustained an apparent rib injury in Week 3 against Arkansas that has derailed his production over the last two weeks. He was only able to handle two carries for nine yards against Vanderbilt two weeks ago, and was seen warming up before Georgia’s game against Alabama, but was ultimately held out of action. HC Kirby Smart had removed Frazier from the pregame injury report and was surprised by his absence versus Alabama after failing a contact-related test prior to kickoff. The late scratch against ‘Bama should give pause to any managers who are thinking about starting him this weekend against Auburn, with Dwight Phillips Jr. being the RB1 if Frazier is not able to go.
Ryan Coleman-Williams, WR, Alabama
After leading all Power Four receivers in drops last season, Alabama wideout Ryan Coleman-Williams had been in the midst of a bounce-back campaign where he scored five touchdowns over the first four games. He was primed for a heavy workload against SEC rival Georgia on October 10, but then he caught just three passes for 39 yards on eight targets. Coleman-Williams sustained a knee injury in the first half before returning after halftime only to suffer a head injury that ended his day. While he is considered “week-to-week”, fellow ‘Bama WR Lotzier Brooks intimated that RCW could be out for an extended period of time. Expect Derek Meadows and Rico Scott to pick up extra snaps wtih Coleman-Williams not expected to play at Tennessee.