We continue to roll out, update, tweak, edit and revisit our projections and previews prior to your fantasy draft. And while doing so we're going to occasionally take a more-detailed look at some of the nation's more intriguing stars for 2012.
The players featured over the next month or so may not be the top player at their respective positions, but they'll be ones that caused the most discussion around our roundtable or appear poised for a breakout or letdown campaign.
Breakdowns of college football's top offensive stars can of course be found in the CFFInsider.com 2012 Draft Kit.
2012 Position Rank: How does Owens stack up among our Sleeper signal callers?
2012 Draft Kit Preview:
Oh, if not for that damned quarterback platoon. Terrence Owens tossed 18 touchdowns against only three picks a season ago, despite only throwing the ball 230 times. Pro-rate those numbers to full-time starter digits and...they're like really good. But there is one problem, senior Austin Dantin is back and healthy. Both Owens and Dantin are good enough to start for any team in the league (though we favor T.O) and both will see snaps. Owens exits spring ball as option 1A and Dantin 1B. Should one suffer an early season injury or join the Peace Corps then the other immediately becomes a top national starter. Draft one then draft both.
Extended Analysis:
Toledo's new head man is the young and energetic Matt Campbell, who spent the last three seasons as the Rockets offensive coordinator. So don't expect the offense to change. The Rockets are also loaded at the skill positions. Overall, this offense should be one of the best in college football.
But let's just cut to the chase here, will Toledo rotate quarterbacks in 2012? Because if so, this is a wasted pick. Dantin is going to get his snaps. He's a senior and he's earned them. But there are indications that Owens is slowly taking over as the preferred option.
Even before Dantin was injured against Western Michigan, Owens was commanding more and more snaps. In fact even though Dantin was the starter, in the three games leading up to WMU Owens attempted six more passes and had two more rushing attempts. Not huge gaps, but you could tell a subtle changing of the guard was taking place. A delicate situation when you are dealing with vet like Dantin.
Owens was just too good to keep off the field. He completed 72 percent of his passes last fall and while not a burner, he is a threat to run the ball. With Dantin out, Owens posted three straight 30+ point fantasy performances. And he got the start over Dantin in the Military Bowl against Air Force. At 6-4, he just looks the part.
We are taking a gamble in our rankings that Owens will eventually see the lion's share of snaps. Could we be wrong on this? Hell yes. And it could take a few games for this to play out, and we know how patient fantasy owners are.
And you don't have to worry about him chasing a major league baseball career.
Final Thought:
I wouldn't be surprised if Owens ends up being one of the top ten fantasy QBs for 2012; he's that good (and he plays in the MAC). However, that highly depends on whether he can keep Dantin on the sidelines. If he can't, he'll be a fantasy bust. In my opinion he has too much upside potential not to take a stab at late in the draft. Just hope for the best and be prepared for the worst.