Mid-week MACtion is a staple of the college football season, and we're here to give you a preview of some of the players to look for this fall when you tune in. As is often the case, several fantasy-relevant players from the conference have either graduated or gone elsewhere, but some of the top-tier producers do return to their respective schools this fall. Running backs are typically the primary fantasy contributors in the conference, and that's largely the case again this season. Still, there are also some intriguing options at quarterback and wide receiver in 2025!
Note: The positional rankings are based on four-point passing touchdowns and half-point per reception format and may vary based on the format of your league. Visit our College Football Rankings page to customize the rankings to fit your league's format. The rankings are also subject to change as more information rolls in during fall camp, and up-to-date rankings can be found there.
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MAC Conference All-Conference Fantasy Teams
First Team (overall position rank in parentheses)
QB: Parker Navarro, Ohio 
(7)
RB: Al-Jay Henderson, Buffalo 
(7)
RB: Chip Trayanum, Toledo 
(15)
WR: Junior Vandeross, Toledo (7)
WR: Chase Hendricks, Ohio (46)
TE: Arlis Boardingham, Bowling Green 
(44)
Second Team
QB: Tucker Gleason, Toledo (26)
RB: Sieh Bangura, Ohio (26)
RB: Telly Johnson, Northern Illinois 
(37)
WR: Victor Snow, Buffalo (54)
WR: Trayvon Rudolph, Toledo (71)
TE: Jake Newell, Akron 
(47)
Third Team
QB: Dequan Finn, Miami (Ohio) .png)
(28)
RB: Jalen Buckley, Western Michigan 
(53)
RB: Kenny Tracy, Miami (Ohio) (73)
WR: Alex Adams, Akron (91)
WR: Deion Colzie, Miami (Ohio) (99)
TE: Blake Bosma, Western Michigan (61)
2025 MAC Conference Fantasy Sleepers
QB: Drew Pyne, Bowling Green
Bowling Green's passing offense was dynamic and efficient in 2024, primarily due to tight end Harold Fannin and quarterback Connor Bazelak at the helm. This year introduces many questions for the Falcons, many of which can be answered by A transfer quarterback in Pyne. Pyne has bounced around a lot in his career, starting with Notre Dame, moving to Arizona State, and then most recently playing for Missouri. The 6-foot quarterback is coming off two seasons with just eight games combined, six of which came last year with the Tigers, where he threw for 391 yards and a 3:3 TD:INT ratio. These numbers don't look great, but Pyne is moving to a less demanding conference where he can utilize the skills he learned with more competitive teams. In addition, he'll team up with some hungry pass catchers in Kansas State transfer RJ Garcia, returning senior Finn Hogan, and tight end Jyrin Johnson. This may be a ragtag supporting cast, but all of the right tools nonetheless to show why he deserves to start at the Division I level. Expect him to lead a pass-heavy offense this campaign, especially with little to no experience coming in at the running back position for Bowling Green.
QB: Grant Jordan, Massachusetts 
Jordan will first have to snag the QB1 gig with the Minutemen, but he'll be a dangerous gunslinger if he does so. The 6-foot-2 transfer from Yale is coming off a 2024 season with 22 touchdowns and just three interceptions with 1,938 yards across nine games. In addition to this excellent TD:INT ratio, the senior also rushed for 360 yards and five touchdowns. A dual-threat quarterback in the MAC Conference is like gold, as shown by guys like Parker Navarro. Jordan, leveraging his great accuracy and rushing upside, could make him a dangerous play against defenses, especially if he successfully beats out Utah-transfer Brandon Rose for the starting job.
RB: Jordan Nubin, Kent State 
Kent State had a historically awful 2024 season, unable to win a game and showing no promise with their offense. With transfer quarterback CJ Montes, who has logged 1/4 of a full season in his career and no new talent to round out the receiving corps, the Golden Flashes are likely to rely on the run game. This doesn't mean they'll be great at it, but it does mean Nubin should be primed for a lot of volume in his senior campaign. The transfer running back from Minnesota never secured the starting role with the Golden Gophers, but he did amount to 127 carries for 559 yards and three touchdowns across seven games in the 2023 season. This means there is talent within the rusher, and joining the MAC could be all he needs to unleash it fully. That, combined with a historically bad Kent State offense, is what a guy like Nubin could use to be a top MAC rusher.
RB: Jaylen Poe, Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois rusher Telly Johnson emerged as a star in the latter half of the 2024 season, and he's got all the hype around him ahead of the 2025 campaign. This overshadows guys like Poe, who will most definitely be used in a run-first Huskies offense. Last year, Northern Illinois had three guys with 450 or more rushing yards. This makes it very unlikely that Johnson will get all the volume in the team's backfield. Especially with a below-average passer like Josh Holst returning under center (593 passing yards, 2:2 TD:INT ratio in the 2024 season), there's no doubt that a rushing attack will be the forefront of the Huskies' offensive strategy. This puts a power back like Poe in the right position to excel in his third collegiate year, even if Johnson is still the RB1.
WR: T.Y. Harding, Massachusetts
Harding was the WR2 in the 2024 season, finishing out with just 19 catches for 334 yards and five touchdowns. He'll now return for his fourth season with the Minutemen as the first option in the pass offense, and he should have more talent at the QB position with Yale-transfer Grant Jordan or possibly Utah-transfer Brandon Rose at the helm. This puts Harding in an even better position than the WR1 Jakobie Keeney-James last year had, as the team had very volatile play at the quarterback position. Harding is an undersized pass catcher at just 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, but he's speedy and possesses the route-running skills that should transfer back to their old conference as UMass attempts to compete in the MAC as they did once before.
WR: Cordale Russell, Miami (Ohio)
Russell is a sneaky receiver who hasn't yet gotten his chance at the college level, having spent his first season at TCU and the 2024 campaign at Colorado. The 6-foot-4 pass catcher has not yet logged a reception in his first two collegiate seasons, but he is a skilled pass catcher who could most definitely break out in the 2025 season. Russell possesses a muscular frame and separation abilities that should fit him right into the RedHawks' offense, especially with dynamic Baylor-transfer quarterback Dequan Finn leading the new offense. The former four-star prospect has three years of eligibility to go and all of the right attributes to be a star in the MAC Conference. His first two seasons at the college level were less than optimal, but this could be his year as he joins a dominant team with lots of potential.
MAC Conference Position Battles of Interest
Western Michigan Quarterbacks
The Broncos were a solid squad in the MAC Conference during the 2024 season, with much of their success attributed to an efficient offense led by quarterback Hayden Wolff. With Wolff now gone ahead of the 2025 campaign, many questions are in the air about who will take the reins as the QB1. JUCO transfer Brady Jones has been making some noise throughout the offseason, with several key throws and surprisingly good accuracy. Additionally, quarterback Broc Lowry is coming back for his second season with Western Michigan, though he was limited to a pop-up rushing role last season and passed the ball just four times. This puts the team in an interesting spot, with a quarterback who has proven to be an efficient rusher but not a passer, and an unproven passer to compete against him. This could mean Lowry eventually takes the cake and becomes the all-encompassing QB1, or Jones impresses in the coming weeks and kicks Lowry to rushing duties once again. Neither option seems to be at the forefront as of now, and both quarterbacks will need to prove themselves completely before the Broncos choose their guy.
Miami (Ohio) Running Backs
The RedHawks had a very successful 2024 season, even though they came up short in the MAC conference. This success was in part due to an efficient run game, led by Keyon Mozee. As it usually goes, Mozee has run out of eligibility, which puts the RedHawks in search of their next RB1. The easy answer when looking at the team's 2024 output would be Jordan Brunson, who ranked third in rushing yards and tied for first with four rushing touchdowns. Brunson will no doubt have an opportunity to grab that top ball carrier role, but he'll still have to beat out senior Kenny Tracy. Tracy's name was forgotten last year as he tore his ACL and missed the entire season, but he returns this year with a vengeance. Tracy is now fully healthy and entering the season in hopes of stealing that starting spot as well, especially since he looked to be ahead of Mozee before getting hurt. With two running backs that are finally getting the chance to be at the top with different routes behind them, these next few weeks in August should make for a lot of action ahead of the RedHawks' season opener against Wisconsin.
Ball State Tight Ends
Ball State's team was just about as awful as they came in the 2024 campaign, but the tight end position was one of the bright spots to come out of a historically bad year. Tanner Koziol led the Cardinals in receptions, reception yards and touchdowns all by a wide margin last season, but he moved on to play for Houston. This put Christian Abney at the TE1 spot with not much competition, but he decided to transfer out and head for Illinois in May. The departure of Koziol and Abney means Ball State doesn't have a clear starting tight end ahead of the 2025 push. The Cardinals do have more promising talent at the wide receiver position, which shouldn't make them rely too much on the tight end role, but they have shown to fall back on the tight end position in years past and should continue to do so. Redshirt freshman Kameron Anthony sits at 6-foot-4, 238 pounds and was highly regarded in what would've been his freshman season. He'll compete with transfers Drew Cassens and Koby Gross. Cassens has bounced between the tight end and running back position in his career, both with Northern Illinois and FCS-Butler. Gross put together 24 receptions for 257 yards and three touchdowns in the 2024 season with Florida A&M, which landed him a spot with Ball State. All three of these guys have big frames, strong blocking abilities and upside as catchers, but one will have to pull ahead in hopes of reaching a target share like Koziol had last season.
