Hopefully you listened to me and hopefully you did not.
If you followed the starts, chances are you had a nice day. If you benched the guys on last week’s list, you are cursing me and have a bullseye with my handsome face on it. That is if you benched Chris Givens and Jaxon Shipley.
But this week we take another stab on Givens while trying to hit straight As heading into midterms.
A quick look back at Week 6’s predictions.
Start
Tavon Austin, West Virginia vs. Connecticut: 7 receptions, 74 yards, TD. Grade A
Josh Cooper, Oklahoma State vs. Kansas: 4 receptions, 41 yards, TD. Grade A-
Jeremy Ebert, Northwestern vs. Michigan: 11 receptions, 86 yards. Grade B+
Keenan Allen, California vs. Oregon: 9 receptions, 170 yards, TD. Grade A+
Dwayne Frampton, Arkansas State vs. Louisiana: Monroe-13 receptions, 147 yards, TD. Grade A+
LaVon Brazill, Ohio vs. Buffalo-3 receptions, 17 yards. Grade F.
Quinton Patton, Louisiana Tech vs. Idaho: 9 receptions, 34 yards. Grade B-
Bench
Jaxon Shipley, Texas vs. Oklahoma: 9 receptions, 89 yards, TD. Grade F
Chris Givens, Wake Forest vs. Florida State: 6 receptions, 101 yards, TD. Grade F
Andre Debose, Florida vs. LSU: 1 reception, 65 yards, TD. Grade B-
Markus Wheaton, Oregon State vs. Arizona: 6 receptions, 54 yards. Grade B
Paul Richardson, Colorado vs. Stanford: DNP
Start Em! Wide Receivers
Nick Toon, Wisconsin vs. Indiana: Last year Wisconsin hung 80 on Indiana. What is to say with a better starter at running back and a much better quarterback they don’t hang 90? Toon will score, top 100 yards and be a solid start.
Kenny Stills, Oklahoma vs. Kansas: Let’s see. Oklahoma State hung 70 on Kansas last week, 56 in the first half, while not playing starters towards the end of the second quarter. Stills and Broyles will destroy the anemic Jayhawks secondary, and he is a must start.
Ryan Swope, Texas A&M vs. Baylor: With Jeff Fuller banged up, Swope becomes the number one option to face a porous Bears secondary. Swope is sure handed and in what should be a shootout, he should see eight catches, 120 yards and a score or two.
Marqise Lee, USC vs. California: While Robert Woods is one of the best receivers in the country, Lee is becoming a stud as a freshman as well. Expect USC to toss the ball all over Cal, and Lee should prosper in a solid supporting role.
Robert Herron, Wyoming vs. UNLV: Herron is a sleeper option this week as Wyoming takes on a UNLV team that gave up over 300 yards passing and three scores to Nevada last weekend. As the Cowboys' leading receiver he has 28 catches and three scores and should be in line for a huge afternoon against the Rebels.
Nick Harwell, Miami Ohio vs. Kent State: Harwell is coming on strong following a slow start, as he had 10 catches for 186 yards and two scores in a shootout win against Army. Expect that momentum to continue and for Harwell to have an immense second half.
Bryan Burnham, Tulsa vs. UAB: Burnham is the clear-cut number one receiver for Tulsa, and with G.J. Kinne a week healthier, Burnham should have an enormous afternoon against a UAB defense that has struggled against even mediocre passing offenses.
Sit Em! Wide Receivers
Derek Moye, Penn State vs. Purdue: I have never been a fan of Moye's ability to produce, and with constant altering of quarterbacks there is no way for the offense to get a rhythm. Yes Purdue stinks, but so does the Penn State offense. There are safer options this week.
Damarlo Belcher, Indiana vs. Wisconsin: Yes, you drafted Belcher early and yes Indiana will be playing from behind against the Badgers, however Belcher is not a safe play in any format. He can be counted on as maybe a No. 3 wide receiver, but Wisconsin can shut down the opponent and make it look ugly.
Hubert Anyiam, Oklahoma State vs. Texas: Here is my hunch bench of the week. Anyiam scored twice in the Cowboys rout of Kansas, but against Texas the Cowboys will try to focus more on the ground game, and the Longhorns should do a better job against the pass than Kansas. Expect big days from Blackmon, Cooper, Randle and Weeden.
Jarrett Boykin, Virginia Tech vs. Wake Forest: Boykin is Virginia Tech's leading receiver, and after a huge day against Miami you can be fooled to starting him against Wake. Do not do it. Wake will not score on Virginia Tech, and the Hokies will rely on the ground game to play keep away in the second half.
Chris Givens, Wake Forest vs. Virginia Tech: Yes we benched Givens last week, and it backfired. Last week he did not play against Virginia Tech. Let's go back to benching him this week to see if he proves us wrong ... again.
Mike Willie, Arizona State vs. Oregon: The Arizona State team has plenty of offensive weapons, but they will not be able to keep up with Oregon, and I feel the Ducks will take Willie out of the game. There are safer receivers to play this week as Willie is simply not a consistent No. 1 or No. 2 option.
