College Football Fantasy Five: Flying Under the Radar in the Big 12 for 2024

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

College Football Fantasy Five: Underrated Big 12 Players for College Fantasy Football 2024

With just over a month to go before we start delving into the core of College Fantasy Football drafts, it's time to take stock of each of the major conferences and the other conferences 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 2024 season.

Top Projected Players in the Big 12

Quarterback

1.) Garrett Greene, West Virginia
2.) Avery Johnson, Kansas State
3.) KJ Jefferson, UCF

Running Back

1.) Ollie Gordon, Oklahoma State
2.) Devin Neal, Kansas
3.) DJ Giddens, Kansas State

Wide Receiver

1.) Jayden Higgins, Iowa State
2.) Rashod Owens, Oklahoma State
3.) Kobe Hudson, UCF

TE

1.) Brant Kuithe, Utah
2.) Drake Dabney, TCU

College Fantasy Football Tools

• Flying Under the Radar in the Big Ten for 2024 (7/9/24)
• Flying Under the Radar in the SEC for 2024 (7/2/24)
• College Football Depth Charts
• College Football Targets
• College Football Custom Rankings
• College Football Futures
• Heisman Trophy Odds

Under The Radar and Undervalued Big 12 Players for 2024

5.) Cameron Rising, QB, Utah

Rising is ready to roll in 2024 and the Utes should be the odds-on favorite to win the new-look conference. Coming off an ACL injury which forced the senior to miss all of last season, he returns with a lot to prove. 

I know it's been nearly two years since we've seen him, but Rising is more dynamic than you think he is with at least 465 yards and six touchdowns on the ground to go along with his stellar passing figures in his first two seasons. That's not necessarily baked into his rankings for CFF drafts due to his injury absence and Utah's passing game was far from effective without their star quarterback.

4.) Quentin Skinner, WR, Kansas

The Jayhawks' offense is no longer a secret after averaging over 34 points and 438 yards per game in each of the last two seasons. QB Jalon Daniels and RB Devin Neal are absolute studs who will likely be off the board early in upcoming fantasy drafts. There's still a secret with the receivers as they are not yet household names.

Kansas returns their top three receivers in Lawrence Arnold, Luke Grimm, and Skinner. I like Skinner the most for fantasy purposes because he'll be the best value of the three and there's no real pecking order in this group. Skinner will be available late in drafts and has the upside to be Kansas' best receiver in 2024.

3.) Jahiem White, RB, West Virginia

White became the first true freshman West Virginia back to surpass 200 rushing yards in a game since 2011 when he rumbled for 204 on 21 carries (9.7 YPC) against Cincinnati in Week 12. He also had a 75-yard touchdown reception in that game. White was one of the best true freshmen in the country with four 100-yard rushing performances and six total touchdowns.

Although White will undoubtedly share the rock with teammate CJ Donaldson and QB Garrett Greene, those who take a chance on him in fantasy drafts can feel confident as the Mountaineers will have one of the best offenses in the conference.

2.) Monaray Baldwin, WR, Baylor

It feels like Baldwin has been a mainstay on this list, but next year is going to be different because this is going to be the breakout year. Baylor is moving to a spread offense in 2024 and have upgraded at QB with Toledo transfer Dequan Finn. I also expect Baylor to struggle in the Big 12 this year which means a lot of high-flying outcomes. 

Baldwin could be looking at a career year for targets as he's seen just 74 and 53 in each of the last two years. If the star receiver can get into the range of 100 targets, he could have a monster year. Moving to the spread offense always benefits speedy receivers and that's exactly what Baldwin is.

1.) Tahj Brooks, RB, Texas Tech

Unlike the other players on this list who are outside of the projected top 50 at their positions, Brooks comes in as a borderline top-15 running back for the 2024 season. He's first on this list because I think he's in line to be a top five back in all of the country.

With 1,542 yards during the 2023 season, Brooks ranked fourth in the country in rushing production. The experienced back has 25 career touchdowns and can really do it all. Texas Tech would be smart to make sure that Brooks has the ball in as many scenarios as possible.