Where SMU stacks up against ACC opponents in new Yahoo College Fantasy Football rankings

Fantasy football is an integral part of the National Football League experience, and now thanks to Yahoo Sports, fantasy is expanding to the collegiate game. Yahoo Sports announced on Friday, July 17, that it would be adding a collegiate fantasy football game to its list of games, with league drafts opening on Monday, August 3.

With the announcement of the new format, Yahoo released its top-300 rankings, drawing players from the 68 eligible Power 4 teams. The game will look slightly different from its NFL counterpart, as Yahoo removed kickers but added a new position: Team Offense.

SMU produced nine entries in Yahoo Fantasy’s Top 300, including one in the top 25. The nine slots gives SMU the most in the ACC, beating out Louisville’s eight and Miami’s seven.

QB: Kevin Jennings (14th best QB | 2nd in ACC)

Jennings fell just short of being the highest-ranked ACC quarterback in Yahoo Fantasy, landing one spot behind Miami’s Darian Mensah. Mensah, who transferred to the Canes from Duke, is an early frontrunner to be the best player in the ACC after leading the conference in passing yards in 2025.

Many notable dual-threat quarterbacks like Jennings found themselves towards the top of the list. Arch Manning came in first, likely thanks to the 399 yards and 10 touchdowns he rushed for in addition to 3,163 yards and 26 touchdowns in the air. Houston’s Connor Weigman (25 pass TD, 11 rush TD) and Oklahoma’s John Mateer (14 pass TD, eight rush TD) also landed in the top ten.

If Jennings’ ground production returns to its 2024 level, when he ran for 354 yards and five touchdowns, he could become an extremely valuable fantasy quarterback.

RB: Kendrick Raphael (22nd | 7th)

Kendrick Raphael is only the 22nd best fantasy running back, but ranks 25th across all positions in Yahoo’s top 300 list. While some teams had multiple running backs make this list, Raphael is the only Mustangs back to receive a ranking.

Raphael rushed for 943 yards and 13 touchdowns, with another 245 yards and a touchdown in the air in 2025. His 34 receptions, in a PPR-format league, would have resulted in a total of 236.8 fantasy points over 12 games played– giving him a respective 19.73 fantasy points per game last season.

Those stats may only get better in 2026 now that he’s behind SMU’s highly touted offensive line. Interestingly, his replacement at Cal, Adam Mohammed, was ranked as the 23rd best fantasy player by Yahoo Sports. That put Mohammed two spots ahead of Raphael, despite coming off a season with just 106 carries and 523 rushing yards with the Washington Huskies.

Both were behind the nation’s No. 1 running back, Kewan Lacy of Ole Miss, as well as Louisville's Isaac Brown, ranked as the best fantasy running back in the ACC. Based on the rankings, Raphael would be a late second round or early third round draft pick in a 12-team fantasy format.

WR: Yamir Knight (47th | 11th), Yannick Smith (71st | 15th), Jalen Hale (81st /|18th), Jalen Cooper (93rd | 21st)

SMU has an impressive four wide receivers in the top 300, matching the likes of Ohio State and Texas Tech. However, while the Buckeyes boast the best WR on the board in Jeremiah Smith, SMU’s top rated receiver is just 47th in positional rankings.

Although SMU has more wide receivers in the top 300, ACC squads such as Miami, Clemson, Florida State and California all have two wide receivers positioned higher than Knight, SMU’s first. Yahoo Sports projected Miami’s Malachi Toney to be the second-best fantasy wide receiver in 2026.

Knight is the 11th best fantasy receiver from the ACC after finishing 2025 with 54 receptions, 637 yards and five touchdowns. His best game in 2025, a 167-yard performance against Boston College, would’ve netted him 29.7 fantasy points. He’s expected to be SMU’s top target in 2026, followed by a committee of Smith, Hale and Cooper. Smith has proven himself a tad more than the others, accumulating over 1000 receiving yards over two years at East Carolina. It’ll be a worthwhile fantasy investment to see which receivers are getting more looks from Jennings in fall camp before drafting.

TE: Randy Pittman Jr. (12th / 2nd*)

SMU doesn’t have a surefire TE target this year, now that RJ Maryland and Matthew Hibner have moved on, but Yahoo Sports is expecting Pittman Jr. to receive the bulk of the targets over fellow transfer Theo Melin Öhrström.

Pittman Jr. caught 23 passes for 208 yards at Florida State last year. Yahoo Sports ranked him as the 12th best fantasy tight end and the third-best in the ACC. However, he has essentially moved up a spot after an announcement by Boston College head coach Bill O’Brien that star tight end Kaelan Chudzinski tore his ACL and will miss the 2026 season.

The senior is one of just 37 tight ends ranked by Yahoo Sports. Tight end is a generally weak position in college fantasy football, but Pittman Jr. could provide some easy points thanks to an SMU system that favors the position.

Units: Team Offense (16th / 2nd), D/ST (14th / 3rd)

Perhaps this is just me, but I was surprised to see SMU’s defense and special teams unit have a higher positional ranking than team offense.

A short explanation on team offense: Yahoo Sports’ new fantasy position rewards offenses racking up major yards, scores and wins while penalizing turnovers and losses. For example, if you have SMU in as your team offense, all touchdowns scored will count for three points, field goals for one, and 300+ yards of offense for 1.5, while turnovers will subtract two. While streamlining team offenses week-to-week could be a strategy, such as finding a team preying on an FCS program in the early weeks, having a powerhouse offense like top-ranked Indiana will prove immensely valuable.

SMU is the 16th overall team offense and is second in the ACC behind Miami. Given that SMU is regularly a national leader in points scored, it makes sense to draft the Mustangs, especially with a weaker ACC schedule ahead. Don’t get ahead of yourself drafting SMU though, as Yahoo Sports doesn’t project a team offense going until roughly pick 100.

On the D/ST side, SMU is third in the ACC. Even with questions around the defensive line and secondary, SMU’s consistent ability to generate turnovers makes it a unit worth considering. Only Miami and Florida State ranked higher in the conference, while Notre Dame has the best fantasy projections nationally.

All-SMU draft strategy

If you really wanted to select an all-SMU squad, this is what your draft may look like. Some improvisation with the running backs– I did take former Mustang Chris Johnson Jr, who is now at Clemson and ranked 248th in Yahoo Sports’ top-300 fantasy players.

Round One: Kendrick Raphael- RB
Round Two: Yamir Knight- WR
Round Three: Randy Pittman Jr- TE
Round Four: Kevin Jennings- QB
Round Five: Yannick Smith- WR
Round Six: Jalen Hale- WR
Round Seven: SMU D/ST
Round Eight: Jalen Cooper- WR
Round Nine: SMU Team Offense
Round Ten: Chris Johnson Jr- RB (Clemson)
Round Eleven: Theo Melin Öhrström- TE
Round Twelve: Dramecko Green- RB
Round Thirteen: Derrick McFall- RB/WR
Round Fourteen: Jordyn Adams- WR
Round Fifteen: Ty Hawkins- QB

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