Conference Preview: Big 12

Conference Preview: Big 12

This article is part of our Conference Preview series.

This article is part of our Conference Preview series.

Welcome to another installment of Rotowire's Conference Preview series. The Big 12 is perhaps the most entertaining from a fantasy perspective as the bulk of their squads play soft defensive schemes which results in a ton of points. This upcoming year should be no different as Oklahoma reloads for another run at the NCAA Playoff and Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Baylor look to light up the scoreboard.

For each conference preview, we will have first-,second-, and third-team All-Fantasy teams as well as sleeper and bust selections. To the right of each player's name will be their overall positional ranking.

All-Big 12 Fantasy Team

First Team

QB: Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma (3)

RB: Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State (19)

RB: Kennedy Brooks, Oklahoma (29)

WR: Tylan Wallace, Oklahoma State (2)

WR: Jalen Reagor, TCU (3)

TE: Grant Calcaterra, Oklahoma (15)

Second Team

QB: Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State (8)

RB: Trey Sermon, Oklahoma (65)

RB: Keaontay Ingram, Texas (67)

WR: CeeDee Lamb, Oklahoma (10)

WR: Denzel Mims, Baylor (17)

TE: Malcolm Epps, Texas (17)

Third Team

QB: Sam Ehlinger, Texas (11)

RB: Kennedy McKoy, West Virginia (85)

RB: Pooka Williams, Kansas (77)

WR: Collin Johnson, Texas (88)

WR: TJ Vasher, Texas Tech (80)

TE: Charlie Kolar, Iowa State (60)

Sleepers

Alan Bowman, QB, Texas Tech

While Texas Tech decided to move on from Kliff Kingsbury (now in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals), there's no need to move on from their talented sophomore quarterback. New head coach, Matt Wells, gets Bowman, who set the Big 12 single-game record for a freshman with 605 passing yards versus Houston in 2018. The Air Raid will remain in place with David Yost as offensive coordinator and Bowman has a legitimate outside threat in T.J. Vasher. The Red Raiders should be one of the highest scoring teams in the nation once again.

Trestan Ebner, RB, Baylor

Ebner was fantastic in the Texas Bowl with 199 total yards on 16 touches and two touchdowns versus Vanderbilt. The junior's big fantasy appeal is tied to his ability to catch passes. He has recorded 49 receptions for 615 yards and four touchdowns over the last two seasons. Moreover, John Lovett, the team's leading rusher in 2018 spent time at the safety position this spring.

Taye Barber, WR, TCU

If the Horned Frogs can figure out their mess at quarterback, Barber should be able to make a splash working in tandem with superstar receiver Jalen Reagor. Reagor will draw a lot of double-teams and it should open up the field for Barber who already saw 3.5 targets per game in 2018. TCU will surely improve upon the 23.5 offensive points per game from a year ago and the receiving corps will be one of the driving factors.

Charlie Brewer, QB, Baylor

Baylor is the Big 12 team no one is talking about which is crazy considering they went from a 1-11 record to a respectable 7-6 last season. Brewer may not be as flashy as Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts or Texas' Sam Ehlinger, but he's a gamer. More importantly, the Bears run a fantasy-friendly offense as they ranked 34th in the nation at 6.4 yards per play in 2018 and they have most of their weapons back for this year. Brewer was a dynamic signal caller in 2018 with 3,019 yards and 19 touchdowns through the air and seven rushing touchdowns.

Dillon Stoner, WR, Oklahoma State

Because Stoner regressed in 2018 with just 48 catches for 603 yards and two touchdowns, he's set up perfectly for fantasy retribution. The hope is that fantasy owners will look to someone else if they can't get Tylan Wallace which would be a mistake as Oklahoma State's offense is going to be explosive in 2019. New quarterback Spencer Sanders is highly-touted and there's no reason to believe the Cowboys won't keep running up and down the field like they do each and every year.

Busts

Thomas MacVittie, QB, Kansas

The big question in Lawrence, Kansas is whether Les Miles can figure out how to compete in the Big 12 with limited talent. I'm not sure if he'll ultimately figure that out or not, but I'm fairly sure it won't happen in his first year. Moreover, Miles was never known for leaning heavily on the quarterback position, so MacVittie is fighting an uphill battle in his return to the NCAA from JUCO. Expect the Jayhawks to lean heavily on their run game with Pooka Williams.

Dalton Schoen, WR, Kansas State

From one new coaching staff to another, the Wildcats will transition from the legendary Bill Snyder to Chris Klieman who comes over from North Dakota State. There's been some off-season buzz for Schoen after Isaiah Zuber decided to transfer, but I'm not buying it. It's not hard to imagine the Wildcats leaning on their stout defense and establishing the run. Quarterback Skylar Thompson doesn't help the cause as he also has a propensity to take off and run the ball.

T.J. Simmons, WR, West Virginia

Another Big 12 team with a first-year coach (you may be sensing a theme in the bust column) in Neal Brown as many believe Dana Holgorsen bolted due to the loss of a significant amount of talent to the NFL. While the former Troy Head Coach did land a graduate transfer quarterback in Austin Kendall from Oklahoma, there's some serious concerns with the offensive line. It's not that Simmons isn't a capable receiver, but there's some skepticism surrounding whether Kendall will have adequate time to get the ball to the junior wide-out. 

Sewo Olonilua, RB, TCU

The big power back is currently dealing with some legal issues which puts his 2019 playing status in question. This puts the arrow way up for teammate Darius Anderson, which is a shame as Olonilua was coming off an impressive bowl game with 194 yards and a score. If Olonilua does find his way back to the field, he'll be hard to depend on for fantasy as he will surely split carries with Anderson.

Brock Purdy, QB, Iowa State

This was a tough recommendation as Purdy has proven to be a good player, but he lost some serious talent in offensive weapons David Montgomery (drafted by the Chicago Bears) and Hakeem Butler (drafted by the Arizona Cardinals). Iowa State doesn't have the reload potential of teams like Oklahoma and Texas, which is going to bring down the offense to begin the season. Iowa State will have a better chance at winning games if they lean on their better-than-average defense.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nick Grays
Grays covers college football for RotoWire by night and is a Financial Analyst by day.
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