The Kingmaker's Protegé
The Kingmaker's Protegé
Colorado State TE Dallin Holker came out of nowhere last year to finish as a top TE in CFF--this year we could witness a similar ascendence from a familiar name out West.
Would you like some fresh meat my darlings? Lungs… liver… I hear they’re big today.
- Na-Baron Feyd-Rautha, ᑐᑌᑎᕮ II (2024)
“I outta drown you in that tub fat man”
A heartbroken Michael Harrison exclaims to former Colorado OC, Sean Lewis, shortly after the announcement that he’d be taking the San Diego State head coaching job.
Lewis—puffing on an unknown substance while bathing in a spice bath—laughs: “Don’t be hasty—I have a bigger prize for you… CFF TE1”
“TE1… how?”
Follow me to San Diego… keep your TE designation on Fantrax, play WR in my offence…
“What about Redman?”
He’s been reassigned…
SDSU WR/TE Michael Harrison — 6’3, 215
2023 FPG: 7.6 (1PPR) — 31 REC-284 YD-5 TD
Pigs, welcome back to the farm. Today, I want to feature a potential league winner at the TE position. A player who costs nothing, but could legitimately finish as one of the most productive TEs in all of CFB in 2024. There are many paths in the future where this doesn’t happen—hence why his draft price is nonexistent—however, I do see a way. My visions have shown me a narrow path through to a top-five TE finish—perhaps even TE1 finish, and I don’t think it’s just the worm piss talking.
Former Colorado Buff WR/TE Michael Harrison became a wanted man in the early stages of the 2023 season when he broke out with a 28 point performance vs. Colorado State, catching seven passes for 76 yards and two scores. He followed that up with performances of 11 and 16 points vs. Oregon and USC, respectively.
The catalyst for this spike in production was the injury to Travis Hunter, which opened up one of the boundary WR positions. Harrison—despite sporting a TE designation on Fantrax—was used like a receiver in former Colorado OC Sean Lewis’ system. Once Hunter returned, Harrison’s production tanked.
His early season breakout resulted in Harrison’s name finding its way onto my weekly waiver wire reports, and I’ve kept tabs on him ever since. When I saw his latest landing spot, I knew only destiny could have guided him to San Diego, where the whispers of the Aztecs held the key to power and the future of the universe. Oh, and I should also mention that SDSU TE1 Mark Redman transferred out this offseason to Louisville, clearing even more targets (56) for the incoming Harrison.
For some added context: Dallin Holker, who finished last year as a bonafide top-three TE, never averaged more than 7.9 FPG in his first three seasons before breaking out in 2023.
SDSU HC Sean Lewis is a Kingmaker at the WR position
At Kent State (2018-22), Lewis’ WR1 averaged (excluding 2020 data), 60.5 catches, 907 receiving yards, and 8.25 TDs (15.4 PPG over 13 games, or 16.7 PPG over 12). The only 1000-yard receiver in that group was Dante Cephus in 2021, who caught 82 passes for 1240 yards and nine scores.
In both of his seasons at Syracuse (2016-17), Lewis’ WR1 went over 1000 yards receiving. Steve Ismael led the way in 2017, with 1347 yards and seven scores on 105 catches. Amba Etta-Tawo paced the team in 2016, with 1482 yards and 14 scores on 94 catches.
In Lewis’ one year at Bowling Green (2015) the team went absolutely apeshit. They had two 1000-yard WRs in Roger Lewis and Gehrig Dieter, and a 1000-yard rusher in Travis Carlton Greene. They also had a third receiver who almost hit 1000 yards. How’s that for CFF output, am I right?
I think the thing that stands out to me the most about this season’s stats is the sheer amount of plays run and the concentration of volume to the top dogs of the offence. I mean, there are damn-near three 1000-yard receivers, and two RBs who carried the ball 360+ times between them. Not to mention a QB who also ran over 100 times. The QB passed for over 4900 yards and sported a 46-8 TD ratio. I should point out too that the lead RB, Greene, also caught 27 passes for 234 yards and two more scores.
Last but not least, we should look to Lewis’ latest stop, to see what he did at Colorado under coach Prime. I will say, I think this situation was sort of a unique one, in that the QB’s dad was Lewis’ boss. Understandably, there might have been some things out of Lewis’ control.
We have the luxury of using Fantrax’ PPG numbers from a year ago here, so I’ll utilize those. Lewis’ lead receiver—Xavier Weaver, finished the year averaging over 18 PPG.
Closing
When it comes to the TE position, I always encourage the pigs to swing for upside as much as possible. If you’re left holding the bag after your draft, it’s not a big deal—because most people in your league will be too. It’s not like the RB position, where you really want to make sure the spice production is secured on that front via the draft. Because if not, you might find yourself on the floor kissing the boots of some bald-headed playboy Na-Baron (VP subscriber) by week three of the season. TE is different; it’s about upside. So swing using your later picks.
That being said, it is early days in the offseason still, and Harrison could very well lose his TE designation, which would lessen the appeal here considerably. As things currently stand, he is a TE on Fantrax, while most likely occupying a boundary WR role in Sean Lewis’ passing attack this upcoming season.
We’ve seen the patterns of production for whoever secures the WR1 role in Lewis’ offence, and while that might not be a likely scenario for Harrison, it is a possibility with league-breaking potential, making Harrison worthy of a few dart throws in your drafts this summer.
A few considerations we should keep in mind are that: 1) this might not be a huge year for the Lewis WR1 given that it’s a transition year; and 2) SDSU also brought in transfer WRs Jashaun Poke (WVU) and Louis Brown (CSU).
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