College Football Fantasy Five: Flying Under the Radar in the Pac-12 for 2023

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

College Football Fantasy Five: Underrated Pac-12 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 Pac-12

Quarterback

1.) Caleb Williams, USC
2.) Bo Nix, Oregon
3.) Michael Penix, Washington

Running Back

1.) Jaydn Ott, California
2.) Bucky Irving, Oregon
3.) Michael Wiley, Arizona

Wide Receiver

1.) Rome Odunze, Washington
2.) Jeremiah Hunter, California
3.) Troy Franklin, Oregon

TE

1.) Brant Kuithe, Utah

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

Under The Radar and Undervalued Pac-12 Players for 2023

5.) Terrance Ferguson, TE, Oregon

Ferguson is a great value at the tight end position because fantasy players may shy away due to the junior dealing with an undisclosed injury which kept him out of spring ball. The latest reports suggest he's healthy for fall camp which means he could be one of the more productive tight ends in the country. In the Ducks' exciting offense, Ferguson converted 32-of-45 targets for 391 yards and five touchdowns. If he can build on those five scores in 2023, he'll be a steal at the back end of CFF drafts.

4.) DT Sheffield, WR, Washington State

Although number one wideout, De'zhaun Stribling, bolted for Oklahoma State via the transfer portal, there's reason for optimism in Pullman because Sheffield was an absolute baller in JUCO ball at Northwest CC in Mississippi. He pulled down 57 catches for 1,089 yards and 10 touchdowns including a pair of scores in the JUCO championship game during his 2021 season. Quarterback Cameron Ward will like his new receiver quite a bit as he showed in the team's spring game. Not many out there even know who this guy is.

3.) Cameron Rising, QB, Utah

USC, Oregon, and Washington command all the glamour and fancy projections, yet Utah may still be the best team in the conference. Rising will return for his senior season for a Utes squad that is returning 16 starters. Utah beat USC twice last year, so there should be a lot more buzz around this team. There's some concern with Rising as a fantasy prospect as he his coming off an offseason knee injury. However, if you've seen this guy play, they don't get come much grittier than him, so I fully expect him to be ready to go for the season. He'll need to be ready to go as Utah kicks off the season with Florida and Baylor in the first two weeks. 

2.) Tahj Washington, WR, USC

Washington is being drafted behind his teammate Dorian Singer (transfer from Arizona), which I believe is a mistake. While Singer certainly will fit the role that Jordan Addison left behind, Washington was a borderline stud in 2022 with 50 catches (on 73 targets) for 785 yards and six touchdowns. Caleb Williams is a generational talent at quarterback, so I have no doubts he'll be able to take advantage of how seasoned Washington is at the position. Washington has posted at least 600 yards receiving and 73 targets in each of his first three seasons (one at Memphis and two at USC). I think it's very possible he has that breakout year and could push over 1,000 yards, especially if he's breaking tackles, as he did in the team's bowl game last year.

 1.) Austin Jones, RB, USC

I'm a huge fan of South Carolina transfer MarShawn Lloyd, and in this case, he actually helps me recommend Jones as an underrated option for your fantasy team. Jones was awesome down the stretch of the 2022 season while averaging 20.5 fantasy points per game over the Trojans' last five games. The last three were against Notre Dame, Utah, and Tulane who all had formidable run defenses. The best part is that he racked up 17 catches (on 20 targets) for 172 yards and a touchdown to go along with all the rushing production he had. He proved that he's versatile enough to affect the passing game, and I think he'll be one of the best out of the backfield in the Pac-12 in 2023.