College Football Fantasy Five: Flying Under the Radar in the Group of Five for 2023

This article is part of our College Football Fantasy Five series.

College Football Fantasy Five: Underrated Group of Five Players for 2023

With just weeks before the season starts and we start delving right into college fantasy football drafts, it's time to take stock of each of the power five conferences, as well as the Group of Five, to determine what players should be on your radar in later rounds. It would be easy to go ahead and recommend the highest projected/rated players, but we won't do just that, we'll go even deeper into our projections to recognize some players with huge upside entering the 2023 season.

If you would like to take a peak into the college football player projections yourself, please do so at the link provided. Linking your actual fantasy league using our College Football MyLeagues feature is a huge timesaver during the season when assessing lineups and top free agents each week.

Top Projected Players in the Group of Five

Quarterback

1.) Austin Reed, Western Kentucky
2.) Frank Harris, UTSA
3.) Chevan Cordeiro, SJSU

Running Back

1.) Rasheen Ali, Marshall
2.) Kevorian Barnes, UTSA
3.) Sieh Bangura, Ohio

Wide Receiver

1.) Malachi Corley, Western Kentucky
2.) Tory Horton, Colorado State
3.) Joshua Cephus, UTSA

TE

1.) Oscar Cardenas, UTSA

College Fantasy Football Tools

• College Football Depth Charts
• College Football Targets
• College Football Custom Rankings
• College Football Futures
• Heisman Trophy Odds
• Underrated SEC Players for 2023
• Underrated Big Ten Players for 2023
• Underrated ACC Players for 2023
• Underrated Big-12 Players for 2023
• Underrated Pac-12 Players for 2023

Under The Radar and Undervalued Group of Five Players for 2023

5.) Kurtis Rourke, QB, Ohio

MACtion should have the Bobcats written all over it this next season because they are loaded on the offensive end with RB Sieh Bangura (2022 MAC Freshman of the Year), WR Sam Wiglusz (1st Team All-Conference in the MAC), and WR Jacoby Jones. Adding to the embarrassment of riches is Rouke (2022 MAC Player of the Year) who is fully capable of orchestrating this fantasy monster during the 2023 season. I do expect them to start slow against a stout San Diego State defense in Week 0 which could create some opportunity for your fantasy team if you can make a trade for some of these guys prior to the conference slate.

4.) Tyrin Smith, WR, UTEP

Smith is another player who can be observed on Week 0 when the Miners travel to play Jacksonville State (making their C-USA debut). He had an unbelievable season in 2022 with 71 catches (on 129 targets) for 1,039 yards and seven touchdowns. This success even led to him flirting with a transfer to Texas A&M in the off-season. Despite playing on a team who went 5-7, Smith was an automatic play each and every week for fantasy while averaging 19.5 fantasy points per week. Moreover, the team returns their quarterback in Gavin Hardison and has one of the best offensive lines in the conference. UTEP could be sneaky good this year.

3.) Frank Gore Jr., RB, Southern Miss

There's a realistic case to be made that Gore should be drafted in the top-10 of fantasy drafts, however, that's not happening because he plays at Southern Miss. The last time Gore touched a field in a regulation game, he was an absolute beast with 21 carries for 329 yards and two touchdowns in the LendingTree Bowl. I don't know about you, but that's enough production for me to plant my flag for a fantasy team. Moreover, Gore has caught 20 passes in each of the last two seasons which adds some fantasy value in ppr leagues. I would be shocked if Gore doesn't put together his second consecutive 1,000-yard rushing performance, especially with Southern Miss moving to the Sun Belt Conference.

2.) Marquez Cooper, RB, Ball State

From one workhorse back to another, Cooper projects to be a big part of Ball State's offensive attack in the 2023 season. Just like Gore above, I think Cooper is a top-10 fantasy player, yet he's being drafted later than that. Carson Steele was special with the Cardinals in 2022 with 289 carries for 1,556 yards and 14 touchdowns. With Steele gone, they hit the transfer portal and brought in Cooper from Kent State. Cooper is coming off back-to-back 1,000 yard rushing performances and he had a combined 24 touchdowns over the last two seasons. He can certainly fill that void left behind by Steele. Go out and get him, so you can watch MACtion with amazement later in the year!

 1.) Alex Adams, WR, Akron

To be clear, the Zips are not a good football team. And that's exactly why I love Adams at wide receiver because Akron will be throwing the ball all over the place this year. In Akron's final five games of the 2022 season, Adams averaged 29.1 fantasy points per game with 39 catches (on 56 targets) for 584 yards and six touchdowns. You can find this guy later in drafts because not many people are looking at this team for fantasy help. These are the kind of players that can win you a league title if paired with studs from the power five schools.